I. Market News 1. Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department: The provisional number of Hong Kong's population at mid-year was 7.5318 million people. According to data released by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, the provisional number of Hong Kong's population at mid-year in 2024 was 7.5318 million people, up 0.1% from the end of 2023, but down 0.1% from mid-2023. Between mid-2023 and mid-2024, there was a natural decrease of 18,100 people (i.e., more deaths than births), with 34,400 births and 52,400 deaths. During the same period, there were 13,800 net inbound Hong Kong residents (i.e., more people moving in than out), including 44,000 one-way permit holders and 30,200 other Hong Kong residents who moved out. Among the total population in mid-2024, 7.2874 million were permanent residents and 0.2444 million were non-permanent residents. The revised population figure at the end of 2023 was 7.5279 million, with 7.2464 million permanent residents and 0.2815 million non-permanent residents. The population growth rate from the end of 2022 to the end of 2023 was also revised to +0.7%. 2. Hong Kong Tourism Board: The cumulative number of visitors to Hong Kong in the first seven months was about 25 million, an increase of 52% year-on-year. According to statistics, the preliminary number of visitors to Hong Kong in early July was 3.92 million, an increase of about 10% compared to the same period last year, of which about half were overnight visitors. The cumulative number of visitors to Hong Kong from January to July this year was about 25 million, a year-on-year increase of 52%. Among them, 19.3 million were Mainland visitors and 5.8 million were non-Mainland visitors, an increase of 47% and 71% respectively from the previous year. 3. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (00388) hopes to include Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) in the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect as soon as possible. Li Wentao, Vice President of the Global Listing Services Department of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, said at the Boao Real Estate Forum that the Group hopes to include REITs in the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect as soon as possible. He continued that the inclusion of REITs in the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect is an issue of great concern, and that it is also an announcement made after the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) repeatedly mentioned in public last year that it was studying the inclusion of REITs in the scope of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing also hopes that this can be implemented as soon as possible. II. Corporate News 1. Alibaba Group Holding Limited (09988) released its first quarter results for the three months ended June 30, 2024. According to the financial report, the net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders for the period was RMB 24.269 billion ($3.34 billion), a decrease of 29% year-on-year; net profit was RMB 24.022 billion, a decrease of 27% year-on-year; diluted earnings per share was RMB 1.24. The group's revenue for the period was RMB 243.236 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4%. 2. Alibaba Group's Chief Financial Officer, Xu Hong, said at an earnings briefing that most of the group's businesses, except for its core e-commerce business, will achieve profitability within 1-2 years and gradually begin to contribute to scalable profitability. He said that Alibaba is seeking to transfer its primary listing to Hong Kong. The Group will hold a shareholders meeting on August 22 and make proposals at the meeting. If approved, the primary listing in Hong Kong is expected to be completed by the end of August 2024. As for whether to access the Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect afterwards, it will be necessary to fulfill some procedures under the different rules of each exchange before proceeding, and he expects that it will ultimately be achieved. 3. JD.com, Inc. (09618) released its second quarter results for 2024. According to the financial report, the net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders for the second quarter was RMB 12.644 billion ($1.7 billion), a year-on-year increase of 90.9%; basic earnings per share were RMB 4.2 yuan. The total revenue for the second quarter was RMB 291.397 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%. Among them, revenue from products was RMB 233.908 billion, compared to RMB 233.855 billion in the same period last year. Service revenue was RMB 57.489 billion, compared to RMB 54.076 billion in the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 6.31%. 4. Kingdee International Software Group Company Limited (00268) announced its interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2024. According to the financial report, the loss attributable to owners of the Company for the period was approximately RMB 0.218 billion, a decrease of approximately 23.2% compared to the same period last year. Basic loss per share was approximately RMB 6.12. No interim dividend will be paid. Revenue for the period was RMB 2.87 billion, a year-on-year increase of approximately 11.9%. Among them, revenue from cloud service business increased by 17.2% year-on-year to RMB 2.39 billion, accounting for approximately 83.2% of the Group's revenue. 5. China United Network Communications Limited (00762) announced its interim results. For the period, the net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company was RMB 13.793 billion, up 11.31% year-on-year. Basic earnings per share were RMB 0.45. An interim dividend of RMB 0.2481 per share will be paid, up 22.2% year-on-year. For the period, revenue was RMB 197.341 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.87%. EBITDA was RMB 55 billion, up 2.7% year-on-year. 6. CK Asset Holdings Limited (01113) announced its interim results for the six months ended June 30, recording a attributable surplus of HKD 8.603 billion for shareholders, down 16.73% year-on-year, with a basic earnings per share of HKD 2.44. An interim dividend of HKD 0.39 per share will be paid. Group revenue for the period was HKD 22.008 billion, down 10.55% year-on-year.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Dubai Financial Services Authority will jointly hold a climate conference next month.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (Dubai Monetary Authority) announced today that they will co-host the first joint climate finance conference in Hong Kong on September 16. The conference will be held both online and offline. This conference is an important initiative aimed at promoting the deepening cooperation between Hong Kong and Dubai in the field of sustainable finance.

