China Life Insurance

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Overview

China Life Insurance Company Limited was established on 30 June 2003 in Beijing under the Company Law and Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China. The company listed overseas in December 2003 and returned to the domestic A-share market in January 2007. With registered capital of $4.0 billion, China Life is the leading life insurance company in China, serving approximately 327 million long-term insurance policies in force as at the end of 2025. Headquartered in Beijing, the company operates through an extensive distribution network comprising exclusive agents, direct sales representatives, and dedicated and non-dedicated agencies across urban and rural areas throughout China.

China Life is one of the largest institutional investors in China and serves as the controlling shareholder of China Life Asset Management Company Limited and China Life Pension Company Limited. The company's scale and market position are substantial: it ranked first among S&P Global Market Intelligence's Top 50 Global Life Insurers by scale of life and health insurance reserves, and 89th globally in the Forbes 2025 Global 2000. Total assets reached $1.09 trillion as at 31 December 2025, having passed three successive trillion-RMB milestones during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. The company maintains a stable and professional management team with in-depth knowledge of China's life insurance market, including senior management, underwriting personnel, insurance actuaries, investment managers, and risk management teams.

As a listed insurance company (stock code 2628), China Life operates under a corporate governance structure with a Board of Directors and senior management. The company's investment operations are managed primarily in-house through its controlled subsidiary, China Life Asset Management Company Limited. The company's mission centers on providing comprehensive insurance protection for people's wellbeing and serving national strategies, positioning it as both a major insurance provider and a significant participant in China's capital markets.

Investment Mandate

China Life's investment mandate flows from its role as a leading provider of life insurance, annuity insurance, health and accident insurance in China. The company is committed to a multi-channel development strategy across individual agent, bancassurance, group insurance, and other channels. The individual agent channel remains the core distribution channel, generating $78.9 billion in gross written premiums in 2025. The bancassurance channel produced $15.9 billion in 2025, up 45.5 percent year-over-year. The company's transformation to semi-priced business advanced significantly during 2025, with nearly 60 percent of first-year regular premiums having 10-plus-year payment duration, and guarantee rates for new business liabilities declining by over 60 basis points.

The investment strategy emphasizes asset-liability interaction management, with equity investments in the open market exceeding $171.6 billion as at the end of 2025, an increase of more than $64.3 billion from the beginning of the year. As at 31 December 2025, fixed-maturity financial assets comprised 70.51 percent of the investment portfolio, equity financial assets 22.57 percent, investment properties 0.16 percent, cash and others 2.61 percent, and investments in associates and joint ventures 4.15 percent. The company focuses on long-cycle and cross-cycle operations and management, with long-term regular premiums accounting for nearly 60 percent of first-year regular premiums. Inclusive insurance and pension insurance remain industry-leading, with commercial annuity insurance business leading the industry and private pension business under the third tier of China's pension system ranked among the top of the industry.

China Life's investment approach combines in-house management through China Life Asset Management Company Limited with strategic investments in the real economy. Over the 14th Five-Year Plan period, cumulative investments serving the real economy exceeded $715 billion, with precise investments directed to key areas and weak links of the real economy. The company has developed an innovative private equity fund model with cumulative fundraising exceeding $14.3 billion, creating demonstration effects in supporting capital market development. Direct investments in residential senior-care services include 20 projects launched in 16 cities nationwide, with cumulative registered users on the healthcare and senior-care service platform exceeding 53 million. The company does not disclose target allocation ranges or specific mandate guidelines in its public filings.

Financial Position

China Life reported total assets of $1.09 trillion as at 31 December 2025, up 12.1 percent year-over-year. Investment assets reached $1.06 trillion, up 12.3 percent year-over-year. Gross written premiums totaled $104.4 billion in 2025, up 8.7 percent year-over-year, an industry first as reported. Net profit attributable to equity holders reached $22.0 billion in 2025, up 44.1 percent year-over-year, with weighted average return on equity of 27.81 percent, up 6.22 percentage points from the prior year.

Investment performance showed strong results in 2025. Gross investment income totaled $55.4 billion, up 25.8 percent year-over-year, with gross investment yield of 6.09 percent, up 59 basis points from 2024. The company reported gross investment yields of 5.50 percent in 2024 and 2.43 percent in 2023. Embedded value reached $209.9 billion as at 31 December 2025, up 4.8 percent year-over-year, while value of one year's sales totaled $6.5 billion, up 35.7 percent year-over-year. Equity holders' equity stood at $85.1 billion as at 31 December 2025, up 16.8 percent year-over-year. Net cash inflow from operating activities reached $65.8 billion, up 21.4 percent year-over-year.

