On 2 November 1999, Great Wall was established by the Ministry of Finance to manage and process the non-performing loans of Agricultural Bank of China.

[2][8] In December 2015, Great Wall expressed interest in holding an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

[3][4][5] In November 2017, Great Wall was part of a consortium that paid HK$23 billion to buy 17 shopping malls in Hong Kong from Link REIT.

[10] In January 2021, Great Wall was fined 46.9 million yuan by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission for illegally providing external guarantees, inflating book profits and issuing too many performance awards.

[11] In April 2021, Great Wall put its 70% of its stake in Changsheng Life Insurance up for sale on the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange.