Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd Class A

On the evening of October 8, several A-share listed companies disclosed progress on share buybacks, with Midea Group having repurchased nearly 10 billion yuan and planning to cancel all repurchased shares. Midea Group's announcement showed that as of September 30, the company had repurchased 123 million A-shares through centralized bidding, accounting for 1.61% of its current total share capital, with the highest transaction price at 87.71 yuan per share and the lowest at 73.66 yuan per share, for a total payment of 9.94 billion yuan, excluding transaction fees. The buyback plan originally set a repurchase amount of no more than 13 billion yuan and no less than 6.5 billion yuan, with a repurchase price not exceeding 100 yuan per share. After board review, the use of repurchased shares was changed from equity incentive plans and employee stock ownership plans to cancellation to reduce registered capital. On the same day, CATL disclosed that it had repurchased 10.9452 million A-shares, accounting for 0.2482% of total share capital, with a total transaction amount of 3.303 billion yuan. Its buyback plan proposes to use no less than 20 billion yuan and no more than 40 billion yuan, and the repurchased shares will also be cancelled to reduce registered capital. In addition, GigaDevice repurchased 2.4519 million shares, paying 948 million yuan; Salubris repurchased 8.3196 million shares, with a total transaction amount of 266 million yuan; Jianlong Weina repurchased 1.0002 million shares, paying a total of 26.4348 million yuan; YTO Express repurchased 2.2933 million shares, with a cumulative repurchase amount of 39.9847 million yuan.

Wavelength Optoelectronics announced that it has received an indictment from the Third Branch of the Shanghai People's Procuratorate. The company, Chairman Huang Shengdi, and two other individuals, four people in total, have been charged with suspected smuggling of goods prohibited from import and export by the state. The amount involved is 20.1085 million yuan, and the alleged acts occurred between August 2023 and April 2025. The company stated that the lawsuit is not expected to have a material impact on its ability to continue as a going concern, that production and operations are currently normal, and that the outcome of the judgment remains uncertain. In after-hours announcements the same day, Guanghui Energy projected net profit for the first three quarters of 2026 at 2.70 billion to 2.80 billion yuan, up 166.83 percent to 176.71 percent year on year. Amlogic projected net profit for the first three quarters at 1.26 billion to 1.31 billion yuan, up 80.58 percent to 87.74 percent year on year, and preliminarily estimated that full-year operating revenue is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan. Dongyue Silicone Materials projected first-three-quarter net profit to increase by 19,050 percent to 19,750 percent year on year. In addition, as of September 30, CATL had spent 3.303 billion yuan repurchasing 0.2482 percent of its A-shares. Times New Material Technology signed a wind turbine blade sales contract worth 4.394 billion yuan. Xiongshu Technology plans to acquire no more than 80 percent equity in Shenzhen Xinyuan New Materials with cash.

CGN Yuershan Lufeng Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. was recently established, with a business scope covering the sale of generators and generator sets, the sale of mechanical equipment, and power generation, transmission, and supply and distribution operations. Qichacha equity penetration shows that the company is jointly held by CGN Power, CATL's wholly owned subsidiary CATL Zhaoqing New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., Mingyang Smart Energy, Jiuli Hi-Tech Metals, and others.

