China Life Plans Up to 4.5 Billion Yuan Fund for AI and Semiconductor Investments

On September 24, China Life Insurance Company (601628) announced a new investment initiative, signing a partnership agreement to establish the Qingdao Chengxin Zhida Equity Investment Center (Limited Partnership). The fund will focus on investing in high-quality unlisted equity in the artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor sectors.

All partners plan to contribute a total of up to RMB 6 billion, with China Life contributing no more than RMB 4.5 billion.

This marks the fourth equity investment project announced by China Life this year targeting new quality productive forces, with cumulative contributions reaching approximately RMB 16 billion.

Investment Focus: AI and Semiconductor Funds

According to the announcement, China Life, Wuxi Guoshou Chengda Equity Investment Center (Limited Partnership) ("Guoshou Wuxi Fund"), and other investors (all acting as limited partners, or LPs) will enter into a partnership agreement with Guoshou Chengda (Shanghai) Health Medical Equity Investment Management Co., Ltd. ("Guoshou Chengda"), serving as the general partner (GP), to establish the Qingdao Chengxin Zhida Equity Investment Center (Limited Partnership) ("Chengxin Zhida"). Guoshou Equity Investment Co., Ltd. ("Guoshou Equity") will act as the fund's manager.

Key details of the fund:

• Total scale: No more than RMB 6 billion
• China Life's contribution: No more than RMB 4.5 billion
• Term: 6 years
• Type: A technology innovation equity fund

Investment direction: Chengxin Zhida will align with national policy priorities of technological self-reliance and industrial autonomy. It will focus on two major technology innovation areas:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI): A critical field in global technology competition
• Semiconductors: The cornerstone of industrial chain autonomy

The fund will target high-quality unlisted enterprises with core technological moats, significant potential for domestic substitution, and strong long-term growth certainty.

China Life stated that this project is both an important measure to implement the "15th Five-Year Plan" deployment, support emerging pillar industries, and cultivate new quality productive forces, as well as a key lever to optimize the company's asset allocation and capture long-term growth dividends from hard technology.

As of June 30, 2026, China Life's total assets and investment assets maintained steady growth, reaching RMB 8.09 trillion and RMB 7.95 trillion, respectively.

"Unlocking Long-Term Return Potential"

China Life noted that this transaction reflects its commitment to supporting emerging pillar industries and new quality productive forces policies, helping the company build a diversified technology innovation investment portfolio and enhance returns on insurance fund investments.

Prior to this project, China Life had announced three other technology equity investment projects in 2024:

1. January: China Life partnered with multiple parties to establish the Huizhi Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai) Private Equity Fund Partnership. Total partner contributions were RMB 5.0515 billion, with China Life contributing RMB 4 billion. The fund focuses on technology innovation enterprises in AI, integrated circuits, and biomedicine.

1. March: China Life announced a RMB 2.8 billion investment in the Fujian Xinrui Kechuang Relay Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership). Other LPs include Fujian Provincial Government Investment Fund Co., Ltd. and Fuzhou Jintou Industrial Investment Co., Ltd. Total partner contributions were RMB 4.0154 billion. The fund targets the private equity secondary market, investing in fund secondaries and continuation funds to support technology innovation areas prioritized by national policy.

1. July: China Life, as an LP, signed a partnership agreement with Guoshou Industrial Investment Management Co., Ltd. (as GP) to establish the Tianjin Shenghe Xincheng Equity Investment Fund Partnership, focusing on semiconductor companies. The fund's scale was RMB 5 billion, with China Life contributing RMB 4.999 billion.

Insurance Capital as "Patient Capital" for Innovation

In recent years, insurance funds have increasingly acted as patient capital to support technology innovation. China Life began highlighting the phrase "unlocking long-term return potential" in its 2026 semi-annual report and elaborated on its investment layout and strategy for new quality productive forces during its August interim results conference.

Liu Hui, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of China Life, stated at the time that the company has long supported the real economy, with new quality productive forces being a key area of increased allocation in recent years. She described it as the most promising growth pole for generating differentiated returns in the future.

Key figures from her remarks:

• China Life's investment in new quality productive forces has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 30%
• Total investment scale in this area exceeds RMB 540 billion

Looking ahead, Liu Hui emphasized that the development of new quality productive forces is not merely a local technological upgrade but a comprehensive, systemic transformation involving economic structure, industrial forms, and global patterns. With China Life's asset scale of approximately RMB 8 trillion, the company has vast room for future deployment in this area and will pursue systematic allocation.

Core investment directions:

• Artificial Intelligence and Semiconductors
• Health and Biotechnology
• Green Energy and New Infrastructure

Investment stage approach: China Life will support enterprises through the full cycle of R&D, industrialization, and mature operations.