The five major listed insurance companies plan to distribute dividends exceeding 100 billion yuan

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Source: Beijing Business Daily

All the 2025 performance and dividend plans of China Life Insurance, China Ping An, China Pacific Insurance, and New China Life, have been fully disclosed, and a “billion-yuan红包雨 (billion-yuan red envelope rain)” targeting investors is set to arrive as scheduled. On March 30, Beijing Business Daily reporter statistics showed that the five A-share listed insurers’ full-year attributable net profits totaled 4,252.91 billion yuan, with an annual proposed total dividend of more than 1 trillion yuan, delivering a solid “returns answer sheet” to the market with their strength. However, in the face of dividend plans amounting to several hundred billion yuan from various insurers, investors can’t help but wonder, while feeling delighted: will this “red envelope rain” come every year as expected? Behind high dividends, where exactly does insurers’ confidence come from?

China Ping An has been increasing dividends for 14 years

In addition to the operating performance itself drawing close attention, the dividend plans of the five major A-share listed insurers also keep investors’ eyes on them. According to Beijing Business Daily reporter’s review and statistics, the combined proposed total dividends of these five insurers have already exceeded 1 trillion yuan.

Specifically, China People’s Insurance Company (PICC) plans to pay a cash dividend of 1.45 yuan per 10 shares for the 2025 final dividend (including tax), totaling 6.412 billion yuan. The full-year total cash dividend amounts to 9.729 billion yuan, accounting for 20.9% of net profit, and the dividend amount hit a historical high.

China Life’s board of directors recommends paying cash dividends of 6.18 yuan per 10 shares for the 2025 final dividend (including tax). Combined with the already distributed 2025 interim cash dividends, the full-year total dividends will be 8.56 yuan per 10 shares (including tax), with a total dividend amount of 24.195 billion yuan, up 31.7% year over year.

Also as a “major dividend payer,” in recent years China Ping An has continued to increase its dividend payout ratio. Regarding its 2025 dividends, the company stated that it plans to distribute 1.75 yuan cash dividend per share for the 2025 final dividend; full-year cash dividends of 2.7 yuan per share, up 5.9%; and the total cash dividend amount reached 48.891 billion yuan, maintaining an upward trend for 14 consecutive years.

China Taibao plans to distribute annual cash dividends for 2025 based on the total share capital of 9.62 billion shares, at 1.15 yuan per share (including tax), for a total distribution of 11.063 billion yuan. New China Insurance stated it plans to pay all shareholders a cash dividend of 2.06 yuan per share for the 2025 final dividend (including tax), totaling 6.426 billion yuan. In 2025, the company plans to distribute a total of 8.516 billion yuan in cash dividends, up 7.9%, or about 25.1% of the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company after deducting non-recurring gains and losses in the company’s 2025 annual financial report.

Many insurers in recent performance conferences released a signal that “dividends increased somewhat compared with the previous year.” Recently, China Taibao held its 2025 annual performance briefing. China Taibao’s board secretary Su Shaojun said that for 2025 dividends, this board recommends paying a cash dividend of 1.15 yuan per share, an increase from the previous year. The dividend level is further improved, aligning with the company’s dividend policy.

At China People’s Insurance Company’s 2025 annual performance briefing, President Zhao Peng said the company always places great importance on shareholder returns, maintaining the continuity and stability of cash dividends. In 2025, the group’s annual dividends per share were 0.22 yuan, up 22.2%; over the past three years, PICC Group’s cash dividend CAGR was 18.8%.

With dividend strength continuing to increase, top executives from multiple insurers also offered reassurance during performance briefings. As Zhao Peng pointed out, “The company will deepen its insurance core business, continuously improve quality and efficiency, strengthen payment management, and reinforce performance evaluation. By making efforts toward the same direction from both the liabilities side and the investment side, we will strive to achieve sustainable and stable growth in profitability, thereby repaying the trust and support of broad investors.”

Why are insurers willing to be “generous”?

This more-than-1-trillion-yuan dividend is not created out of thin air. Multiple insurers’ executives gave clear answers during performance briefings. On March 27, at the site of China People’s Insurance Company’s 2025 annual performance briefing, Zhao Peng explained the logic behind the dividends. He said the company’s dividend policy mainly considers the following three factors: first, overall consideration of differences between new and old accounting standards; second, fully considering capital constraints; third, striving to achieve long-term stable growth in dividends per share.

Wang Zhaojiang, Executive Dean of Shenzhen Beishan Changcheng Fund Research & Investment Institute, analyzed the signals and significance of listed insurers’ continued high dividend payouts in an interview with Beijing Business Daily reporter. He believes that high dividends are based on a solid operating fundamental, with strong earnings and cash flows. The five insurers’ 2025 attributable net profits totaled 4,252.91 billion yuan, and the total dividend amount exceeded 1 trillion yuan. With two consecutive years of high growth, it confirms a high-quality earnings model driven by a dual-wheel push from both the liabilities side—premium revenue—and the investment side—investment returns.

Looking back, in the annual reports of the five major A-share listed insurers, the total dividend amount mentioned was 63.825 billion yuan. Adding the interim dividends paid earlier, in 2024 the total dividends of A-share listed insurers totaled 90.789 billion yuan, up 20.21%.

“Insurers’ dividend growth also shows the implementation of insurers’ policy orientation, with a focus on long-term stable returns.” Wang Zhaojiang also said that insurers have responded to the new “Nine Provisions of the State Council” and “improving quality and efficiency and returning to returns,” shifting from “performance delivered” to continuous, predictable, high-proportion dividends. China Ping An has seen dividend growth for 14 consecutive years, and companies such as China People’s Insurance Company and New China Insurance have set historical highs in their dividend payouts. This also highlights that insurers have sufficient capital strength; their “safety cushion” for solvency is solid. Even after large dividends, they can still meet regulatory requirements, reflecting capital redundancy and controllable risk, providing support for both business expansion and sustained dividend payments. In addition, it further proves the investment value of the insurance sector. High dividend yield and stable growth align with institutions’ and long-term capital preferences, strengthening the insurance sector’s dual attributes of defense and returns.

Wang Zhaojiang further broke down the core considerations for insurers’ proposed dividend policy. He analyzed that assessing profitability and cash flow is the main basis and also the upper limit factor for dividends; capital and solvency are the bottom line for dividends; and regulatory and policy orientations are also important—they need to comply with new rules to ensure stability and sustainability. In addition, it is also necessary to take into account the insurers’ own business development and long-term strategy, maintaining the sustainability of long-term interests.

When talking about the impact of increased dividends, Wang Zhaojiang said that for investors, it directly boosts cash returns, enhances the sense of gain from holding shares, and increases willingness for long-term holding. For insurers themselves, high dividends convey confidence in operations, stabilize market expectations, and can help with stock price and market value management. For the industry and the market, it establishes a high-dividend benchmark, can also prompt other financial blue-chip companies to follow, and improves the overall dividend level of A-shares. At the same time, it further strengthens the insurance sector’s value-investing label, attracting incremental capital and further improving sector liquidity and valuation.

At the performance conference, Su Shaojun also expressed a similar view. He mentioned that investors can make reasonable expectations for potential dividend returns by tracking and assessing insurers’ mid-to-long-term development potential. The company’s management team can also focus more on shaping endogenous development momentum—by strengthening the capabilities to obtain sustainable businesses, release profitability, and control risk—to consolidate the foundation for shareholder returns. Meanwhile, it should appropriately realize the positive contribution of current investment performance to share operating and investment performance with investors.

Beijing Business Daily reporter: Hu Yongxin

Image source: Visual China

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