Former president of China Life Insurance, Yang Chao, investigated for close ties with Liu Yunshan’s son.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is currently “cleansing” the financial territory of central and state-owned enterprises. Yang Chao, former president of China Life Insurance, was reported to have fallen from power today (28th). Yang Chao had close ties with Liu Leifei, the son of former CCP Politburo Standing Committee member Liu Yunshan, and Liu Leifei made significant profits during Yang Chao’s tenure.

On March 28th, the Discipline Inspection Commission and National Supervisory Commission of the CCP jointly reported on the China Life Insurance Group Company that Yang Chao, former secretary of the Party Committee and president of the China Life Insurance Group, is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law.” Yang Chao had led China Life Insurance for many years and has been retired for 14 years.

Yang Chao, aged 75, a native of Shanghai, had worked in the Chinese insurance system for many years, serving in institutions such as the China People’s Insurance Company. In May 2005, Yang Chao took over China Life Insurance, serving as secretary of the Party Committee and president of China Life Insurance (Group) Company, as well as chairman of China Life Insurance Co., Ltd. and China Life Property Insurance Co., Ltd. Yang Chao retired in 2011.

On March 19 this year, mainland media reported that Yang Chao’s phone was unreachable, leading to speculation that he had lost contact, confirming the rumors of his fall from power.

Historically, CCP financial central and state-owned enterprises have been the territory of privileged members. Liu Leifei, son of former CCP Politburo Standing Committee member Liu Yunshan, had close ties with Yang Chao during his time at China Life Insurance. Liu Leifei currently serves as CEO at CPE Source Peak.

In 2004, Liu Yunshan, then Minister of the CCP’s Propaganda Department, arranged for his 31-year-old son Liu Leifei to be placed in the largest institutional investor in the country – China Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Liu Leifei’s public resume shows that he served as Chief Investment Officer and General Manager of the Investment Management Department at China Life Insurance, where he was responsible for asset-liability matching, strategic allocation, and investment management of nearly a trillion RMB in investment assets. He led equity investments in a series of major projects such as Southern Power Grid, Guangfa Bank, Citic Securities, Visa, Minsheng Bank, China UnionPay, and Qinhuangdao Port, achieving “substantial returns.”

In June 2008, after the establishment of the Citic Industrial Fund, Liu Leifei left China Life Insurance to become chairman and CEO of the fund, also serving as a director at Citic Securities. Despite leaving, his cooperation with China Life Insurance did not cease.

In recent years, several senior executives at China Life Insurance have encountered trouble. On November 15, 2018, Lin Dairen, who had just retired as secretary of the Party Committee and president of China Life Insurance Co., Ltd., was severely warned within the Party for “irregularities in personnel selection and employment.” In January 2022, Wang Bin, chairman of China Life Insurance, was investigated for accepting bribes worth 325 million RMB and concealing foreign currency deposits in Hong Kong, leading to a suspended death sentence in September 2023.

According to mainland media reports, in the “cleansing” of the financial sector by the authorities, 87 individuals were investigated in 2023, including 8 senior officials; in 2024, a total of 97 individuals were investigated throughout the year, including 3 senior officials and 15 regulatory agency officials.

Entering 2025, in January, six individuals including Che Deyu, former head of China Bank’s Tianjin Branch, and Zhao Hui, deputy head of Agri Bank’s Sichuan Branch, fell from power. On March 21st, Wang Huimin, former Party Committee member of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and head of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission at the Commission, was investigated, becoming the first senior official to fall in the financial sector in 2025.