(Hong Kong, Shanghai, June 7, 2017) WPP, the world’s largest communications services group, has released in London, UK, its 2017 “BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands” list. Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter “Ping An”, HKEx: 2318; SSE: 601318) ranked 61th with a brand value of USD17.26 billion. Ranking 13th among global financial brands, Ping An continues to top global insurance brands.

“BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands” is one of the world’s most precise and comprehensive brand value reports. It is based on over 10 million consumer surveys and the financial results of each company. The latest list shows that in this age of the digital economy, the overall brand value of technology brands has gone up. In the face of the economic slowdown in China, the overall brand value of Chinese financial brands slightly declined. Yet Ping An with its prudent operation and integrated financial business model retained its leading position in the sector. In a strict regulatory environment, Ping An’s business quality stood out even more.

This year only three insurers are listed among the Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands, namely Ping An, China Life and AIA. The rankings report shows that Ping An’s brand has increased modestly in value because of its size, its enormous network of agents, and its extensive product offering of financial services. In 2016, Ping An managed to retain is market-leading position. Its total income reached RMB774.488 billion, up 11.7% compared to the same period a year earlier; net profit amounted to RMB72.368 billion, up 11.0% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company rose by 15.1% year-on-year to RMB62.394 billion. The Company’s assets totaled about RMB5.58 trillion, up 17.0% from the beginning of the year. In addition, its solvency was adequate. In the face of volatility in international financial markets and the slowdown of the domestic financial industry, Ping An has maintained its stable and healthy growth.

Through years of spreading out and cultivation, Ping An’s internet finance companies were able to record prominent growth in its innovation business, while Ping An’s core finance business maintained a fast and healthy development. As at December 31, 2016, the number of registered users of Lufax totaled 28.38 million, while the number of active investor users reached 7.4 million. Assets traded on Lufax maintained rapid growth. In 2016, the trading volume of retail channels amounted to RMB1,535,163 million, with end-of-period retail AUM reaching RMB438,379 million, continuing to lead the industry. Ping An Good Doctor provided health management services to over 130 million users and continued to consolidate its leading position across the nation in terms of online health medical care, with monthly active users and the peak number of daily inquiries hitting 26.25 million and 440,000 respectively.

Ping An commented: “Thanks to the higher competitiveness and greater value of the personal integrated financial model, the Group's business scale and brand strength continued to grow in recent years. As at the end of 2016, the Group had nearly 131 million individual core finance customers, while the total number of Internet users had reached 346 million. Notwithstanding the immense scale of its customers and users, Ping An will continue to treat individual customers as a priority, continuously improving and enhancing the customer experience, and actively committing to the innovation of products, services and channels. In addition, Ping An actively fulfills its corporate social responsibility, to create value for customers, shareholders and employees while continuing to enhance the brand value of the Group.”

Ping An ranked 8th among the Chinese enterprises listed in the Top 100, while others include Tencent (ranked 8th), Alibaba Group (ranked 14th), China Mobile (ranked 17th), ICBC (ranked 28th), Baidu (ranked 39th), Huawei (ranked 49th), China Construction Bank (ranked 54th), Agricultural Bank of China (ranked 72nd) and China Life (ranked 78th), etc.