Announcement • Dec 27
China Life Insurance Company Limited to Report Fiscal Year 2024 Results on Mar 27, 2025 China Life Insurance Company Limited announced that they will report fiscal year 2024 results on Mar 27, 2025 Announcement • Dec 09
China Life Insurance Company Limited Appoints Cai Xiliang as an Executive Director China Life Insurance Company Limited at the first extraordinary general meeting 2024 of the Company held on 30 October 2024 (the "EGM"), Mr. Cai Xiliang was elected as an Executive Director of the eighth session of the board of directors of the Company (the "Board"), and at the eighth meeting of the eighth session of the Board held on the same day, Mr. Cai Xiliang was elected as the Chairman of the Board of the Company. The Company has recently received the approval of qualification of Mr. Cai Xiliang from the National Financial Regulatory Administration (the "NFRA"). Pursuant to the approval, the qualification of Mr. Cai Xiliang as a Director and the Chairman of the Board of the Company has been approved by the NFRA, and his term of service commenced on 4 December 2024. In accordance with the requirements under the Rules Governing the Listing of Stocks on Shanghai Stock Exchange and in order to ensure the compliant operation of the Board, Mr. Cai Xiliang will act as the Board Secretary during the period commencing from the effective date of his appointment as the Chairman of the Board and ending on the date on which the qualification of Ms. Liu Hui as the Board Secretary is approved by the NFRA. As at the date of this announcement, the Board of the Company comprises: Executive Directors: Cai Xiliang, Li Mingguang, Liu Hui, Ruan Qi, Non-executive Directors: Wang Junhui, Hu Jin, Hu Rong, Independent Non-executive Directors: Lam Chi Kuen, Zhai Haitao, Chen Jie, Lu Feng. Announcement • Oct 31
China Life Insurance Company Limited Announces Board Changes The board of directors of China Life Insurance Company Limited announced that following the election of Mr. Cai Xiliang as an Executive Director of the eighth session of the Board by the shareholders of the Company at the first extraordinary general meeting 2024 held on 30 October 2024, Mr. Cai Xiliang was elected as the Chairman of the Board at the eighth meeting of the eighth session of the Board held on the same day. The qualification of Mr. Cai Xiliang as a Director is subject to the approval of the National Director of the Company and the Chairman of the Board will become effective upon the approval of the NFRA and his term of office will end on the expiry of the term of the eighth session of the Board. Announcement • Oct 16
China Life Insurance Company Limited Provides Earnings Guidance for the Nine Months Ended 30 September 2024 China Life Insurance Company Limited provided earnings guidance for the nine months ended 30 September 2024. For the period, Based on the Company's preliminary estimates, it is expected that the net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent company for the first three quarters of 2024 under China Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises ("ASBE") will be in a range of approximately RMB 101,135 million to RMB 108,767 million. Compared with the same period in 2023, this represents an increase of approximately RMB 62,971 million to RMB 70,603 million, or a year-on-year increase of approximately 165% to 185%. It is expected that the net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent company after deducting non-recurring items for the first three quarters of 2024 under ASBE will be in a range of approximately RMB 101,516 million to RMB 109,178 million. Compared with the same period in 2023, this represents an increase of approximately RMB 63,208 million to RMB 70,870 million, or a year-on-year increase of approximately 165% to 185%. Announcement • Oct 14
China Life Insurance Company Limited Appoints Liu Hui as Board Secretary The board of directors of China Life Insurance Company Limited passed a resolution on 11 October 2024, approving the appointment of Ms. Liu Hui, an Executive Director, a Vice President and the Chief Investment Officer of the
Company, as the Board Secretary of the Company. The qualification of Ms. Liu Hui as the Board Secretary of the Company is subject to the approval of the National Financial Regulatory Administration. Further, as approved by the Board, Ms. Liu Hui has acted as the Board Secretary on a temporary basis since 10 July 2024. As the period of Ms. Liu Hui's temporary appointment as the Board Secretary has reached three months, in accordance with the equirements under the Rules Governing the Listing of Stocks on Shanghai Stock Exchange and in order to ensure the compliant operation of the Board, Mr. Li Mingguang, an Executive Director, the President of the Company and the Acting Chairman of the Board, will act as the Board Secretary during the period commencing from 11 October 2024 and ending on the date on which the qualification of Ms. Liu Hui as the Board Secretary is approved by the NFRA. The biographical details of Ms. Liu Hui are set out below: Ms. Liu Hui, born in February 1970, became an Executive Director of the Company in May 2024. She has been a Vice President of the Company since July 2023, the Chief Investment Officer of the Company since December 2023, and the Acting Board Secretary of the Company since July 2024. She has been a Director of China Guangfa Bank Co. Ltd. since January 2024, a Director of China Life Asset Management Company Limited since August 2023, and a Director of China Life Franklin Asset Management Company Limited since April 2023. She was a Director of Wonders Information Co. Ltd. from July 2023 to January