Seven ministries including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the New-Type Battery Industry on September 28, the first national-level special plan in the battery sector. It explicitly proposes that by 2030, all-solid-state batteries will initially achieve large-scale application, long-life lithium batteries will reach a cycle life of 15,000 times, and it supports financing for qualified backbone enterprises in the new-type battery industry chain. Boosted by this news, A-share solid-state battery concept stocks continued to climb during trading on October 8. Liwang shares hit the 30 percent limit-up, while Shiming Technology, Jinyinhe, Zizhu High-Tech, Fengyuan shares, Xiongtao shares, and Chuanyi Technology were among multiple stocks that hit limit-up. Wuhan LAND Electric rose more than 20 percent, and Nakenoer and Lingge Technology both rose more than 10 percent. The policy boost coincided with continued improvement in industry fundamentals. According to Xinhua News Agency, in the first half of 2026, China's total lithium battery output exceeded 1,240 gigawatt-hours, up 44 percent year on year, and total lithium battery exports reached 337 billion yuan, up 37 percent year on year. On the industrial side, technology routes are gradually becoming clearer. The industry widely expects semi-solid-state batteries to be the first to achieve commercialization in 2026, and in 2027 several leading companies are expected to complete small-batch mass production or demonstration installation of all-solid-state batteries. CATL said it is expected to achieve small-batch production in 2027, and BYD plans to carry out small-batch demonstration installation of all-solid-state batteries in 2027. Its all-solid-state batteries have passed automotive-grade validation, with a single-cell energy density of 400 watt-hours per kilogram. Ping An Securities believes the long-term development prospects for solid-state batteries are broad, and suggests paying attention to CATL, Penghui Energy, Lead Intelligent, Liyuanheng, Nakenoer, Rongqi Technology, XTC New Energy Materials, and Sinocera Materials. Debon Securities judges that 2027 is likely to become a key node for the solid-state battery industry, and recommends prioritizing layout in equipment segments such as dry electrodes and isostatic pressing, as well as incremental materials such as sulfide electrolytes and silicon-based anodes.

CATL announced on October 8 that as of September 30, 2026, the company had repurchased a cumulative 10.9452 million A-shares through centralized bidding, accounting for 0.2482% of its current total A-share capital. The highest transaction price in this buyback was 331.61 yuan per share, and the lowest was 286.53 yuan per share, with total transaction value amounting to 3.303 billion yuan. The company's buyback plan calls for funds of no less than 20 billion yuan and no more than 40 billion yuan, and the repurchased shares will be cancelled to reduce registered capital.

Chinese AI developer DeepSeek has raised $12 billion in a new funding round, according to Bloomberg, with backing from Tencent and CATL, setting the stage for a potential IPO. Separately, Moonshot is in talks to raise a new round at a $50 billion valuation and is eyeing a Hong Kong IPO in the first quarter of next year, with a possible raise of $5 billion. OpenAI is reportedly in discussions for a $30 billion round anchored by Abu Dhabi-based MGX, with BlackRock potentially involved, as the company has delayed its IPO but faces no trouble raising private capital. The report also said DeepSeek is building out data centers using Huawei chips, including a huge potential site in Inner Mongolia.

Chinese artificial intelligence group DeepSeek is set to raise at least 80 billion yuan, or $12 billion, in a funding round backed by Tencent and CATL, according to Bloomberg News. The company had initially sought 50 billion yuan, but investor demand far exceeded expectations, and the final tally could rise as high as 100 billion yuan. DeepSeek, which shot to fame with its R1 open-source AI model in 2025, is regarded as one of China's most advanced AI labs, and earlier reports placed its valuation at about $74 billion. Investors are also closely watching the startup's plans to seek a public listing. In other market news, Gulf oil exporters surpassed pre-war export levels for roughly half of September, with the seven-day moving average for crude exports from the region at 18.3 million barrels per day on September 30, and Constellation Brands is due to report quarterly results after the closing bell, with comparable operating profit tipped at $872.3 million on comparable net sales of $2.53 billion.

CATL has released a draft of its second A-share employee stock ownership plan for 2026, under which it intends to receive shares from the company's repurchase account, with a scale of no more than 8.0816 million shares, accounting for 0.175% of total share capital. The initial grant targets 5,960 middle managers and core staff, at a transfer price of 158.42 yuan per share, with total funds not exceeding 1.28 billion yuan. The plan has a duration of 60 months and will be unlocked in three phases, with unlocking ratios of 30%, 30%, and 40%, respectively.

