Ping An's profits soared in 2017

The net profit of China's insurance giant Ping An Insurance Group surged 38.2 percent to reach more than 99.9 billion yuan ($15.7 billion) in 2017, showing a positive performance in its annual report, released Tuesday.

Among that figure, net profit that belongs to shareholders of the parent company grew 42.8 percent year-on-year, the report said.

Dividends per share throughout 2017 reached 1.5 yuan, up 100 percent year-on-year.

Founded in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province in 1988, Ping An Group now focuses on insurance, banking and investment, with more than 1.6 million employees according to its official website.

Ping An's total number of individual clients reached 166 million by the end of 2017, 26.4 percent higher than the start of the year. Among the new clients, more than 40 percent came from internet users according to the report.

Premiums for Ping An's property insurance surpassed 200 billion yuan, up 21.4 percent year-on-year, increasing its market share by 1.3 percentage points, it said.

New business value for its life and health insurance surged 32.6 percent.

"Ping An will make technological innovation the new engine of growth," said Ma Mingzhe, chairman and CEO of the company. "We also expect to better serve the real economy and prevent financial risk."

The company announced last year it would develop financial technology in the next 10 years, aiming to improve efficiency, reduce cost and strengthen risk control.

According to the report, it applied for 3,030 patents last year, related to technologies including artificial intelligence, cloud computing and big data.