Taiping Life - 80 Years of "China Taiping"
Taiping Life was founded in 1929. A life insurance company with a history of eighty years. During its 80-year journey to "China Taiping", it has witnessed the history of the development of China's national insurance industry. In the eight years since its resumption of business in China in 2001, the company has adhered to the path of connotative development, showing strong vitality and frequent highlights.
Highlight 1: With a stable shareholder structure and continuous capital injection, Taiping Life has stronger development capabilities;
Highlight 2: The comprehensive competitiveness has improved rapidly, ranking ninth among Asian life insurance companies. position;
Highlight 3: Achieving profitability for four consecutive years, Taiping Life has established sustainable development capabilities;
Highlight 4: Steady and efficient investment management advantages, bringing more benefits to customers Multiple benefits;
Highlight 5: Adhere to the construction of "Three High Teams" and lead the trend of professional management in the domestic life insurance industry;
Highlight 6: Adhere to professional management and build Taiping Life's personal business "Eight major systems" for system operation;
Highlight 7: First-class service support system to ensure the company's efficient and professional operation;
Highlight 8: Bravely responsible for corporate citizenship and social public insurance services As a business owner, we participate in various social welfare activities and undertake various important international and domestic activities.
Jincheng Bank pioneered the founding of Taiping Insurance Company
On November 20, 1929, Taiping Insurance Company was founded in Shanghai.
In the 1920s and 1930s, China's national insurance industry was at its first peak of development in history.
After the May 4th Movement in 1919, the national consciousness of the Chinese people continued to increase. He felt that "since Haitong, my country's property insurance and life insurance have been monopolized by foreign businessmen, and the spillover of money has increased year by year. Not only has it damaged the right to profit, but it is difficult to plug the leakage. It has a particularly serious impact on the development of my country's national industry and commerce" (Shen Leichun: 1937 "China Insurance Yearbook"), some people of insight began to raise funds to establish insurance companies, trying to compete with foreign insurance. According to records, from 1919 to 1935, Chinese people opened more than 30 insurance companies.
During this period, a new situation also emerged in China’s insurance industry, that is, it has become common practice in the banking industry to invest in insurance. There is a natural connection between banks and insurance: the loan business it operates, and the mortgage of goods or real estate of borrowers must be insured to guarantee it. When the insurance industry was in its infancy, bankers saw that it was a profitable industry, so they started to operate it one after another. In the 10 years after 1926, there were 12 insurance companies invested and established by private banks and government banks. "China Insurance History" commented on this: "From 1926 to 1936, as China's financial industry invested its abundant funds in the insurance industry, it improved the company's operation and management, paid attention to cultivating professional talents, expanded insurance types, and developed brokers , and used bank loan relationships to strive for industrial and commercial insurance business. The national insurance industry has developed rapidly. Compared with 1914, the number of companies has more than doubled, and the capital has increased by more than five times, presenting a new scene. "
It was against this background that after Donglai Bank established Anping Water and Fire Insurance Company in 1926, the private Jincheng Bank invested 1 million yuan (actual income of 500,000 yuan) to open Taiping Water and Fire Insurance Company in 1929. The insurance company is located in the Jincheng Bank Building, No. 212 Jiangxi Road, Shanghai. The company's chairman and general manager are concurrently served by Zhou Zuomin, general manager of Jincheng Bank, Ding Xuenong serves as the first associate manager, and Wang Boheng serves as the second associate manager. Taiping Insurance Company uses the Tai Chi graphic as its trademark, which means "endless life", and has the slogan "Taiping Insurance, Insuring Taiping".
The company was established on November 20, 1929, and officially opened on February 19 of the following year. The company mainly operates marine insurance, fire insurance, hull insurance, automobile insurance, etc., and also handles "glass", "postal parcel", "mobile", "cocoon yarn" and other insurance types. “In the early days of its establishment, although all businesses were in slump, the final accounts over the years were quite profitable and the business was progressing day by day” (Jincheng Bank Archives).
