On the evening of October 28, China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., Ltd. (ASX: 601601) rushed ahead of its peers to release the first third-quarter report among A-share listed insurers: revenue for the first three quarters reached 291.564 billion yuan, down 15.5% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 36.403 billion yuan, down 20.3% year-on-year, with third-quarter net profit alone at just 5.628 billion yuan, a halving decline of 68.4%.
A Profit Drop Does Not Equal a Weakening Core Business
There are two lines hidden in China Pacific Insurance's third-quarter report: one is accounting net profit (36.4 billion yuan, down 20.3% year-on-year), and the other is operating profit (30.081 billion yuan, up 5.6% year-on-year).
Why is the gap so large? Because under the new financial instruments standards, price fluctuations of stocks and funds held by insurers are directly recorded in current-period profit. In the third quarter, the equity market pulled back, and combined with the high base from the same period in 2025, paper gains turned into paper losses, which led to the profit decline. Operating profit, however, excludes these short-term market fluctuations and is closer to the true earning capacity of the insurance main business.
Pan Helin, a well-known economist and member of the Information and Communication Economic Expert Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said in an interview with Elephant Wealth reporters: "China Pacific Insurance's insurance business is stable, and the third-quarter financial data is indeed somewhat ugly, with the main problem being investment losses."
In Pan Helin's view, China Pacific Insurance's insurance business has no major incremental growth, and the business has already hit a ceiling. Both property insurance and life insurance have gradually stabilized, and sales channels are also relatively stable, but the main business is basically in a situation of falling behind if it does not advance.
From the perspective of the insurance business, the main business burden comes from life insurance. As Chinese people age, a large group of life insurance buyers are entering the "pension payout period." For insurance companies, payment obligations are increasing due to aging, while incremental growth in new life insurance customers is progressing slowly, because under the current low interest rate environment, life insurance is less attractive to users. Therefore, life insurance will gradually become a burden for China Pacific Insurance. However, the bigger problem is that China Pacific Insurance's performance previously relied excessively on higher-risk stock investments.
Life Insurance's "Long Voyage" Bears Fruit, but Bancassurance Slammed on the Brakes
Life insurance is the "engine" of an insurance company. In the first three quarters of 2026, China Pacific Insurance's life insurance scale premiums reached 267.651 billion yuan, up 1.4% year-on-year; the agent team remained stable at around 182,000 people, with first-year premiums per core agent per month at 91,000 yuan, up 27.3% year-on-year — a direct reflection of the transformation's "quality and efficiency improvement."
But the hidden concern is: in the first three quarters, life insurance new business value was 14.351 billion yuan, down 6.5% year-on-year. The problem lies in the bancassurance channel — affected by the high base from the same period last year, the implementation of "integration of reporting and execution" and "Document No. 65," and the shift in product structure from traditional insurance to participating insurance, the value growth of the bancassurance channel came under pressure. Last year, bancassurance drove a wave of high base, and this year it is time to "repay the debt."
Song Xiangqing, vice president of the China Business Economics Association and director of the Free Trade Port (Zone) Special Committee, believes: "China Pacific Insurance's life insurance value recovery is below expectations. Going forward, it must not only cope with the investment test brought by low long-end interest rates and equity volatility, but also find a path in agent and bancassurance channels that can sustainably drive new business value."
Property Insurance Is the "Ballast Stone"
If life insurance is experiencing transformation pains, property insurance is a solid "top student." In the first three quarters of 2026, China Pacific Insurance's property insurance combined operating ratio (COR) fell to 96.2%, optimized by 1.4 percentage points year-on-year; underwriting profit was 5.75 billion yuan, up 59% year-on-year. A combined operating ratio below 100% means "premiums collected can still be profitable after deducting claims and expenses," which is the lifeblood of property insurance profitability.
More notably, non-auto insurance premiums (82.712 billion yuan) exceeded auto insurance (80.533 billion yuan) for the first time, and the business structure was significantly optimized. Even in the face of major disaster risks, China Pacific Insurance relied on integrated risk reduction management of "prevention, reduction, rescue, and compensation" to forcefully push down claims.
"Although the combined operating ratio of property insurance has improved, premium growth is relatively weak, and growth elasticity is limited," said Song Xiangqing, vice president of the China Business Economics Association and director of the Free Trade Port (Zone) Special Committee.
China Pacific Insurance's Strengths and Hidden Concerns
At present, China Pacific Insurance's agent force has shrunk significantly from its peak and is notably lower than that of China Life and Ping An Life; long-end interest rates continue to decline, which may widen the "scissors gap" between asset returns and liability costs.
Song Xiangqing, vice president of the China Business Economics Association and director of the Free Trade Port (Zone) Special Committee, believes: the life insurance business relies on renewal premiums for support, but the pace of new business expansion is somewhat slow, the momentum for new policy growth needs further consolidation, and the value recovery process is below market expectations. The property insurance segment has achieved some results in risk control, but premium expansion is limited, making it difficult to form strong incremental growth. The investment side remains the biggest variable, affected by capital market volatility, with investment returns under pressure, disturbing profits.
"Against the backdrop of industry transformation and a persistently weak interest rate environment, for the company to achieve steady upward movement, it still needs to continue making efforts in channel optimization, high-value business exploration, and asset-side allocation. The pace of profit recovery remains uncertain," Song Xiangqing said.
(The data involved in this article comes from authoritative media public reports, the company's official website, and regulatory documents, and does not constitute any deposit, wealth management, or investment advice. Original interviews may not be reproduced without permission.)
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