Source: Today's Insurance
As is well known, the first half of the year saw a surge in participating life insurance products across the entire market. Since entering the second half, multi-channel premium growth has turned negative.
Data shows that in the first half of the year, original insurance premium income from participating life insurance exceeded 1 trillion yuan, representing a year-over-year increase of over 90%, and now accounts for more than 30% of total life insurance premiums.
The latest solvency report summary shows that in the first half of 2026, among the top five major products of 58 life insurance companies that disclosed cumulative data, participating policies accounted for a cumulative premium of 2666.83 billion yuan, representing 44.85% and ranking first.
However, as "reporting and execution alignment" deepens, compounded by downward adjustments in dividend insurance demonstration rates and further tightening of fee chains, the three distribution channels each face distinct product challenges—
With the "stop-sale" window driven by three consecutive years of high reliance on scheduled rate cuts now fully closed, all channels are resorting to hyping declines in participating insurance illustration rates just to stir market activity. Yet, after "630", with the individual agency channel already weak and new product illustration rates becoming less attractive, how can it still shoulder the burden of long-term premium-paying products? Or perhaps more critically: what kind of long-term product will finally re-energize this industry's most vital sales force?
After the implementation of "Notice No. 65", the insurance-banking channel has seen further closure of "off-book" commissions, rendering cost-driven strategies completely ineffective. With declining sales motivation among bank staff, what type of insurance products can retain branch networks and customers? Especially given that "fast-return" products—the channel's key scale driver—are now under close scrutiny, what product forms and strategies are needed to regain market competitiveness?
The broker channels, once most active in promoting "stop-sale" campaigns, now face a reshaped expense landscape as "reporting and execution alignment" deepens. The growth model driven by high commissions is no longer sustainable. With survival challenges not yet fully resolved, and the previously touted "filter" shattered time and again, how can brokers defend their shrinking territory?
So, what is the current state of the product market? What are the key priorities for the next phase?
Recently, "Today's Insurance" connected with frontline sales teams across three major channels to examine the actual product landscape on the eve of the New Year campaign. This report explores what products each channel is selling and how frontline staff are thinking about them.
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-Insurance Today-
Individual Insurance Channel: Participating Policies Remain the Core
Health Insurance Attempts to Break Through
Still pitching the dividend story, but it's not working.
Bought three critical illness insurance policies in one go.
In Q3, the product mix in the individual insurance channel showed slight divergence: some companies continue to rely heavily on participating annuities and participating whole life policies, while others are increasingly prioritizing health insurance.
"Wei Feng, a senior director at an East China branch of a top-tier insurance company, said that the products currently being sold are primarily dividend-annuity and dividend-increasing life insurance policies."
The marketing strategy continues to focus on dividend narratives, but results have been weak and business performance is poor. The "phasing out" campaign driven by the first-half dividend illustration rate has already exhausted much of the demand; customers who needed to buy have already done so. Moreover, with the new product's illustration rate now lower, its appeal has naturally declined.
Fu Ming, a senior department manager at a mid-sized insurer's branch in central China, also said that during the third quarter, his company mainly focused on selling participating annuity insurance.
Compared to 6, premiums in 7 and 8 did decline. Fortunately, my client base is strong and high-quality; closing just one or two deals a month is enough to meet targets. My current focus is coaching the team to drive sales and recruit new members.
Unlike the previous two companies, some have started promoting protection-focused products ahead of the New Year campaign.
Liu Hua, a senior manager at a regional branch of a leading insurer in Northeast China, said the company is currently focusing on promoting health insurance.
We launched three critical illness insurance plans: a lifelong plan with two options—return of premium on death or full sum assured on death—and a term plan with lower premiums, ideal for customers seeking high leverage.
Liu Hua said that to boost critical illness insurance sales, the company also held a claims education seminar.
