In 2025, china's insurance industry witnessed the optimization of the adjustment cycle by the most concentrated branches in nearly six years。
According to press reports, a total of 3157 insurance branches were officially withdrawn in 2025, an increase of more than 57 per cent over the full year of 2024, with 2297, or 72. 78 per cent, of personal insurance companies, and 859, or 27. 22 per cent, of property insurance companies, an annual high since 2020。
The “scrawling tide” of institutions covering life and financial and financial risks, which runs from the second line to the county market, is not simply a contraction of scale, but rather a structural exercise with multiple combinations of regulatory guidance, market push and technical assistance。
This marks the official departure of china's insurance industry from the "run-cun-cun-cun-cun-cun."Quality developmentNew phase。
3157 institutions were withdrawn and the branch office cancelled the panorama in 2025
In terms of total dimensions, the write-off by the branch of insurance in 2025 was marked by a “continuing expansion of net exit, concentration of grass-roots sites and head-risk-led adjustment”。
According to press reports, in 2024, the insurance sector was abolished in 2013 and in 2025 the number reached 3157, while only 280 new branches were established during the same period, resulting in a net withdrawal of 2877 and a further contraction of the industry。
From 2020 to 2025, the cumulative elimination of 133,000 branches in industry over six years and the concentration adjustment in 2025 were both a continuation of the pre-optimization and an acceleration of the transformation of the industry。
In terms of type of operation, in 2025, write-off agencies showed a pattern of “over 70 per cent life insurance and a steady contraction in financial risk”. Of these, 2298, or 72. 8 per cent of the total write-off, were written off by personal risk companies, which involved 56 life insurance owners; 859, or 27. 2 per cent, were written off by property insurance companies, covering 40 financial insurance agencies。
This difference arises from the different levels of dependence of the two types of operations: life insurance has long relied on sub-net coverage by sub-agents and grass-roots networks, and the decline in production capacity is more pronounced in the department of traditional marketing services; and financial risk has been dominated by vehicle and corporate risk, with the network layout focusing more on core areas and adjusting the pace relatively flatly。
In terms of the pace of abolition, there is a clear difference in the pace of abolition among companies。
According to blue whale news, 715 branches were abolished in 2025 for life insurance in china, and 276 in 2024. The rate of withdrawal is clearly accelerating. Only 65 branches were abolished in 2025, compared to 157 in 2024, with a marked slowdown in pace。
At the institutional level, the four-level institutions at the grass-roots level are the core of the write-off. Dismantling institutions, including 1818 marketing services and 863 companies, included 1,312 marketing services and 634 companies, and 506 marketing services and 229 companies。
In comparison, the number of write-offs by central and provincial branches was lower. For example, life in china has been abolished, with about 98 per cent of the agencies being marketing services and concentrated in three or four-line cities。
This structure shows that the risk adjustment is not a “one-size-fits-all” contraction, but rather a shift to a new model of “precise layout, efficient operation” that preserves the core level, eliminates the end-of-pipe inefficient production capacity and ensures the integrity of the regional service skeleton, while removing “cracking” from the high operational costs and low operational contribution。
It is a matter of concern that in 2025, for the first time, there was a withdrawal of the head office in the industry, the write-off of four head office companies: anda insurance, china, tianan, tianan, and cheonan financial insurance, and a large-scale restructuring of the superseding branches, marking the extension of the exit mechanism from the grass-roots level to the main level, with the industry entering deeper。
From expansion to contraction, the insurance branch wrote off the core movement because
The central write-off of the insurance branch in 2025 was not a risky passive choice, but a corollary of the combined effect of regulatory policy direction, the transformation of the stage of industrial development, and the technological change shock, and was a strategic adjustment of the “active leaning-in transition”。
On the one hand, regulation leads to a lack of clarity and a sound exit mechanism for the market。
The national directorate of financial supervision has been carrying out an ongoing “enumeration” initiative, which is the core policy driver for the restructuring of the branches. There is a clear requirement for clean-up of the “shell sites” “low-efficiency sites” and a sound institutional exit mechanism。
Through policies such as `news one' and `sales behaviour control', the living space of traditional inefficient networks is being reduced, and risk firms are being guided to optimize their institutional layout, abandoning scale orientation and focusing on the quality of their operations and service capabilities。
At the beginning of 2026, for example, more than 40 branches of china's leading companies, namely, life, life in the pacific and financial insurance, received intensive withdrawals from regulation。
On the other hand, operating pressures are inverted and inefficient networks are difficult to sustain。
