China's Five Listed Insurers Post 78.12% Profit Surge in First Half

China's five listed insurers — Ping An, China Pacific Insurance, China Life, PICC, and New China Life — reported a combined 317.387 billion yuan in attributable net profit in the first half, up 78.12% year on year, according to Jiemian News. China Life's net profit jumped 228.57%, while Ping An, China Pacific Insurance, PICC and New China Life posted increases of 36.06%, 10.36%, 38.50% and 54.02%, respectively. The gains were driven mainly by investment income. On the liability side, the insurers continued to shift toward participating products, while bancassurance growth diverged and property insurance combined ratios generally improved. New business value rose across major life insurers, with China Life's new business value reaching 38.167 billion yuan, up 33.7%, and Ping An's life and health new business value rising 11.2%. Participating insurance accounted for more than 90% of Ping An Life's new business, and its participating premium reached 121.549 billion yuan, up 143.49%. New China Life's participating premium income rose 165.4% to 48.492 billion yuan, while China Pacific Life's participating premium reached 65.7 billion yuan, up 76.1%. Executives said they will keep pushing the shift to participating products to lower liability costs. Bancassurance performance was mixed. China Life's total bancassurance premium rose 12.4% to 81.458 billion yuan, while New China Life's bancassurance premium fell 3.5% and China Pacific Life's declined 8.9%. PICC Life's bancassurance premium income dropped 13.1%. Property insurers also reported lower combined ratios. Ping An Property & Casualty's combined ratio was 95.1%, PICC P&C's was 94.5%, and China Pacific Property & Casualty's was 95.0%. New-energy vehicle insurance grew quickly at Ping An P&C and China Pacific P&C, while corporate property insurance premiums fell at all three insurers.