"Great results. One of our team's clients purchased a return-type lifelong critical illness insurance plan worth 1 thousand 3 hundred yuan on the spot. Overall, however, selling critical illness insurance remains challenging due to high prices and the limited number of applicants who meet underwriting standards."
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-Insurance Today-
Participating critical illness insurance returns to the spotlight; market acceptance remains to be seen.
Dividend critical illness plans have high premiums and disappointing dividends.
Critical illness insurance has hit a dead end.
A noteworthy trend is that dividend-paying critical illness insurance is moving beyond niche experimentation.
As of early 8, Ping An and AIA have already taken the lead in this sector. New China Life Insurance is also set to launch a participating critical illness insurance product by the end of 8.
Xin Tong, a senior director at a leading company in Central China's province, stated that the company launched a participating critical illness insurance product in 8, marking the first such release in nearly 10 years.
However, only a few team members are selling well. They're not yet accustomed to switching from long-term selling of increasing whole life insurance to protection-focused products.
Executives at top firms, Wei Feng and Liu Hua, are skeptical about participating critical illness insurance. Liu Hua notes that premiums for participating policies are always higher than those for non-participating ones, and dividends typically fall short of expectations.
Many traditional insurance products have seen their dividends cut in half. Additionally, to secure higher coverage for dividend critical illness insurance, applicants must be in excellent health; the additional premium paid carries no cash value, and non-standard risks cannot opt for paid-up additions. This eliminates the product's original advantages. Given the growing number of people with suboptimal health conditions, obtaining coverage as an adult now involves high premiums and is difficult to approve.
Yang Tao, a senior director at the regional branch of a top company in central China, bluntly stated that they had already sold dividend-linked critical illness insurance 20 years ago. "It wasn't popular back then, and even if it's making a comeback now, it won't make much of a splash."
Critical illness insurance has reached an impasse and shows no signs of improvement. DRG payment reform directly undermines the logic driving customer demand for critical illness coverage.
"With medical costs capped by insurance reimbursement systems, the income protection feature of critical illness insurance has gained more attention. However, premium and underwriting requirements still exclude most people. For health insurance, assuming long-term market cultivation and effective promotion follow, only long-term care insurance will remain viable."
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-Insurance Today-
Insurance-Banking Channel: Product Strengths Shine, Large-Deal Competitiveness Unchanged
Product returns outperform individual insurance channels.
First-year 2k premium, bank channel cash value: 12000, agency channel cash value: 5000
The bancassurance channel was the primary battleground for the explosive growth of participating insurance products in the first half of the year. In that period, the seven major insurers saw their bancassurance annualized premium volumes surge past 100 billion yuan.
However, after 630, bank insurance single-premium payments in the month of 7 plummeted to 152 billion yuan, representing a year-over-year decline of 60%. So, what changes occurred in the product logic of the bank insurance channel during this period leading up to the "Red Opening" season?
From a product strategy perspective, bancassurance channels continue to prioritize annuity and pension annuity insurance, with multiple insurers launching both standard and participating versions.
Wang Qing, a bancassurance agent at a leading company's North China branch office, said that the third quarter focused on individual pension products and participating annuity insurance.
The product's features are clear, so sales have been decent. Premiums in 7 month were slightly lower at over 200 million, while 8 month reached approximately 400 million.
Wang Qing said that although insurance premiums under bancassurance have declined significantly after 630, the advantages of bancassurance products remain clear overall, with particularly strong competitiveness in the large-scale segment.
Setting aside the bank's reputation, product-wise, bancassurance has clear advantages over individual sales. For example, with a 2 million premium paid over 5 years, the cash value reaches 10.3 million by the end of year 5, breaking even.
Individual insurance breaks even only at the end of year 7. After paying the first 2 million, the current value is 12000 yuan for bank insurance and 5000 yuan for individual insurance.
"When customers compare, they naturally choose bancassurance products."
A senior individual insurance agent's reflection also confirms Wang Qing's statement.
