Financial Services Association, May 28 (Reporter Xia Shuyuan) After Li Quan, the former chairman of Xinhua Insurance, lost contact with the outside world, Zhang Chi, president of Xinhua Asset Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Xinhua Assets”), a subsidiary of Xinhua Insurance, also lost contact with the outside world.

As of press release, the Financial Services Association reporter called Zhang Chi and his secretary several times, and each time indicated that “the call was being made is in progress.” Xinhua Asset said, “The company has relevant discipline and is not allowed to accept any interviews.”

It is currently unclear exactly what relaxation involves. However, some industry insiders familiar with Xinhua Insurance said that Zhang Chi was taken away and placed in custody in recent days. Previously, he had been asked to cooperate with the investigation into Xinhua's investment situation, or involved the company's use of relevant insurance funds around 2018.

According to public information, Zhang Chi was born in March 1965 and is currently the executive director, general manager, auditor, temporary chief risk officer, compliance officer, and director of Xinhua Asset Management (Hong Kong).

In August 2004, Zhang Chi worked in cross-border insurance asset management in the securities industry and first served as the general manager of the fund investment department at China Life Insurance Asset for 7 years. In March 2011, Zhang Chi joined Xinhua Assets and was appointed as Deputy General Manager. Since December 2016, he has also served as the company's executive director.

In October 2019, Li Quan was promoted from the position of president of Xinhua Assets to the president of Xinhua Insurance, and Zhang Chi was also promoted from vice president of Xinhua Assets to president. He also served as the head of audit in December 2019, and temporarily as the chief risk officer and compliance officer from February 2024.

According to reports, the predecessor of Xinhua Asset was the Investment Management Center of Xinhua Insurance. It was established in 2006 and is one of the first professional insurance asset management agencies in China. In December 2013, Xinhua Asset established a Hong Kong subsidiary and began expanding overseas investment platforms. As of September 2023, the company's asset management scale reached 1.8 trillion yuan.

It is worth noting that on December 29, 2023, the State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration announced administrative penalty information. Xinhua Assets was punished for the illegal use of 9 insurance funds, including investments in alternative businesses:

The first is to invest in pooled fund trust plans where the underlying asset is commercial housing; the second is to invest in pooled fund trust plans where the underlying asset is commercial housing; the third is to invest in pooled fund trust plans where the underlying assets are not self-managed by the trustee and the underlying assets do not meet the requirements; the fourth is the provision of financing to local governments in violation of regulations; the fifth is the pooled fund trust plan is not managed after investment; seven is the provision of unsecured debt financing for real estate projects; eight is the pooled asset management product does not distribute income as agreed in the contract; nine is pooled fund trust The planned interbank investment is guaranteed by a third party financial institution and managed independently.

Judging from the amount of fines, Xinhua Assets was fined a total of 4.51 million yuan, including Long Xiangxin, assistant to the CEO of Xinhua Assets, and Yang Fan, then vice president of Xinhua Assets.

According to people familiar with the matter, the Xinhua Asset violation occurred in 2018. The problem mainly focused on the field of trust plans, which is also one of the main types of investment of insurance funds in alternative businesses.