China Life Insurance Company Limited (SHSE: 601628) has disclosed a series of transactions involving the sale of shares in Gigadevice Semiconductor Inc. (SHSE: 603986).
On the evening of July 20, the insurer released eight separate announcements detailing the divestment. The disclosures revealed that eight asset management plans under the company collectively sold approximately 1.1097 million shares of Gigadevice on July 8.
The shares were sold at prices ranging from 611.46 yuan to 624.61 yuan per share, generating total proceeds of about 6.82 billion yuan. Seven of these asset management plans were set up in cooperation with China Universal Asset Management, with one established in partnership with China Asset Management.
The accounts involved covered various fund types, including traditional accounts, universal insurance A and B accounts, and dividend accounts. As the specific purchase dates for these eight plans are not publicly known, the exact returns for the corresponding funds cannot be calculated.
Details of the Share Sale
The transactions were executed via exchange bidding, with settlement in cash at prevailing market prices. The average transaction prices for the eight sales were 624.61 yuan, 614.74 yuan, 615.63 yuan, 616.51 yuan, 615.81 yuan, 611.46 yuan, 612.72 yuan, and 615.75 yuan per share, respectively.
Gigadevice, a leading domestic memory chip stock, has seen its share price surge from around 55 yuan in February 2024. On June 29, the stock hit a record intraday high of 846 yuan per share.
Over roughly two and a half years, the stock's price increased nearly 14-fold, pushing its market capitalization to a peak exceeding 590 billion yuan. The company recently forecasted strong financial results for the first half of 2026, projecting significant year-on-year growth in revenue and net profit.
Timing of the Divestment
Despite the positive earnings forecast, Gigadevice's share price had already begun to retreat before China Life's sale. After reaching its peak on June 29, the stock experienced a volatile decline.
By the close on July 8, the day of China Life's sale, the stock price had fallen to 603.17 yuan per share. From its high point, the stock had dropped by over 240 yuan, a decline of nearly 30%. On the day of the sale, the stock closed down 2.71%, with an intraday maximum drop of 5% and a price swing of 8.39%.
By July 20, Gigadevice's share price had closed at 432.3 yuan, nearly halving from its previous high of 843 yuan. Consequently, some market observers view China Life's move as a successful exit near the market peak.
Strong Performance Driven by Investments
Prior to this share sale, China Life released a preliminary earnings report on the evening of July 14, projecting first-half net profit attributable to shareholders of approximately 128.93 billion yuan to 137.12 billion yuan.
This represents a year-on-year increase of about 215% to 235% compared to the same period in 2025, marking a new historical high for the company's half-year performance and breaking the 100-billion-yuan net profit threshold.
The company attributed the robust performance to "optimized asset allocation and good investment returns from deploying capital in new quality productive forces." The market, however, has interpreted this as the realization of substantial gains from equity investments, leading some to label the insurer as having "struck it rich" through stock market investments.
Analyses note that China Life held leading positions in several key exchange-traded funds (ETFs) related to the STAR Market and ChiNext board in the first half of the year. Many of these holdings saw near-doubling gains in the second quarter, significantly contributing to the company's investment income.
Research reports from securities firms highlight that China Life's outperformance in the second quarter was largely due to its high exposure to technology stocks within its equity portfolio, which amplified investment returns during the sector's rally.
Future Investment Strategy
China Life Group expressed on July 20 its firm confidence in the bright prospects of the Chinese economy and the long-term positive trend of the capital markets. Its major investment platform, China Life Asset Management, has been actively allocating funds in the market.
The platform reported net purchases of over 10 billion yuan in A-share and fund market equity assets in a single day recently. The group stated it will continue to leverage mechanisms for medium- to long-term capital investment, seize strategic allocation opportunities, optimize and enhance the structure and proportion of equity investments, and increase allocations in key areas such as the modern industrial system and new quality productive forces.
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