When New China Life Insurance launched its initial position in Guotai Junan in 2017, no one could have imagined that this investment would later become the second-largest shareholding bloc in Guotai Haitong after its landmark merger with Haitong Securities.

The relationship between New China Life Insurance Company Ltd. (ASX: 601336) and Guotai Haitong Securities Co., Ltd. (ASX: 601211) can be traced back to as early as 2017. Back then, the restructuring and integration of Guotai Junan and Haitong Securities had yet to commence, yet New China Life had already set its sights on Guotai Junan.

In May 2017, New China Life made its first purchase of Guotai Junan H-shares through a subsidiary, acquiring a 5.09% stake. It then continued to add to its position, steadily increasing its shareholding. By the end of 2019, New China Life, together with its affiliates New China Asset Management and New China Asset Management (Hong Kong), collectively held more than 774 million Guotai Junan H-shares, equivalent to 8.7% of Guotai Junan's total share capital.

As a long-term investor, New China Life maintained a stable holding in Guotai Junan H-shares and nominated a director to serve on Guotai Junan's board. In November 2019, An Hongjun, a seasoned executive of New China Life, became a director of Guotai Junan's fifth board, serving until August 2024. Subsequently, Chen Yijiang, general manager of New China Asset Management, took over the board seat.

Even after Guotai Junan officially announced its major asset restructuring with Haitong Securities, New China Life continued to increase its commitment. For instance, at the end of 2024, New China Life made multiple large purchases of Haitong Securities H-shares. As Guotai Haitong completed its restructuring, the strength of New China Life's value investing approach became evident. Through its forward-looking positioning, New China Life solidified its shareholder standing within the new platform formed after the merger.

Following the completion of the restructuring, the H-share equity of the former Guotai Junan and Haitong Securities was uniformly converted into Guotai Haitong H-shares. At present, New China Life has not slowed its pace and continues to add to its position in the secondary market.

In 2026, New China Life's H-share shareholding in Guotai Haitong successively surpassed 16%, 17%, 18%, and 19%, reaching 20.24% by the end of September, once again triggering a disclosure obligation. According to disclosures, on September 29, 2026, New China Life increased its holding of Guotai Haitong H-shares by 9,959,600 shares through centralized bidding transactions in the secondary market, accounting for approximately 0.28% of Guotai Haitong's issued H-share capital.

The participant in this stake increase in Guotai Haitong was New China Asset Management, while New China Asset Management (Hong Kong) did not participate in this particular increase. Both entities serve as entrusted managers for New China Life. New China Life intends to manage its investment in Guotai Haitong as part of its equity investment portfolio.

In equity investment, New China Life firmly adheres to the principles of value investing and long-term investing, actively engaging in the allocation of holdings-oriented equity base assets to stabilize long-term investment returns. It also observes market trends and actively seizes structural opportunities to capture return elasticity.

After this equity change, New China Life and its concert parties collectively hold 709,612,720 Guotai Haitong H-shares, accounting for approximately 20.24% of the listed company's H-share capital. As of September 29, 2026, the book balance of New China Life's Guotai Haitong H-share holdings stood at 8.97 billion yuan, representing 0.48% of New China Life's total assets at the end of the previous quarter. As of June 30, 2026, New China Life's equity asset book balance was 440.275 billion yuan, accounting for 24.34% of the company's total assets at the end of the previous quarter.

Today, New China Life's shareholding in Guotai Haitong may rank it as the second-largest single shareholder, second only to Shanghai State-owned Assets Operation Co., Ltd.

New China Life's bet on Guotai Haitong is not difficult to understand. On one hand, New China Life possesses ample capital strength. As of the end of June 2026, New China Life's total assets stood at 1.95 trillion yuan, with a comprehensive solvency adequacy ratio of 195.74%. On the other hand, Guotai Haitong holds considerable investment value. Since the merger of Guotai Haitong, leveraging its extensive offline branch network and retail client base, its total asset scale has surged, directly surpassing CITIC Securities. As of June 30, 2026, CITIC Securities, the "top brokerage," reported total assets of 2,469,929 million yuan, while Guotai Haitong's total assets reached 2,502,178 million yuan, exceeding the former by 32.2 billion yuan. This is a win-win strategic positioning.