Taikang's 20-Year Evolution: From Rapid Expansion to an Integrated Health and Elder Care Ecosystem

On August 18, 2016, the “Healthcare + Internet Insurance Innovation Forum,” part of Taikang’s 20th Anniversary Celebration Series, was held in Beijing. Hosted by Taikang Life Insurance and organized by Taikang Online, the forum also marked the successful conclusion of the nearly two-month-long “Searching for China’s New Medical Insurance Policies” campaign, jointly launched by Taikang Online and VCBeat.

 Chen Dongsheng, Chairman and CEO of Taikang Life Insurance

VCBeat has compiled the following remarks by Mr. Chen Dongsheng, Chairman of Taikang Life Insurance:

In 1996, following the promulgation of China’s Insurance Law, Taikang was among the first batch of joint-stock, market-oriented insurance companies to be established. At the ten-year review, Taikang remained a specialized life insurer focused exclusively on life insurance, still in the phase of aggressive expansion, establishing a nationwide network, and building a large-scale sales system.

Life insurance companies are capital investors, and the most critical task is to establish a robust sales system. The internet, as a new technological revolution, holds disruptive and revolutionary implications for traditional channels and conventional sales models.

Although Taikang is a life insurance company, it established Taikang Online in 2000 and set up the Taikang Online Innovation Business Unit in 2008, thereby elevating Taikang Online’s strategic status and increasing resource allocation. In 2015, Taikang Online obtained the first internet insurance license issued to a large-scale insurer in China and formally established Taikang Online Property Insurance Co., Ltd., becoming the second internet insurance company to launch in the Chinese market.

All attendees here today are joint developers and maintainers of the internet industry, as well as collaborators in internet finance and internet insurance. Over the years, Taikang has accumulated millions of customers through its partnerships with Alibaba, Ctrip, 360, Tencent, and Baidu.

Taikang Insurance serves approximately 170 million customers cumulatively, including over 40 million long-term life insurance policyholders. Currently, there are 21 million active policies and 50 million internet-based paying customers, indicating that Taikang’s current customer base stands at around 80 million. Its cumulative assets have exceeded RMB 1 trillion. This positions Taikang to manage USD 1 trillion in the future, becoming China’s largest retirement fund manager and a leading provider of long-term, stable capital as well as a major institutional investor in China’s capital markets.

Taikang will evolve into a vast ecosystem in the future. Future collaborations will not be confined to the insurance sector; for any entity with a robust business model and aspirations for strong growth, we may become its most significant investor. Currently, Taikang operates 4,200 sales outlets across China, spanning from Mohe to Yili and down to Sanya, and boasts a nationwide network of 500,000 insurance agents and brokers.

Particularly in the integrated medical and elderly care sector, Taikang has made a comprehensive entry into the healthcare and senior living industry. The company began its strategic layout in this field nine years ago and currently holds land parcels in ten locations across China. It has already developed and constructed large-scale chain retirement communities in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. By the end of this year, Taikang will establish the Taikang Tongji International Hospital in Wuhan, a major Grade A tertiary hospital with an investment of approximately RMB 3 billion. Meanwhile, Taikang has formed a strategic partnership with West China Hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and is poised to establish the Taikang West China International Hospital. Additionally, the Taikang Southern Medical University International Hospital is being built in Guangzhou. These four future hospitals represent top-tier, market-oriented institutions integrating industry, academia, and research. Taikang has thus unveiled its grand blueprint in the integrated medical and elderly care sector.

In the future, Taikang will become China’s largest chain elderly care group, encompassing not only central hospitals and clinics but also specialized hospitals and specialty clinics. Taikang is poised to serve as an investor and integrator across the broader healthcare industry. It has already invested in Angel Hospital, medical device companies, and end-of-life care projects within the greater health sector.

Taikang’s strategy has always been clear: the comprehensive integration of the elderly life chain, namely the combination of medical care and eldercare. Taikang will consistently pursue a single objective—following a path of specialization, deeply cultivating the life insurance industry chain from “cradle to heaven,” making insurance more accessible and affordable, and enabling people to enjoy better health, greater longevity, and increased prosperity, thereby integrating Taikang Life Insurance into their happy lives. Thus, Taikang’s core strategy is to provide health and financial management services to the growing middle class.