Li'an Life Insurance's top executive adjustment is imminent, with frequent penalties highlighting ongoing compliance challenges to be addressed

“Golden March and Silver April” is the peak season for personnel movement across various industries, and the insurance industry is no exception. On March 16, Beijing Business Daily reporter noted that recently, Lian Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Lian Life Insurance”) announced the relevant content of its shareholders’ meeting resolution. The meeting approved the proposal to elect Huang Jian as a director. Prior to this, Huang Jian had appeared in the company as the Party Secretary of Lian Life Insurance.

A series of phenomena indicate that a leadership change at Lian Life Insurance is imminent. However, during this critical period of personnel adjustment, the company faces frequent compliance issues and other challenges, making its future development highly scrutinized.

Party Secretary Adjustment

Recently, Lian Life Insurance published on its official website the resolution of its second extraordinary shareholders’ meeting in 2026, which approved the proposal to elect Huang Jian as a director of the company’s fourth board of directors. Before this, Huang Jian had attended relevant company events as the Party Secretary of Lian Life Insurance.

Previously, the Party Secretary of Lian Life Insurance was Zhou Junshu. According to the company’s official website, from December 2022 to January 2026, Zhou Junshu served as Party Secretary and Chairman of Lian Life Insurance, and from January 2026 onward, only as Chairman.

From Huang Jian’s resume, his career spans four major fields: futures, securities, trusts, and capital operations. According to the 2024 annual report of Jiangsu International Trust Co., Ltd., Huang Jian was born in 1978, holds a master’s degree, and has served as Financial Director, Board Secretary, and Vice General Manager of Jintai Futures Co., Ltd.; General Manager of Jiangsu Branch of Tianfeng Securities Co., Ltd.; and Deputy General Manager of Capital Operations Department at Jiangsu Guoxin Group Co., Ltd. In August 2025, he was approved to serve as Vice Chairman of Jiangsu International Trust Co., Ltd.

Industry sources suggest that Huang Jian is expected to become Chairman of Lian Life Insurance. Currently, the company’s official website still lists Zhou Junshu as Chairman. However, previously, the roles of Party Secretary and Chairman were held by the same person, and the proposal for Huang Jian to become a director has been unanimously approved.

Beijing Business Daily reporter contacted Lian Life Insurance for confirmation on this matter but has not yet received a response.

Frequent Compliance Issues

Lian Life Insurance was established in July 2011, offering life insurance, health insurance, accident insurance, and other personal insurance products.

According to its official website, the company’s shareholders include Jiangsu International Trust Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Transportation Holding Co., Ltd., and three other state-owned enterprises, as well as Shenzhen Shunzhengxin Investment Co., Ltd., and Yurun Holding Group Co., Ltd., among five private companies. The registered capital is 4.579 billion yuan, with headquarters in Nanjing.

In terms of performance, Lian Life Insurance performed better last year than in previous years. In 2025, the company achieved a total insurance business income of 25.251 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.25%; net profit was 227 million yuan, up 75.12%. As of the end of the fourth quarter, the company’s total assets were 1,346.13 billion yuan, and net assets were 5.176 billion yuan.

However, alongside its growth, the company has faced frequent penalties. Beijing Business Daily noted that since 2025, violations at Lian Life Insurance’s branches have attracted attention and become a negative mark on its development.

For example, in the fourth quarter of last year, Lian Life Insurance and its branches were fined a total of 907,400 yuan (excluding individuals) by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and its dispatched agencies. Penalties involved issues such as non-standard marketing training management, inadequate “dual-record” management, fictitious expenses, false intermediaries, and false insurance policies, with penalties including warnings and fines.

In the first quarter of this year, Wuxi Branch and Sichuan Branch of Lian Life Insurance were again fined for similar reasons, including non-standard marketing training management, inadequate “dual-record” management, fictitious expenses, false intermediaries, false insurance policies, providing benefits beyond contractual agreements, fictitious commissions to siphon off funds, and reimbursement of bank-insurance channel expenses through agents.

“The company has taken swift action to organize rectification and accountability, and has improved internal control mechanisms to prevent similar issues from recurring,” Lian Life Insurance stated regarding the penalties imposed on the Sichuan Branch.

Overall, issues such as inadequate “dual-record” management, fictitious expenses, and false intermediaries are common industry problems. Bai Wenxi, Vice Chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, explained, “‘Dual-record’ (audio and video recording) is a core regulatory system to protect consumer rights. Poor management indicates a lack of effective supervision over grassroots sales behaviors; fictitious expenses, false intermediaries, and false policies reveal systemic flaws in the authenticity review of financial and business data. Poor marketing training management and insufficient professional skills of agents create a vicious cycle. Training has failed to enhance compliance awareness or improve professional service capabilities, leading to widespread ‘sick’ onboarding.”

Bai Wenxi further analyzed that frequent compliance issues not only lead to regulatory penalties and increased operating costs but also severely erode consumer trust. In today’s highly competitive insurance industry with diverse customer choices, loss of trust can have long-term negative impacts on business expansion.

“For the insurance industry, besides strengthening legal awareness among practitioners, it is also necessary to improve professional skills training so they can provide more professional services. Overall, insurance companies need to prioritize compliant operations and balance business growth with regulatory requirements,” industry insiders said.

Beijing Business Daily reporter Li Xiumei