Ping An delivered its 2026 interim results on August 20, with attributable operating profit up 8.3% year-on-year, marking three consecutive years of growth, while net profit attributable to shareholders surged 36.1%, surpassing market expectations. The interim dividend of RMB 0.98 per share rose 3.2% year-on-year, the highest increase in four years. Against a backdrop of falling macro interest rates and lingering industry transformation pains, the quality of these numbers speaks for itself. But beyond the figures, the more compelling question is: what enabled this financial giant to advance with such force during an otherwise unremarkable first half? The answer may lie in Chairman Ma Mingzhe's early-year declaration that 2026 would be Ping An's "Year of Service." While the industry remains mired in zero-sum competition, Ping An has quietly redefined its growth logic through a "Service-Plus" approach.

The Numbers Go Beyond Stability: Real Momentum Beneath the Surface

Ping An has always prioritized stability in its operations, yet this half-year report reveals more than just steadiness. In the life insurance segment, new business value grew 11.2% year-on-year, maintaining double-digit growth for 14 consecutive quarters. Despite dual pressures from participating policy transformation and phased adjustments in bancassurance channels, the sustained high growth in NBV demonstrates genuine substance. Participating policies now account for over 90% of the portfolio, strengthening asset-liability matching resilience, while the share of long-payment-period products rose 6 percentage points year-on-year, enhancing customer stickiness. The property and casualty insurance segment also delivered commendable results, with a combined ratio of 95.1%, improving 0.1 percentage points year-on-year. In an industry where new energy vehicle insurance loss ratios remain persistently elevated, Ping An's ability to achieve both scale expansion and profitability improvement is no small feat, with its "Insurance + Technology + Service" model forming a positive feedback loop. The banking segment maintained its steady course, posting revenue of RMB 70.617 billion, up 1.8% year-on-year, and net profit of RMB 25.696 billion, up 3.3%, with a non-performing loan ratio of 1.05% and provision coverage of 219.58%. In a 2026 environment where net interest margins across the banking sector are universally compressing, this stability itself is a competitive advantage. What deserves even greater attention is shareholder returns, with total interim dividends of approximately RMB 26 billion and per-share dividend growth of 3.2% year-on-year, the highest in nearly four years, extending the streak of continuous annual cash dividend increases to 15 years. Rewarding shareholders with real capital is the most direct embodiment of the philosophy that management serves as shareholders' employees.

Profits Are the Outcome; Services Are the Foundation for Navigating Cycles

If financial metrics represent the "effect," then the "Service-Plus" strategy is the "cause." Throughout the first half of 2026, Ma Mingzhe repeatedly articulated a core thesis: the insurance industry has entered the "Service-Plus" era, extending beyond financial protection and asset appreciation into healthcare and elderly care services. The most insightful section of this report is how innovative services have evolved from supplementary benefits into genuine value engines empowering core businesses. Ping An upgraded its Global Emergency Assistance 3A service system in the first half, significantly expanding the boundaries of customer safety value. This service now covers 233 countries and regions, serving over 4.9 million customers, with nearly 1,500 assistance requests processed and a 98% satisfaction rate, including safely escorting 36 compatriots back from dangerous regions in the Middle East. "Anywhere, Anytime, Anything" is not just a slogan but a tangible sense of security. The home-based elderly care brand has been rebranded as "Ping An at Home," with over 320,000 customers now eligible for services, while the self-operated wellness community Zhen Yannian has expanded to five cities with six projects, including operational facilities in Shanghai Jing'an and Shenzhen Futian. The medical and elderly care strategy is transitioning from an "investment phase" to a "harvest phase." Health insurance premiums reached RMB 88.7 billion, with medical insurance exceeding RMB 43 billion, up 4.9% year-on-year. Customers utilizing medical and elderly care services showed a 5.9 percentage point increase in policy upgrade rates, and the number of life insurance customers using these services reached 11.51 million. Ping An has developed a comprehensive "Four-Reach" service system covering scenarios from remote consultation to hospital visits, home care, and corporate services, creating a complete closed loop for customer health value. The pet ecosystem deserves special attention, with Ping An embedding multiple financial products including bank credit cards and P&C pet insurance into pet ownership scenarios, connecting 16,000 pet hospitals nationwide. This seemingly niche initiative actually reflects the underlying logic of the "Service-Plus" strategy: shifting from selling policies to managing customers' entire life-cycle scenarios. Pets are family members, and the commercial logic behind "PetCare Plus" represents the finest granularity of a customer-centric approach. From a single policy to a comprehensive life-cycle risk solution, Ping An is completing a profound transformation from selling products to providing lifelong companionship.

The 'Ping An Model' of Token Economics: AI Everywhere, Adding Value to Service-Plus

AI is evolving from an "enabling tool" into Ping An's "core moat." Ping An adheres to the principle of "AI in All," avoiding flashy large model gimmicks in favor of deeply embedding artificial intelligence across the entire business value chain, ensuring technology serves real operations. This is the "Ping An model" of token economics. In the first half, internal model calls reached 7.5 billion, with daily average token consumption exceeding 120 billion in June. The Ping An financial large model ranked first overall in the CNFinBench evaluation, which is not merely decorative but hard evidence of deep "Finance + Technology" integration. The medical large model achieved the highest global AI score, surpassing Meta and OpenAI, demonstrating that in the slow-moving healthcare and elderly care sector, Ping An is building a fast-track barrier through technology. The scenario-level data from technology deployment is equally impressive: 94% of health and accident insurance claims in P&C operations are fully automated, with the fastest settlement in 51 seconds; intelligent anti-fraud interception reduced losses by RMB 7.11 billion, up 10.4% year-on-year; AI agent services handled approximately 939 million interactions, covering 81% of total customer service volume; and AI-assisted sales reached RMB 57.313 billion. A fully realized "AI in All" Ping An is taking shape. Quick service access now covers 88% of business scenarios, with peak monthly active online customers reaching approximately 90 million over the past 12 months, representing one of the highest monthly active user bases in the financial industry. Ping An's vision of "one entry point, one-stop solutions" is becoming reality, and improved customer stickiness is simply a natural consequence. Ma Mingzhe's "four-character principle" for service excellence — "Do complex things simply, repeat simple things consistently, standardize repeated efforts, and persist with standards" — is taking root and bearing fruit with AI empowerment.

A Deeper Moat and Greater Promise Ahead

Flowing water does not compete for precedence; it competes in constancy. This substantial half-year report demonstrates Ping An's strategic resolve in navigating economic cycles. CMB International's research suggests that Ping An's H-shares are currently trading at 0.52 times 2026 P/EV with a dividend yield of 6.0%, and average operating ROE exceeding 13% over the next three years. With fundamentals steadily improving on one hand and valuations still at historical lows on the other, a significant expectation gap remains for Ping An. Ma Mingzhe stated at the shareholders' meeting: "After years of reform, Ping An's strategy is clearer, its finances more robust, its moat more formidable, and its future more promising." The half-year report confirms this assessment with data: the "Integrated Finance + Medical & Elderly Care" strategic direction is more focused, the "Service-Plus" implementation path is clearer, and the technological barriers built by AI are deeper. Operating profit, dividends, and NBV represent the visible scorecard, while 253 million customers, an increasingly comprehensive medical and elderly care network, and end-to-end AI capabilities form the invisible moat — the enduring force for navigating cycles. The dividends of Ping An's "Service-Plus" era are only just beginning to materialize.