The 2025 Sustainable Global Leaders Conference is taking place from October 16 to 18 in the Shanghai Expo area of Huangpu District. Xu Chongmiao, Chief Compliance Officer of China Life Insurance Company Limited, attended the conference and delivered a speech titled "ESG Leading the Sustainable Development of the Insurance Industry."

"As a leading player in the domestic life insurance sector, we bear not just economic responsibilities, but also extensive social and environmental duties. Our company is exploring an ESG path that embodies Chinese characteristics while aligning with international standards, with our MSCI ESG rating upgraded to AA, placing us among the top ten in the Asia-Pacific region for life and health insurance," said Xu Chongmiao. He expressed hope that China Life's practices could serve as a reference model for the entire industry, jointly supporting a comprehensive green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society.

China Life has long recognized ESG as a core strategy driving the future development of the company, assessing risks and opportunities in the long, medium, and short term, and continuously integrating the ESG concept into core operations to achieve resilient high-quality growth and long-term sustainability.

"Sustainable development is a common mission bestowed upon us by the times, and ESG practices represent a critical bridge to the future. We hope to collaborate with society and the industry to explore new momentum for the sustainable development of the insurance sector, leveraging our own high-quality growth to aid the construction of a new ecological paradigm for green finance, together writing a new chapter in economic and social green and low-carbon transformation," Xu Chongmiao stated.

Here is the full text of his speech: "Distinguished guests and friends, greetings! I am honored to participate in the 2025 Sustainable Global Leaders Conference and to discuss how ESG can lead the insurance industry's sustainable development into a new paradigm. I hope our practices can provide a reference model for the entire industry, contributing to a comprehensive transformation in economic and social development.

ESG provides a specific and actionable framework for grand visions, translating previously challenging-to-quantify environmental and social risks into assessable, comparable non-financial indicators, guiding capital away from the old model focused solely on financial returns towards green industries, inclusive projects, and well-governed companies. It also promotes responsible consumption, injecting upward momentum into the market. In an era where sustainable development has become a core issue, China Life adheres to five key principles: policy alignment, customer-centricity, responsible finance, long-termism, and bottom-line thinking, navigating a path for development through value enhancement, consensus building, steadfast innovation, and promoting win-win growth.

China Life continually integrates the ESG concept into its overall business strategy, paving the way for sustainable success. In 2021, we set an ESG strategic goal to build a world-class, responsible life insurance company, encompassing a comprehensive model across three dimensions and seven key areas, providing clear top-level design for implementation.

By simultaneously advancing in green transformation, inclusive finance, pension security, and social safety, we are confident that this responsibility-driven growth model can foster the construction of a better industry ecosystem.

China Life firmly believes that serving the national green development strategy and being a responsible investor is a mission defined by the times.

We have joined the China Climate Action Partnership to demonstrate our resolute commitment to the national "dual carbon" goals. Our strategic investments in projects like China Jian Group's new energy firm illustrate a powerful example of driving high-quality development in the national new energy industry.

Upholding integrity and innovation, we balance ESG risk management with opportunity exploration. This dual focus on compliance and innovation is crucial for sustainable development, as it requires companies to maintain compliance as a baseline while gradually turning ESG requirements into development opportunities, actively exploring growth areas such as green technology, responsible supply chains, and inclusive business models. Currently, climate risk management has become one of the most urgent and necessary topics in the realm of ESG risks, and China Life positions itself as an active participant in building a climate-resilient society through systematic involvement in related initiatives.

Moreover, on the liability side, we are constantly innovating our insurance service system to provide solid support for renewable resources, environmental technologies, and green infrastructure. In the first half of 2025, green premiums exceeded 400 million yuan, solidifying our risk protection for the green economy.

On the investment side, we guide capital towards the core areas that build climate-resilient societies, with a focus on green bonds and stocks, as well as investments in green transport projects such as the Changsha Metro Line 3. This not only reduces carbon emissions and improves urban environmental quality but also demonstrates the crucial role of insurance funds in supporting the national "dual carbon" goals.

Human-centered, we aim to build a sustainable ecological circle together. We believe that the crux of sustainable development should return to the needs and growth of individuals. By adhering to a customer-centric approach, optimizing service experiences, and safeguarding employee welfare, we lay a solid foundation for development, empowering partners to create a win-win ecosystem, which helps consolidate internal and external consensus and establish an open ecosystem of co-creation, risk-sharing, and benefit-sharing.

China Life transforms the core of our corporate culture of "helping others to help oneself" into solid actions for serving society and leading the industry, committed to building a sustainable ecosystem.

We provide multiple safeguards for key populations including the elderly, new citizens, workers in emerging industries, farmers, low-income individuals, and those in special occupations. In 2024, we expect to offer insurance coverage to an additional 140 million elderly individuals, with 34.47 million benefiting among the new citizen groups, and extend life insurance coverage to another 270 million rural residents.

As for service experiences, we leverage technology to create a simple, high-quality, and warm "China Life Good Service" initiative, aiming to serve 3.26 billion customers by 2024. In terms of ecosystem building, we empower employees' growth and establish an integrated four-tier training system benefiting nearly 100,000 staff; collaborating with over 40,000 vendors to build a green supply chain while leading industry talent development and upgrading cooperation models.

China Life provides a sustainable path for high-quality development in the insurance industry.

Colleagues and friends, sustainable development is the common mission entrusted to us by the times, and ESG practices are the key bridge to the future. We look forward to collaborating with our peers in the industry to explore new momentum for sustainable development, leveraging our high-quality growth to contribute to the construction of a new ecological paradigm for green finance, and together writing a new chapter of the era!