The significant imbalance between costs and benefits is the direct cause of the risk write-off branch. The operating costs of the grass-roots networks are extremely rigid, including fixed expenses such as rent, manpower, utilities, management, etc., while the premiums in county areas and the downside market are limited, the new single growth in the superseding industry is weak, the size of the agents continues to shrink, and a large number of the grass-roots networks are caught up in “insurance revenues that do not cover operating costs”。
In the context of a low interest rate environment that exacerbates the pressure on spreads, the elimination of inefficient grids and the reduction of operating costs are necessary options to secure profits and operate safely。
In addition, technological iterations are becoming more widespread, with weaker offline outlets dependent on them。
The rapid development of insurance technology has fundamentally changed the service model and channel demand in the industry and significantly weakened the existence of the sub-line physical network。
The data from the china internet insurance consumer insight report 2024, published by the mets group and qinghua university, show that online insurance coverage rose from 73 per cent in 2023 to 78 per cent in 2024, and that value is still rising。
At the same time, technologies such as ai safeguards, smart claims and tele-protection are widely available, and all-process services such as insurance, contributions, settlement and counselling can be done through mobile phones, apps and micro-credit programs, and consumer dependence on offline sites is declining。
Traditionally, marketing services, with “underline sales” at their core, have been replaced by digital channels, forcing risk-taking firms to contract below-line capacity and tilting resources towards efficient online channels。
Skinned rather than shrunk, deep-seated implications of branch write-offs for industry
From the practice of 2025, the write-off of inefficient web sites is not “shrunk”, but rather “produce”。
First, there was increased concentration and increased competition for differentiation. The branch write-off accelerated the concentration of industry resources in head risk and further optimized market patterns。
With greater capital power, digital capabilities and service networks, head-risks have improved market competitiveness by eliminating inefficient networks and upgrading core ones; and small and medium-sized risk firms have been forced to exit low-capacity markets, focusing on subdivision areas, regional markets and pursuing a differentiated and professional development path。
According to the institute of forward industry studies, in 2023, life insurance cr5 (the first five market concentrations) was 61. 97 per cent, and in 2024 the life insurance industry cr5 was 65 per cent, which meant a shift from a “dispersional competition” to a “head-leading, small and medium complementary” pattern。
At the same time, market exit mechanisms have been improved, risking increasing the capacity to operate, the market rules of “survival for the better and for the fit” have actually landed and the industry's ecology has become healthier。
Second, the service model is open for online and offline integration and service quality upgrades. The branch write-off facilitated the transformation of the industry service model from “underline dominance” to “lineline integration”。
Some of the risk companies have started piloting the community insurance service centre, which will bring the network points together with community old age and health management, with a deeper integration of the insurance + service, which will become the dominant form of the future grass-roots network。
For example, since 2024, during the life of fudd, a service system of “online easy service plus low-end experience” has been developed. The core nodes have been transformed into rehabilitation centres, wealth management centres, customer service centres, which focus on complex operations, high-value services and replace traditional simple marketing functions。
At the same time, operating efficiency has reduced costs and improved profitability。
Large-scale write-off of inefficient sites directly leads to reduced operating costs and increased operational efficiency of the venture. Institutional contraction has simplified the management hierarchy, reducing the chain of management from the head office to the grass-roots level and significantly increasing the efficiency of decision-making and implementation。
More importantly, the concentration of resources in high-yielding power grids and high-value operations has contributed to the rapid growth of single-shop capacity and per capita capacity。
In the first three quarters of 2025, companies reported an increase of 21. 6 per cent in the value of new business per life insurance agent, and an increase of 16. 6 per cent in the first year of coverage per person per month for the core workforce。
The write-off of 3157 insurance branches in 2025 was essentially a profound change in industry from broad-based expansion to intensive growth and from scale to value orientation。
For venturers, the branch “skinned” is only the first step, and more important is the simultaneous push-through transformation, product upgrading, service optimization, and technological empowerment to truly achieve “cutting, thin body”。
For the industry, the improvement of the market exit mechanism and the optimization of the allocation of resources will encourage china's insurance industry to move from being a “large country” to being a “insurance power”。