Macau: The retail trade sales in the first half of the year reached 36.85 billion Macau Patacas, 96% of the level of the same period in 2019.

Data from the Macao Statistics and Census Bureau shows that the retail trade sales in the first half of the year amounted to 36.85 billion patacas (Macao Patacas, the same below), reaching 96% of the level of the same period in 2019. Compared with the first half of 2023, it decreased by 17.5%, mainly due to the overall recovery of economic activities at the beginning of 2023, resulting in a concentrated release of consumer spending and a high base for comparison. The sales of communication equipment, watches and jewelry, and leather goods decreased by 39.4%, 24.6%, and 23.5% respectively year-on-year, while the sales of traditional Chinese food souvenirs and autos increased by 3.0% and 0.8%.

The average index of sales volume, adjusted for price factors, dropped by 22.1% year-on-year, with the most significant decline observed in communication equipment (-39.2%), watches and jewelry (-32.0%), and leather goods (-26.4%). Meanwhile, autos (+1.3%) and traditional Chinese food souvenirs (+0.3%) recorded an increase.

Guangdong Province successfully issued 2.5 billion yuan offshore RMB local government bonds in Macau.

According to the Guangdong Provincial Department of Finance, the Guangdong Provincial Government successfully issued 2.5 billion yuan RMB (the same below) offshore RMB local government bonds in the Macau Special Administrative Region on the 21st, marking the fourth consecutive year of arranging local government bonds to be issued, registered, and traded in Macau's local book-entry system.

Guangdong Province issued 2 special local government bonds in Macau. The 2-year special bonds are green bonds (1.5 billion yuan), and the funds raised will be used for the construction of green projects in the Pearl River Delta cities; the 3-year special bonds will raise funds to support the construction of major infrastructure projects in the Hengqin Guangdong-Macau Deep Cooperation Zone (1 billion yuan).

1. Alibaba: Alibaba Group Holding Limited released its first quarter results for the three months ended June 30, 2024. According to the financial report, the net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders for the period was RMB 24.269 billion ($3.34 billion), a decrease of 29% year-on-year; net profit was RMB 24.022 billion, a decrease of 27% year-on-year; diluted earnings per share was RMB 1.24. The group's revenue for the period was RMB 243.236 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4%. 2. Alibaba: Alibaba Group's Chief Financial Officer, Xu Hong, said at an earnings briefing that most of the group's businesses, except for its core e-commerce business, will achieve profitability within 1-2 years and gradually begin to contribute to scalable profitability. He said that Alibaba is seeking to transfer its primary listing to Hong Kong. The Group will hold a shareholders meeting on August 22 and make proposals at the meeting. If approved, the primary listing in Hong Kong is expected to be completed by the end of August 2024. As for whether to access the Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect afterwards, it will be necessary to fulfill some procedures under the different rules of each exchange before proceeding, and he expects that it will ultimately be achieved. 3. JD.com, Inc.: JD.com, Inc. released its second quarter results for 2024. According to the financial report, the net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders for the second quarter was RMB 12.644 billion ($1.7 billion), a year-on-year increase of 90.9%; basic earnings per share were RMB 4.2 yuan. The total revenue for the second quarter was RMB 291.397 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%. Among them, revenue from products was RMB 233.908 billion, compared to RMB 233.855 billion in the same period last year. Service revenue was RMB 57.489 billion, compared to RMB 54.076 billion in the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 6.31%.