2024. From 2014 to 2022, Ms. Liu successively served as a Vice President of China Life Investment Holding Company Limited, and an Executive Director and a Vice President of China Life Investment Management Company Limited, and concurrently served as an Executive Director and a Vice President of Sino-Ocean Group Holding Limited, the President and Chairman of China Life Capital Investment Company Limited, and an Executive Director and the General Manager of China Life Real Estate Co., Limited. She served as the General Manager of the Investment Management Department of the Company from 2009 to 2014, and successively acted as an Assistant to the General Manager of the Enterprise Annuity Department, the Deputy General Manager of the Pension and Institutional Business Department and the General Manager of the Transaction Management Department of China Life Asset Management Company Limited from 2005 to 2009. She worked at the Head Office of China Construction Bank from 1992 to 2005. Ms. Liu successively obtained a bachelor's degree in economics from Renmin University of China and a master's degree in business administration from Tsinghua University, and is a senior economist. Announcement • Aug 29
China Life Insurance Company Limited Announces Interim (Semi-Annual) Dividend for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2024 China Life Insurance Company Limited announced Interim (Semi-annual) dividend for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2024. Dividend declared is RMB 0.2 per share. Announcement • Mar 28
China Life Insurance Company Limited Announces the Resignation of Huang Yiping as an Independent Non-Executive Director, the Chairman of the Risk Management and Consumer Rights Protection Committee, and A Member of Each of the Strategy and Assets and Liabilities Management Committee and the Connected Transactions Control Committee The board of directors of China Life Insurance Company Limited announces that, on 28 March 2024, Mr. Huang Yiping tendered his resignation as an Independent Non-executive Director, the Chairman of the Risk Management and Consumer Rights Protection Committee, and a member of each of the Strategy and Assets and Liabilities Management Committee and the Connected Transactions Control Committee of the Company according to the relevant requirements due to his reappointment as a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the People's Bank of China. As the resignation of Mr. Huang Yiping will result in the number of Independent Non-executive Director falling below the minimum number required by the relevant regulatory requirements and the Articles of Association of the Company, Mr. Huang Yiping will continue to perform the relevant duties as an Independent Non-executive Director, the Chairman and a member of the specialised Board committees until a new Independent Non-executive Director is elected at a general meeting of the Company and his/her qualification is approved by the National Financial Regulatory Administration. Announcement • Mar 27
China Life Insurance Company Limited Proposes Final Dividend for the Year Ended 31 December 2023, Payable on 22 August 2024 China Life Insurance Company Limited proposed final dividend of RMB 0.43 per share for the year ended 31 December 2023 at its annual general meeting to be held on 27 June 2024. Ex-dividend date is 03 July 2024. Record date is 10 July 2024. Payment date is 22 August 2024. Announcement • Dec 15
China Life Insurance Company Limited Announces Executive Appointments China Life Insurance Company Limited at the extraordinary general meeting held on 15 December, 2023 approved the election of Ms. Liu Hui as an Executive Director of the seventh session of the Board of Directors of the Company; approved the election of Mr. Ruan Qi as an Executive Director of the seventh session of the Board of Directors of the Company; approved the election of Mr. Li Bing as a Non-executive Director of the seventh session of the Board of Directors of the Company. Announcement • Sep 22
China Life Insurance Company Limited Announces Change of Composition of the Special Committees of the Board The board of directors of China Life Insurance Company Limited announced that in accordance with the relevant regulations of the Company and taking into account the composition of the special committees of the Board and the requirements on the duties of the members, Mr. Li Mingguang, an Executive Director of the Company, has been re-designated as a member of the Strategy and Assets and Liabilities Management Committee and has ceased to be a member of the Risk Management and Consumer Rights Protection Committee of the seventh session of the Board with effect from 21 September 2023. Announcement • Jun 30
China Life Insurance Company Limited Announces Resignation of Hu Zhijun as Supervisor China Life Insurance Company Limited announces that due to the adjustment of work arrangements, Ms. Hu Zhijun has tendered her resignation to the board of supervisors of the Company in respect of her position as an Employee Representative Supervisor of the Company on 29 June 2023, which took effect on the same day. Ms. Hu Zhijun has confirmed that she has no disagreement with the Board of Supervisors and there are no other matters relating to her resignation that need to be brought to the attention of the shareholders of the Company. The Company would like to express its gratitude to Ms. Hu Zhijun for her contribution to the Company during her tenure of service. Seeking Alpha • Jul 15
China Life Insurance: Fundamentals Remain Intact Fundamentals are still strong for this large life insurance company.
