After a sharp increase in net profit, personnel changes are on the horizon. What new breakthroughs will the new management team at China Merchants Cigna bring?

Ask AI · How will Li Gongzheng’s experience at CMB empower innovation in the bank-insurance business?

Produced by | China Visit Network

Reviewed by | Li Xiaoyan

On March 24, China Merchants Cinda Life Insurance Co., Ltd. announced a change in senior management. The company’s President and CEO, Chang Ying, officially resigned from her positions after reaching the retirement age for leadership roles. The board of directors approved her resignation and appointed Deputy General Manager Liu Jun as the interim person in charge. Meanwhile, market reports indicate that Li Gongzheng, President of China Merchants Bank’s Nanchang Branch, is expected to succeed in this role. Once regulatory approval for his appointment is granted, he will formally assume the position. This personnel adjustment marks another core management optimization by China Merchants Cinda following the 2025 chairman transition. It is both a routine step in building the company’s talent pipeline and a reflection of the company’s confidence in steady growth and ongoing progress during the industry’s transformation period. Overall, it demonstrates a smooth transition and positive momentum for future development.

Chang Ying, a senior expert in the insurance industry, has been leading China Merchants Cinda since 2021. With a solid professional background and extensive management experience, she has driven the company to achieve double breakthroughs in operational performance and development quality, laying a firm foundation for high-quality growth. Public information shows that Chang Ying graduated from Nankai University, holding bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and finance, a master’s in insurance actuarial science, and a PhD in finance. She is also a quasi-actuary of the North American Actuarial Association, combining academic depth with practical experience. Her career spans well-known companies such as COFCO Group and China-England Life, and she joined China Merchants Cinda in 2008 as Deputy General Manager, becoming General Manager in 2021. She has been deeply involved with the company for over a decade, with a profound understanding of its development trajectory and industry trends.

During Chang Ying’s tenure, China Merchants Cinda firmly focused on its core advantages in the large health protection sector, steadily advancing strategic transformation, and repeatedly achieving excellent operational results. According to the 2025 Q4 solvency report and company operating data, in 2025, China Merchants Cinda achieved RMB 44.631 billion in original premium income, a steady year-over-year increase; net profit reached RMB 3.312 billion, a year-over-year growth of 517.91%. Its profit growth rate ranked among the top in bank-affiliated insurance companies, delivering an impressive operational performance. Meanwhile, the company’s risk management capabilities continued to strengthen. By the end of 2025, its core solvency adequacy ratio was 129.93%, and its comprehensive solvency adequacy ratio was 203.24%, far exceeding regulatory red-line thresholds. All risk indicators remained in the excellent range, with key metrics such as new business value, total assets, and net assets showing positive growth year-over-year, demonstrating strong resilience and risk resistance.

During her leadership, Chang Ying not only comprehensively managed the company’s operations but also held multiple key roles, including investment head, executive director of wholly owned subsidiaries, and vice chairman of the asset management subsidiary. She made outstanding contributions in business expansion, investment management, and health ecosystem development. She led the team to deepen the strategic layout in large health, transforming the company from traditional life insurance to diversified services such as health protection and retirement planning, creating differentiated core competitiveness. She also optimized corporate governance and improved risk management systems, enabling China Merchants Cinda to maintain steady operations amid complex market conditions. The board highly praised her, stating she “fulfilled her duties diligently during her tenure and made positive contributions to the company’s development.” Her retirement at age and resignation are normal personnel transitions, reflecting the standardized personnel management mechanism of a state-owned enterprise.

Following Chang Ying’s departure, the proposed successor, Li Gongzheng, comes from the shareholder side, China Merchants Bank. With extensive management experience within the banking system, his appointment has immediately sparked industry-wide expectations for China Merchants Cinda’s future. Public records show that Li Gongzheng was born in 1974, holds a master’s degree, and has served in multiple roles at China Merchants Bank. His positions include assistant to the General Manager of the Human Resources Department at the head office, Deputy General Manager of the Tianjin Branch, General Manager of the Corporate/Institutional Clients Department at the head office, and Deputy President of the Shenzhen Branch. Since November 2023, he has served as President of China Merchants Bank’s Nanchang Branch. He also previously served as a director of CMB Financial Leasing. He has accumulated rich experience in retail banking, interbank cooperation, and regional management, with strong overall management and resource integration capabilities.

