MetLife China, a Sino-U.S. joint-venture life insurer and formerly the “King of Telesales,” faces challenges in its transformation.

According to regulatory approvals, 10 of these 11 telesales centers were established in 2013 and 2014, located across core markets in northern and southern China, and have operated for as long as a decade. Nonetheless, although MetLife China has officially exited the telesales channel, legacy issues stemming from this channel still require time to resolve. Its 2024 annual report shows that throughout 2024, all levels of MetLife China’s branches and subsidiaries handled a total of 20,680 customer complaints. By sales channel distribution, complaints originating from the former telesales channel accounted for 86% of the company’s total complaints; complaints from the agency channel (i.e., the company’s advisor marketing channel) accounted for 13%; and complaints from the bancassurance channel represented only 1%. By complaint cause, complaints arising from sales practices accounted for 95% of the total; complaints related to sales service accounted for 2%; and complaints due to other reasons accounted for 3%. 3. Channel transformation enters deeper waters: revenue growth achieved, but profitability remains elusive The Bullet Finance observed that in recent years, MetLife China has actively pursued channel transformation—deepening elite agent development within its advisor marketing channel, and shifting its bancassurance channel toward high-end client engagement. In terms of performance, MetLife China’s premium growth rate noticeably slowed after 2019. Over the past five years, its insurance business revenue stood at RMB 15.106 billion in 2020, then rose steadily: RMB 15.597 billion in 2021, RMB 16.251 billion in 2022, and RMB 18.741 billion in 2023. In 2024, MetLife China’s premiums surged dramatically to RMB 25.97 billion—a year-on-year increase of over 38%, far exceeding the industry’s average growth rate of 5.7%. The Bullet Finance noted that behind this premium growth, MetLife China adhered to a multi-channel strategy while driving innovation and upgrading across channels: the advisor marketing channel continued deepening elite agent development; and the diversified marketing channel’s bancassurance division persisted with client segmentation and demand-oriented strategies, accelerating bancassurance business development centered on high-end clients. According to Jiemian News, owing to its foreign-invested background, MetLife China initially established cooperative relationships with foreign banks such as HSBC, Hang Seng Bank, and United Overseas Bank. Beyond foreign banks, it also partnered with domestic financial institutions rich in mid-to-high-net-worth client resources, including China Merchants Bank. However, the company’s profitability has failed to keep pace with premium growth. Wind data shows that after reaching a peak net profit of RMB 1.854 billion, MetLife China’s net profit began fluctuating downward. From 2020 to 2023, its net profits were RMB 1.086 billion, RMB 1.132 billion, RMB 0.795 billion, and RMB 0.392 billion, respectively. In 2024, MetLife China’s net profit amounted to RMB 0.206 billion—a decline of 47.45% year-on-year. From the expenditure perspective, MetLife China’s provision for insurance liabilities increased sharply. As funds set aside by insurers to fulfill future claims obligations, provisions’ rigid growth directly reflects the risk-hedging needs arising from business expansion—but in the short term, it significantly compresses profit margins. The annual report reveals that in 2024, the company accrued RMB 21.079 billion in insurance liability provisions—an explosive 71.1% year-on-year increase, up by RMB 8.759 billion from RMB 12.32 billion in 2023.

Are MetLife China’s participating (dividend-paying) life insurance products worth buying?

This article contains 2,520 characters; estimated reading time: 7 minutes. I’m Xiao Jun—let’s talk about insurance, and about life. Who is Xiao Jun? Is consulting her about insurance reliable? What insurance services can Xiao Jun provide? Before consulting about insurance, it helps to reach consensus on these three points. How are MetLife China’s participating (dividend-paying) life insurance products? Online information about this company and its products is scarce. Xiao Jun reviewed extensive materials and now offers an in-depth analysis to help you comprehensively understand MetLife China’s corporate history, operational status, currently offered participating products, investment returns, dividend payout capability, and more. Feel free to save this for future reference. Reading roadmap: 01 Corporate profile 02 Comprehensive risk rating 03 Currently offered products 04 Investment returns 05 Dividend realization ratio 06 Summary 01 Corporate profile MetLife China’s full name is China–U.S. Liantai MetLife Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Its foreign shareholder is MetLife Group, Inc.—founded in New York in 1863 and the largest life insurer in the United States. After entering China in 2004, MetLife secured two insurance licenses: one jointly with Beijing Capital Airport Group to establish China–U.S. MetLife in Beijing; the other jointly with Shanghai United Investment Co., Ltd. to establish Liantai MetLife in Shanghai. In 2011, due to regulatory policy changes, the two entities merged into one company, with Beijing Capital Airport exiting. The final ownership structure became a 50–50 joint venture between Shanghai United Investment Co., Ltd. and U.S.-based MetLife Group. This represents a classic partnership combining state-owned capital and a globally renowned foreign insurer. Similar Sino-foreign joint ventures exist domestically—for example, BOC-AXA, ZhongYing Life, and Tongfang Global. Their foreign shareholders are all century-old insurers that have weathered multiple economic cycles without failure—demonstrating strong risk management capabilities, which they transfer to their joint ventures. 02 Comprehensive risk rating Thus, MetLife China’s operational metrics are exceptionally strong. For instance, its latest comprehensive solvency adequacy ratio stands at 441.55%, and its core solvency adequacy ratio at 282.82%. The regulatory minimum requirements for these two ratios are no less than 100% and 50%, respectively. These figures fully demonstrate MetLife China’s ample financial capacity to meet potential claim obligations—even under large-scale payouts, it can maintain normal operations. Even more impressively, since the implementation of the “C-ROSS II” regulatory framework in 2022, MetLife China’s comprehensive risk rating has consistently remained at the AA level. There are eight total risk rating categories, adjusted quarterly. We’re familiar with Ping An Insurance, which routinely maintains a rating above Class B—already considered highly reliable. MetLife China ranks even higher than Ping An—and among industry peers, fewer than nine insurers have sustained this AA-level rating over time—sufficient proof of its outstanding operational strength. 03 Currently offered products Currently offered products are predominantly participating (dividend-paying) policies. Examples include the “MetLife Premium Selection” increasing-term life insurance, “MetLife Premium Joy” leveraged life insurance, and “MetLife Yi Nian” pension annuity. Taking the most heavily promoted product—the “MetLife Premium Selection” increasing-term life insurance—as an example, let’s assess its market positioning. Such participating policies comprise two components: guaranteed returns and non-guaranteed dividends, paid annually. Using a 30-year-old woman paying RMB 50,000 annually for 10 years as an illustration: The guaranteed return for “MetLife Premium Selection” reaches 1.26% in Year 20 and 1.51% in Year 30. This guaranteed return is moderate: top-tier participating increasing-term life policies today offer guaranteed returns approaching 1.5% by Year 20 and nearly 1.7% by Year 30.

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