But after all, because the capital is not strong enough, it will not be able to handle large-scale business, or it will only be shared with others, which will affect the income. In 1933, Jincheng Bank planned to expand Taiping's operations, and other banks that had not yet been involved in the insurance industry were also eager to try. Therefore, Jincheng invited four banks including Communications, Continental, Zhongnan, and Guohua to join Taiping, and the capital was expanded to 5 million yuan ( Actual receipt of 3 million yuan). The momentum was huge and the financial world paid attention to it. In July, the company's reorganization was completed, with Huang Yizhu as chairman, Zhou Zuomin as managing director and general manager, and Ding Xuenong and Wang Boheng as associate managers. At the same time, the two words "water and fire" in the company name were deleted, renamed Taiping Insurance Company, and added life, accident and other insurance.
Taiping Insurance has since entered the ranks of large Chinese insurance companies
Taking over Anping Fengsheng Tianyi, group management has become a grand sight
In the 1930s and 1940s, China The rise and fall of insurance companies in the market, as well as differentiation and reorganization, are common occurrences. In the three years since 1934, Taiping Insurance Company successively acquired several Chinese insurance companies and began to move towards groupization.
At the beginning of 1934, due to poor management, Fengsheng Insurance Company planned to sell most of its shares to Taiping, reorganize the company, and cooperate with Taiping for business. Taiping is not interested in a joint venture, but considering that the company’s trademark has been around for many years, if it is fully taken over and continues to operate as a subsidiary, “the convenience of weighing control and choosing whether to accept or reject all businesses can continue to exist. , and can enrich the name of the company, provide more opportunities to attract business, increase the power of development, and complement each other” (Taiping Archives). After negotiation, Taiping finally bought Fengsheng for 10,000 yuan.
In May 1935, Donglai Bank joined as the sixth shareholder of Taiping Insurance. At the same time, Anping Insurance Company, founded by Donglai Bank, encountered operating difficulties and was taken over and merged by Taiping.
In 1936, China Tianyi Insurance Company, invested and established by China Kenye Bank, was transferred to Taiping at a low price because it had no one to manage it.
The above three companies still retain their original trademarks, and their branches and agencies in various places continue to operate. In order to strengthen leadership and management, Taiping Pingfengsheng General Manager Office was established in 1935. The following year it was changed to Taiping Pingfengsheng Tianyi General Manager Office, which took charge of all matters of the four companies. The General Manager Office is located within Taiping Insurance Company. The General Manager of Taiping Insurance Company also serves as the General Assistant Manager of the "Taian Fengtian General Manager Office". In this way, Taiping only had to use one set of management personnel to handle the business of the four companies. This European and American trust-like management form was unique among Chinese and foreign insurance companies at the time and attracted the attention of the industry.
After becoming a group company, Taiping not only has greater financial strength, but also has broader business contacts. All six shareholder banks and the local branches and associations of the Four Banks Savings Association have entered into agreements with the head office. The contract was entrusted as the company's business agent. In this way, all the loans and advances of all the six banks and one association were underwritten by the Taiping Insurance Group, and the business boomed.
In addition to setting up the head office in Shanghai, Taiping Insurance also established branches or agencies in large and medium-sized cities in six major regions: Beijing, Han, Tianjin, Harbin, Shandong and Guangdong. At its peak, Taiping Insurance had branches all over the country. The total number of agent outlets reaches more than 900, and branches have also been established in Hong Kong, Singapore, Saigon, Jakarta, Manila and other places. Within a few years, Taiping became one of the largest Chinese insurance companies in the country.