• Total assets: $1.09 trillion as at 31 December 2025, up 12.1 percent year-over-year
• Gross investment yield: 6.09 percent in 2025, 5.50 percent in 2024, 2.43 percent in 2023
• Net profit attributable to equity holders: $22.0 billion in 2025, up 44.1 percent year-over-year
• Comprehensive solvency ratio: 174.01 percent as at 31 December 2025, core solvency ratio 161.77 percent, both well above regulatory minimum requirements
• Full-year dividend distribution: $3.5 billion in 2025, up 31.7 percent year-over-year, with dividend per share of $0.12

DEEP Disclosure Rating

Under the DEEP Disclosure Rating system, China Life Insurance scores 54 of 100 (Limited) for disclosure and governance transparency as of this assessment. China Life publishes an annual report including audited financial statements, total assets and investment assets, investment yields, the actual composition of its investment portfolio, the Board of Directors and senior management including the Chief Investment Officer, and the investment management service fee paid to China Life Asset Management Company Limited. It does not publish an investment policy statement, target allocation ranges, position-level holdings, a manager-selection process, an RFP process, or board and committee meeting minutes and materials. The DEEP Disclosure Rating measures disclosure and governance practices; it does not assess investment quality, performance, or creditworthiness. Last assessed October 2026. Items that cannot apply to a fund's type are excluded from its score rather than scored as zero. The fund-specific basis is set out in the DEEP Disclosure Report. The full scoring rubric is public on the DEEP Disclosure Rating methodology page. A detailed, pillar-by-pillar and item-by-item breakdown of this fund's score is available as a DEEP Disclosure Report on request.

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Manager Approach and Matching Profile

Pursuit verdict: External asset managers face no disclosed pathway to China Life's investment portfolio. The company manages investments primarily in-house through its controlled subsidiary, China Life Asset Management Company Limited. No external manager roster, manager selection process, investment consultant relationship, or RFP calendar is disclosed in public filings. A centralized procurement platform exists at cpmsx.e-chinalife.com, but no procurement methodology, RFP process description, or calendar of opportunities is published. Managers seeking access would need to establish direct relationships with China Life Asset Management Company Limited or monitor the procurement portal for any posted opportunities, though the fund provides no guidance on unsolicited proposals or realistic entry routes.

• Target vs. actual allocation: China Life discloses actual allocation percentages by asset class as at 31 December 2025: fixed-maturity financial assets 70.51 percent, equity financial assets 22.57 percent, investment properties 0.16 percent, cash and others 2.61 percent, and investments in associates and joint ventures 4.15 percent. The company does not disclose target allocation ranges, strategic asset allocation guidelines, or rebalancing bands in its public filings. The 2025 Annual Report notes that asset-liability interaction management deepened during the year, with equity investments in the open market exceeding $171.6 billion, an increase of more than $64.3 billion from the beginning of the year, but does not provide forward-looking target ranges or allocation policy parameters.
• Historical AUM and return series: China Life discloses total assets and investment assets annually, along with gross investment yield. Total assets reached $1.09 trillion as at 31 December 2025, up from $927 billion as at 31 December 2024. Investment assets totaled $1.06 trillion as at 31 December 2025, up from $905.5 billion as at 31 December 2024. Gross investment yield was 6.09 percent in 2025, 5.50 percent in 2024, and 2.43 percent in 2023. The company does not disclose fund-level or mandate-level AUM or returns, asset-class-specific returns, or benchmark-relative performance.

  Period	Total Assets (USD)	Gross Investment Yield
  31 Dec 2025	$1.09 trillion	6.09%
  31 Dec 2024	$927 billion	5.50%
  2023	Not disclosed	2.43%

• External manager roster and consultant detail: China Life does not disclose a roster of external asset managers, named mandates, benchmark assignments, manager fees, or investment consultant relationships in its public filings. The company manages investments primarily through its controlled subsidiary, China Life Asset Management Company Limited. The 2025 Annual Report states that the company is one of the largest institutional investors in China and a major participant in the capital market, with equity investments in the open market exceeding $171.6 billion as at the end of 2025, but does not name external managers, describe manager selection criteria, or disclose consultant relationships. The company operates a centralized procurement platform at cpmsx.e-chinalife.com, but no procurement methodology, vendor roster, or consultant engagement is disclosed.

