Corporate History

2004

Ping An was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 24 June 2004 with the stock name of “ Ping An of China ” and the stock number of "2318". The market value of the Group exceeded US$10,000 million and is one of the constituent stocks of MSCI China Index and Hang Seng Index. In November, the company was recognized as the “Best Investor Relations for an IPO in Asia ” by Investor Relations Magazine.

Since the commencement of the reform program in the property and casualty business at the end of 2003, Shanghai was selected to be the first trial run city in March 2004 and was proved successful in six months time. In October, the program was launched in Beijing , and will gradually be implemented to additional cities in 2005. This is a customer-oriented program which aims to create a professional, efficient and stable agency force through better customer and market segmentation, and job function definition. It is believed that the program will help maintain the company's core competitiveness and provide the best services to customers.

After the donation of 38 blood donation vehicles in 2002, Ping An offered one-year serious disease and accident insurance policies to people who have donated their hemopoietic stem cells (HSC) to the China Red Cross from 2003 to 2006 on 29 March 2004 . The total endowed insured amount is more than RMB100 million. As of December 2004, 182 donors have been awarded this insurance policy with a total endowment of RMB63.7 million. The company also organized a quiz game to promote HSC knowledge. In order to recognize Ping An's contribution, the company was awarded the “2004 Best Blood Donation Promotion Award” by the Ministry of Health, the Red Cross Society of China and the People's Liberation Army's Health Department.

At the end of 2004, Ping An launched the “Olympics Project” following the key qualities of the Olympic Games ?C unity, enthusiasm and competitive spirit. The objective of the project is to improve the current operating system and customer segmentation to provide the most comprehensive services, further strengthen the company's position as a leading international financial holding company and maintain a stable growth in profits and returns.

Following the approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Fujian Asia Bank Ltd., jointly acquired by Ping An and HSBC, was renamed Ping An Bank Limited on 19 February 2004 . The headquarters was relocated to Shanghai in the same year with a new branch office that was opened in Fuzhou . Ping An Bank is able to leverage the strong IT network, risk management system and resources of the group and fulfill the needs of its customers. This is an important milestone of the company in becoming an integrated financial group.

On 1 December 2004 , the Company's plan to set up an elderly insurance subsidiary has been approved by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC). Ping An is one of the pioneers in this sector, which allows the company to gain first mover advantage. In September 2004, preparation of establishing Ping An Health Insurance Company of China, Ltd. was approved by the CIRC. The establishment of these two subsidiaries marks an important breakthrough for the company in providing specialized insurance products.

On 17 September 2004 , Ping An held a foundation stone laying ceremony in Shanghai Pudong for its national customer service support centre. Th e centre will play a key role in improving the company ' s customer services standard.

Ping An Life launched the sales support system on 10 November 2004 . A service platform is established for agents where alerts, news update, enquiry centre, sales support, morning meeting and exchange forum are provided. This as a result help improve the services standard of the sales force, which is a key competitive advantage of Ping An.

On 21 December 2004, Ping An was selected as one of the winners of the “Best Corporate Citizenship in China,” an award jointly organized by the 21st Century Press Series and China Europe International Business School. The company's responsible image to shareholders, customers, employees and the community in the past 16 years was highly appraised and it was the only financial institution that received the award. In the same year, the company also received the “ 2003 Best CRM Company Award ” from Greater China CRM in January, the “ Most Respected Company ” by Peking University and the Economic Observer in May. The company's “ Intelligent Learning System ” also received the “ Outstanding Training System Award ” from the China Foundation for Development of Financial Education in November.

After a two-year preparation, Ping An successfully completed a trial run of its “ IT crisis recovery system ” on 11-12 December 2004. The trial run lasted for 28 hours and over 100 technicians participated. This demonstrates the company ' s ability to manage crisis. As technology is becoming more and more important in the operation of a financial institution, the establishment of reliable and efficient system is crucial in protecting customers ' data and a smooth operation.

On 12 January 2004 , Ping An signed a strategic cooperation agreement with HSBC. Under the agreement, customers holding HSBC's China Medical Card can call Ping An's 95512 emergency hotline for assistance in China . Ping An is the first company in China providing similar services.