"Post-80s" take the helm: Dongfang Jiafu Life Insurance sets out again

After a series of changes involving capital increases and a brand name change, the core management team adjustment at Oriental Jiahua Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Oriental Jiahua Life”) has finally come to a conclusion. On March 16, the Zhejiang Regulatory Bureau of the National Financial Supervisory Administration officially issued a reply, approving Liu Dayong’s qualification to serve as the company’s general manager. With this, the insurance company, which has transitioned from a joint venture to state-owned control, has completed its core personnel layout after changes in equity and name, with the young management team consisting of “post-80s” chairman He Xin and general manager Liu Dayong officially at the helm. What direction will Oriental Jiahua Life take in its future development? What areas will its business focus on? All await time to provide answers.

Youthful Management

Last August, former general manager Zhang Xifan of Oriental Jiahua Life resigned for personal reasons after only 8 months in office. At that time, then-vice general manager Liu Dayong was appointed as the interim head, acting in the role of general manager. On March 16, the Zhejiang Regulatory Bureau of the National Financial Supervisory Administration officially approved Liu Dayong’s qualification to serve as general manager of Oriental Jiahua Life, marking the formal recognition of his “acting” status and indicating that the adjustment of the company’s core management team has essentially settled.

In addition to the general manager adjustment, the qualification of chairman He Xin to serve was also officially approved last year. In November last year, the Zhejiang Regulatory Bureau of the National Financial Supervisory Administration issued a reply stating that He Xin’s qualification to serve as chairman of Oriental Jiahua Life was approved.

Currently, the most notable highlight in the management structure of Oriental Jiahua Life is that both He Xin and Liu Dayong are “post-80s”, a youthful management combination that is rare in the core management of the life insurance industry. According to information, He Xin was born in February 1982, is a Chinese certified public accountant and a member of the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants; he began working in 2004 at the Xi’an branch of PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhongtian, serving as an auditor, senior auditor, manager, and senior manager; in 2008, he was seconded to the Robinhood accounting firm (PricewaterhouseCoopers Hong Kong); in 2017, he joined Zhejiang Dongfang Group Co., Ltd. (now renamed “Zhejiang Dongfang Holdings Group Co., Ltd.”), and currently serves as a member of the party committee, vice general manager, and board secretary of Zhejiang Dongfang Holdings Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhejiang Dongfang”).

Liu Dayong was born in June 1981 and holds a doctoral degree. He began working in July 2008, serving in various positions including advisor for the Ping An reform project team, senior manager at the Sunshine Insurance Group’s Strategic and Innovation Development Center, head of the planning and marketing department at Hongkang Life Insurance Co., Ltd., head of the planning and marketing departments at Huazhong Life Insurance Co., Ltd., and head of strategic planning at Financial One Account.

In recent years, the generational turnover in insurance company management has accelerated, with youth and professionalism becoming new trends. Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, stated that youthful teams respond more quickly to new growth points such as digital transformation and health ecology, and can break the traditional insurance company’s “scale-driven” path dependence. A longer career service period is conducive to the continuity of medium- to long-term strategies, avoiding governance turmoil caused by frequent management changes.

“From a business perspective, areas such as life insurance actuarial science, compliance management, and long-term capital operation require deep industry accumulation. Moreover, there may be a generation gap between young management and older employees, which, if communication mechanisms are not well established, could lead to a decline in internal collaboration efficiency and affect team cohesion,” industry insiders added.

Equity Restructuring Brings Change

Behind the personnel upheaval is the reshaping of Oriental Jiahua Life’s equity structure and strategic layout.

Oriental Jiahua Life was originally named Zhonghan Life and was established in 2012, initially jointly owned by Zhejiang International Trade Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhejiang International Trade”) and Korea’s Hanwha Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Hanwha Life”) with each holding 50%. Subsequently, Zhejiang International Trade transferred its shares to Zhejiang Dongfang.

The year 2022 marked a turning point for Oriental Jiahua Life, as Zhejiang Dongfang increased its capital and the shareholding ratio changed to 33.33%, while Hanwha Life, which did not participate in this capital increase, saw its shareholding drop to 24.99%. At the same time, this capital increase also brought in five local state-owned enterprises from Zhejiang, changing the company’s nature from a joint venture to state-controlled. Currently, Zhejiang Dongfang is the controlling shareholder of Oriental Jiahua Life, with the Zhejiang State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission as its actual controller.

Significant changes in equity are often accompanied by company name changes, governance structure reforms, and major adjustments in the board of directors and core executives. In January 2025, following regulatory approval, the name “Zhonghan Life” was changed to “Oriental Jiahua Life.” In August 2025, former general manager Zhang Xifan resigned for personal reasons, and last November, He Xin was approved to serve as the company’s chairman.

Previously, Oriental Jiahua Life faced pressure regarding profitability; a report by Beijing Business Today revealed that from 2012 to 2023, Oriental Jiahua Life only achieved profitability in 2020, with losses in all other years totaling over 1.5 billion yuan. The turning point came in 2024, when the company’s insurance business revenue reached 3.21 billion yuan, with a net profit of 10 million yuan; in 2025, the company continued to be profitable, with insurance business revenue of 3.972 billion yuan and net profit rising to 60 million yuan.

However, the growth of business has also accelerated the consumption of solvency. As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, Oriental Jiahua Life’s core solvency adequacy ratio was 111%, and the comprehensive solvency adequacy ratio was 222%. Although still significantly above the regulatory red line, this represents a noticeable decline compared to the capital increase’s initial ratios of 393.57% and 427.54% in the third quarter of 2022.

Beijing Business Today has sent inquiries to Oriental Jiahua Life regarding business development and other issues, but as of the time of publication, no response has been received.

Where to Go

With the core management team in place and entering a profit period, Oriental Jiahua Life stands at a new starting point.

Regarding the company’s development, chairman He Xin stated at the 2026 annual work conference that standing at a new starting point, the company will focus on two main lines of “health finance and shared wealth finance,” striving to build a “value-oriented insurance company” with business innovation, partnership symbiosis, and organizational evolution capabilities.

Relying on its geographical advantages and state-owned resources in the Yangtze River Delta region is the core competitiveness of Oriental Jiahua Life. For Oriental Jiahua Life, how should it best leverage these advantages? Zhi Peiyuan, vice chairman of the Listing Company Investment Professional Committee of the China Investment Association, stated that Oriental Jiahua Life should rely on shareholder resources primarily from local state-owned enterprises in Zhejiang, as its development possesses a natural geographical advantage and resource endowment. As the controlling shareholder, Zhejiang Dongfang has the capability of comprehensive financial licensing and industrial resource integration, enabling the company to utilize its network in trade, investment, and wealth management to facilitate the integration of production and finance, such as providing customized group insurance products for employees of enterprises under its shareholders, and developing relevant insurance services for upstream and downstream customers of the industry chain to expand business scenarios.

Additionally, industry insiders mentioned that Oriental Jiahua Life can leverage its local state-owned background to participate in people’s livelihood projects in Zhejiang and even the Yangtze River Delta region, such as supplementary medical insurance, elderly community construction, and insurance services related to rural revitalization, enhancing brand credibility and acquiring stable customer traffic.

Beijing Business Today reporter Li Xiumei

(Editor: Qian Xiaorui)

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