Large insurers' bancassurance products are in a dividend era. For example, with an annuity participating policy that requires 3 years of premium payments, the cash value breaks even by year five. Then, you receive a survival benefit equal to 1.75% of the premiums paid annually, plus potential dividends based on a 3.5% demonstration rate. How can agents survive this?
However, the notice titled "Notice on Conducting Investigations and Rectifications of 'Quick Return' Products," dated 10 month 9, began circulating... Although many companies stated that they had few year-end 3 "quick return" bancassurance products and were minimally affected, this still introduced some uncertainty into the bancassurance sector during the "Red Opening" period, marking the end of "quick return" products in 3.
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-Insurance Today-
Agency Channel: Dividend-Linked and Protection Products Moving Forward in Parallel
More diverse product offerings
Develop custom products to meet niche market demands
The broker channel has the most diverse product structure among all channels.
Data from a top-tier insurance brokerage's business unit 7 shows that in Q3, the agency channel is developing a dual-track strategy combining dividend-paying policies with protection products.
Wang Sheng, a senior broker at the company's branch in a central province, said, "Sales of dividend annuities and increasing whole life policies in 6 largely透支ed business for 7. As a result, there was a significant increase in the number of critical illness and medical insurance policies sold in 7."
Ding Song, a senior director at the North China branch of a leading insurance brokerage firm, confirmed the above viewpoint.
In 7, our team saw strong sales of mid-to-high-end medical insurance. This was partly because our business focus has always been on health and retirement planning, giving us a solid base of policyholders with both new policies and renewals.
"On the other hand, our new hires include candidates with medical backgrounds and specialized healthcare knowledge, making it easier for them to sell mid-to-high-end medical insurance."
While Ding Song's team focuses on mid-to-high-end medical insurance, Yang Xin, a senior director of a leading brokerage's branch in a southern province, primarily sells pension plans and whole life insurance.
"General medical and accident insurance policies are numerous but generate low premiums. Typically, these policies contribute over 10 million yuan per month. In contrast, annuity and whole life insurance policies often generate hundreds of thousands of yuan from a single sale."
However, in the third quarter, dividend insurance sales were weak. Critical illness insurance sales remained sluggish.
Furthermore, the best-selling intermediary products reveal that supply-side players are rapidly innovating to meet aging demographics, with more "high cash value, quick payout" pension plans emerging. Since 8, multiple mid-sized and small insurers have launched quick-return annuities.
In 8, a leading brokerage partnered with a mid-sized firm to launch a fixed-income annuity insurance tailored for retirees. Policy A allows you to start receiving payments after a 15-day cooling-off period; Policy B begins payouts the year after enrollment.
Postscript
The big companies' strong start to the year has already begun this week.
Pay premiums for 3 years; recover principal in as little as 14 years.
"The rates are quite good. For single premiums under 12 million, the fixed rate is 5%. For amounts over 12 million, it's 7.5%."
After attending a customer event for the "New Year Kickoff," Sister Xia told Today's Insurance.
Clearly, "fixed" does not mean what Sister Xia thinks it does—but that's exactly how she put it. This reflects a broader trend in the market.
"The government leads from 0 to 1, while S-level equity funds lead from 1 to 100, offering returns to investors. I'm not entirely clear on the details, but it's generally referred to as the 'tech innovation' sector. Last month's event focused on investing in Unitree Robotics, which seems quite impressive."
"But aren't tech stocks crashing hard..."
Whether it's individual insurance, bancassurance, or professional intermediaries, returns are unavoidable. They're the most direct and compelling factor.
When it comes to returns and price comparisons, the most efficient channel is already clear: Bancassurance.
Although new orders plummeted in 7 and 8, 9 saw a significant acceleration—the highest growth rate of the year. Overall, however, new orders still declined for the full year.
As for professional intermediaries... even top-tier firms are struggling; the situation is likely to get worse.
