Has China Merchants Bank Li Gongzheng been "airlifted" to China Merchants Trust & Nuo, causing the foreign shareholder Cigna's voice to be sidelined?

Source: Global Tiger Finance App

Author: Zhang Boran

Recently, CMC Life Insurance plans to appoint veteran Li Gongzheng from the “CMB system” as the company’s general manager. If his qualifications are approved, this joint venture life insurance company will welcome its first general manager from the CMB lineage. With both the chairman and general manager positions being held by veterans from the CMB system, the influence of China Merchants Bank over this joint venture life insurance company is quietly “increasing.”

CMC Life Insurance will welcome its first general manager with a background from China Merchants Bank.

On March 25, according to Economic Observer, an internal document from CMC Life Insurance (hereinafter referred to as “CMC Life”) indicated that the former general manager, Chang Ying, has resigned from the position. Meanwhile, CMC Life plans to appoint Li Gongzheng as the new general manager.

It is worth noting that prior to this, China Merchants Bank and the American Cigna Insurance Group (hereinafter referred to as “Cigna USA”) maintained a management balance. At the executive level, the position of general manager was always filled through external selection, and China Merchants Bank had never assigned internal personnel to this position. Currently, only one vice president has a background with CMB.

However, this situation has now changed. The successor, Li Gongzheng, is currently the president of CMB’s Nanchang branch and has worked within the CMB system for a long time. In 2022, he served as the general manager of the interbank customer department at China Merchants Bank and has been the president of the Nanchang branch since November 2023.

In terms of premium income, in 2025, this “star company” began to show signs of fatigue. According to the solvency report released by CMC Life for the fourth quarter of 2025, the company achieved insurance business revenue of 44.631 billion yuan for the entire year, a year-on-year increase of only 7.53%, with growth slowing by more than 12 percentage points compared to 2024.

Compared to its peers, in 2025, bank-affiliated insurance companies achieved rapid premium growth, with a total of 10 companies generating insurance business revenue of 477.515 billion yuan, an increase of 15.29% from 414.195 billion yuan in 2024. Among them, CMB’s affiliate, CMC Renhe, achieved insurance business revenue of 17.957 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 17.36%.

“CMB system’s” influence is increasing

On March 25, according to Economic Observer, an internal document from CMC Life stated that the former general manager and CEO, Chang Ying, applied to resign from his positions due to “having reached the retirement age for leadership cadres,” and has received approval from the board of directors.

At the same time, CMC Life plans to appoint Li Gongzheng as general manager and CEO, but his qualifications are still subject to approval by the National Financial Regulatory Administration.

The most closely watched aspect of this personnel adjustment is that the long-standing balance of shareholder management at CMC Life since its establishment will be broken.

As a joint venture life insurance company with China Merchants Bank and Cigna USA each holding 50% of the shares, CMC Life has maintained a delicate balance in the management rights and responsibilities of the two major shareholders.

Among them, the personnel appointed by the CMB system occupy three seats on the board and appoint the chairman, while Cigna USA also occupies three seats and appoints the vice chairman.

At the executive level, the position of general manager has always been filled through external selection, and China Merchants Bank has never assigned internal personnel to this position. Prior to this personnel adjustment, there was only one vice president with a background in China Merchants Bank within the company’s executive team.

For example, Chang Ying, who is resigning from the position of general manager, previously worked at China United Life Insurance for a long time, serving as vice general manager, chief actuary, chief marketing officer, and other positions. He only assumed the role of general manager at CMC Life at the end of 2021.

The proposed successor, Li Gongzheng, is a veteran who has worked in the CMB system for many years and has extensive experience in bank management and interbank collaboration.

Public records show that Li Gongzheng has always worked within the CMB system, holding positions such as assistant general manager and vice general manager of the human resources department at the CMB headquarters, a member of the party committee and vice president of the Tianjin branch, and vice president of the Shenzhen branch. He served as the general manager of the interbank customer department at China Merchants Bank in 2022 and officially became the president of the Nanchang branch in November 2023.

In addition to the general manager position, CMC Life has also undergone a change in the chairman position. In December 2025, Wang Ying, vice president of China Merchants Bank, succeeded Wang Xiaoqing as chairman of CMC Life.

Compared to Wang Xiaoqing, who joined China Merchants Bank in 2020, Wang Ying has been rooted in the CMB system since early 1997 and has served as vice president of the CMB headquarters since November 2023, being the only female vice president currently overseeing retail business and other sectors.

Notably, from the career background, Wang Ying previously served as president of the Tianjin branch of China Merchants Bank and president of the Shenzhen branch, while Li Gongzheng has held the position of vice president in both of these branches.

Now, with Chang Ying officially stepping down and Li Gongzheng from the CMB lineage proposed as the general manager, the two core management positions of chairman and general manager at CMC Life may both be held by key personnel who have worked deeply in the CMB system for many years.

Changes at CMC Life

As a “bank-affiliated” insurance company, CMC Life has a high reliance on bank insurance channels.

According to a rating report from United Ratings, from 2022 to 2024, the proportion of bank insurance business at CMC Life was 77.30%, 82.78%, and 83.84%, respectively. Among them, the contribution of premium income from the China Merchants Bank channel has consistently remained above 95%.

Backed by the “king of retail,” China Merchants Bank, CMC Life has made significant progress since its establishment, with premium income consistently rising. Data shows that from 2022 to 2024, its insurance business revenue reached 26.519 billion yuan, 34.645 billion yuan, and 41.483 billion yuan, with year-on-year growth rates of 21.55%, 30.64%, and 19.74%, respectively.

However, apart from the bank insurance channel, the company’s other agency channels mainly involve indirect telemarketing business in cooperation with the bank’s credit card center.