It is noteworthy that in September 2025, Wang Ying, Vice President of China Merchants Bank, was appointed Chairman of China Merchants Cinda. If Li Gongzheng is approved to serve as General Manager smoothly, China Merchants Cinda will establish a “CMB-led” core management structure. This will further deepen the synergy between the shareholder and the insurance company, injecting new momentum into the company’s development. As a joint venture life insurer established by China Merchants Bank and Sinopharm Health Life, China Merchants Cinda has leveraged shareholder resources to develop unique competitive advantages. The extensive branch network of China Merchants Bank, its large retail customer base, and comprehensive financial services align closely with China Merchants Cinda’s insurance protection business. Having worked within the CMB system for many years, Li Gongzheng understands banking operations and customer service philosophies deeply. After taking office, he is expected to further break down barriers between banking and insurance, promote resource sharing, collaborative product development, and integrated service scenarios—moving bank-insurance cooperation from superficial collaboration to deep integration, unlocking greater business potential.

Currently, Li Gongzheng’s appointment is pending regulatory approval. China Merchants Cinda has appointed Liu Jun, Deputy General Manager, as interim person in charge to ensure seamless management during the transition. Liu Jun, a senior executive familiar with the company’s operations and processes, will ensure normal business continuity during the personnel change, demonstrating the company’s mature and stable management system and emergency response capability. This also affirms the company’s stance that “personnel changes will not affect normal operations.”

This core management adjustment is an important step for China Merchants Cinda to adapt to industry trends and optimize talent structure. It is not an isolated personnel change but part of the company’s long-term strategic planning. In recent years, the life insurance industry has entered a deep transformation phase, with bank-insurance channels becoming the main focus for insurers, and large health and retirement sectors becoming key competitive areas. As a joint-venture life insurer focusing on large health protection, China Merchants Cinda has already accelerated its strategic shift toward large health, aiming for coordinated development in quality, efficiency, scale, and structure. This management change will strengthen the implementation of that strategy.

From an industry perspective, although some market voices express concern about short-term investment pressures—China Merchants Cinda’s total investment yield in 2025 was 3.59%, slightly below previous years’ average—this is a common challenge across the life insurance sector, affected by external factors such as market volatility and declining interest rates, not a reflection of company-specific issues. The management transition, however, offers a new opportunity to optimize investment strategies, expand channels, and improve yields. The new management team is expected to leverage CMB’s financial resources and investment advantages to optimize asset allocation, ease investment pressures, and promote more balanced growth.

Looking ahead, with the new leadership in place, China Merchants Cinda is expected to achieve new breakthroughs in bank-insurance synergy, large health deployment, and customer service upgrades. On one hand, leveraging CMB’s strong shareholder resources, it will further deepen bank-insurance channels, expand retail insurance markets, and increase market share. On the other hand, it will continue to deepen its large health strategy by integrating medical, health management, and retirement resources to build a comprehensive “insurance + health + retirement” service system, strengthening its differentiated competitive edge. Meanwhile, the company’s mature governance, steady management style, and robust solvency levels will provide solid support for strategic implementation, ensuring it maintains a leading position amid industry transformation.

This smooth management transition marks both a successful conclusion of veteran leaders’ retirements and an important starting point for a new chapter. Chang Ying’s impressive achievements during her tenure have laid a strong foundation for the company’s development. The proposed successor, Li Gongzheng, brings new opportunities for bank-insurance collaboration. Supported by a standardized personnel management system and prudent operational strategies, China Merchants Cinda will continue to uphold its core mission of protection, deepen its focus on the large health sector, and achieve new breakthroughs amid the wave of high-quality industry development—creating greater value for customers, shareholders, and the industry.