China Life Insurance Company Limited (2628.HK) Stock Analysis

China Life Insurance is China’s leading life insurer, with approximately 16% domestic market share and a business model built around recurring underwriting premiums and investment income from long-duration policy liabilities. Life insurance contributes more than 80% of premium revenue, while the company distributes products through 594,000 exclusive agents, bancassurance, bank branches, group brokerage, and digital channels. H1 2026 demonstrated strong operating and financial momentum: gross written premiums rose 2.2% to RMB 536,634 million, total revenue increased 81.5% to RMB 434,563 million, and attributable net profit surged 228.6% to RMB 134,489 million. EPS reached RMB 4.76, versus a RMB 1.28 consensus estimate, while embedded value rose 10.0% to RMB 1,614,207 million. **The key investment case is a dominant, state-backed franchise trading at a P/EV of 0.44x and forward P/E of 4.7x**, below the 10-year P/E average of 7.1x. A 35% New Business Value margin, 33.7% New Business Value growth, strong persistency, and improved solvency support the valuation recovery thesis. Near-term catalysts include the RMB 35 billion sovereign capital injection, continued bancassurance growth, asset-liability matching, and a technical move above the HKD 29.50–31.50 consolidation range.