(Yicai) Aug. 28 -- Ping An Insurance Group Company of China aims to be the biggest at-home elderly care service provider in China in terms of the number of clients, the services rendered and the level of professionalism, Guo Xiaotao, co-chief executive officer of the Chinese insurance giant, told Yicai in a recent exclusive interview.

This year is Ping An's third year in the at-home senior care industry. The company’s service network encompasses 64 cities. Over 120,000 customers were deemed eligible to receive its services and 60,000 agreed.

There are over 600 services that cover 10 scenarios of medicine, food, residence, transport, finance, rehabilitation, care, happiness, nursing, and safety. And as a pioneer in the field, Shenzhen-based Ping An has introduced four industrial specifications, aiming to raise the bar for the professional and standardized development of elderly care services.

On July 15, Ping An said it will issue USD3.5 billion worth of US dollar-denominated Hong Kong shares in convertible bonds to help fund its new strategic development of medical and elderly care as well as to supplement its working capital.

Ping An mostly engages in finance, Guo said. But the faster our business develops, the more capital we need.

"Currently, Ping An's capital adequacy ratios, solvency margin ratio and other indicators are above regulatory requirements," Guo said. "But considering that capital will continue to be consumed with our businesses’ long-term development, we hope to seize this opportunity to make use of a very low-cost instrument to issue convertible bonds, so as to supplement our capital. This is a part of Ping An's long-term capital plan," he said.

"The proceeds will support the development of Ping An's main finance business," Guo said. "They will also help Ping An deepen its medical and elderly care strategies while supplementing working capital," he added.

Ping An Life's core philosophy is how to combine customer needs with the firm’s products in medical, healthcare and elderly care services, Guo said.

Ping An Life will continue to extend its strategy of strengthening wealth management and expanding elderly care products this year, Guo said. By tapping into the era of falling interest rates it will leverage the advantages of the elderly healthcare and finance sectors to drive the company’s business development.

Editors: Xu Wei, Kim Taylor