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Introduction & Market Context
New China Life Insurance Co Ltd (SHA:601336) presented its interim results for the first half of 2025 on August 29, showcasing robust growth across all key financial metrics. The company has successfully leveraged industry development opportunities to strengthen its market position, earning a place among the Fortune Global 500.
The insurer’s stock closed at RMB 64.69, up 5.49% on the day of the presentation, reflecting positive market reaction to the strong results. The share price has been trading near its 52-week high of RMB 71.16, significantly above its 52-week low of RMB 31.02.
Quarterly Performance Highlights
New China Life reported exceptional growth in the first half of 2025, with Gross Written Premiums (GWP) reaching RMB 121.26 billion, a 22.7% increase year-over-year. Operating revenue climbed to RMB 70.04 billion, up 26.0% compared to the same period in 2024.
The most impressive metric was the 58.4% surge in New Business Value (NBV) to RMB 6,182 million, demonstrating the company’s success in improving business quality while reducing costs and enhancing efficiency.
As shown in the following chart, the company’s NBV growth has been substantial, with embedded value components also showing strong improvement:
Profitability metrics were equally impressive, with net profit attributable to shareholders reaching RMB 14.8 billion, a 33.5% increase from the previous year. Return on Equity (ROE) improved by 4.72 percentage points to 15.93%, while the dividend per share increased by 24.1% to RMB 0.67.
The following chart illustrates the company’s improving profitability metrics:
The company maintained growth across all distribution channels, with particularly strong performance in the bancassurance segment. Total GWP increased by 22.7% to RMB 121,262 million, with significant contributions from both new business and renewal premiums.
The breakdown of GWP by channel shows the following distribution:
Strategic Initiatives
New China Life is actively implementing its "New Ten Guidelines" to strengthen strategic transformation. The company is transitioning toward participating insurance products, diversifying its product mix, and upgrading its marketing model to a twin-engine approach powered by agents and staff.
The insurer has placed significant emphasis on serving national strategic priorities, with investments exceeding RMB 1.21 trillion in the real economy and approaching RMB 150 billion in the "Five Priorities" areas. These include technology finance (RMB 60.5 billion, up 29.3%), green finance (RMB 31.6 billion, up 28.8%), inclusive finance (RMB 22.7 billion, up 200%), pension finance (RMB 16.1 billion, up 290%), and digital finance (RMB 4.5 billion, up 93.8%).
The company’s commitment to these strategic areas is illustrated in the following diagram:
New China Life is also expanding its customer service ecosystem, building service brands such as "Xinhua Zun," "Xinhua An," "Xinhua Rui," and "Xinhua Yue" to enhance ten service areas including medical care, healthcare, old-age care, and wealth management. The company has developed 40 premium healthcare and elderly care communities and expanded its overseas medical service network to 40 international hospitals.
Investment Performance
The company’s investment assets grew by 5.1% to RMB 1,712,522 million as of June 30, 2025, compared to RMB 1,629,361 million at the end of 2024. The annualized total investment yield increased by 1.1 percentage points to 5.9%.
New China Life has maintained a diversified investment portfolio, with a significant portion allocated to bonds, complemented by stocks, funds, and other financial investments. The company emphasizes long-term, value-oriented, and prudent investment strategies while improving asset-liability matching.
The following chart shows the company’s investment portfolio allocation:
The insurer has committed RMB 46.25 billion to a pilot fund and acquired significant shares in high-quality listed companies such as Hangzhou Bank and Beijing Enterprises Group. It has also strengthened support for strategic emerging industries and new infrastructure projects.
Forward-Looking Statements
Looking ahead, New China Life aims to position itself as China’s leading financial services group with insurance at its core. The company plans to strengthen top-level design, improve systems and mechanisms, optimize development layout, upgrade its management system, and revitalize cultural values.
The insurer will continue to focus on putting customers at the center of its operations while adopting a holistic insurance philosophy. It aims to be a driver of reform and development, a guardian of customer service, a practitioner of patient capital, a pioneer in forging ahead, and an advocate of insurance with care.
With its strong financial performance in the first half of 2025 and clear strategic direction, New China Life appears well-positioned to maintain its growth trajectory and strengthen its market position in the coming years.
Full presentation:
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