An RMB 8 billion long-term equity investment completed a transformation in asset form after being held for seven years. In 2018, China Life invested in SPIC Nuclear Energy through China Life Asset Management, acquiring a 26.76% stake. By the end of 2025, this stake was converted into newly issued shares of SPIC Yuanda through a major asset restructuring of a listed company. This seven-year investment provides a concrete case for observing how insurance capital participates in long-term industrial investment, manages risk, and arranges funding continuity.
For a long time, insurance capital has been regarded as an important source of funding supporting technological innovation and industrial upgrading. It has relatively long-term liabilities and investment horizons, allowing it to participate in industrial projects with longer return cycles. But long-term money also faces constraints such as investment returns, solvency, and liquidity. Technological innovation may take years to generate commercial returns, and industrial projects may not generate cash flow as expected. The ability to hold funds for the long term does not mean these uncertainties can be ignored. How insurance capital strikes a balance between industrial growth opportunities and investment certainty has become a problem that long-term money must solve when entering the field of new quality productive forces. Recent research by Wallstreetcn into multiple projects of China Life Asset Management found that from public market holdings in Qingdao Port, to debt financing for the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, to long-term equity investment in SPIC Nuclear Energy, insurance capital is participating in industrial development through different methods. These cases also share a common feature: when long-term money enters an industry, in addition to judging future growth space, it also needs to find the operating foundation, repayment sources, and funding continuity paths that can support long-term holding.
Long Money Also Has a Risk Ledger
Insurance capital is increasing its allocation to areas related to new quality productive forces. According to recent research by Wallstreetcn, as of the end of the first half of 2026, the scale of investments serving new quality productive forces through accounts within the China Life system under the entrusted management of China Life Asset Management reached RMB 347.1 billion, an increase of RMB 59 billion, or 20.49%, from the beginning of the year; the scale of investments supporting the development of the modern industrial system was RMB 2.83 trillion, an increase of RMB 368.7 billion, or 14.98%, from the beginning of the year. The two investments correspond to different statistical scopes, with the latter covering a broader range of industries, and they cannot be simply equated.
China Life Asset Management told Wallstreetcn that the company's direct and indirect investments in the technology sector through public market equity investment together account for no less than 30% of its total equity investment scale. As of the end of July 2026, the company's outstanding science and technology financial fixed-income investments stood at RMB 54.3 billion, and its outstanding bonds related to the "six networks" stood at RMB 199 billion, of which local government bonds and railway bonds related to the logistics network accounted for RMB 174.2 billion. These data reflect the scale of insurance capital's participation in industrial investment, but the risks borne by different funds differ markedly. Investing in a listed technology company that has already established a stable business and investing in a startup that has not yet achieved commercialization may both be included in the category of technology investment, but the risk and return structures they face are completely different.
Long-term infrastructure shows similar differences. In the early stage of construction, investors need to face uncertainties such as project progress, construction costs, and project commissioning; after entering the mature operation stage, investment judgments depend more on operating conditions, repayment capacity, and cash flow. For insurance capital, a long investment horizon does not mean that all long-term projects are suitable for investment. Insurance companies need to continuously fulfill repayment obligations on the liability side and also meet solvency and risk management requirements. Even if an asset can be held for the long term, it is still necessary to consider when the investment will generate returns, whether it can provide cash returns, and how it will subsequently be adjusted or exited. Therefore, when insurance capital enters the industrial field, it needs not only to judge the opportunities for industrial growth, but also to choose the corresponding investment stage and investment tools. Different tools correspond to different risk-return characteristics and also determine the ways in which insurance capital can participate in industrial development.
