In the digital era, technology has evolved from a mere tool into a core variable reshaping the global landscape. The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is fundamentally altering society's underlying operational logic, driving significant transformations in production and consumption patterns within just a few years. For the insurance industry, AI's rise is accelerating the shift from "risk sharer" to "risk co-governor." So, what achievements did the "insurance plus technology" model deliver in the first half of 2026?
The release of interim results from listed insurers has highlighted this industry-wide transformation. Overall, these companies have embedded technology into their core strategies, integrating it into sales, operations, risk control, and claims processing to comprehensively empower their primary businesses. Notably, AI applications—such as intelligent agents, digital humans, and token consumption metrics—have made their way into financial reports as unique "performance indicators" for the period.
Meanwhile, insurance is emerging as a vital force safeguarding technological progress. Listed insurers continue to refine comprehensive tech insurance product and service systems covering the full chain and lifecycle, developing dedicated AI products to support innovation. However, AI's integration also brings uncertainties, with new risks like data security and algorithmic ethics becoming increasingly prominent—challenges that insurers must address.
Showcasing AI Capabilities
From the 2026 interim reports, it's clear that listed insurers have achieved impressive technological milestones with notable enhancements to their core operations. China Life Insurance Co Ltd (ASX: ...) has built over 90 digital intelligence scenarios and deployed more than 500 intelligent agents, deeply covering sales, operations, and customer service. Supported by technology, its intelligent underwriting review rate hit 96.8%, digital underwriters handled over 37% of tasks, and smart service audits reached a 99% pass rate. Digitalized services accounted for over 75% of claims, with one-stop medical claim payments exceeding 2.3 million cases, and proactive claim alerts sent to 280,000 customers. During the period, the company processed over 51 million claims totaling more than 200 billion yuan, boosting service convenience and customer satisfaction.
Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China Ltd (ASX: ...) reported that daily token consumption surged from 30 billion in December 2025 to over 120 billion by June 2026. With AI as its core driver, Ping An has created a unified tech platform and a "quick service" gateway connecting apps like Ping An Pocket Bank and Ping An Good Doctor, covering 88% of group business scenarios under one entry point. In the first half, AI-assisted sales reached 57.313 billion yuan, boosting policy reinstatement by 19%. In auto channels, 94% of policies were issued in an average of one minute, 45% of health and accident claims were fully automated with the fastest closing in 51 seconds, 94% of life insurance policies received instant underwriting, and 57% of auto claims were auto-inspected. Anti-fraud intelligent claims interception saved 7.11 billion yuan, up 10.4% year-on-year, while AI agent interactions hit 939 million, covering 81% of customer service volume.
Other players are also flexing their tech muscle. New China Life Insurance Co Ltd (ASX: ...) saw its marketing assistant automatically generate over 4 million proposals, with claims processing digital employees handling 30,000 daily images at over 99% accuracy. Its group insurance bidding digital employee improved recommendation hit rates from 60% to 90%, and AI interviews covered over 3,000 candidates. People's Insurance Co of China Ltd (ASX: ...) deployed 246 AI application scenarios with over 2.3 billion AI calls in the period. China Pacific Insurance Co Ltd (ASX: ...) advanced its enterprise AI platform and agricultural insurance digitalization, with its "Hui Zhi Nong" system launched in 13 institutions, improving product launch efficiency by nearly 15%, underwriting by 30%, and claims processing by 25%. As of end-June, Sunshine Insurance Group Co Ltd boasted over 1,200 intelligent agents, growing more than 12-fold in six months. Sunshine Life's sales robots assisted 263,000 customer engagements, converting premiums exceeding 30 million yuan, while Sunshine P&C's telesales robots covered 200,000 customer profiles daily, supporting over 2,000 seats.
Elevating Strategic Priorities
Undeniably, the insurance sector has intensified its digital transformation, with heavy investments in large model technologies to enhance business efficiency and customer experience. This is why insurers are placing technology at the core of their strategic discussions. China Life President Li Mingguang noted the company is expanding digitalization across product development, sales, and risk control, signaling a shift from backend support to full-process empowerment. Since 2019, when China Life launched its "Tech-Driven" initiative and a three-year action plan for "Tech China Life," the strategy has evolved into "Digital Intelligence China Life," now a key strategic mission.
