China Aviation Industry Corporation's insurance landscape continues to shrink: plans to liquidate its stake in its insurance brokerage subsidiary.

Recently, reporters noticed that the transfer of 100% equity of Shanghai Jingxi Insurance Brokerage Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Jingxi Insurance Brokerage”) has begun pre-disclosure on the Beijing Equity Exchange. The holder of this equity is China Aviation Investment Holding Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “AVIC Investment”), a member of China Aviation Industry Corporation.

(Source: Beijing Equity Exchange)

China Aviation Industry Corporation was once a steadfast entrant into the insurance industry. In 2011, China Aviation Industry Corporation jointly initiated the establishment of AVIC Anmeng Property & Casualty Insurance (now renamed “Anmeng Insurance”), with each shareholder holding 50%. Ten years later, in 2021, China Aviation Industry Corporation transferred its 50% stake in AVIC Anmeng Property & Casualty Insurance to AVIC Investment. In the same year, AVIC Anmeng Insurance promoted capital increase, with AVIC Investment investing 150 million yuan.

At that time, AVIC Capital, a shareholder of AVIC Investment, stated that its strategic goal was to build a comprehensive financial business platform. After acquiring the equity of AVIC Anmeng Insurance, AVIC Capital and AVIC Investment would add property insurance licenses, further improve financial layout, and enhance the company’s core competitiveness.

However, just two years later, in September 2023, AVIC Investment announced the listing of its entire 50% stake in AVIC Anmeng Property & Casualty Insurance for transfer, with a transfer base price of 885 million yuan. Regarding this equity transfer, AVIC Anmeng Insurance stated that the shareholders aimed to optimize the financial business structure and focus on serving the main aviation industry. The equity was ultimately acquired by Shudao Investment Group, a state-owned enterprise.

With this, a significant part of China Aviation Industry Corporation’s insurance landscape has been withdrawn. The remaining focus is on “light-asset” insurance intermediary companies.

In 2020, according to Tianyancha information, AVIC Investment completed its capital contribution to Jingxi Insurance Brokerage. Since then, Jingxi Insurance Brokerage has been strongly associated with the “aviation” label, gradually building a product matrix based on aviation DNA: for corporate clients, including customized property risk management solutions (covering aviation industry, property insurance, logistics and freight insurance), employee benefits plans, director and officer liability insurance, and insurance products for employees and families.

Latest performance data shows that by 2025, Jingxi Insurance Brokerage’s assets and operating income will reach 17.626 million yuan, with a net profit of 5.7387 million yuan. By the end of February 2026, total assets are 59.9434 million yuan.

Behind this further retreat, unlike the early years when capital rushed into the insurance industry and competed fiercely for licenses, today, amid industry deep adjustments and tightening regulatory policies, the once highly sought-after insurance licenses have lost their hotness, and premium space for licenses is continuously compressed. Coupled with policies like the “withdrawal of funds order,” state-owned enterprises are gradually returning to their core businesses, and the pace of divesting non-core financial assets has accelerated. China Aviation Industry Corporation’s successive withdrawals are a microcosm of this trend.

In addition to AVIC Investment, China Aluminum Group’s Yunnan Metallurgical Group has listed its equity in Chengtai Property & Casualty Insurance for the third time; Huatai Insurance, characterized by dispersed equity, has seen multiple state-owned enterprises such as Northeast Light Alloy Co., Ltd., China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, and Jiangnan Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd. divest their stakes in recent years; China National Railway Group’s China Rensheng Property & Casualty Insurance’s approximately 5% stake was listed for liquidation by China Railway Construction Investment Group; China Telecom’s Tianyi Payment Technology publicly listed to transfer 100% equity of Orange Insurance Agency.

In recent years, many insurance institutions’ equity transfer transactions have been “pending,” and this wave of retreat driven by “returning to main business” is expected to continue.