In those days, most national insurance companies had small capital amounts, and their underwriting capabilities and limits were correspondingly restricted. In order to enhance their underwriting power for huge amounts of business, some Chinese business companies have begun to join forces. In June 1933, 10 companies including Zhaotai, Hua'an, Yongning, Yong'an, Xianshi, Marine, Lianbao, Tongyi, Ningshao and Huaxing initiated the establishment of Huashang United Insurance Company, which was chartered by the National Government to operate reinsurance companies. It is a professional reinsurance company whose business nature focuses on facilitating the reinsurance of various companies. In 1936, Tongyi Company collapsed, and the funds of Huashang United Insurance Company were seriously affected. It lost 20,000 yuan that year, and the company was in danger of being dissolved. After several contacts, Taiping Insurance Group came forward to inherit all the shares in Tongyi's name with a face value of 51,000 yuan, with Taiping taking 26,000 yuan and Anping taking 25,000 yuan.
Accordingly, the articles of association of Huashang United Insurance Company were revised to increase the number of directors. Taiping served as the managing director and chairman of the board, presiding over the company's affairs, and Anping served as director. And entered into a reinsurance contract with Swiss Re Insurance Company. In the same year, Taiping Insurance entered into reciprocal reinsurance contracts with insurance groups such as Lloyd's, Century, Willis Faber & Dumas in the London market. Since then, Taiping has occupied a pivotal position in the reinsurance field.
Established Taiping Life Insurance, which operates property and life insurance separately
When Taiping was founded, it was named "Taiping Water and Fire Insurance Company". In July 1933, the company increased its capital and shares, the number of shareholders increased from one to five, and the capital increased from 1 million to 5 million. Not only that, but also removed the word "water and fire" from the company's name and prepared to add life insurance business.
In view of the particularity of the life insurance business, in September of that year, the board of directors decided to make the accounting department of the life insurance department independent and allocated 1 million yuan of national currency from the company's capital to prepare a fund for the life insurance business. In December, the company designated a dedicated person to start preparations.
On April 20, 1934, the Life Insurance Department was formally established and began operating from that date. By the end of the year, the effective insured amount had reached 1.7 million yuan. Since then, it has increased year by year, and its business scope has gradually expanded. To the whole country. In August 1936, Taiping Insurance acquired China Tianyi Insurance, and all life insurance contracts of Tianyi Life Insurance Department were also assumed by Taiping. By the end of 1938, when Taiping Insurance Life Insurance Department was reorganized into Taiping Life Insurance Company, Taiping’s effective life insurance coverage had reached 7 million yuan.
On January 11, 1937, the National Government revised and promulgated the Insurance Law and the Insurance Law Enforcement Law, stipulating that the same insurance company shall not operate both loss insurance and personal insurance before the Insurance Law is implemented. , should be reorganized in accordance with the law within two years after the implementation of the Insurance Law. Setting aside the life insurance department and establishing a separate life insurance company is on the agenda.
Taiping’s life insurance department has been an independent organization from the beginning, with independent business and accounting, and is not mixed with other business departments, so the reorganization procedure is relatively simple. After more than a year of planning, Taiping’s shareholders—six major banks including Communications, Jincheng, Continental, Zhongnan, Guohua, and Donglai—subscribed an additional share capital of 1 million yuan in national currency. Then a lively founding meeting was held, in which Zhou Zuomin was selected as chairman, Ding Xuenong and Wang Boheng as managing directors, Xu Hanqing and other seven directors, and Zhou Jiyun and other five as supervisors, and a petition was submitted for registration.
On August 10, 1938, upon approval by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the National Government, a business license was issued. On December 30 of the same year, Taiping Life Insurance Co., Ltd. officially announced its reorganization. All assets and liabilities of the life insurance department of Taiping Insurance Company and the rights and obligations under the contract were collectively assumed by Taiping Life Insurance Company. The life insurance department of Taiping Insurance Company was canceled on the same day. It is presumed that Zhou Zuomin is the general manager, and Ding Xuenong and Wang Boheng are the associate managers.
It took nine years from the founding of Taiping Insurance in November 1929 to the establishment of Taiping Life Insurance at the end of 1938. In these nine years, capital and stock were increased in 1933, group operations began in 1935, and Taiping Life was founded in 1938. Basically, it took three years to reach a new level. Its rapid development and growth were rare at that time.
Organize the Taiping Reinsurance Group to fight in difficult times
In 1937, Japan launched a war of aggression against China. After Japan occupied Shanghai, it did not immediately form an open confrontation with Britain, the United States and other countries. The British-American Concession and the French Concession in Shanghai became "isolated islands" surrounded by the Japanese-occupied areas. At the end of 1941, the Pacific War broke out. The Japanese army entered the Shanghai Concession. Insurance companies from Britain, the United States, France and other countries that used to control the Shanghai insurance market were ordered to close down and their foreign personnel were imprisoned in concentration camps.
Due to the long-term monopoly of foreign insurance companies on the Chinese insurance market, and the lack of funds and weak strength of Chinese insurance companies, Chinese national insurance companies have always relied on foreign insurance companies to solve their reinsurance problems, mainly British, American and Swiss Re. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Chinese insurance companies' reinsurance channels to Britain, the United States and other countries were forced to interrupt. Huashang Insurance Company in Shanghai found its own way out and established the Huashang Reinsurance Group.
In February 1942, Taiping Insurance Company joined forces with Baolong, Daye and other insurance companies to form the Taiping Reinsurance Group. By July, the number of member companies expanded to 19. Within a few years, the Chinese insurance companies in Shanghai have successively established reinsurance groups such as Greater Shanghai, Jiulian, Wulian, Shiwulian, and Huashang United, plus the Taiping Reinsurance Group, a total of 6 companies, with 80 participating companies. . Among these six, Taiping is somewhat different. The Taiping archives record this as follows: “The characteristics of the Taiping Reinsurance Group are that all group matters are handled by Taiping alone and are not subject to the control and control of other member companies. The Jiulian Group is handled by a separate group of participating companies. There is a significant difference between Taiping and a separate company of the Greater Shanghai Group that specializes in this matter. Taiping also enters into excess contract reinsurances with its domestic and foreign counterparts based on the principle of reciprocity. However, the reinsurance contracts obtained as a result are all. It is accepted exclusively by Taiping and cannot be distributed to the group's member companies because, on the one hand, they have weak financial resources and are unwilling to take on additional responsibilities; on the other hand, they have no branches abroad and cannot pay compensation in the original currency."
Huashang Insurance Company established a reinsurance group, which effectively solved the problem of risk dispersion in the national insurance industry and laid the foundation for the gradual independent operation of Huashang Insurance Industry.
In the later period of the Kuomintang's rule, inflation was hyperinflation and the economic order was in chaos. According to statistics, from September 1946 to May 1949, prices rose sharply by 105.1 million times. China's insurance industry has been severely damaged. A large number of insurance institutions have been left with nothing and are in debt. Even some relatively powerful companies have fallen into unsustainable difficulties. Huashang United Reinsurance Group lamented: “Not long after the issuance of gold yuan bonds, they suddenly depreciated. No one dares to predict whether it will be possible to maintain stability in the future. If the difficult situation at the end of the legal currency is repeated today, our insurance industry may be in danger. "Policyholders have lost confidence in gold yuan coupons. Even if they have the intention to insure, they are only willing to insure the insured amount and calculate the compensation in foreign currency. As a result, state-owned and other insurance companies that still had spare capacity switched to underwriting in silver dollars, US dollars and Hong Kong dollars. The Taiping Reinsurance Group also organized a foreign currency business group including 22 member companies on July 1, 1948, and managed to support it in difficult times until it was disbanded before liberation in 1949.
Public-private partnership, unified world
On May 27, 1949, Shanghai was liberated. According to the instructions issued by the Shanghai Military Control Commission, 64 Chinese insurance companies and 42 foreign insurance companies, including Taiping Insurance Company, were allowed to resume operations.
In the following more than ten years, the People's Government carried out drastic reforms in the insurance market, in which Taiping Insurance Company played an important role.