Finding Certainty Within Industrial Growth
Qingdao Port is a case of insurance capital participating in the upgrading of a traditional industry. In 2017, China Life Group participated in the placement of new H shares of Qingdao Port through a foreign currency account, with a total investment of HKD 778 million, subscribing to 180 million shares, accounting for 2.98% of the total share capital at the time. After exiting that placement investment, China Life Asset Management configured Qingdao Port again through accounting treatment at other comprehensive income. As of the end of June 2026, the traditional ordinary insurance product account of China Life under the entrusted management of China Life Asset Management held approximately 54.74 million shares of Qingdao Port, accounting for 0.84% of the total share capital. At the same time, Qingdao Port is also advancing intelligent transformation of the port. Its fully automated container terminal applies an intelligent control system to operations including vessels, yards, equipment, and gates. Relevant materials show that the A-TOS system achieved "millisecond-level" full-site slot selection, "second-level" equipment scheduling, and "millisecond-level" dynamic data refresh at a container terminal with a capacity of tens of millions of TEUs, realizing upgrade and maintenance without production stoppage for the first time globally; in 2025, Qingdao Port was approved as a national pilot base for the application of artificial intelligence. Traditional ports are improving operating efficiency through technological transformation, providing long-term investors with a new window for observing industrial upgrading.
However, holding Qingdao Port shares by China Life Asset Management cannot be equated with directly providing project financing for the port's intelligent transformation. From the perspective of investment method, insurance capital is participating in a listed port company that already has a mature operating business. Its long-term returns depend not only on the operating conditions of the port's original business, but may also be affected by factors such as efficiency improvements and cost changes brought by intelligent transformation. This approach allows insurance capital to participate in industrial upgrading through listed company equity assets, and investment returns do not have to rely entirely on the commercialization results of a single technology project. But stock prices themselves also fluctuate, and whether technological transformation can translate into profits and shareholder returns still needs to be verified by operating data. For insurance capital, the existing operating foundation and future growth space can both serve as the basis for investment judgment.
The Jiaozhou Bay Bridge presents another investment logic. In 2024, China Life Asset Management established the "China Life - Qingdao Development Debt Investment Plan," investing RMB 1 billion in Qingdao Development to support the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge project. Unlike the listed company equity investment in Qingdao Port, this funding entered the infrastructure sector through an insurance debt investment plan. The Jiaozhou Bay Bridge had long been completed and opened to traffic, and when insurance capital entered, the project had already experienced a relatively long period of operation. This differs from bearing project progress, completion, and commissioning risks in the early stage of construction. Insurance debt investment plans usually invest in projects with clear fund uses and relatively clear repayment sources. For infrastructure already in operation, existing operating conditions can provide more basis for project evaluation, and investors also need to judge debt repayment capacity and credit risk in light of specific financing arrangements. Equity investment requires sharing in the returns brought by enterprise operations and value changes, while debt investment pays more attention to agreed principal and interest repayment. The two types of investment correspond to different sources of return and risk management requirements. For insurance capital, the appeal of infrastructure projects comes partly from the funding needs created by long-term construction and operation, and partly from the stage at which the project has entered and whether future cash flow can support the financing arrangement. Bond investment and insurance debt investment plans both belong to debt-type investment, but their transaction methods and fund uses are not the same. The specific tool adopted also depends on the project's financing needs, repayment sources, and risk-return characteristics.
From Qingdao Port to the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, what China Life Asset Management participated in were industrial assets with a certain operating foundation. The former participates in possible long-term value changes brought by traditional industrial upgrading by holding listed company shares; the latter provides financing for infrastructure already in operation through a debt plan. Long-term money can participate in industrial growth, but different entry stages and investment methods change the risks it actually bears. This also raises another question: for projects with longer investment cycles and funds locked for a long time in the equity of unlisted enterprises, how does insurance capital handle the relationship between holding and exit?
After Seven Years, How to Keep Funds Flowing
Haiyang Nuclear Power provides a sample for observing a longer cycle. In December 2018, China Life Asset Management used entrusted funds from China Life Insurance Company to invest RMB 8 billion in SPIC Nuclear Energy, taking a 26.76% stake. Nuclear power projects are characterized by large capital investment and long construction and operation cycles. For long-term equity investors, project construction progress, commissioning time, future operating conditions, and equity liquidity may all affect investment returns. However, the timing of insurance capital's actual entry is also worth noting. Units 1 and 2 of Phase I of Haiyang Nuclear Power respectively entered commercial operation in October 2018 and January 2019, very close to the time when China Life Asset Management invested in December 2018. This means that when China Life entered, Phase I was already close to full commercial operation. Although the project still faced long-term operation and business risks thereafter, this investment differed from the risk profile at the early stage of project construction.
