By Reuters

(Reuters) - China's Ping An Insurance (601318.SS) reported a better-than-expected 36% year-on-year rise in first-half net profit on ‌Thursday, as buoyant capital markets boosted earnings from its asset management business.

The insurance company posted net profit of 92.585 billion yuan ($13.78 billion) for the six months ended June 30, above analysts' mean estimate of 85.528 ​billion yuan, according to data from LSEG.

Operating profit, which strips out short-term investment ​volatility and one-time items, grew 8.3% year-on-year to 84.196 billion yuan, according to ⁠a stock exchange filing.

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Operating profit of asset management surged 236.8% year-on-year to 9.172 billion ​yuan, while life and health insurance business rose 0.9% and property and casualty insurance business fell ​12.4%.

A rally in China's mainland share market boosted insurers' asset management income, lifting asset management fees as well as investment gains from equity portfolios.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 3.2% in the first half of ​this year, while China's tech-heavy boards ranked among the world's best performers, with the STAR ​50 Index gaining more than 64%.

The group's Ping An Securities business achieved its best-ever half-yearly net profit ‌of 4.011 ⁠billion yuan, up 31.5% year on year in the first half of 2026.

Ping An's total investment income rose 8% to 6.469 billion yuan, the filing showed.

New business value (NBV) in its life and health insurance segment, which measures the profitability of new policies sold, grew 11.2% to ​24.847 billion yuan.

Growth in ​new policy sales ⁠has been underpinned by demand for higher-yielding savings products amid a prolonged low-interest-rate environment, which has made insurers' long-dated savings offerings more attractive ​than bank deposits.

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That demand could be further boosted by a levy on ​offshore policy ⁠gains, which analysts say may erode the appeal of Hong Kong products and redirect flows toward domestic alternatives, benefiting mainland Chinese insurers.

The number of retail customers rose 0.9% to 253 million by ⁠end-June from ​the beginning of this year, the filing showed.

Banking unit ​Ping An Bank (000001.SZ) last week reported its net profit in the first half of this year rose 3.3% year-on-year.

($1 = ​6.7211 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Reporting by Ziyi Tang and Engen Tham; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Elaine Hardcastle

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