Corporate History

2005

Ping An Insurance became the only China-based insurance company to be included in the list of the world's 2,000 largest companies compiled by the Forbes Magazine in April, 2005. It was ranked the 10th among the category of Chinese companies and the 539th overall. It was also ranked the 9th in the list of 100 strongest listed companies compiled by Fortune Magazine Chinese version as it joined the list for the first time as a listed company. In a survey conducted in August by the UK-based financial press Financial Times, Ping An was recognized as "Top 10 World-class Chinese Brands", as No.1 among all Chinese finance companies. In September, Ping An Insurance was ranked No.3 in corporate governance performance among a list of "Best Insurance Companies In Global Emerging Markets" and No.1 among insurance companies operating in China, according to a survey by Euromoney Magazine in September.

In May 2005, Ping An Health Insurance Company of China received the green light from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission to commence business. In June, Ping An Asset Management Company received an approval to commence business and became the first domestic institution which is allowed to invest in overseas markets. It became one of the largest institutional investors in the domestic capital markets. On August 2, Ping An Annuity Insurance Company of China, the first company in China specializing in annuity insurance, was granted two licenses as a trustee and an investment manager for Enterprise Annuity programs. Following the launch of these specialist units, Ping An moved a step forward to become an integrated financial services provider.

After a brief period of adjustment under a difficult operating environment, Ping An Life Insurance Company of China launched a series of strategies to make a return to robust growth in 2005. These strategies included building a systematic organizational structure, optimizing product mix, strengthening team management and enhancing productivity for the individual staff members. New products received warm responses from the market while activities to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the "Customer Service Day" were overwhelmingly welcomed. In addition, the individual life business was on the track for recovery, raising morale of the distribution teams to a new high. The overall business returned to a health track of rapid growth, reflecting the rich potential of this unit.

In November 2005, Ping An Insurance Group raised the paid-up capital of Ping An Trust and Investment Company by RMB1.5 billion to RMB4.2 billon from RMB2.7 billion, making the unit the largest trust company in China by capital. Meanwhile, Ping An Trust injected RMB500 million of capital to Ping An Securities. Ping An's consumer finance unit, Ping An Easy Money, commenced business on December 14. This marked a breakthrough for Ping An in the personal consumer finance market.

In January 2005, Ping An of China became the first mainland insurance company allowed to invest its foreign exchange funds in offshore markets, with a quota of US$1.75 billion. The company has a high quality investment management team and comprehensive back-end technical support. It has over the last few years developed an investment management platform and a risk management system that align with global best practices. Ping An Bank's head office was relocated to the Jingan Squaure in Shanghai from Fuzhou on July 5 2005. This Shanghai head office is expected to be better able to provide a comprehensive range of financial services, insurance products to Ping An's high-quality clientele who are located in the Yangtze River Delta area and coastal cities. Ping An Bank is taking this unique opportunity to accelerate its developments to grow commercial banking into one of the core businesses of the Ping An Group as a whole.

Ping An started to implement a performance-driven accountability system across all business units within the first half of the year. This system had been in practice among the senior management officers and division supervisors for three years. More guidelines were introduced to both the life and property and casualty business units to strengthen rule-based operation across the organization.

In January 2005, Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance set up four regional offices in China and launched a set of guidelines to create a region-specific business management system. These helped strengthen the management of the head office in Shenzhen in the regional business units. In September, as part of a broader customer-driven strategy, Ping An Property & Casualty initiated a reform on its organizational structure, pursuant to which the firm would be divided into six major administrative units: group business, individual business, claims approval, customer service, actuary/IT, and administration/finance. The backend support to the front-line sales is greatly enhanced.

After the occurrence of the tsunami catastrophe in Eastern Asia , Ping An Insurance promptly escalated its overseas rescue system and supported rescue actions by providing premium-waived coverage to the national rescue team. On July 29 2005, six Chinese tourists who purchased Ping An's overseas travel emergency rescue insurance experienced a fatal traffic accident in Austria. Ping An Insurance and its emergency rescue partner " Euro Alarm " promptly started an emergent rescue mission, the largest of its kind by Ping An.

Ping An considers its corporate citizenship as a guiding principle for its business operations. It aspires to create the best value for its shareholders, customers, employees and the society with strict adherence to highest business ethics. In 2005, Ping An was actively involved in a number of social activities, such as charity education, red cross services and disaster aids, etc. The company was named "The Best Chinese Corporate Citizen" by mainland newspaper 21st Century Business Herald, "The Most Excellent Chinese Corporate Citizen in 2005" by Ministry of Civil Affairs Corporate Citizen Working Committee. It received the "China Charity Award" from Ministry of Civil Affairs, and was named "The Most Respected Chinese Enterprise" by Peking University and Economic Observer daily for four consecutive years.