People's Insurance Company of China

The People's Insurance Company (Group) of China Limited

Company type	Public, government-controlled enterprise
Industry	Insurance
Founded	1949
Founder	People's Bank of China (originally)
Headquarters	Beijing , China
Area served	China, international (including London and New York)
Products	Property and casualty insurance, life insurance, health insurance, asset management, reinsurance
Parent	State Council of the People's Republic of China
Website	www.picc.com

The People's Insurance Company (Group) of China Limited, commonly referred to as PICC Group or simply PICC, is a government-controlled insurance enterprise publicly listed in China.

Its key subsidiaries encompass PICC Asset Management, PICC Life, and PICC Property and Casualty (PICC P&C), with the latter also traded on public markets.

History

Originally established in 1949 as The People's Insurance Company of China (PICC; ) under the administration of the People's Bank of China, the company was reportedly dissolved in 1950. Subsequently, insurance operations were overseen directly by the People's Bank, except during the period from 1952 to 1959 when responsibility shifted to the Ministry of Finance (MOF). PICC was reconstituted in 1965 and later detached from the People's Bank in 1983 to function under the State Council of the People's Republic of China.

In 1996, it transitioned into a holding entity named People's Insurance Company (Group) of China (), establishing separate subsidiaries for property, life, and reinsurance segments. Nonetheless, between 1998 and 1999, China Life and China Re were separated as independent entities, alongside overseas operations which became part of China Taiping Insurance Group Limited. Following these spin-offs, the property insurance branch evolved into the new PICC holding company.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission was created in 1998 to oversee industry regulation.

In July 2003, PICC formed PICC Property and Casualty (PICC P&C) by carving out its property and casualty division, coinciding with a corporate restructuring into PICC Holding Company (). Initially established as a subsidiary in 1996, PICC P&C had been reintegrated in 1999 before its re-establishment. It went public in November 2003.

In 2007, PICC Holding reverted to the name People's Insurance Company Group of China (), later reorganizing as a joint stock company limited by shares in 2009 under its present title. Its H shares debuted on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 2012, followed by A shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2018. The American insurer American International Group (AIG) participated as a cornerstone investor during both PICC P&C’s IPO in 2003 and PICC’s H share offering in 2012.

Businesses

PICC maintains branch offices internationally including locations in London, New York, as well as numerous cities throughout China.

Since 2010, PICC has been featured in the Fortune Global 500, achieving a rank of 121st in 2019. Additionally, it appears on the Forbes Global 2000, positioned at number 155 that same year.

PICC Property and Casualty

The subsidiary PICC Property and Casualty (PICC P&C) stands as China's foremost provider of property and casualty insurance. It delivers a comprehensive range of insurance products excluding life insurance, acting as the exclusive agent for most foreign insurers operating within Mainland China. By 2018, PICC P&C commanded a market share of 33.0% within its sector. During the first half of 2017, it led the property and casualty segment with a dominant share of 34.0%, surpassing Pingan Insurance’s 19.6%.

The People's Insurance Company of China (Hong Kong)

In Hong Kong, PICC holds a controlling interest of 75% in The People's Insurance Company of China (Hong Kong), Limited (). Asia Financial Holdings retains a minority stake. This entity, previously known as Peterson Insurance Company Limited and Guangdong Asia Insurance Company Limited prior to its acquisition from Guangdong Holdings in 2002, specializes in non-life insurance offerings.

PICC Life Insurance

In 2005, PICC launched the Sino-foreign joint venture known as PICC Life Insurance (), with Japanese insurer Sumitomo Life holding a 29% stake, while Hong Kong-listed and Thai-listed Bangkok Bank each possessed 10%. After subsequent capital injections, PICC directly controlled 71.077% of PICC Life by 2018, along with additional shares held through its subsidiaries PICC P&C (8.615%) and PICC Asset Management (0.308%), leaving foreign investors with a combined 20% ownership.