Jim Farley, chief executive of U.S. auto giant Ford Motor, said on the 29th that the United States should be extremely cautious about the advance of Chinese automakers, warning that it should learn from Europe's auto industry, which has already lost market share rapidly to Chinese imports and is now past the point of no return. Farley spoke at a conference held by the automotive media outlet Automotive News. He said Ford will pursue partnerships with Chinese companies in areas where capital efficiency is strong and Ford lacks expertise, citing as an example its tie-up with Chinese battery giant CATL to reduce the cost of automotive batteries produced at a plant in Michigan in the U.S. Midwest. Ford has drawn criticism for partnering with Chinese companies on vehicle and battery technology, including its July announcement that it will jointly develop electric vehicles for Europe with China's Geely Automobile, but Farley said the company also intends to compete directly with Chinese players, expressing the view that the two approaches are not mutually exclusive. U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy said in a letter to Farley this month that he was concerned Ford's partnerships with Chinese companies were tying its future fate closely to Chinese state-owned enterprises. China's auto exports are expected to reach about 12 million units in 2026, a sharp increase from roughly 3 million units in 2022, with major destinations including Europe and Latin America.

CATL announced that the company had previously received approval to register 40 billion yuan in technology innovation bonds, with the registration quota valid for two years and issuable in tranches. This issuance marks the completion of the eighth tranche. On September 24, 2026, the company successfully issued the eighth tranche of green technology innovation bonds for 2026, with a total issuance amount of 5 billion yuan. The raised funds were received on September 28, 2026. The bonds have a maturity of three plus two years, with an option for the issuer to adjust the coupon rate and an option for investors to sell the bonds back at the end of the third year. The coupon rate is 1.49 percent, with annual interest payments and principal repayment in full at maturity. The issuer's credit rating is triple A.

CATL has developed a "tall" battery design tailored to the US pick-up truck market despite trade restrictions blocking its entry into the country, the Financial Times reported. Citing CATL international business unit CTO Zhu Lingbo, the newspaper said US carmakers have already tested the batteries, though the companies were not identified. Zhu said CATL could license the technology to companies in the US for local production, following a model like its existing arrangements with Ford and Tesla for EV battery manufacturing in the country. Speaking at CATL's headquarters in Ningde, Zhu said the US remained a market with potential for "huge business" for the company "even with this kind of very intense geopolitics." The remarks came ahead of a planned summit in Washington involving US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and an earlier scheduled meeting in New York between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng. The Pentagon named CATL last year as a company with alleged military ties, a claim the firm has denied, while Chinese battery and EV manufacturers continue to face tariffs, localisation requirements and possible bans from Washington on national security grounds. Last week, organisations representing the US automotive industry asked Trump to maintain measures aimed at preventing Chinese carmakers and their supply chains from entering the US market, after Trump said he would "be OK" with China establishing car plants in the US if American workers were employed. In April, CATL introduced a new fast-charging EV battery, launching the third-generation "Shenxing" lithium-iron-phosphate battery, which it said can charge from 10% to 98% in six minutes and 27 seconds under moderate temperatures.

Geely Auto's Galaxy brand launched the Galaxy TT electric sedan in China on Sept. 10 at a limited-time starting price of 129,900 yuan, or roughly $19,170, according to CnEVPost. The entry version carries a 63.8-kWh lithium iron phosphate pack from CATL and delivers 640 km of range on the China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle, with every trim in the lineup shipping an 800-volt architecture and 6C fast charging that moves the battery from 10% to 80% in about 11.8 minutes. The launch price landed 16,000 yuan below the August pre-sale figure, and the entry trim gained 100 km of range, while rear-drive models produce 245 kW, or 329 horsepower, and reach 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds. The sedan will not reach U.S. buyers: a China-built car faces a 2.5% base duty, the 100% Section 301 tariff imposed in 2024 and the 25% Section 232 tariff applied in 2025, landing a $19,170 sedan closer to $43,600 at the port, and the Commerce Department's Connected Vehicle Rule blocks cars with meaningful Chinese ownership or software ties starting with the 2027 model year. Geely-controlled Polestar said the Commerce Department declined its authorization covering new model variants from the 2027 model year onwards, while Volvo Cars, also controlled by Geely, was cleared in May after reworking how its vehicle data is governed and routed. Geely's exports rose 205% year over year in August to 110,094 vehicles, roughly 41% of total sales, while domestic volume fell about 25%, according to CnEVPost.

