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Exclusive | Ping An, China’s largest insurer, is exploring ways to expand in Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area, co-CEO says
- ‘We have to look at different scenarios to see what is the best way forward to capturing growth opportunities in the Greater Bay Area and in Hong Kong,’ Michael Guo Xiaotao tells the Post
- Ping An will continue to invest in technology to cut down costs and enhance efficiency: co-CEO
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Ping An Insurance (Group), China’s largest insurer by market capitalisation, is exploring ways to further expand operations in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, its newly appointed co-CEO said.
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“Greater Bay Area, including Hong Kong, is going to be the centre of wealth creation,” said Michael Guo Xiaotao, 52, who was appointed co-CEO in January, replacing Jessica Tan Sin-yin, who retired. “It is the focus area for future growth, especially in the financial services industry.
“After the Covid-19 restrictions were removed, we saw a strong flow of mainland Chinese visitors coming to Hong Kong to buy life insurance products and policies. We definitely took note of that trend and are exploring different ways of capturing these opportunities.”
Ping An, which is based in Shenzhen and Shanghai, was founded by chairman Peter Ma Mingzhe in 1988 as a life insurance company. It has since become a financial conglomerate with insurance, banking, fintech and healthcare services.
The firm operates a number of businesses in Hong Kong, including property and casualty insurance, asset management, securities trading and a virtual bank. Ping An, however, does not yet have a life insurance business in the city.
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Guo did not provide any details about Ping An’s expansion plans for Hong Kong, but said the insurer will “examine the feasibility of all different options”.
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