At the beginning of liberation, most insurance companies were weak and had limited underwriting capabilities. In order to alleviate the reinsurance problem of Chinese insurance companies, under the leadership of the Military Control Commission and the support of China Insurance Company, on July 20, 1949, 47 Chinese private insurance companies jointly formed the China League of Nations Reinsurance Exchange Office. Ding Xuenong, Associate President of Taiping Insurance Company He was elected as the chairman of the board of directors, and the office of the Democratic League was also located in the Taiping Insurance Company.
The China League of China’s Reinsurance Exchange Office was the earliest joint venture established in Shanghai’s industrial and commercial sector after liberation. Its establishment changed the mentality of Chinese insurance companies to rely on foreign investors and greatly enhanced the confidence of the Chinese insurance industry. This laid the foundation for further joint ventures among private insurance companies.
Under the guidance of the People's Government's policy of "restriction, utilization and transformation" of private insurance companies, in the second half of 1951, 25 private Chinese product insurance companies in Shanghai began to contemplate merger issues. At the same time, three private insurance companies in Tianjin also sent representatives to Shanghai to express their willingness to merge. After intense preparations, these 28 private insurance companies were formed into two insurance companies, Taiping and Xinfeng. The People's Insurance Company of China invested more than half of the capital and embarked on the road of state capitalism.
The public-private partnership Taiping Insurance Company consists of 15 companies, including 12 in Shanghai, namely Taiping, Anping, China Tianyi, Tai'anfeng, Huashang United, Fu'an, Baolong, Jianguo, Dafeng, Dafeng Xin, Yumin, Yangzi; three companies in Tianjin, namely Dachang, Zhongan, and China Ping An.
The total capital of the company is set at RMB 10 billion (old RMB, the same below), of which the companies participating in the merger use their net assets as investments, totaling RMB 4.5 billion, and the remaining RMB 5.5 billion is invested by the People's Insurance Company of China. The merger agreement was officially signed on October 22, 1951, and on November 1, the public-private joint venture Taiping Insurance Company officially opened.
Taiping Insurance Company has established a 19-member board of directors and 7 supervisors. After being elected and confirmed by the board of directors, seven people including Zhou Zuomin are the managing directors, Zhou Zuomin is the chairman, Xie Shoutian is the vice chairman, Lin Zhenfeng is the general manager, and Li Zumo and Jin Ruiqi are the deputy general managers.
The public-private joint venture Xinfeng Insurance Company is composed of 13 private insurance companies in Shanghai, with a total capital of 6 billion yuan. The company announced its opening on January 1, 1952.
In April 1953, the People's Insurance Company of China, as a national insurance company, began to consider a plan to further merge Taiping and Xinfeng. Through the merger of the two companies, it planned to gradually make the domestic insurance business exclusively owned by the state. , and use the merged joint venture to strengthen its foreign institutions and further develop foreign insurance business. In 1955, amid the torrent of the socialist transformation movement, the public-private partnership in the entire insurance industry finally turned from an idea into a reality. On November 11, 1955, the Shanghai Branch of the People's Insurance Company of China proposed the "Plan on the Merger of the Public-Private Partnership Taiping and Xinfeng Insurance Company", suggesting that the business focus of the two companies after the merger would be overseas and become the People's Insurance Company of China. A professional insurance company under the leadership of the company, it strengthens its leadership of foreign business, further plays its role as an assistant, and shares the glorious task of promoting international trade and absorbing foreign exchange funds. Considering that Taiping Insurance Company has branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Indonesia and other overseas regions, while Xinfeng Insurance Company has no overseas branches, it is recommended that the new institution after the merger be named Taiping Insurance Company, a public-private partnership.
On March 21 and 22, 1956, the boards of directors and supervisors of the two companies were held in Shanghai respectively. The meetings made resolutions on the merger of the two companies, the relocation of the headquarters to Beijing, and the no longer establishment of branches in China.