Geely Auto Group announced the launch of the Geely TT under the Geely Auto brand in China, expanding its lineup with an electric sports sedan featuring 800V fast charging, standard LiDAR and an AI-powered cockpit. Alongside the standard trim, Geely launched the limited-edition TT Ultra, which delivers a combined maximum power of 425 kW and accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds, with a chassis tuned by Lotus and a Handling by Lotus badge on each vehicle. Across the range, an 800V electrical architecture is paired with a CATL Shenxing TT battery supporting up to 6C fast charging, adding nearly 500 kilometers of driving range in 11 minutes. Built on Geely's GEA EVO electric architecture, the standard TT features rear-wheel drive, double-wishbone front suspension and five-link rear suspension, and it set a Guinness World Record with a continuous wet-road drift of more than 46 kilometers. All models come with LiDAR and the G-ASD advanced driver assistance system, while the Super Eva AI cockpit assistant supports multilingual interaction; at nearly five meters long with a 2,920 mm wheelbase, the TT offers a flat rear floor and a 23-speaker Flyme Sound system.

Yuanyuan Landscape, stock code 605303, is planning to acquire a controlling stake in Hangzhou Hualan Microelectronics by issuing shares and paying cash, which is expected to constitute a major asset restructuring, and trading in the company's shares has been halted. CATL repurchased 604,300 A-shares of the company for the first time, with a transaction value of about 200 million yuan. Inspur Information plans to raise no more than 9 billion yuan through a private placement to invest in AI infrastructure and other projects. Sungrow Power Supply has raised prices of photovoltaic inverters, energy storage converters, and energy storage systems by 5 to 15 percent, while Sanan Optoelectronics has raised prices for some LED chips, RF chips, power electronics chips, and optical technology chips. Zhongjuxin's investee company plans to invest 1.1 billion yuan to build a high-purity quartz materials project. Longban Media has completed its trading halt review and will resume trading on September 14.

DeepSeek's implied valuation on the secondary market has climbed to approximately $71 billion even after its formal fundraising process stalled, according to reports cited by the Financial Times. The company closed its first major external round in June 2026 at a $52 billion post-money valuation, raising $7.4 billion from investors including Tencent, CATL, and NetEase, with founder Liang Wenfeng personally committing $3 billion. A follow-on attempt to raise a second round at a $71 billion pre-money target was suspended on July 25, 2026, after leaked comments from the founder about China's AI lag and dependence on Nvidia chips went viral. With the primary market closed, Special Purpose Vehicles offering DeepSeek equity with escalating fees and five-year lock-ups have proliferated, as investors weigh the liquidity risk against a potential Q2 2027 debut on the Shanghai STAR Market. The company, which generates $500 million in annualized revenue and posts 70-80% gross margins on cloud access, is being valued as national infrastructure rather than on standard revenue multiples, with a STAR Market filing targeted for the end of 2026.

DeepCtrls recently completed a new Series B+ financing round led by CATL, with strategic investment from Aramco Ventures and participation from Taiping Innovation Investment, GF Xinde Investment Management and Fosun Capital, while existing investors Source Code Capital and Forebright Capital increased their investments. The round is the third consecutive financing for the Physical AI company in the past two months. DeepCtrls, which has been accepted into the NVIDIA Inception Program, serves more than 390 leading enterprise customers worldwide and says it is one of the earliest companies globally to achieve industrial closed-loop control powered by Physical AI. CATL, a long-standing strategic customer of DeepCtrls, said the investment will deepen exploration across AI and new-energy applications, while Aramco Ventures said the investment reflects its conviction in the company's Physical AI technology and supports its international growth. Founder and CEO Li Hui said the next phase of AI will be defined by the ability to control complex systems in the real world, and that connecting computing and energy through Physical AI transforms energy systems from a constraint on AI growth into intelligent infrastructure.

DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, is moving forward with plans for an initial public offering in the country, selecting CITIC Securities as its financial advisor for a listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market, according to two sources. The company aims to begin the IPO process by 2026, but has not yet set an official timeline, amount, or target valuation. This move comes amid a new funding round that could value the company at up to 500 billion yuan, or approximately $75 billion. Previously, the company raised $7.4 billion in June, with a post-money valuation of over $50 billion. DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng personally invested 20 billion yuan, while Tencent Holdings invested 10 billion yuan and CATL invested 5 billion yuan. The new funds will be used to support computing infrastructure, AI model development, and talent retention, amid intense competition with leading AI companies in China and the United States.