Ping An, a tech pioneer, has advanced from aiming to be a global leader in digital innovation to its current "AI in ALL" strategy. Co-CEO Guo Xiaotao outlined five focus areas—intelligent operations, management, business, service, and marketing—built on its digital foundation. He emphasized that Ping An has completed its AI infrastructure and is now in the phase of value creation through scenario-based applications.
New China Life is progressing with its "Big Tech/AI+" strategy, committing no less than 3 billion yuan over the next three to five years to build a "Digital, Intelligent, and Innovative New China Life." Vice President Qin Hongbo views AI as the company's future core competitiveness, while Chairman Yang Yucheng pledged continued investment to fully deploy technologies across talent, products, services, investment, operations, and risk control.
China Pacific Insurance launched its new three-pronged strategy in 2025—"Big Health and Care," "Internationalization," and "AI+"—with the latter seen as key to reshaping the insurance value chain. The company is accelerating the adoption of vertical AI models and scenario reengineering. Similarly, PICC, Sunshine Insurance, and China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co Ltd (ASX: ...) are ramping up tech investments to boost business growth and quality.
Guardians of Innovation
While insurers use AI to improve operations and service, they are also becoming key protectors of AI development. Tech innovation, a driver of new productive forces and Chinese modernization, involves high investment, high risk, and long cycles, with uncertainties at every stage from R&D to commercialization. Insurance's loss compensation and financing functions not only provide a risk "firewall" but also act as a "catalyst" for the tech industry.
In the first half, listed insurers made significant strides in tech insurance. China Life invested over 1 trillion yuan in tech finance and over 540 billion yuan in new productive forces, completing China's largest blind pool S fund. Ping An P&C underwrote 3.184 million tech insurance policies, providing 6.9 trillion yuan in risk protection. New China Life saw tech finance investments exceed 220 billion yuan, covering nearly 12,000 tech firms with over 1 trillion yuan in protection. China Pacific Insurance grew tech insurance premiums by nearly 18% year-on-year, with multiple first-of-its-kind policies in biomedicine, low-altitude economy, and embodied intelligence. PICC increased tech insurance premiums by 18.5%, serving over 260,000 tech firms with 28.3 trillion yuan in risk liability, while its tech finance investments grew 32.1% since year-start.
Rising New Risks Demand Vigilance
In its 2026 interim report, China Pacific Insurance cautioned that while AI large models deepen their role in core business scenarios, improving efficiency and experience, new risks such as data security and algorithmic ethics are surfacing, placing fresh demands on risk management. Indeed, as a cornerstone of the new technological revolution, AI is reshaping global economic, social, and environmental landscapes, but its rapid growth brings significant safety concerns.
On September 1, at a press conference for National Cybersecurity Awareness Week, Wang Lihong, Deputy Director of the Cybersecurity Coordination Bureau under the Cyberspace Administration of China, highlighted five major AI security challenges: inherent technical vulnerabilities affecting output stability and reliability; model capability leaps disrupting traditional security paradigms with potential extreme loss-of-control risks; rapid application evolution accelerating risk mutation; risks of misuse and abuse threatening social order and ethical boundaries; and global tech hegemony risks in AI.
For insurers, while AI offers convenience, it also poses huge challenges in network security, data security, and customer information protection. In June, the National Financial Regulatory Administration issued guidelines on AI safety development in banking and insurance, mandating that institutions integrate AI risks into their overall risk management systems, conduct regular assessments, and mitigate risks like model black boxes, hallucinations, and algorithmic discrimination while strengthening network and data security. Institutions must implement risk classification controls, dynamic management based on scenario importance, and full-process management with clear accountability. Additionally, they should enhance technological autonomy and supply chain security, conducting thorough risk assessments in external AI collaborations and establishing robust management mechanisms for outsourcing, data security, and concentration risk.
As the technological revolution accelerates, insurance institutions face a future filled with both promise and formidable challenges.