PICC Life’s product portfolio includes savings-focused endowment insurance policies. By 2018, it commanded a 3.6% share of China’s life insurance market and ranked fourth in policy issuance during the first half of 2017 with a 4.3% market share, improving from tenth place in 2016. In 2019, Moody’s Investors Service assigned PICC Life an A2 rating for financial strength.

From a strategic perspective, PICC Life acquired a 4.98% equity interest in Industrial Bank in 2012, contributing to PICC’s overall holding of 10.87%, which made it the bank’s second largest shareholder. Executives from PICC Life, including President Li Liangwen followed by Fu Anping, have served as directors at Industrial Bank. Since 2016, PICC has also maintained a minority stake in , with vice-president Chen Zhigang appointed as a non-executive director from 2017 onward.

PICC Health Insurance

Established in 2005 as a joint venture with German insurer (part of Ergo Group under Munich Re) and other partners, PICC Health Insurance Company Limited () held a market share of 1.0% by policies issued in the first half of 2017, ranking nineteenth in the sector.

By 2018, DKV’s ownership had decreased to 2.2174%, while Chinese firm Capital Airport Holding owned 2.3342%. The controlling interest remained with PICC Group at 69.3239%, supported by its subsidiaries including PICC P&C (24.7262%) and another subsidiary holding 1.3983%.

PICC Asset Management

PICC Asset Management (PICC AM) functions as the investment division responsible for managing PICC’s non-Renminbi assets, facilitating international investments and overseeing overseas asset portfolios.

PICC Capital

Formed in July 2009 as a wholly owned subsidiary, PICC Capital Investment Management Company Limited (PICC Capital) operates as PICC Group’s exclusive platform for alternative investments and is recognized as the first such entity within China’s insurance industry specializing in this field. It plays an essential role in strategic asset allocation and securing resources by leveraging the PICC Group brand and network to invest through debt and equity across sectors like infrastructure, energy, inclusive finance, healthcare, and technology incubation.

Equity investments are conducted via PICC Capital Equity Investment Company Limited (PICC PE), which received approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission in 2017 to serve as PICC Group’s sole private equity platform. Managing an RMB 3 billion PICC Health Care Fund, PICC PE is among sixteen private equity fund managers in China backed by insurance capital.

PICC Re

PICC Reinsurance (PICC Re) is a joint venture formed between PICC Group (51%) and its subsidiary PICC P&C (49%), providing reinsurance solutions primarily to PICC P&C. The reinsurer benefits from robust capital backing and business support from PICC Group, mainly through its affiliate PICC Property and Casualty Company Limited.

Headquarters

The corporate headquarters is situated within the China People's Insurance Building (PICC Building) in Beijing's Xicheng District. Additional offices bearing the PICC name are located in Guangzhou and Chongqing, known respectively as the PICC Life Insurance Buildings.

Shareholders

PICC offers two categories of ordinary shares: A shares and H share, with H shares available for trading outside Mainland China. Residents of Mainland China can purchase H shares through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect programs, while international investors have similar access to A shares.

As of 31 December 2018, the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China (MOF) remained the principal shareholder, owning 67.60% of the company. The MOF also holds substantial equity in key financial institutions including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of Communications, China Cinda Asset Management, and China Re. The state pension fund, known as the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), possessed a total 9.79% stake in PICC during 2018, encompassing both A and H shares. In 2019, MOF transferred an additional 6.76% ownership to NSSF.

Among prominent investors was the US-based insurer American International Group (AIG), which maintained a 2.52% overall shareholding (equivalent to 12.76% of H shares) in 2018 but had completely exited by February 2019. Previously, AIG had divested most of its holdings in PICC’s subsidiary, PICC P&C, between 2005 and 2006.

Since January 2020, PICC’s H shares have been included in the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index. Meanwhile, its A shares feature in several leading indices such as the Hang Seng China 50 Index, the CSI 300 Index along with its blue-chip segment CSI 100, and the SSE 180 Index, which has incorporated its blue-chip subset SSE 50 since June 2019.