The technology wing of Ping An Group has denied online reports of mass staff retrenchments.
A spokesperson from Ping An Technology (平安科技) said that recent reports that it had retrenched around 20% of staff were “without factual basis,” according to a report from Diyi Caijing.
“Over recent years we have vigorously developed tech innovations in multiple areas including fintech, medical technology and smart city developing, bringing in large volumes of outstanding tech personnel,” said the spokesperson.
Ping An Group has recently emerged as one of the Chinese finance sector’s biggest tech investors, making investments of over 50 billion yuan over the past decade with plans to invest double that amount in tech research and development over the upcoming decade.
The conglomerate lays claim to a total of eight key research institutions covering areas including artificial intelligence, smart cities and medical technology, and employs nearly 100,000 science and tech personnel, including 32,000 research and development staff.
Since the start of 2019 Ping An has filed a total of 5,779 patent applications, bringing the total to over 18,000.
In the first half of 2019 Ping An Insurance’s tech operation revenues were 38.431 billion yuan, for a YoY surge of 33.6%.