Albemarle Corp. has named BHP Group Limited's Chief Commercial Officer Ragnar "Rag" Udd as its next CEO, effective Feb. 1, 2027, succeeding Kent Masters, who will become executive chairman at the 2027 annual meeting. The transition comes as the lithium producer faces a market shaped by Chinese oversupply and shifting demand toward grid-scale storage. JPMorgan analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas cut Albemarle's 2026 adjusted EBITDA estimate by 14.4% to $2.88 billion, noting that each $1-per-kilogram move in lithium prices shifts annual EBITDA by roughly $250 million. Meanwhile, China's revocation of environmental approval for CATL's Jianxiawo mine has led Benchmark Mineral Intelligence to halve its 2026 output forecast for that site to 32,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent. Udd brings over 25 years of experience in resource businesses across Australia, Asia, and the Americas, and will oversee Albemarle's Energy Storage and Specialties businesses as the company positions for a market recovery.

Range Technology plans to contribute 1 billion yuan of its own funds to invest in Xiamen Shidai Shenyuan Venture Capital Fund Partnership, a limited partnership. The fund has a total committed size of 4.90001 billion yuan, with Range Technology holding a 20.4081 percent stake. The fund will focus on frontier technology areas such as artificial intelligence and embodied intelligence. Bestechnic plans to repurchase shares worth 50 million to 100 million yuan, at a price not exceeding 150 yuan per share, for employee stock ownership plans or equity incentives. CATL's wholly owned subsidiary Ningbo Wending plans to participate as a limited partner in Xiamen Shidai Yiyuan Venture Capital Fund Partnership, with a committed contribution of 1.12 billion yuan and a 19.4175 percent stake in the fund. The company's controlling shareholder Xiamen Ruiting will also participate in the fund as a limited partner, making this investment a related-party co-investment. Hangcha Group plans to issue convertible bonds to raise no more than 2.259 billion yuan, with a term of six years, for a forklift robot smart factory project, a new energy forklift expansion project, a forklift robot and logistics robot research and development project, and to supplement working capital. Weikang Pharmaceutical has received an approval notice from the National Medical Products Administration for a supplementary application for clinical trials of its Huangjia Ruangan Granules, agreeing to conduct a Phase III clinical trial for liver fibrosis caused by chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Lithium miners are reporting strong first-half profits driven by surging battery storage demand, with major producers planning output increases. Tianqi Lithium and Ganfeng Lithium posted their biggest profits in three years, while Albemarle noted global lithium demand rose 45% year-over-year through May. Supply growth has lagged, creating a gap that benefits miners, and Tianqi warned that overseas supply may face policy and logistics hurdles, suggesting further price upside. CATL expects energy storage to account for half of its sales by 2030, and Middle East tensions are boosting demand as countries seek energy independence.

GAC Group released its 2026 half-year report on the evening of August 28. Consolidated operating revenue for the first half was 46.5 billion yuan, up 9.13 percent year on year, of which overseas market revenue was 14.013 billion yuan, up 109.27 percent. Vehicle sales in the first half were 773,100 units, up 2.35 percent year on year, and new energy vehicle sales were 260,200 units, up 68.80 percent, accounting for 33.65 percent of total sales. Among its own brands, GAC Aion sales rose 67.08 percent year on year, and GAC Trumpchi rose 12.36 percent. The first model of Qijing Auto, jointly developed with Huawei Qiankun, began mass production and went on sale at the end of June, and completed a capital increase of about 1.1 billion yuan in May, bringing in strategic investors including CATL and Bosch. In overseas business, own-brand exports reached 121,500 units, up 132 percent year on year, with 32 new overseas markets added, covering 110 countries and regions worldwide. Two new KD plants were added in Cambodia and Kazakhstan, bringing the global total to seven, and Inpai Battery began construction of its first overseas battery pack plant in Thailand. R&D investment was 4.834 billion yuan, up 27.58 percent year on year, accounting for 10.4 percent. In addition, humanoid robot company Huilun Technology completed financing of 100 million yuan, the flying car GOVY AirCab received nearly 2,000 intended orders, and OnTime operated more than 550 robotaxis.

