What does an insurer know about smart cities? Ping An reckons its big data analysis can transform it into a tech-driven financial firm

Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

Mature technologies used to build a smart city will be fully developed and expanded to various mainland cities next year, Ping An’s head of technology entrepreneurs division said

Ping An said it had secured smart city projects in more than 100 mainland cities and was chasing an expansion in business scale

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Visitors to the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai checking out smart gadgets displayed by Ping An Good Doctor on August 29, 2019. Photo: SCMP/Handout

Daniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 11:45am, 3 Sep 2019Updated: 10:59pm, 3 Sep 2019

Ping An Insurance (Group), China’s largest insurer by market value, has set its eyes on the country’s smart city projects to bolster its transformation into a technology-driven financial conglomerate while taking on established technology giants.

Mature technologies used to build a smart city will be fully developed and expanded to various mainland cities next year as the company looks to secure a front runner position in the segment nationwide, said Yu Ning, head of Ping An’s technology entrepreneurs division, in an interview with South China Morning Post.

“Our ultimate goal is to develop core technologies that can be copied and expanded in various cities,” he said. “We will carefully assess the market conditions and client demand to do our research and promote our services.”

A “smart city” uses technology to improve efficiency in government agencies for a more sustainable urban environment.

Yu Ning, head of Ping An Insurance (Group)'s technology entrepreneurs division. Photo: SCMP/Handout

Ping An, pledging to invest at least 1 per cent of its annual revenue, or about 10 billion yuan (US$1.39 billion), to expand technology businesses, began developing smart city technologies at the beginning of 2018.