Founder of collapsed Chinese property giant given life sentence

Ping An Insurance, China's largest insurance company by market value, reported a significant 36% increase in interim profit for the first half of 2026, reaching 92.59 billion yuan (US$13.78 billion). This growth was primarily fueled by robust policy sales and improved investment gains. The company's net profit for the period exceeded analysts' expectations, which had forecasted 84.45 billion yuan.

Key factors contributing to the strong performance included a rise in new policy sales and a 4.8% average net investment yield on the insurance funds investment portfolio, which reached 6.61 trillion yuan as of June 30. The asset management net profit surged by an impressive 209.4% to 9.66 billion yuan in the first half. The life and health insurance divisions' New Business Value (NBV) increased by 11.2% to 24.85 billion yuan, driven by a broader product range and a more balanced sales channel.

The average NBV per agent rose 14% in the first half, while sales through bancassurance partnerships grew by 18%. Operating profit attributable to shareholders amounted to 84.2 billion yuan, or 4.82 yuan per share, marking an 8.3% year-on-year increase. Ping An chairman Peter Ma Mingzhe noted the complex and volatile external environment driven by the AI revolution and rapid, unprecedented changes in the past century, yet emphasized China's stable economy fostering innovation-driven, high-quality development.

Founded three decades ago as a life insurer, Ping An has evolved into a comprehensive financial conglomerate encompassing property and casualty insurance, banking, asset management, and healthcare. Ma stressed the importance of offering multiple products to enhance client retention. The banking arm reported a 3.3% increase, reaching 25.7 billion yuan.

Ping An Health recorded a net profit of 219 million yuan during the first half and served over 7,700 corporate clients as of June. Ma highlighted healthcare as a priority for growth due to China's aging population. This focus was balanced by a 12.4% drop in net profit for the property and casualty insurance business, which stood at 8.8 billion yuan in the first half.

The Shenzhen-based giant declared an interim dividend of 0.98 yuan per share, reflecting a 3.2% increase from the 0.95 yuan dividend paid in the same period last year. Ping An's total retail customer base expanded by 0.9% to 253.14 million. Despite the strong results, the company's shares fell 0.4% to HK$54.10 in Hong Kong trading before the announcements, suffering a 16.9% decline this year, trailing the Hang Seng Index, which rose by 0.3% over the same period.