Nonetheless, due to tightened regulatory policies and adjustments in the development strategy of credit card business at the channel end, CMC Life suspended its telemarketing model in cooperation with the credit card center in 2024, resulting in a significant decline in the scale and proportion of premium income from other agency channels.

Against this backdrop, in 2025, this “star company” began to show signs of fatigue. According to the solvency report released by CMC Life for the fourth quarter of 2025, the company achieved insurance business revenue of 44.631 billion yuan for the entire year, a year-on-year increase of only 7.53%, with growth slowing by more than 12 percentage points compared to 2024.

In contrast, bank-affiliated insurance companies in 2025 achieved rapid premium growth, with a total of 10 companies generating insurance business revenue of 477.515 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.29% from 414.195 billion yuan in 2024.

Additionally, in recent years, CMC Life has also exhibited a phenomenon of rising revenue without rising profits. In 2020, CMC Life’s net profit reached 1.630 billion yuan, the highest point in recent years. However, it then plummeted, with net profits from 2021 to 2024 being 1.183 billion yuan, 733 million yuan, 425 million yuan, and 536 million yuan, with year-on-year growth rates of -27.42%, -38.04%, -42.02%, and 26.12%, respectively.

Entering 2025, CMC Life’s profit saw a significant increase. Data shows that CMC Life’s net profit reached 3.312 billion yuan, achieving an astonishing growth rate of 517.91%.

However, the substantial increase in net profit for CMC Life may be related to the adjustment of new accounting standards. In the third quarter of 2025, CMC Life achieved a single-quarter net profit of 1.573 billion yuan, significantly higher than the levels of 140 million yuan in the first quarter, 145 million yuan in the second quarter, and 109 million yuan in the fourth quarter.

In this regard, United Ratings also stated that starting in 2025, CMC Life will implement new accounting standards for insurance contracts and new financial instruments, which affects the comparability of financial data in the third quarter.

Specifically, the contract service margin (CSM) introduced by the new standards essentially represents the unrecognized profit from insurance contracts, akin to a “profit reservoir,” and is a core item affecting net profit.

Thus, one of the core sources of the surge in profits in the third quarter is the concentrated amortization of CSM from existing policies, as well as the one-time release of historical profits after the switch to the new standards.

In terms of solvency, by the end of the fourth quarter, the company’s core solvency adequacy ratio was 129.93%, and its comprehensive solvency was 203.24%, which decreased by 8.58 percentage points and 7.63 percentage points, respectively, compared to the end of the third quarter, and decreased by 15.41 percentage points and 24.69 percentage points, respectively, compared to the beginning of the year.

Intensifying competition from rivals

While its own business growth is slowing, CMC Life also faces intensifying pressure from competitors.

In 2017, CMC Renhe officially resumed trading and opened for business, initiated by China Merchants Group as the main sponsor and largest shareholder, alongside several state-owned enterprises, becoming another life insurance company under the “CMB system,” operating at the same level as China Merchants Bank within the group.

It is understood that from China Merchants’ strategic intent, the hope was to form a complementary structure of “CMC Life focusing on the joint venture high-end market, and CMC Renhe deeply cultivating the local inclusive market,” completing the group’s full layout in the life insurance field.

However, in actual operation, the two life insurance companies, both under the China Merchants system, quickly fell into close competition. After its establishment, as an internal entity of China Merchants Group, CMB inevitably had to open channel resources and allocate network shares for it.

According to a rating report from United Ratings, from 2022 to 2024, the contribution of the bank agency channel to CMC Renhe’s original premium income was 87.64%, 87.24%, and 86.51%, respectively. Among them, in 2023, the contribution of premium income from the China Merchants Bank channel was approximately 56%.

Data shows that within less than half a year of opening, CMC Renhe achieved insurance business revenue of 371 million yuan; in 2018, its business scale surged significantly, with insurance business revenue increasing to 2.755 billion yuan; in 2019, it entered the “100 billion club,” with insurance business revenue reaching 10.483 billion yuan. By 2024, the company’s insurance business revenue soared to 15.301 billion yuan.

Notably, in 2024, for reasons of cost control and optimizing channel concentration, CMC Renhe took the initiative to reduce the business scale with China Merchants Bank, leading to a decline in the contribution of premium income from the CMB channel to around 28%.

Additionally, CMC Renhe has cooperated with some state-owned banks, rural commercial banks, and joint-stock banks to conduct business, where in 2024, the contribution of state-owned banks was about 46%, and that of rural commercial banks was about 25%.

Under this backdrop, in 2025, CMC Renhe achieved insurance business revenue of 17.957 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.36%, far exceeding the growth rate of CMC Life.

If the establishment of CMC Renhe represents a resource competition among peers, then the policy changes in the bank insurance channel in 2024 directly impacted CMC Life’s bank insurance channel.

For a long time, CMC Life has been overly reliant on the single channel of China Merchants Bank. However, after the bank channel canceled the “1+3” distribution restriction in 2024, the types of products that could be sold increased significantly, and the channel options tilted entirely towards the banks.

In the context of narrowing interest margins, urgent needs for intermediate income, and tightening regulation, banks began to prefer recommending products from large insurance companies that offer “better value for money” and stronger brands.

According to statistics from Zhongbao Xinzhi, the premium income from the bank insurance channel of Ping An Life surged by 163% year-on-year, while that of PICC Life Insurance grew by 60% year-on-year; the year-on-year growth rates for the bank insurance channels of Taikang Life and China Life also exceeded 40%.

Against this backdrop, this personnel change may be a key step for CMC Life in seeking a breakthrough for its development.