On August 1 and 2, 1956, Taiping and Xinfeng published a joint notice in Shanghai's "Liberation Daily", announcing: "Effective from August 1, 1956, our two companies merged into The public-private partnership of Taiping Insurance Company will move the merged agency to Beijing, and the two companies’ original offices in Shanghai will be abolished at the same time." The Shanghai Branch of the People's Insurance Company of China also issued a notice at the same time, "agreeing to accept the unexpired insurance liabilities of the insurance policies issued by the two companies in the Shanghai area." The new Taiping Insurance Corporation is located on Tianningsi Road outside Fuchengmen, Beijing.
The merger, relocation of Taiping and Xinfeng Insurance Companies to Beijing and the suspension of domestic business marked the complete completion of the socialist transformation of China's insurance industry, and the Chinese insurance market has since entered the era of state monopoly.
According to the resolution of the last meeting of directors and supervisors of the two companies, the mission of the new public-private joint venture Taiping Insurance Company is: to strengthen the leadership of foreign branches, actively develop foreign business, continue to serve overseas Chinese and accumulate foreign exchange funds for the country . Taiping Insurance Company has since moved overseas and is committed to expanding the international insurance market.
It’s been 45 years since I left.
The resumption of business in China has fulfilled the dream of several generations
In the decades since 1956, China’s insurance market has undergone several changes, and Taiping Insurance has also faced difficulties overseas. Taiping people have worked hard to create a world in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and other places, and have won wide recognition.
In 1998, according to the decision of the State Council, the People's Insurance Company of China (Group) Company was abolished, and the overseas operating institutions of the original People's Insurance Company of China (Group) Company were transferred to China Insurance Co., Ltd. (August 20, 2002 , China Insurance Co., Ltd. changed its name to China Insurance (Holdings) Co., Ltd.), and Taiping Insurance Company and Taiping Life Insurance Company became two powerful companies under China Insurance Co., Ltd.
In the blink of an eye, as China approaches the gate of the World Trade Organization step by step in the 21st century, it is inevitable for China’s insurance market to expand and open up.
It is against this background that China Insurance Co., Ltd. made a request to the State Council and China Insurance Regulatory Commission to return to China to start a business, and at the same time strategically reorganized its resources: in Hong Kong, China Taiping Insurance Company, China Minsheng Insurance Company, China Insurance Hong Kong The branches were merged and operated under the name of Hong Kong Mining Insurance Company; in Singapore, Taiping Insurance and China Insurance Singapore Branch were merged and the branches were opened under the name of China Insurance Singapore Branch; the Hong Kong Branch of China Life Insurance Company and Taiping Life were merged , operating under the name of China Life Hong Kong Branch.
On May 22, 2001, with the approval of the State Council, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission approved Taiping Insurance Company and Taiping Life Insurance Company to fully resume insurance business in China. After more than half a year of preparation, Taiping Insurance Company announced its opening on December 20, 2001, with its headquarters in Shenzhen. At this time, Taiping Insurance Company had undergone equity restructuring, with China Insurance Co., Ltd. holding 45.05 shares, China Insurance International Holdings Co., Ltd. holding 30.05 shares, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Co., Ltd. holding 24.9 shares. Taiping Life Insurance Company also opened on November 30 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the birthplace of Taiping Insurance.
After nearly half a century of overseas expansion, Taiping Insurance began to flex its muscles in the domestic market once it returned home. In the first year after resumption of business, Taiping Insurance opened branches in four places including Shenzhen, Beijing, Guangdong, and Shanghai; in 2003, it opened branches in eight provinces and cities including Tianjin, Dalian, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Henan, and Shandong. Branches were opened; in 2004, branches in Hunan, Qingdao, and Chongqing were opened; in 2005, branches in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Anhui, and Fujian were established. So far, Taiping Insurance has established 19 branches, and its institutional network layout as a national insurance company has been basically formed.