Insurance agents transition to full-cycle services

“Customers used to ask what insurance to buy; now they more often ask where to retire in the future, and how to plan for health and wealth,” says Song Xiaofei, an insurance agent with over 20 years of experience, describing the industry’s changes. “Today, we are more like full-lifecycle planners serving our clients.”

This shift reflects a deep transformation in the insurance industry. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, “investing in people” has gradually become a key concept in China’s economic and social development. This year marks the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and this idea is once again emphasized. From education and healthcare to employment and retirement, human capital is seen as a critical factor driving high-quality development.

Against this backdrop, a seemingly traditional industry group—insurance agents—is quietly changing. From early reliance on “mass recruitment” and extensive growth to a more professional and service-oriented “talent strategy,” insurance agents are undergoing a structural adjustment. Looking back at the development of China’s life insurance industry, the agent workforce was once known for rapid expansion. During industry peaks, the number of insurance agents nationwide approached 9 million. Many newcomers entered the industry, driving premium growth but also facing issues like low retention rates and job instability. As demographic and market conditions evolved, this growth model based on quantity became unsustainable.

In response, regulators have continuously promoted standardized development of the agent workforce. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission’s 2025 notice on deepening reforms in personal insurance marketing explicitly states that insurance companies should strengthen full-process management of sales personnel, improve systems for recruitment, training, sales authorization, behavior regulation, performance evaluation, incentives, and record-keeping, and enhance agents’ compliance awareness, professionalism, and service capabilities to improve customer satisfaction.

In recent years, many insurance companies have gradually established tiered training and career development systems for agents. Taikang Insurance Group’s “Health and Wealth Planner” is a notable example. This role is defined as a hybrid professional combining insurance consulting, healthcare consulting, and financial advising, aiming to provide clients with comprehensive health and wealth planning services across their entire lifecycle.

According to Ying Weiwei, Assistant President and Board Secretary of Taikang Insurance Group, as longevity increases, people’s needs for health management, retirement planning, and wealth management are becoming more integrated. The traditional single-focus sales model can no longer meet customer demands. “The new life insurance model, integrating medical, healthcare, and insurance finance, means agents are no longer just selling products—they serve as vital bridges connecting clients with medical, retirement, and wealth management resources,” Ying Weiwei explains.

This change is quietly reshaping the relationship between agents and clients. Song Xiaofei says, “In the past, buying insurance was often just a transaction; now, we aim to build long-term service relationships, shifting from product pushers to ‘long-term companions,’ helping clients solve issues related to healthcare, retirement, and legal matters as much as possible.”

The professional upgrading of agents is not just an isolated effort by individual companies but a broader industry trend. AIA Insurance’s recent “Excellent Marketer Program” emphasizes attracting highly educated talent into the industry and enhancing their professional skills through systematic training and career development. New China Life Insurance is also continuously adjusting its agent structure. In July 2024, it launched the “XIN Generation” plan to shift from scale expansion to performance-oriented recruitment, strengthening training, optimizing incentives, and improving career pathways to attract more professionals with long-term service capabilities.

Overall, the number of agents is gradually decreasing, but the quality and stability of the workforce are steadily improving. Under the policy of “investing in people,” this transformation has deeper significance. Ying Weiwei believes that, on one hand, the insurance industry itself is an important employment sector, and upgrading the agent profession provides new career paths for young people while cultivating a pool of versatile professionals for financial services. On the other hand, improving agents’ service capabilities helps enhance residents’ risk management and retirement planning skills.

It is foreseeable that as the retirement and health industries continue to grow, the professional boundaries of insurance agents will expand further. From risk protection to health management, from wealth planning to retirement services, agents are becoming key connectors among insurance, healthcare, and eldercare services. When the insurance industry truly regards talent as a vital asset, “investing in people” will gradually become an endogenous driver of industry development. (Economic Daily Reporter Wu Yadong)