(Yicai) Sept. 3 -- Allianz China Insurance Holding, China’s first wholly foreign-owned insurance holding company, nearly tripled its first-half net profit as it targets further profit growth through 2030, while industry insiders said new accounting standards also boosted its reported profit to some extent.

Net profit reached CNY615 million (USD91.5 million) in the six months ended June 30, while gross written premiums rose 7 percent from a year earlier to about CNY7.3 billion (USD1.1 billion), according to the Shanghai-based company’s first-half financial report released today.

Allianz China officially opened for business in Shanghai in January 2020, becoming China’s first wholly foreign-owned insurance holding company, meaning it can own and oversee several insurance businesses under one corporate group, and marking a significant step in the further opening-up of the country’s financial sector.

Strong Growth Across Businesses

Allianz China expects the strong performance to continue.

“The company is expected to continue its good growth momentum this year and steadily move towards the strategic goal of achieving a fourfold increase in profits by 2030,” said Lin Shuncai, general manager of Allianz China.

Part of the profit growth, however, may have come from accounting changes. This year is the first in which unlisted insurers in China are fully implementing the new accounting standards, industry insiders told Yicai. The switch has boosted the profits of unlisted insurers, including Allianz China, to some extent, they added.

Allianz China said its three subsidiaries -- Allianz China Life Insurance, Allianz Jingdong General Insurance, and Allianz Insurance Asset Management -- all performed better than expected in the first half.

Allianz China Life, a wholly owned subsidiary, reported CNY3.6 billion in insurance business revenue in the first half, up 15 percent from a year earlier, while net profit more than doubled to CNY390 million.

The life insurer’s annualized new premiums and new business value both hit record highs for the same period. New business value jumped 81 percent from a year earlier, the fastest growth among Allianz’s businesses in the Asia-Pacific region.

Allianz Jingdong General Insurance, in which Allianz China holds a controlling stake, reported CNY3.6 billion in insurance premium income in the first half. Its combined ratio improved by 1.9 percentage points from a year earlier to 98.8 percent, while the insurer posted underwriting profits for two consecutive quarters and returned to cumulative profitability.

In asset management, wholly-owned Allianz Insurance Asset Management reported a 23 percent increase in operating revenue from a year earlier and an almost threefold surge in net profit in the first half.

Expanding China Presence

Allianz has repeatedly described China as an important strategic market and expressed confidence in its long-term prospects there, with Allianz China expanding its presence through acquisitions and new businesses in recent years.

In 2021, Allianz China acquired full ownership of Sino-German Allianz Life Insurance through an equity acquisition and renamed it Allianz China Life Insurance. Newly established Allianz Insurance Asset Management also started operations that year.

In 2024, Allianz China gained control of Allianz Jingdong General Insurance after acquiring a 53.3 percent stake in the joint venture property insurer from its Munich-based parent.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine