Overview
At the 2026 Financial Street Forum insurance conference, NFRA Vice Chairman Cong Lin stated plainly that the insurance industry must abandon its “scale fixation” and shift from pursuing speed and size toward a quality- and efficiency-centered model aligned with economic and social needs and the goal of a financial power. The remarks set the tone for high-quality development through the 15th Five-Year Plan.
In parallel, the industry is transforming across segments: PICC Health’s president Shao Liduo said health insurance must move from “screening healthy people” to “managing health risk,” improving coverage for the elderly, chronic-disease and pre-existing-condition groups; China Life’s president Li Mingguang advocated shifting inclusive insurance from compensation to risk reduction—by H1 2026 the company had run over 200 critical-illness insurance projects and more than 90 long-term-care projects.
Background & Interpretation
1. Regulatory and Industry Context
In a prior phase, some insurers—driven by “scale fixation”—chased premium growth over value quality, leaving product-design and claims-service gaps. The regulator’s framing pushes the sector from “getting big” to “getting strong,” enhancing supply fit and better serving the real economy and livelihoods.
2. Core Drivers and Underlying Mechanisms
A quality-efficiency focus requires rebuilding asset-liability matching and pricing. For health insurance, moving from “screening” to “managing risk” means shifting actuarial logic from “excluding high risk” to “tiered coverage + health management,” demanding stronger data, risk-control and ecosystem capabilities. Risk reduction moves insurance upstream from “paying losses” to “preventing and lowering them.”
3. Market Structure and Value-Chain Impact
The transition reshapes competition: leaders with long-term capital, data and ecosystems have the edge, while smaller players must pursue differentiated “reduction and quality” paths. Incremental tracks—insurtech, inclusive insurance, retirement finance—are expected to thrive, and capital diversion and coordination between insurance, securities and pension non-bank segments are encouraged.
Implications & Outlook
Near term, correcting “scale fixation” will prompt insurers to optimize structure and cut low-value business; medium term, the deep fusion of health, long-term-care and inclusive insurance with risk-reduction services opens a second growth curve. Watch implementation details of regulatory evaluation, shifts in insurers’ value-rate of new business, and pension/long-term-care coordination.
Takeaways for Industry Participants
- Insurers should shift KPIs from premium scale to value and efficiency, strengthening duration matching.
- Health and inclusive insurers should build health-management and risk-reduction services for ecosystem moats.
- Investors can watch quality insurers actively transforming, with improving new-business value as a long-term allocation theme.
This column compiles industry information and shares technical perspectives; it does not constitute investment advice.