China Life Insurance's 2025 investment performance is impressive. Liu Hui elaborates on the three core strategies of "Seizing the Opportunity, Planning the Opportunity, and Riding the Trend."

Source: Global Network

[Global Network Insurance Comprehensive Report] On March 25, China Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “China Life”) released its 2025 Annual Report. Specifically, last year, the company achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 154.078 billion yuan, a strong growth of 44.1% based on a high base, with an embedded value of 1.47 trillion yuan, firmly maintaining the industry’s top position. During the same period, total premiums exceeded 700 billion yuan for the first time, reaching 729.887 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.7%, with an increase of over 100 billion yuan compared to the first year of the “14th Five-Year Plan.”

In response to this, China Life held a 2025 annual performance press conference on March 26. At the meeting, China Life Chairman Cai Xiliang summarized this impressive report with “full marks.” Compared to the “high gold content” mentioned during the mid-year performance, the annual results further demonstrate solid development confidence, reflecting not only substantial economic value but also significant social value. He further articulated the company’s development trend with three “greater”: warmer protection, stronger momentum, and greater resilience.

It is worth noting that this performance highlights investment performance as a major bright spot. In 2025, China Life achieved its best investment results in recent years, with a total investment return rate of 6.09%, a year-on-year increase of 25.8%, achieving high growth based on a high base.

China Life Vice President and Board Secretary Liu Hui stated that such investment performance benefited from three aspects: the overall environment of China’s high-quality economic development and the stabilization of the capital market; the company’s long-standing value investment and prudent investment philosophy; and the correct analysis and flexible tactical operations regarding the 2025 market.

Specifically, China Life’s investment strategy is mainly reflected in three points: First, riding the wave, firmly increasing investment in Chinese assets to capture the era’s alpha of new productivity. With the unique long-term attributes and scale advantages of insurance funds, actively promoting the entry of medium- and long-term capital into the market. In a sluggish market, strategically increased equity allocation by nearly 5 percentage points in 2025, with the overall investment scale exceeding 1.2 trillion yuan, particularly focusing on technology stocks representing China’s new productivity direction. The primary reason for the performance increase is the investment that aligns with historical trends and keeps pace with the tide of the times.

Second, moving with intention, adhering to long-termism, and focusing on long-term strategic layout. The company always insists on leading allocation to plan its layout, such as seizing opportunities in high interest rates and large-scale issuance of long-term bonds, increasing long bond allocation across cycles, and currently accumulating 30 trillion yuan in long-term bonds, promoting a good level of asset-liability duration matching. During the interest rate decline, timely increased allocation to high-dividend stocks, constructing a diversified dividend portfolio, while employing quasi-fixed income strategies to respond to interest rate declines. The company’s investments revolve around a clear strategic asset allocation center, not deviating from the main line of liabilities, which is the foundation for sustainable performance.

Third, acting in accordance with the situation, flexibly making tactical adjustments and optimizing strategies. In 2025, equity investments seized structural opportunities in the market, capturing the main rising wave of growth styles, with TPR comprehensive equity investment returns nearing 30%. In fixed income investment, increased active management enhanced returns. In alternative investments, increased innovation efforts, launched the insurance industry’s first gold inquiry transaction, and established new strategies such as S funds and merger funds to enhance long-term return potential. Insurance investments need to span 20, 30, or even 50 years, using patient capital to traverse cycles and achieve long-term stable returns.

Regarding equity fund investment trends, Liu Hui pointed out that in 2026 and during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, China Life will continue to focus on the national initiative to cultivate and strengthen emerging industries, proactively laying out future industries, and using diversified tools such as merger funds, PE funds, and S funds to contribute to the growth of new productivity. Equity investments will primarily focus on: artificial intelligence and semiconductor fields, closely aligned with the main lines of technological iteration and domestic substitution, exploring investment targets with explosive growth opportunities along the entire AI industry chain. In the fields of health and biotechnology, focusing on aging populations and the upgrade of health consumption, laying out innovative drugs and devices, intelligent diagnosis and treatment, and chronic disease management. In the green energy and new infrastructure fields, continuing to delve into clean energy industries such as wind power and nuclear power around the dual carbon goals, paying attention to new energy storage and computational synergy investment opportunities.

“2026 is the starting year of the ‘15th Five-Year Plan.’ We are confident and capable of maintaining a steady growth rate based on multiple indicators reaching new historical highs, continuously optimizing business structure, further enhancing value creation capabilities, and taking the quality, structure, and sustainability of growth to the next level,” Cai Xiliang stated. (Xiao Ya)