China Life, the country’s largest life insurer, is exploring ways to upgrade services for mainland clients, driven by the exceptionally strong sales market as borders reopened and mainlanders return to Hong Kong.
The insurer was part of a 136% jump in new business premiums recorded in the first four months, and China Life is making efforts to seize up an even bigger share.
According to a report from Bloomberg, insurance sales to mainland visitors rose by nearly 28 times in the first quarter to HK$9.6 billion (US$1.2 billion), which is about three quarters of its performance for the same period in 2019. This, in turn, bolstered the sales of China Life and global competitors such as Prudential and AIA.
China Life strategic planning deputy head Lu Fangbing said that the contribution of mainland customers spiked from 4% in January to 15% through May 23.
“Mainland clients are a very important, new growth point,” Lu said. “We expect the growth to continue as the visits of clients would take time.”
To better realize the market’s improving potential, China Life’s overseas arm in Hong Kong is seeking to expand its agent force to target mainland buyers. Although Lu did not elaborate further on its strategies to capture more growth, bancassurance remains a strong driver for the insurer’s distribution channel, contributing about 70% of the sales. Lu also said that China Life is preparing to roll out more convenient services once regulators start such trials in the Greater Bay Area.
Recently, Insurance Business Asia spoke to McKinsey partners Charlene Wu and Bernhard Kotanko about the Chinese life insurance market, including advice for MNCs looking to break through the sector.
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