China should offer growth for this industry, as the demand is there.
Valuation is still attractive at today's price level.
Investment thesis
My last article on China Life Insurance Company Limited (LFC) back in March this year came with a Buy call on the company, as I concluded that it offered good value at that time.
If you had bought the shares at that time, you could take some comfort in knowing that your book value would now be down by just roughly 3% against a backdrop of the S&P500 going down more than 16%
China Life Insurance versus SPY (SA)
Alpha is alpha – even if the return is negative, which brings me to my last article on Blackrock’s China A-share ETF (CNYA), where I pointed out that it looks to me that China at this moment offers better prospects of improved return as opposed to Europe and to a lesser extent also the U.S. The reason for this you will find in that article.
Back to China Life, perhaps as an alternative to buying the ETF CNYA one could use China Life as a good proxy for exposure to China.
Recent development
We will only get the interim financial report for 2022 around the 25th of August this year.
However, we do have an indication of how some of the top lines for the first half of this year have fared, as they have reported accumulated premium income from 1st January to 30st June of 2022 and it came in at RMB 439.7 billion.
This is slightly lower than the first half of 2020 when they recorded RMB 442.3 billion in premium.
It should be expected, as the lockdown in the first half of this year may have put a damper on growth in premiums. More and more of their customers do now sign on for insurance online, but there are still those that prefer to sit down with a person in a branch office. Something which was hard to do due to Covid-19 restrictions.
In the last few weeks, the central government has reduced quarantine times and eased some Covid-19 prevention measures. However, we do see that in different parts of China there has been a rise in new cases.
But things are hopefully changing for the better.
Consultancy firm Oliver Wyman predicted in a report published in March this year that China’s life insurance premiums are expected to surpass the U.S. market and become the world’s largest market by 2030.
Annuity and endowment products presently only cover about RMB 30 trillion, which is much lower than the population’s expected pension needs. This highlights the gap and opportunities for insurers like LFC.
A side note on investor activism
LFC is among the largest shareholders in two of the largest position in my portfolio.
These are HSBC (HSBC) and Hui Xian REIT, which is listed in Hong Kong under 8700.HK and controlled by CK Asset Holding (CHKGF).
With regards to Hui Xian REIT, I have recently written to the board of directors and explained to them that it is not in the shareholder's interest that the company issues new units to settle distribution and management fees now that they are trading at a discount to NAV of 75%.
Over the last ten years, they have added more than one billion new units, diluting the share count with 22.3% additional units without adding any productive assets to the balance sheet.
As a matter of fact, they should be buying back and canceling shares at this point in time.
So far, I have not received any response from Hui Xian REIT.
My next step will be to reach out to LFC, and other shareholders, with the aim of getting their support for my request to Hui Xian REIT of terminating the issuance of new units at this moment.
Hopefully, they can see the merits of my request and will want to take action.
Risk to the thesis
Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, China wants to make sure that the difference between the rich and poor, which is huge in China, should be addressed. That is not a bad thing. Announcement • Aug 29
China Life Insurance Company Limited (SEHK:2628) completed the acquisition of additional 5% stake in Wonders Information Co., Ltd (SZSE:300168) from Shanghai Wanhao Investment Co., Ltd. China Life Insurance Company Limited (SEHK:2628) agreed to acquire additional 5% stake in Wonders Information Co., Ltd (SZSE:300168) from Shanghai Wanhao Investment Co., Ltd. for approximately CNY 790 million on June 23, 2019. China Life Insurance Company Limited will acquire 55 million shares at 14.44 per share. Prior to this change in equity, Shanghai Wanhao Investment Co., Ltd. holds 200.6 million shares in Wonders Information Co., Ltd, accounting for 18.2871% stake and China Life Insurance Company Limited holds a total of 109.7 million shares in Wonders Information Co., Ltd, accounting for 10.0042% stake. After this change in equity, Shanghai Wanhao Investment Co., Ltd. will hold 145.6 million shares accounting for 13.2729% stake and China Life Insurance Company Limited will hold 164.7 shares, accounting for 15.0183% stake of Wonders Information Co., Ltd total share capital.
China Life Insurance Company Limited (SEHK:2628) completed the acquisition of additional 5% stake in Wonders Information Co., Ltd (SZSE:300168) from Shanghai Wanhao Investment Co., Ltd. in second quarter of 2020. Announcement • Jul 10
China Life Insurance Company Limited to Report First Half, 2020 Results on Aug 27, 2020 China Life Insurance Company Limited announced that they will report first half, 2020 results on Aug 27, 2020