What’s new: Financial veteran Bai Tao is expected to become the new chairman of state-owned China Life Insurance (Group) Co., Caixin learned from sources with knowledge of the matter.
Authorities announced Bai’s appointment as chief of China Life’s Communist Party committee on Friday afternoon, a move that usually proceeds to a nomination as chairman, the sources said. The appointment came less than a week after China’s top anti-graft authority said the insurance giant’s chairman, Wang Bin, had been put under investigation on suspicion of corruption.
The background: Bai’s appointment was well received by insurance professionals at China Life, the sources said. His former colleagues described him as capable, approachable and ready to take advice.
Almost 60, Bai had spent 30 years working in a variety of positions at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s largest bank by assets. He also worked for China Life, state-owned investor Central Huijin Investment Ltd., and The People’s Insurance Co. (Group) of China Ltd.
In January 2020, Bai became chairman and party chief of State Development and Investment Corp. Ltd., a state-owned investment holding company.
Related: Corruption Probe of China Life’s Chairman Was No Surprise, Sources Say
Contact reporter Zhang Yukun (yukunzhang@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
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