The President of PICC Property and Casualty Insurance has been officially confirmed, with Zhang Daoming stepping in directly to become a core member of the group.

How does the internal promotion of Zhang Daoming reflect new governance ideas in state-owned enterprises?

Produced by | Zhongfang Network

Reviewed by | Li Xiaoyan

After four months of power vacuum, the trillion-level insurance central enterprise China People’s Insurance Company (PICC) has officially welcomed its new leader. Recently, Zhang Daoming, the interim head of PICC, was formally appointed as the company’s president, simultaneously promoted to vice president of PICC Group, and included in the ranks of central management personnel. This personnel arrangement is not only a prudent choice for the governance of state-owned financial enterprises against the backdrop of in-depth anti-corruption in finance but also a strategic layout for PICC Group to strengthen core sector control and optimize the structure of the executive team. While it seems expected, it actually contains profound reshaping of the governance logic of state-owned enterprises, the mechanisms of power operation, and the direction of industry development.

In December 2025, former president Yu Ze of PICC was investigated for serious disciplinary violations and illegal activities, causing the industry-leading property insurance company to suddenly enter a unique phase of leadership vacancy. As a cornerstone of the industry with annual premium scale exceeding 540 billion yuan and net profit surpassing 40 billion yuan, the stability of PICC is directly related to the order of the property insurance market, the image of financial central enterprises, and the foundation of people’s livelihood security. Within just a few days, the company’s board of directors appointed Zhang Daoming, then executive director, vice president, and financial head, as the interim head to preside over operations, swiftly filling the management gap and demonstrating the emergency response capability of state-owned enterprises and the governance bottom line of “stability outweighing everything.” During the four-month transition period, Zhang Daoming was entrusted with responsibilities and performed steadily, ensuring orderly progress in company operations, business expansion, and risk prevention, laying a solid foundation for his formal appointment and providing reassurance to the market and industry.

The appointment of Zhang Daoming is a dual endorsement of qualifications and capabilities as well as credibility, and it vividly embodies the principle of “both virtue and talent, virtue first, and appointing the capable” in the selection and use of personnel in state-owned enterprises. At the age of 49, Zhang Daoming graduated from Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management and has nearly 28 years of management experience in the insurance industry, making him an “internal veteran” deeply rooted in the PICC system. His career encompasses key positions across the entire chain, including human resources, strategic planning, provincial branch operations, and core group management, covering frontline practical experience in branches in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and comprehensive management at headquarters as assistant to the president, vice president, and financial head, allowing him to develop solid business fundamentals, comprehensive management abilities, and keen market insights. Notably, his brief experience outside the company before returning to PICC is rare in the state-owned enterprise system, confirming the prominence of his professional capabilities and reflecting his deep recognition of the culture of state-owned enterprises, financial regulatory requirements, and PICC’s development strategy.

Insiders comment that Zhang Daoming is upright, diligent, and has a precise understanding of business logic and management essence. He communicates efficiently, makes pragmatic decisions, and possesses both strategic vision and execution capability. As the interim head, he adhered to the bottom line of compliant operations, steadily advanced core tasks such as optimizing traditional auto insurance, innovating new energy vehicle insurance, breaking through insurtech, and upgrading risk reduction services, gaining widespread recognition internally, in capital markets, and from regulatory bodies. A report by CITIC Securities pointed out that Zhang Daoming, as an internally promoted cadre, has a profound understanding of PICC’s business, which is beneficial for maintaining operational stability, and this “stability” is particularly valuable during the special period of overlapping financial anti-corruption and industry transformation.

A highlight of this appointment is that Zhang Daoming has “stepped directly into” the core decision-making layer of PICC Group, breaking the convention that the president of PICC does not also serve as vice president of the group. This reflects the deeper logic of strategic and governance optimization within the group. Currently, among the vice presidents of PICC Group, Xiao Jianyou specializes in life insurance, Cai Zhiwei focuses on investments, Zhang Jinhai is responsible for technology, and Tian Geng comes from the banking system, indicating a shortfall of expertise in the property insurance sector. Zhang Daoming’s addition accurately fills the gap in the group’s executive team regarding property insurance business management, aligning the group’s decision-making layer more closely with the developmental needs of the core property insurance sector, and strengthening the group’s strategic coordination and control over this “basic plate.” This arrangement not only highly recognizes Zhang Daoming’s personal abilities and performance but also signifies PICC Group’s strategic positioning of the property insurance sector at its core and an important move to solidify the development foundation of financial central enterprises.

From an industry perspective, this personnel decision represents an organic combination of financial anti-corruption and the improvement of state-owned enterprise governance, sending out positive signals. In recent years, anti-corruption in the financial sector has deepened. The previous disciplinary and illegal issues at the senior level of PICC exposed areas for improvement in the company’s power supervision, internal control mechanisms, and compliance management. The internal selection of senior cadres and the smooth completion of leadership transition not only avoided the management adjustment risks that might arise from external appointments but also showcased the normalization and transparency of personnel selection through a rigorous process of “transition period assessment + formal appointment.” At the same time, Zhang Daoming’s simultaneous entry into the group’s core layer further improved the modern governance structure of state-owned enterprises, which includes “party leadership, board decision-making, managerial operation, and supervisory board oversight,” strengthening checks and balances on power and supervisory constraints, and promoting PICC from “event response” to “governance reshaping,” providing a practical example for state-owned financial enterprises to prevent integrity risks and improve internal control systems.

Of course, the challenges faced by the new leader have only just begun. The management vacuum left by the Yu Ze incident, compliance rectification tasks, and multiple challenges of industry transformation all require Zhang Daoming to lead the team to tackle them one by one. How to consolidate the advantages of traditional businesses such as auto insurance and enterprise property insurance while breaking through the bottlenecks of innovative businesses such as new energy vehicle insurance, insurtech, and green insurance; how to optimize operational efficiency and enhance profitability while adhering to compliance bottom lines and deepening anti-corruption rectification; how to inherit PICC’s fine traditions while forming management ideas and personnel styles that meet the requirements of the new era are all realistic issues at hand. Additionally, how to balance business development with risk prevention, corporate profits with social responsibilities, and how to serve national strategies and meet people’s livelihood needs with the responsibilities of a central enterprise will also test the governance wisdom and accountability of this “old PICC.”

Overall, the resolution of the presidency of PICC is a personnel arrangement focused on stability and long-term planning, and it also signifies a profound transformation of governance upgrades and strategic reinforcement. Zhang Daoming’s formal appointment continues the core logic of state-owned enterprises of “stable operations and risk prevention” while launching a new phase of compliant development, innovative breakthroughs, and governance improvement for PICC. For the entire property insurance industry, the governance reshaping of leading central enterprises will have a demonstration effect, promoting the industry to abandon extensive development, focus on compliant operations and professional services, and accelerate the high-quality transformation process of the industry.

Financial anti-corruption has no end, and state-owned enterprise governance is an ongoing journey. PICC has resolved short-term fluctuations with smooth personnel transitions and solidified long-term foundations through governance structure optimization, demonstrating the responsibility and determination of state-owned financial enterprises. Standing at a new starting point, Zhang Daoming’s leadership of PICC will undoubtedly take on the heavy responsibility of being the industry’s “cornerstone” with more stable operations, stricter compliance, and more innovative services, showcasing new achievements in serving the national economic and social development and contributing to the construction of a strong financial nation with the strength of a central enterprise.