Vnet Group reported second quarter 2026 results with total net revenues up 14.2% year-over-year to RMB 2.78 billion, driven by a 29.3% increase in wholesale revenues to RMB 1.10 billion. The company secured 347 megawatts of new orders in the quarter, bringing year-to-date wholesale orders to 862 megawatts, and its wholesale capacity in service surpassed 1 gigawatt for the first time, reaching 1,007 megawatts. Adjusted EBITDA rose 25.4% to RMB 918.3 million, and adjusted net income turned positive at RMB 7.4 million. Vnet also announced a strategic cooperation agreement with CATL to jointly develop a three-layer integrated compute energy ecosystem, and reiterated its full-year 2026 guidance for total net revenues of RMB 11.5 billion to RMB 11.8 billion and adjusted EBITDA of RMB 3.55 billion to RMB 3.75 billion.

Jiayuan Technology released its 2026 semi-annual report. In the first half of the year, it achieved operating revenue of 7.513 billion yuan, up 89.57% year on year. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 382 million yuan, an increase of 940% compared with the same period last year. The company said the sharp rise in performance was mainly due to the continued improvement in downstream new energy industry sentiment, which drove steady growth in copper foil market demand. Copper foil product production and sales rose significantly, capacity utilization improved markedly, the proportion of high value-added products increased, and product gross margin rose from the same period last year. In addition, the company benefited from increased fair value changes and investment income from companies it invested in, which also had a relatively large positive impact on profit levels. During the reporting period, the company's total research and development investment was 308 million yuan, up 61.95% year on year, and it achieved technological breakthroughs in high-performance products such as RTF copper foil, HVLP copper foil, and carrier copper foil in the electronic circuit copper foil field. As of the end of the reporting period, the company's production capacity had reached more than 155,000 tonnes, and it signed a cooperation framework agreement with CATL, planning to give priority to guaranteeing copper foil product demand of no less than 626,000 tonnes of capacity from 2026 to 2028.

InnovestX Securities views AI as still a key driver for Chinese tech, as hyperscalers accelerate capital spending to support data centers and AI computing, while foreign chip technology restrictions push China to build a domestic supply chain. The firm expects the share of AI server system production in China to reach more than 90% by 2030, up from about 70% in 2025, and the share of chip production for AI inference to rise to more than 50% from below 10% over the same period. Capital expenditure estimates for Chinese hyperscalers Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance and Baidu have been revised up by 28%, 74%, 67% and 82% respectively, reflecting an acceleration in expanding AI and data processing capabilities. Mr. Sittichai Duangrattanachaya, Head of Investment Strategy at InnovestX Securities, said at the economic and investment seminar "Final Call 2026" that the next phase of the AI game is not about investing in the trend, but about finding winners in each layer of the ecosystem, from chips to data centers and energy. Investors should shift from buying the AI theme to selecting companies that genuinely benefit from AI. He recommended three groups of Chinese stocks: China Internet and Tech such as Tencent, Alibaba and GDS; China Semiconductor such as SMIC, Hua Hong and NAURA; and China Non-Tech such as CATL, HKEX and AIA.

As of 5 p.m. on August 20, 498 companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange had released their 2026 half-year reports. Among them, 313 companies posted year-on-year profit growth in the first half, accounting for more than 60 percent. A total of 157 companies saw growth of more than 50 percent, and 112 companies more than doubled their earnings. The sectors with high growth were mainly concentrated in five areas: basic chemicals, power equipment, electronics, machinery equipment, and nonferrous metals. In basic chemicals, Do-Fluoride New Materials reported net profit attributable to shareholders of 512 million yuan in the first half, up 897.19 percent year on year. Huachang Chemical posted net profit of 123 million yuan, up 1,026.90 percent. Hebang Biotechnology reported net profit of 380 million yuan, up 634.30 percent. In power equipment, CATL posted net profit attributable to shareholders of 43.28 billion yuan in the first half, up 42.0 percent year on year. In electronics, Yunhan Xin Cheng achieved operating revenue of 2.746 billion yuan, up 90.66 percent, with net profit attributable to shareholders of 166 million yuan. In nonferrous metals, Tin Industry Company achieved operating revenue of 31.573 billion yuan, up 49.68 percent, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.504 billion yuan, up 41.60 percent. In machinery equipment, Ding Tai High-Tech achieved operating revenue of 1.943 billion yuan, up 114.85 percent, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 679 million yuan, up 325.12 percent. Industry insiders noted that the overall performance of Shenzhen-listed companies that have disclosed half-year reports is improving, and the five major sectors have become concentrated areas of high profit growth, reflecting a positive trend of recovery in the real economy's industrial cycle and continuously strengthening momentum in emerging industries.

