From a fortune worth tens of billions to being bound by consumption restriction orders, Mi Chunlei's insurance chess game has also drawn to a close.

Information from Tianyancha shows that Shanghai Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shanghai Life) recently completed industrial and commercial registration changes, with Mi Chunlei stepping down as legal representative and chairman, and Ma Xudong taking over as legal representative and serving as director.

Mi Chunlei once appeared on the Hurun Rich List with a fortune exceeding ten billion yuan and was also the actual controller of the "Lanhai System," yet today he is subject to 59 consumption restriction orders, with total amounts involved of approximately 4.989 billion yuan. Behind this personnel change, the risk disposal of Shanghai Life has entered a substantive final phase.

In August 2023, a professional guidance team from CPIC Life entered to investigate risks; in December 2025, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (600000.SH) and three other parties contributed 10.641 billion yuan to establish Shanghai Xingqi Hengtai Enterprise Management Partnership (hereinafter referred to as "Xingqi Hengtai"), which together with the Insurance Security Fund and others jointly initiated the establishment of Puyin Life, taking over all assets and liabilities of Shanghai Life in their entirety. Once Puyin Life obtains approval to open, this insurer that Mi Chunlei led for more than a decade will officially exit the stage.

After 11 Years at the Helm, Mi Chunlei Exits as Puyin Life's Takeover Countdown Begins

Shanghai Life was established in February 2015 in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, the first nationwide life insurance company registered in the zone, with initial registered capital of 2 billion yuan, later increased to 6 billion yuan in 2016. Lanhai Holdings was the largest shareholder with a 20% stake, and Mi Chunlei was the actual controller, serving as legal representative and chairman since the company's founding until this resignation, a tenure exceeding 11 years.

Taking over as legal representative of Shanghai Life is Ma Xudong, who previously served as Shanghai Life's audit responsibility officer. His qualification to serve as director was approved by the Shanghai Financial Regulatory Bureau on September 28, 2026. The candidate for chairman of Shanghai Life has not yet been determined.

Image source: Shanghai Financial Regulatory Bureau. According to "Hongxing Capital Bureau" reports, an insurance industry insider stated that Mi Chunlei's departure from the chairman and legal representative positions at Shanghai Life is not an ordinary personnel adjustment, but rather a transitional move for Shanghai Life to consolidate its corporate governance structure ahead of "the Lanhai System's exit plus Puyin Life (pending establishment) opening." The insider said, "Currently Shanghai Life's governance consolidation has been completed, and equity cleanup is underway. After Puyin Life completes approval preparation, regulatory acceptance, and obtains approval to open, it will take over all business, assets, and liabilities of Shanghai Life in their entirety, simultaneously handling branch renaming, transferring original internal and external staff to the new company, and ultimately achieving the disposal endgame of Shanghai Life's exit, deregistration, or renaming."

The shareholder lineup of the takeover party can only be described as Deluxe. In December 2025, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank led the joint establishment of Xingqi Hengtai with Shanghai International Group, CPIC Life, and Lujiazui Group, contributing a total of 10.641 billion yuan as the primary initiator of Puyin Life. Among them, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank contributed 6.107 billion yuan for a 58.33% stake, holding an absolute controlling position; Shanghai International Group held 25.13%, CPIC Life held 8.98%, and Lujiazui Group held approximately 7.55%.

Image source: Tianyancha. According to multiple media reports including "Economic Observer" and "Huaxia Times," the core management candidates of Puyin Life have been determined: Zhang Jian, Vice President and Board Secretary of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, is proposed as chairman; Xia Yunping, a veteran of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, is proposed as Party Committee Secretary; Tai Fuchun from CPIC Life is proposed as general manager.

Zhang Jian, born in 1975, joined Shanghai Pudong Development Bank in 1999 and is a "veteran of SPD Bank" with rich frontline practical experience. He became Vice President of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank in September 2024, was approved as Board Secretary in March 2025, and concurrently serves as Chairman of Puyin AXA Fund since December 2024.

Xia Yunping also served at Shanghai Pudong Development Bank for a long time, having been Vice President and President of the Dalian Branch, President of the Beijing Branch in 2016, General Manager of the Credit Card Center in October 2020, and General Manager of the Retail Credit Department in 2024. His experience in retail and credit management will provide key support for the new company's business transformation.

Tai Fuchun's identity is particularly crucial, as he was precisely the leader of the CPIC business guidance team that entered Shanghai Life in August 2023, being very familiar with the company's assets, liabilities, and personnel structure. His appointment is intended to maximize the continuity of business handover.

Image source: Canned Gallery. The new entity takeover model is not unique to Shanghai Life. Previously, Ruizhong Life took over Huaxia Life, Haigang Life took over Evergrande Life, and Fuze Life took over Junkang Life, all adopting similar risk resolution models.

Yuan Shuai, co-founding initiator of the Xinzhipai New Quality Productivity Salon, pointed out that this "new entity plus overall takeover" disposal model, by establishing a new entity with stronger compliance and more stable shareholder background to fully take over existing risks, avoids the continuous interference of historical legacy issues from the problematic institution's original governance structure on subsequent operations, and allows the risk resolution process to advance under a clearer new framework without being overly entangled by old complex interest disputes. At the same time, this overall takeover approach maximizes the integrity of policy liabilities without needing to selectively adjust original policy rights, fundamentally reducing the impact on insurance consumer rights and preventing the risk disposal process from becoming a second blow to market confidence.

For Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, the largest contributor, the biggest benefit of this takeover is obtaining a scarce life insurance license. Currently, as a key financial platform being developed by Shanghai, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank already controls Shanghai International Trust, Puyin AXA Fund, Puyin Wealth Management, and Puyin International, but still lacks an insurance company. Puyin Life may fill this gap.

How Will Puyin Life Get Started?

Shanghai Life, which Puyin Life is taking over, is a life insurance company that slid from a "Free Trade Zone benchmark" to a troubled insurer. Its story begins with the person Mi Chunlei.

Mi Chunlei was born in 1978 and founded Lanhai Holdings in 2003, serving as chairman. The "Lanhai System" he helmed spanned insurance, healthcare, banking, real estate, automobiles, mining, financial leasing, and multiple other sectors. In 2021, he appeared on the Hurun Rich List with wealth exceeding 10 billion yuan. Beyond the business world, Mi Chunlei has another widely known identity: the husband of CCTV famous host Dong Qing. The two met at a gathering around 2010, grew close due to both being natives of Chongming, Shanghai, and eventually married around 2013. This marriage brought Mi Chunlei additional public attention beyond financial circles and also placed his subsequent debt crisis and disappearance incident under a broader public opinion spotlight. However, as Mi Chunlei's "Lanhai System" fell into trouble, Dong Qing has also noticeably kept a lower profile in public view in recent years, gradually fading from the frontline hosting stage.

Image source: Canned Gallery. Shanghai Life, from which he is now stepping down as chairman, was also a key piece in Mi Chunlei's capital empire. Since opening in 2015, Shanghai Life rapidly expanded with high-cost, short-cycle wealth management products like universal life insurance. In its opening year of 2015, insurance business income reached 4.4 billion yuan, with total premium scale exceeding 10 billion yuan; in 2016, premium income climbed to 10.86 billion yuan, reaching its peak, while achieving net profit of 59.299 million yuan that same year, turning profitable in its second year of operation and breaking the life insurance industry's "seven years to break even, eight years to profit" convention. In 2017, Shanghai Life's net profit further grew to 120 million yuan, the highest profit point in publicly disclosed data. Objectively speaking, Shanghai Life did demonstrate strong market development capabilities and certain operational efficiency in its early years, which also preserved an exploitable business foundation for subsequent takeover parties.

But the other side of rapid scale expansion was the continuous accumulation of governance risks. In 2016, Shanghai Life increased capital to 6 billion yuan, introducing new shareholders including Yangning Industrial and Hecui Industrial, each holding 13.75% after the capital increase. However, the former CIRC issued a "Decision to Revoke Administrative License" in 2018, determining that relevant shareholders had concealed related-party relationships, held shares beyond proportion, and provided false materials in the capital increase application, revoking the capital increase license and ordering the clearance of违规 equity.

Image source: Canned Gallery. At that time, Lanhai Holdings held 20% as the single largest shareholder, while Yangning Industrial and Hecui Industrial were determined to have acting-in-concert relationships with Mi Chunlei's side. This meant the capital increase substantively expanded Mi Chunlei's actual control, and this relationship was deliberately kept outside the equity structure. The clearance order was issued, but the violating shareholders never withdrew. As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, Yangning Industrial and Hecui Industrial were still listed among Shanghai Life's shareholders.

The equity issue remained unresolved, and operating indicators began to deteriorate. The fourth quarter 2021 solvency report showed that Shanghai Life's single-quarter net profit was -278 million yuan, with full-year net profit declining nearly 90% year-on-year to only 30 million yuan; the comprehensive risk rating dropped from B in the second quarter to C in the third quarter, with solvency falling below standards. The last disclosed solvency report remained at the fourth quarter of 2021, and for five consecutive years afterward, no annual reports or solvency reports were published.

According to "Caixin" reports, at the end of 2021, Mi Chunlei was taken away by local economic investigation departments, disappearing for 158 days until reappearing in July 2022. The "Lanhai System" subsequently contracted: Lanhai Medical delisted in 2022; the 20% stake in Shanghai Life held by Lanhai Holdings was frozen by courts in multiple locations, with total enforcement amounts reaching 8.63 billion yuan as of now; and Mi Chunlei personally received 59 consumption restriction orders, with total amounts involved of approximately 4.989 billion yuan.

Image source: Tianyancha. In August 2023, a CPIC Life working group entered Shanghai Life to advance three core tasks: clearing channel business, controlling related-party transactions, and adjusting business structure. Mi Chunlei's resignation this time marks the complete erasure of the "Lanhai System's" traces from Shanghai Life.

For Puyin Life, what it must take over is a troubled institution with frozen equity and unable to normally disclose information for consecutive years. Assets and liabilities can be taken over in their entirety, but historical burdens, existing risks, personnel confidence, and market trust reconstruction all need to be digested one by one by the new entity after opening. Fortunately, strong shareholder backgrounds, a professional management team, and precedent for the takeover model all provide strong support for Puyin Life's smooth start.

According to industry analysis, after Puyin Life obtains approval to open, Shanghai Life will complete its historical mission: deregistration, or renaming. Either way, this insurance company that once appeared as the "first insurer in the Free Trade Zone," rapidly advanced with universal life insurance, and ultimately fell into governance chaos will become a thing of the past. For Puyin Life, the real test has only just begun.

Are you optimistic about Puyin Life's ability to digest Shanghai Life's historical burdens? Welcome to share your thoughts in the comments.