Alibaba (09988) announced that on August 28, 2024, the company voluntarily changed its secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to a primary listing, and the change will take effect. On the effective date, the company will have a dual primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, and the stock symbol 'S' will be removed from the company's Hong Kong Stock Exchange counters in Hong Kong dollars and renminbi. The voluntary conversion to a dual primary listing does not involve the company's new stock issuance or financing.

Ping An Insurance (02318) announced that for the six months ended June 30, 2024, the attributable net profit was 74.619 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), an increase of 6.84% year-on-year, with basic earnings per share of 4.21 yuan. The company will distribute a mid-term dividend of 0.93 yuan per share to shareholders. During the period, the total revenue was 554.097 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.46%.

Bilibili (09626) announced that for the six months ended June 30, 2024, the net loss attributable to the company's shareholders was 1.357 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), a decrease of 37.58% year-on-year. The basic net loss per share was 3.26 yuan. No mid-term dividend will be distributed. During the period, the net operating income was 11.792 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.67%.

NetEase Cloud Music (09899) announced the interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2024. The profit attributable to the equity holders of the company was 0.81 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), a year-on-year increase of 175.69%, with basic earnings per share of 3.88 yuan. No mid-term dividends will be distributed. During the period, the group's revenue was 4.07 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.15%.

Baidu (09888) announced its second-quarter performance, with a net profit attributable to shareholders of 5.488 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), a year-on-year increase of 5.34% and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 0.73%. The net profit attributable to shareholders under non-generally accepted accounting principles was 7.396 billion yuan, a decrease of 7.53% year-on-year and an increase of 5.49% quarter-on-quarter. Diluted earnings per American depositary share were 15.01 yuan, and diluted earnings per American depositary share under non-generally accepted accounting principles were 21.02 yuan. During the period, the total revenue of the group was 33.931 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.37%. Core revenue was 26.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1%.

Zhihu (02390) announced that the total revenue for the first half of this year was 1.895 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), a decrease of 7.1% from the same period last year; the net loss narrowed by 46.2% to 0.246 billion yuan, with a loss per share of 0.88 yuan, and no mid-term dividends will be distributed. The gross profit during the period was 1.1 billion yuan, an increase of 2.4%, and the gross margin increased from 52.7% to 58.1% from last year, with an average of 84.8 million monthly active users and 14.7 million monthly subscription members, down 20% and 1.9% from the same period last year, respectively.

7. China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co., Ltd. (03808) announced that the mid-year profit as of June 30 was approximately 3.29 billion yuan, up 39.7% year-on-year, with earnings per share of 1.2 yuan, and an interim dividend of 72 Hong Kong cents per share. The revenue for the period was 48.8 billion yuan, an 18% year-on-year increase, with a gross profit of 7.16 billion yuan, up 9.7% year-on-year. The income of the heavy truck division for the period increased by 16% year-on-year, with sales of approximately 1.25 million vehicles, a 14.8% year-on-year increase.

8. China Power International Development Limited (02380) announced that the mid-year profit as of June 30 was approximately 2.57 billion yuan, up 52.98% year-on-year, with earnings per share of 21 cents. No interim dividend was declared, but in celebration of the 20th anniversary of its listing, a special dividend of 5 cents (5.47 Hong Kong cents) per share was declared. The revenue for the period was approximately 26.47 billion yuan, an increase of 24.18% year-on-year, with the wind power and photovoltaic power generation sectors' profits increasing by 34.87% and 46.47% respectively compared to the same period last year.

9. Orient Overseas (International) Limited (00316) announced that the mid-year net profit as of June 30, 2024 was 0.833 billion US dollars, down 26.2% year-on-year, with basic earnings per share of 1.26 yuan and an interim dividend of 0.63 yuan. The revenue for the period was 4.646 billion yuan, an increase of 2.3% year-on-year, with an operating profit of 0.835 billion yuan, down 26.4% year-on-year.

10. Weibo Corporation (09898) announced that the second quarter's net profit as of June 30, 2024 was 0.112 billion US dollars, up 37.5% year-on-year, with basic earnings per share of 47 cents. The non-GAAP net profit attributable to Weibo's shareholders was 0.126 billion yuan, a decrease of less than 0.1% year-on-year, with diluted earnings per share of 48 cents. The net revenue for the period was 0.438 billion yuan, a 0.5% year-on-year decrease, with non-GAAP operating profit of 0.158 billion US dollars, up 2.5% year-on-year.