New business value surges by 48%, Sunshine Insurance's performance improves across the board, and Zhang Weigong's contributions are indispensable.

Ask AI · What’s behind Sunlight Insurance’s 48% surge in new business value?

Produced by|China Visit Net

Reviewed by|Li Xiaoyan

On March 16, Sunlight Insurance Group was the first to release its 2025 annual performance report. As the first listed insurer to disclose its annual report, these results coincide with the company’s 20th anniversary—both a milestone in its history and a proof of strength amid the industry’s transformation cycle. The report shows that the group’s total premium for the first time surpassed the 150 billion yuan mark, attributable net profit achieved double-digit growth, the life insurance business reached the 100 billion yuan platform, key value indicators jumped significantly, and the fundamentals remain solid and sound. Despite short-term challenges such as stage pressure on the property-and-casualty (P&C) business and marginal fluctuations in solvency margins, the company demonstrates comprehensive strength in “riding through cycles” and moving forward steadily, driven by strategic determination centered on proactive adjustments, structural optimization, and deep value cultivation. It provides a vivid example for high-quality development in the insurance industry.

In 2025, against the backdrop of the industry’s deep transformation and a complex, ever-changing market environment, Sunlight Insurance achieved steady improvement in overall operations and steady enhancement in quality. Major operating indicators improved across the board. The group’s total premium income reached 150.72 billion yuan, up 17.4% year over year, successfully crossing the new 150 billion yuan threshold; insurance service income was 65.07 billion yuan, maintaining steady growth; net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 6.31 billion yuan, up 15.7% year over year. Profitability increased sharply for the second consecutive year, and the quality of earnings continued to improve.

Embedded value in the group was 120.78 billion yuan, up 4.3% from the end of last year. The number of effective customers rose to 29.828 million, further strengthening the customer base and solidifying the business foundation. On the investment side, performance remained steady: net investment income and total investment income grew steadily; the comprehensive investment yield remained at an excellent level; and asset-liability matching management delivered notable results, providing strong support for business development on the liabilities side. From scale to profit, from value to customers, Sunlight Insurance presents an evenly balanced and steadily improving scorecard—adding a steady footnote to its 20-year development.

Life insurance became Sunlight Insurance’s biggest highlight in 2025, achieving a historic leap in both scale and value. Full-year total premium income was 102.61 billion yuan, up 27.5% year over year, and it entered the trillion-yuan premium club for the first time—becoming the core engine behind the group’s performance growth. Even more valuable, the new business value of life insurance reached 7.64 billion yuan, surging 48.2% year over year. The growth rate ranked among the leading in the industry, completely breaking away from the traditional path of “scale first,” and charting a high-quality development route where scale and value grow in synergy.

Optimizing channel structure is the key driving force behind life insurance’s high growth. The bank-insurance (bank channel) segment captured policy tailwinds and market demand, achieving explosive growth. New business premium reached 34.09 billion yuan, up 69.0%, and new business value grew sharply as well. The share of regular-premium businesses and floating-income-type products increased, helping it shake off the industry stereotype that bank channels focus on scale and neglect value. Although the individual-agent (direct sales) channel is in a painful transformation period and new business premium adjusted temporarily, through product-structure optimization and the cultivation of an elite sales team, new business value still achieved positive growth of 18.5%. The value rate rose steadily, laying the foundation for long-term recovery.

Sunlight Life focuses on customer needs and precisely matches the steady wealth-management demands of residents in a low-interest-rate environment. Product competitiveness has continued to strengthen. The share of high-value business has increased, customer structure has been continuously optimized, and both policy quality and customer stickiness have improved in parallel—laying a solid foundation for the long-term, sustainable development of the life insurance business.

The P&C business shows characteristics of staged pressure. Original premium income was 47.89 billion yuan, up only 0.1% year over year. Due to being dragged down by guarantee insurance business, the combined loss ratio increased somewhat, and underwriting faces short-term pressure. However, it is worth affirming that the company proactively responds with strong strategic judgment. Based on the market environment and policy orientation, it clearly stated that it will stop adding financing-type guarantee insurance business starting in 2026. At the same time, it will fully and sufficiently accrue reserves, and dispose of historical burdens in a one-time manner—showing a bottom-line mindset where risk control comes first and operations remain steady.

From a business-structure perspective, non-guarantee business achieved underwriting profitability. Core segments such as auto insurance, liability insurance, and accident insurance are operating steadily, and business balance and risk-resisting capability have continued to strengthen. This time, the company actively reduced high-risk and high-capital-consuming businesses, focused on core tracks, and although it brought short-term performance fluctuations, it fundamentally optimized the structure of its P&C business, reduced long-term risk exposure, and aligns with the regulatory direction and the broader trend of industry transformation—clearing obstacles for the P&C segment to return to a steady, profitable track. Short-term adjustments for long-term health is precisely the responsibility and担当 of a mature insurer.

As for the solvency indicators that the market is paying attention to, Sunlight Insurance still remains within the regulator-acceptable range, with solid and reliable risk-resistance capacity. In 2025, the group’s comprehensive solvency adequacy ratio was 196%, and the core solvency adequacy ratio was 136%. For Sunlight Life, the comprehensive and core solvency adequacy ratios were 170% and 110%, respectively—both significantly above the regulatory red lines requiring core solvency adequacy not less than 50% and comprehensive solvency adequacy not less than 100%. The company’s overall risk comprehensive rating remains stable.

Solvency margin fluctuations on the margin are mainly driven by the normal consumption of capital brought about by the rapid expansion of the life insurance business and the fast development of the bank-insurance channel—a stage phenomenon during the scale leap process of growth-oriented insurers. The company has incorporated capital replenishment and business pacing optimization into its strategic arrangements, proactively responding through adjustments to business structure, improvement of capital efficiency, and diversified capital replenishment, among others. This ensures solvency remains reasonably ample, leaving sufficient room for continuous business development. Short-term fluctuations in solvency do not change the company’s overall fundamentals of risk being controllable and operations staying steady.

Standing at a new starting point for its 20th anniversary, Sunlight Insurance’s development path is clear: life insurance as the growth engine, value as the core orientation, channel optimization as the driving force, and risk control and compliance as the bottom line. It balances short-term performance with long-term value. The breakthrough in life insurance premiums beyond one trillion yuan opens up room for growth. The P&C business’s proactive adjustments strengthen its operating foundation. Bank-insurance and individual-agency work in synergy to build diversified channels. Steady investments support overall profitability. Continuous growth in customers and embedded value builds long-term barriers.

Currently, the insurance industry is in a critical stage of returning to protection and transforming toward value. Stricter regulation and market segmentation are forcing insurers onto a path of refined, sustainable development. With impressive performance, proactive adjustments, and a clear strategy, Sunlight Insurance demonstrates the resilience and vitality of an established insurer. Business differentiation and capital fluctuations in the short term are normal tests during the growth process. Meanwhile, the long-term trend—scale leaps, high value growth, deep customer cultivation, and strengthened risk control—is the core main line of the company’s development.

After 20 years of hard work and deep cultivation, a new journey begins with a fresh chapter. Sunlight Insurance moves forward steadily through cycles with prudent operations; drives growth with value innovation; and meets challenges with proactive adjustments. It advances steadily along the path of consolidating life insurance growth momentum, optimizing the structure of the P&C business, improving capital utilization efficiency, and deepening channel transformation. In the future, as adjustments to the P&C business are completed, the transformation of the individual-agency channel takes effect, and capital management continues to improve, the company is expected to achieve higher-quality development that is more balanced, more sustainable, and more value-oriented.