  Mandate	Benchmark or Strategy	AUM	Manager	Fee or Expense
  Investment assets	Not publicly disclosed	$1.06 trillion	China Life Asset Management Company Limited	Not publicly disclosed

• Commitment pacing: China Life does not disclose commitment pacing schedules, capital deployment plans, or vintage-year allocation strategies for private markets in its public filings. The 2025 Annual Report notes that the company has developed an innovative private equity fund model with cumulative fundraising exceeding $14.3 billion, creating demonstration effects in supporting capital market development, but does not provide commitment pacing details, unfunded commitment totals, or deployment schedules. The company reports investments in associates and joint ventures totaling 4.15 percent of the investment portfolio as at 31 December 2025, but does not disclose the composition of this allocation, commitment amounts, or pacing methodology.
• RFP, procurement, and board calendar: China Life operates a centralized procurement platform at cpmsx.e-chinalife.com. The company does not publish an RFP calendar, upcoming procurement opportunities, procurement methodology, or board meeting schedule in its public filings. No guidance on unsolicited proposals, manager introduction pathways, or realistic entry routes is disclosed. The 2025 Annual Report notes that the company maintains a stable and professional management team with in-depth knowledge of China's life insurance market, including investment managers, but does not describe the manager selection process, evaluation criteria, or procurement timeline. External managers seeking access would need to monitor the procurement portal for posted opportunities, though the fund provides no public calendar or process description.

Matching profile: these data points feed the cross-fund manager matching profile.

Sources: 2025 Annual Report (26 March 2026), 2025 Annual Results presentation (26 March 2026), centralized procurement platform at cpmsx.e-chinalife.com.

Governance and Leadership

China Life Insurance Company Limited is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by Cai Xiliang. Executive Directors are Li Mingguang (President), Liu Hui (Vice President and Chief Investment Officer since December 2023, and Board Secretary since January 2025), and Ruan Qi (Vice President and Chief Risk Officer). Non-executive Directors are Hu Jin, Hu Rong, and Niu Kailong, and Independent Directors are Lam Chi Kuen, Zhai Haitao, Chen Jie, and Lu Feng. The 2025 Annual Report publishes director biographies and senior management profiles.

Investments are managed through China Life Asset Management Company Limited, the company's controlled asset management subsidiary. The company does not publish board or committee meeting minutes or meeting materials.

• Cai Xiliang, Chairman of the Board, Executive Director
• Li Mingguang, Executive Director, President
• Liu Hui, Executive Director, Vice President, Chief Investment Officer
• Ruan Qi, Executive Director, Vice President, Chief Risk Officer
• Hu Jin, Non-executive Director
• Hu Rong, Non-executive Director
• Niu Kailong, Non-executive Director
• Lam Chi Kuen, Independent Director
• Zhai Haitao, Independent Director
• Chen Jie, Independent Director
• Lu Feng, Independent Director

How to Engage

China Life manages investments primarily in-house through its controlled subsidiary, China Life Asset Management Company Limited. The company operates a centralized procurement platform at cpmsx.e-chinalife.com for vendor and service provider engagement. No public RFP calendar, procurement methodology, or process description is disclosed in the company's public filings or on its website. The company does not disclose an investment consultant relationship, manager selection process, or guidance on unsolicited proposals in its 2025 Annual Report or investor relations materials.

External managers seeking access to China Life's investment portfolio face no disclosed pathway. The company does not publish an RFP calendar, upcoming procurement opportunities, or realistic entry routes. Managers would need to establish direct relationships with China Life Asset Management Company Limited or monitor the centralized procurement platform for any posted opportunities, though the fund provides no public calendar or process description. The company's role as one of the largest institutional investors in China, with equity investments in the open market exceeding $171.6 billion as at the end of 2025, suggests significant scale, but no external manager roster or engagement pathway is disclosed.

Sources and Documents

• 2025 Annual Report (PDF, published 26 March 2026)
• 2025 Annual Results presentation (26 March 2026)
• Centralized procurement platform

Data Notes and Methodology

This profile is based on China Life Insurance Company Limited's 2025 Annual Report published 26 March 2026, covering the period ended 31 December 2025, and the 2025 Annual Results presentation published the same date. The assessment date is 1 October 2026. Total assets of RMB 7,591,004 million as at 31 December 2025 were converted to USD at the period-end exchange rate of 6.9931 CNY per USD (31 December 2025), yielding $1.09 trillion. China Life is a listed insurance company (stock code 2628), not a traditional institutional capital allocator such as a pension fund, sovereign wealth fund, endowment, foundation, or family office. The profile has been extracted given the company's role as one of the largest institutional investors in China and controlling shareholder of China Life Asset Management Company Limited. The company does not disclose an investment policy statement, target allocation ranges, external manager rosters, manager selection processes, named investment consultants, RFP calendars, or board/committee meeting materials in its public filings. The 2025 Annual Report names the full Board of Directors and senior management, including the Chief Investment Officer, and discloses the investment management service fee paid to China Life Asset Management Company Limited of RMB 4,646.47 million for 2025. Investment yields reported are gross investment yields for the total investment portfolio; the company does not disclose fund-level, mandate-level, or asset-class-specific returns. The next expected update is the 2026 Annual Report, anticipated in 2027.