Afterward, Haiyang Nuclear Power continued to advance the construction of subsequent units. Units 3 and 4 of Phase II adopted domestically produced CAP1000 technology. SPIC Yuanda disclosed that the two units are expected to be commissioned in 2027 and 2028, respectively. For long-term equity investors, as the project is gradually commissioned, the risks faced by the investment also change. In the early stage, attention needs to be paid to construction and commissioning progress; after entering the operation stage, it is necessary to continuously assess project returns, subsequent capital investment, and long-term operating conditions. At the same time, investors also need to address another issue: even if an industrial asset can operate for the long term, does the money holding it need to remain locked in unlisted equity at all times?
At the end of 2025, the seven-year-old equity stake in SPIC Nuclear Energy welcomed a change. On December 31, 2025, SPIC Yuanda acquired the 26.76% equity stake in SPIC Nuclear Energy held by China Life Insurance Company by issuing approximately 4.412 billion shares, making SPIC Nuclear Energy a wholly owned subsidiary of SPIC Yuanda. China Life Asset Management told Wallstreetcn that this was the company's first alternative investment equity project to realize the listing of an invested asset through a major asset restructuring of a listed company. From the RMB 8 billion capital contribution in 2018 to becoming listed company shares through a major asset restructuring at the end of 2025, this investment completed a transformation in asset form after being held for seven years. For insurance capital, the significance of this transformation lies in the fact that previously relatively illiquid unlisted equity was converted into listed company shares eligible for securities market trading, providing more possibilities for subsequent investment operations. Long-term money can wait for industrial assets to grow, but the holding period, asset value growth, and ultimately realizing cash returns are issues that need to be solved separately. The Haiyang Nuclear Power case shows that funding continuity for long-term investment can be achieved by changing the form in which assets are held. For insurance capital, exit arrangements can also be adjusted gradually as the industrial development stage and asset conditions change.
Similar arrangements are not limited to nuclear power projects. In terms of funding continuity, mature infrastructure can obtain financing or revitalize existing assets through bonds, REITs, and quasi-REITs; growth-stage new infrastructure can obtain equity funds through direct equity investment and industrial funds, and expand funding continuity and exit channels through S funds, mergers and acquisitions, and equity transfers. Different tools provide long-term money with more choices, but whether returns can truly be realized ultimately still depends on the operating performance and transaction conditions of the underlying assets. China Life Asset Management told Wallstreetcn that the "long-term nature" of insurance capital is not equivalent to the "patience" of investment. To make the maturity of funds compatible with investment in new quality productive forces, it is still necessary to improve investment research, risk control, assessment, and evaluation mechanisms in light of liability characteristics and risk-return preferences. The company is building a "policy research-industry research-investment research" framework and exploring risk management for science and technology innovation projects, long-cycle assessment, and corporate credit evaluation mechanisms.
From holding listed company shares in Qingdao Port, to debt financing for the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, and then to equity investment and asset restructuring in Haiyang Nuclear Power, the three cases reflect paths through which insurance capital participates in industrial development through different investment methods. They also reflect that the long-term nature of funds is only one condition for industrial investment. Insurance capital also needs to manage uncertainties at different stages by choosing investment stages, matching sources of return, and arranging asset liquidity. These cases can demonstrate ways in which insurance capital participates in long-term industrial investment, but they are not enough to show the extent to which insurance capital can bear the technological and commercialization risks of early-stage scientific and technological innovation. For technology enterprises whose technological routes are not yet determined, whose business models are still being verified, and which lack cash flow for a long time, whether insurance capital can enter through new investment tools and risk management mechanisms still awaits more practical answers. Long money is entering the field of new quality productive forces, but how far it can go depends both on how long it can be held and on how much uncertainty it can bear.
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