Five Chinese Listed Insurers Post Strong H1 2026 Net Profit Gains

As of August 26, 2026, five listed insurers on the A-share and Hong Kong markets had disclosed their first-half 2026 results. During the reporting period, benefiting from the upward equity market, these companies generally achieved high growth in net profit attributable to shareholders, presenting a strong overall performance.

Looking at specific figures, China Ping An achieved net profit attributable to shareholders of approximately RMB92.585 billion, up about 36% year on year; China Taiping reported shareholder attributable profit of about HK$12.873 billion, up roughly 90% year on year; ZhongAn Insurance posted net profit attributable to shareholders of approximately RMB1.55 billion, up about 132% year on year; AIA Insurance reported net profit attributable to shareholders of about US$4.294 billion, up around 69% year on year; and New China Life registered net profit attributable to shareholders of approximately RMB22.793 billion, up about 54% year on year. Some companies also disclosed investment income data: China Taiping's total investment income for the first half rose about 121% year on year to approximately HK$47.952 billion, while ZhongAn Insurance's total investment return on insurance investment assets increased about 150% year on year to RMB1.596 billion.

The significant increase in investment income was the main contributor to earnings growth. After the implementation of the new accounting standard, insurers classify more investment assets as financial assets at fair value through profit or loss, with most technology stocks included in this category, so their price fluctuations directly affect current-period profit. By quarter, equity market performance diverged sharply: the ChiNext Index fell about 0.57% in the first quarter and climbed about 36.35% in the second quarter, leading to significant differences in quarterly results among insurers. In the first quarter, China Life's net profit attributable to shareholders declined 32.3% year on year, and China Ping An's fell 7.4% year on year. For the first half, China Life's net profit attributable to shareholders is expected to increase approximately 215% to 235% year on year, while China Ping An grew about 36%, showing the driving effect of the stronger equity market in the second quarter.

In terms of long-term value indicators, several listed insurers maintained growth trends. China Ping An's operating profit attributable to shareholders rose about 8.3% year on year, and its new business value grew about 11.2% year on year. AIA's operating profit per share after tax increased about 13% year on year, and its new business value rose about 10% year on year. These indicators exclude the impact of short-term market fluctuations and reflect core business profitability and new business potential.