The total premium scale of life insurance reached 2.3 trillion yuan, accounting for 52.8% of the total premiums in the life insurance industry. The combined net profit attributable to parent company shareholders reached 458.66 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.6%—this is the 2025 report card submitted by seven insurance companies listed on the A-share and Hong Kong stock markets.
On the liability side, the pull from bancassurance channels and, on the investment side, a significant increase in investment returns have become the dual driving forces behind the performance growth of listed insurers.
While insurance company executives emphasized the development of bancassurance channels and the rising proportion of dividend insurance premiums during earnings releases, some "decelerating" data were overlooked: premiums for accident and health insurance are experiencing negative growth. These two types of insurance better reflect the protective function of insurance companies.
Statistics show that among the six listed insurers disclosing accident and health insurance data, only PICC Life saw positive growth in both its health and accident insurance businesses.
While China Life's health insurance business achieved a 0.9% increase in premiums, its accident insurance premiums fell by 13.5% year-on-year. China Ping An, which combines life and health insurance business disclosures, reported similar trends: premiums for long-term health insurance and short-term health and accident insurance decreased by 1.7% and 11.3%, respectively. CPIC Life saw declines of 3% and 4.5% in these segments. Sunshine Insurance reported decreases of 2.3% and 9.9% in health and accident insurance premiums, respectively, even as its new bancassurance business grew by 70% in 2025. New China Life's health and accident insurance premiums fell by 3.4% and 2%, respectively, while new single-premium wealth management products sold through bancassurance channels grew by over 50%.
With the sluggish growth in protection-oriented business, the proportion of accident and health insurance premiums in the total premiums of several major companies remains low. For example, New China Life had the highest proportion at 26.3%, followed by Taiping Life at 21.8%. China Ping An ranked third, with a combined proportion of 21.2%. China Life and CPIC Life had proportions below 20%, at 18.1% and 13.3%, respectively, while Sunshine Life's proportion was only 10.4%.
This trend is not limited to leading listed insurers; the entire life insurance industry faces weak growth in protection-oriented business. Taking the larger health insurance segment as an example, the industry's health insurance premiums reached 997.3 billion yuan in 2025, an increase of only about 20 billion yuan from 2024, with much of the growth contributed by property and casualty insurers. Data show that the growth rates of health insurance premiums for life insurers and property insurers in 2025 were -0.41% and 11.31%, respectively.
As financial institutions, insurance companies have unique advantages in meeting clients' wealth management and retirement planning needs. However, their core function is risk management, which involves dispersing individual risks across a group through the law of large numbers and risk-sharing mechanisms, providing economic compensation when risks occur to prevent individuals or families from falling into financial distress due to accidents, illnesses, or death.
For a long time, life insurers in China have relied heavily on wealth management products such as dividend and universal insurance for premium income. The highest-premium products of several major insurers are often savings-oriented, such as endowment insurance, whole life insurance, and annuity insurance. This business model, heavily dependent on interest spreads, is highly vulnerable to market fluctuations and interest rate changes. Fu Fan, Chairman of China Pacific Insurance, stated during the earnings release that China has entered an era of low interest rates, and the traditional profit model reliant on interest spreads urgently needs transformation.
In their annual reports, many insurers reported double-digit growth in net profit attributable to parent company shareholders. However, it is noteworthy that due to market conditions, China Life and PICC incurred losses in the fourth quarter of 2025, while China Ping An and New China Life also saw a decline in quarterly net profit. China Life attributed its fourth-quarter loss to structural adjustments in the capital market, which led to a pullback in some of its holdings of stocks and funds during that period.
In the view of Tian Meipan, Vice President, Chief Actuary of China Reinsurance, and Chairman of China Re Life, the key to an insurer's resilience amid market volatility lies in whether it has sufficient underwriting profits. Tian stated during the earnings meeting that whether for participating or non-participating insurance, or for lifetime medical or annuity insurance, the primary focus is savings, and the actual underwriting profit from such products is minimal. Diversified profit sources are crucial.
With the intensification of population aging, growing public demand for health protection, and increasing pressure on medical insurance fund payments, the health insurance market holds broad prospects. This represents a new growth area worthy of increased investment by insurers.
Taking medical insurance as an example, data indicate that the current median claims ratio for medical insurance is 41%, leaving considerable room for profitability. Tian Meipan believes that medical insurance will also achieve reasonable underwriting profits in the future. Additionally, businesses such as health management and pharmaceutical services will create other profit sources for medical insurance.
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