ChinaLife InsuranceCompany Limited is a Beijing-based China-incorporated company that provides life insurance and annuityproducts. China Life is ranked No. 94 on Fortune 2015 Global 500 Company list. China Life, which is 70% state-owned, is the biggest life insurer in China, but is coming off a few rocky years. China's insurance market attracted dozens of new competitors after the Chinese government liberalized it, and China Life's market share has fallen by almost half since 2007, from 50% to around 26%, according to Morningstar. The company is completing a major restructuring, and the government assigned it a new CEO in 2014. A new sales push early this year led to a big bump in net income in the first quarter of 2015. China Life is also ranked on Fortune China: 2015 Top 500 Chinese Enterprises at No.13. China Life has more than 600,000 agents nationwide, making its cost of acquiring new customers relatively low. China Life has a substantial share of China's group life and health insurance business, and its government ties give it an inroad to help it build that business among state-owned enterprises. In 2015 China's government allowed Chinese insurance companies to invest in foreign real estate; China Life subsequently made its first such investment, in a Boston waterfront project.
China's audit office said it uncovered "improper and illegal activities" involving 3.02 billion yuan at two of the country's largest insurers, People's Insurance Co. of China Ltd. and China Life Insurance Co., during an audit of their 2009 books. They are charged with offences including the illegal sale of policies, overstating policy sales, improper claim settlements, illegal distributions of commissions and "grey income" - off-the-books gains, some of which company officials pocketed among themselves. These violations have raised concern amongst some Chinese citizens over the authenticity and legality of the policies they currently hold. They are worried about where their money is going and what it is being used for. Without transparency, trust is quickly evaporating from businesses that are found to be conducting shady business.
