Huang Jian is proposed to be appointed as Chairman of Lian Life Insurance. The company plans to spend nearly 900 million yuan to acquire a 5% stake in Zhongshan Public at a premium, reaching a takeover threshold.

(Image source: Jiemian Visual China)

Blue Whale News, April 1 (Reporter Chen Xiajuan) Recently, Liaoning Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (“Liaoning Life Insurance”) announced that it has elected Huang Jian as chairman of the board of directors. Due to retirement upon reaching the retirement age, Jun Junshū no longer serves as the company’s chairman of the board of directors and as a director.

(Image source: Liaoning Life Insurance announcement)

Worth noting is that Liaoning Life Insurance completed a change of general manager last year. With the new leadership team being put in place, the company’s future development path has drawn significant market attention. In 2022, Liaoning Life Insurance proposed the goal of “recreating a Liaoning Life Insurance in three years, and striving to go public as soon as possible,” planning for its total assets to exceed one trillion yuan in 2023 and to fully推进 the IPO process. Now that the three-year period has come to an end, the company’s total assets have already passed the one-trillion threshold, but there has still been no substantive progress in the IPO process. In terms of performance, Liaoning Life Insurance recorded premium income of 25.25B yuan in 2025 and net profit of 227 million yuan.

Meanwhile, Liaoning Life Insurance has also made new moves in external investments. Zhongshan Public (000685.SZ) announced late yesterday that Liaoning Life Insurance became the final transferee for a 5% stake in the company. The transfer price will not be less than 12.19 yuan per share, and the transaction amount is expected to be not less than 899 million yuan. Based on Zhongshan Public’s closing price today, the premium is roughly about 9.6%. Liaoning Life Insurance may also be able to increase its holdings in another listed company.

The company welcomed a new general manager last year, with compliance issues occurring frequently

Judging from the background, Huang Jian has a deep professional financial background and management experience across multiple fields such as securities and futures, making him a typical “hands-on” financial practitioner.

He has previously served as a staff member in the finance department of Jiangsu Guoxin Group; assistant manager of the finance department and manager of the finance department at Jiangsu Shahe Pumped-Storage Hydropower Co., Ltd.; assistant manager of the custody center at Xintai Securities; worked in the planning finance department of Huatai Securities (the post during the reorganization period was not clearly specified); financial director and secretary to the board of directors at Jintai Futures, as well as vice president, financial director, and secretary to the board of directors; general manager of the Jiangsu branch of Wind Transport Securities; vice president of Jintai Futures; deputy general manager of the capital operation department of Jiangsu Guoxin Group, general manager of the capital operation department, general manager of the capital operation department and general manager of the financial department. From January to March 2026, he served as secretary of the Party Committee of Liaoning Life Insurance.

In June last year, Liaoning Life Insurance just welcomed its new general manager, Yan Weijin. Yan Weijin is an early founding veteran of Liaoning Life Insurance and participated in preparations. Previously, he served in multiple roles such as an interim person in charge of the company, chief information officer, chief investment officer, and others.

For this reason, Liaoning Life Insurance is also about to enter a new leadership period of the “Huang-Yan pairing.” In early February this year, when Huang Jian attended the company’s “First Meeting of the New Year” in his capacity as secretary of the Party Committee of Liaoning Life Insurance, he stated that in 2026, the company would treat strengthening quality in asset-liability management as the main work line, accelerate improving efficiency and value, consolidate the risk defense line, and promote continuous and steady operations.

In terms of performance, Liaoning Life Insurance has turned loss into profit in recent years. As the reporter reviewed, under the consolidated basis, from 2022 to 2024, Liaoning Life Insurance recorded premium income of 19.39B yuan, 22.02B yuan, and 24.46B yuan, respectively; net profit in the same period was -2.76B yuan, 39 million yuan, and 48 million yuan, respectively.

Also, according to the solvency reports, in 2025 Liaoning Life Insurance recorded premium income of 25.25B yuan and net profit of 227 million yuan. The company’s full-year net profit mainly came from the fourth quarter, with net profit of 203 million yuan in a single quarter.

In addition, compliance-related problems at the company are also worth paying attention to. According to quarterly solvency report information, in 2025, Liaoning Life Insurance and its branches and institutions were collectively fined 1.6674 million yuan (excluding individual penalties). Penalty matters included drafting false materials, improper management of marketing training, inadequate “dual recording” management, listing expenses that did not actually occur, listing intermediary services that did not actually occur, and listing insurance policies that did not actually exist, among others.

Taking over Zhongshan Public shares at a premium, with the potential to trigger a follow-on shareholding move

While improving the company’s corporate governance structure, Liaoning Life Insurance’s investment footprint has also continued to expand.

The reporter noticed that last night, Zhongshan Public disclosed the latest progress regarding a share transfer agreement between its controlling shareholder, Zhongshan Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd. (“Zhongshan Investment Holding”), and stated that Liaoning Life Insurance has been determined as the final transferee. The announcement said that as of now, Zhongshan Investment Holding holds about 719 million shares of Zhongshan Public (a shareholding ratio of 48.73%).

According to an earlier announcement, Zhongshan Investment Holding planned to transfer about 74 million shares of Zhongshan Public (5% of the company’s total share capital) through an open solicitation method via agreement transfer, at a transfer price not lower than 12.19 yuan per share. Based on this, the transaction amount would not be less than 899 million yuan.

Zhongshan Public’s closing price today is 11.12 yuan per share. Based on this calculation, the premium rate for Liaoning Life Insurance’s share acquisition is approximately 9.6%. As of the end of the third quarter of last year, Liaoning Life Insurance held 3.53% of Zhongshan Public. If the transfer is completed, Liaoning Life Insurance will reach the threshold to trigger a “increase to a significant stake.”

Regarding the reasons for Liaoning Life Insurance to take over shares at a premium, market views believe it may be related to Zhongshan Public’s relatively strong performance. The performance forecast shows that Zhongshan Public expects to achieve attributable net profit of between 1.8B yuan and 2.16B yuan for the full year, representing growth of 50%-80%.

In fact, in recent years Liaoning Life Insurance has frequently taken actions in the secondary market, increasing its holdings and triggering follow-on shareholding moves for multiple listed companies. In July 2025, Liaoning Life Insurance bought 1.1 million shares of Jiangnan Water (601199.SH). After increasing its holdings, it held a total of 46.9954 million shares of Jiangnan Water, raising its shareholding ratio from 4.91% to 5.03%, thereby triggering a follow-on shareholding move. In November 2024, Liaoning Life Insurance bought 0.5 million shares of Shenzhen International (0152.HK), increasing its shareholding ratio from 4.98% to 5.00%, thereby triggering a follow-on shareholding move.

In addition, Liaoning Life Insurance also holds shares in multiple listed companies such as Wuxi Bank (600908.SH), Changshu Bank (601128.SH), and Anhui Natural Gas (603689.SH). It ranks among the top ten shareholders and prefers stable high-dividend stocks such as banks and utilities.

Data show that in 2025, Liaoning Life Insurance’s cumulative return on net assets was 3.59%, its total asset return was 0.18%, its investment return was 5.56%, and its cumulative comprehensive investment return was 2.46%. Over the past three years, its average investment return was 3.90%, and its average comprehensive investment return was 4.84%. (Blue Whale News Chen Xiajuan chenxiaojuan@lanjinger.com)