As of 5 p.m. on August 17, a total of 124 A-share listed companies had announced cash dividend plans for the first half of 2026, with combined proposed cash payouts of 101.885 billion yuan including tax. China Mobile led with a proposed payout of 54.426 billion yuan, while CATL and Hikvision each proposed more than 5 billion yuan. The chemicals sector was the most active in paying dividends, followed by machinery and equipment and electronics. Huatai Securities noted that A-share dividend patterns are shifting from single cash payouts to a two-way return of cash dividends plus share buybacks, and that dividend strategies offer both a margin of safety and income certainty, making them a core allocation theme over the medium to long term. At the midday close on August 18, the CSI Dividend Index rose 0.20 percent, and the Bosera Dividend ETF gained 0.34 percent to trade at 1.46 yuan.

Bernstein said global electric vehicle demand recovered in the second quarter, with the U.S. market showing signs of stabilization after a weak start to the year. Global passenger xEV sales, covering battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, reached 1.98 million units in June, up 9% year over year, with China accounting for 51% of the total, Europe 27%, the rest of the world 15%, and North America 7%. U.S. sales fell to 136,000 units in June, down 4% year over year, but have posted five consecutive months of growth from January lows. Chinese sales rose 6% month over month to 1.02 million units but declined 11% from a year earlier following subsidy reductions, while European volumes grew 34% to 539,000 units and rest-of-world sales doubled to 288,000. Pure battery electric sales rose 20% to 1.42 million units while plug-in hybrid sales fell 12%, and BYD led manufacturers with 283,000 units despite a 25% decline, followed by Tesla at 208,000 units, up 19%. Battery demand outpaced vehicle sales as automakers opt for larger packs, with lithium-ion demand rising 22% to 112 GWh and CATL's year-to-date market share climbing to 39% from 36% in 2025.

CICC said CATL and Techtronic Industries could be included in the index as part of the Hang Seng Tech Index reform. In a list of Hong Kong and China related articles distributed on the afternoon of the 17th, it was also reported that Power Assets Holdings and CK Infrastructure significantly increased interim net profit on gains from selling their UK businesses, that CATL will invest 4.1 billion yuan in the parent company of Hangzhou Zhongheng Electric, and that Alibaba Group will sell its gaming business brand Lingxi Games to Trustar Capital. In addition, China's industrial production rose 4.5 percent year on year in July, retail sales rose 0.6 percent, fixed asset investment fell 6.7 percent in the January to July period, property sales fell 13 percent, and investment fell 19 percent. A Reuters report that the United States is asking countries to choose sides in the AI development race with China was also introduced.

The trial production plan for the 6,666.6-tonne-per-year VC project of Inner Mongolia Yongtai Chemical, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yongtai Technology, has passed expert review and officially met the conditions for trial production, which will now commence. The project is part of the company's annual 25,000-tonne VC and 5,000-tonne FEC projects. After it comes on stream, the company's total VC capacity will increase from 10,000 tonnes per year to 16,700 tonnes per year, a rise of about two-thirds. The company previously started production at another 5,000-tonne-per-year VC line in November 2025 and signed a supply agreement with CATL for a total of 90,000 tonnes of VC from 2027 to 2029. The company expects net profit attributable to the parent of 265 million to 330 million yuan in the first half of the year, up 350.68% to 461.22% year on year.