Core Viewpoint - China Life's (601628) (02628) performance in the first half of the year met expectations, with a net profit increase of 6.9% year-on-year, while the second quarter saw a decline of 31.2%, slightly better than expected [1] Financial Performance - Pre-tax profit decreased by 11.5% year-on-year, aligning with expectations [1] - The new business value (NBV) on a comparable basis increased by 20.3%, while the actual disclosed NBV fell by 11.5% [1] - The comparable NBV for the next insurance segment rose by 9.5%, indicating better performance than anticipated [1] Business Strategy - The company is actively promoting the transformation towards dividend insurance, with over 50% of first-year premium income from individual insurance coming from dividend insurance premiums as of the end of June [1] Contractual Margins - The Contractual Service Margin (CSM) increased by 1.6% to 754.7 billion RMB, primarily driven by new business inflows and interest rate changes [1] - However, the new business CSM decreased by 31% year-on-year to 26.2 billion RMB, attributed to the impact of spot interest rate assessments under the Variable Fee Approach (VFA) and declining interest rates [1] Target Price Adjustment - The target price for H-shares has been raised by 24.1% to 24.33 HKD, considering improved liquidity in the Hong Kong stock market which may help narrow the company's discount [1]