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.

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po: RMB 1.19 trillion exists in Hong Kong, the world's largest offshore market.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Financial Secretary and Treasury Bureau Director Paul Chan Mo-po stated on September 23 that Hong Kong has become the world's largest offshore RMB business center. As of the end of July 2024, Hong Kong had approximately RMB 1.19 trillion total deposits, ranking first in the offshore market globally; from January to July this year, Hong Kong processed around 80% of global offshore RMB settlements.

According to data from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), in December last year, the proportion of RMB in global payment clearing reached 4.14%, an increase of about 1.4% compared to the same period in 2021, now ranking as the fourth largest payment settlement currency. By July this year, the proportion of RMB in global payment currencies reached 4.74%, the highest level on record.

In August, Hong Kong Airport's passenger traffic volume was approximately 4.92 million, up 23% year-on-year.

The Hong Kong Airport Authority announced that in August, the airport's passenger traffic volume was approximately 4.92 million, with cargo volume at 0.406 million metric tons, representing a year-on-year increase of 23% and 10.6% respectively; aircraft movements increased by 26.1% year-on-year to 0.031605 million flights.

In August, the daily passenger traffic volume at peak times exceeded 0.17 million. On August 18, the airport welcomed 0.1746 million passengers, reaching a new post-pandemic high.

Airport cargo volume recorded double-digit year-on-year growth in August. Export cargo volume increased by 14.6%. In the first 8 months, passenger traffic volume increased to 34.9 million, aircraft movements increased to 0.237435 million flights, representing year-on-year growth of 43.5% and 41.4% respectively; cargo volume increased by 16.5% year-on-year to approximately 3.2 million metric tons.

In August, the number of inbound tourists in Macau reached 3.6517 million, setting a new record.

Data from the Statistics and Census Service of Macau shows that during the summer vacation in August this year, the number of inbound tourists reached a record high of 3.6517 million, up 13.3% year-on-year, an increase of 0.8% from the same period in 2019; a 20.9% increase compared to July. However, day visitors (2.0414 million) and overnight visitors (1.6104 million) increased by 23.4% and 2.7% respectively year-on-year. The average length of stay for tourists was 1.1 days, a decrease of 0.1 days from the same month last year, while the average stay for overnight visitors increased by 0.1 days to 2.3 days.

Citigroup: Lowered Macau's September gambling revenue forecast to 17 billion Macau Patacas.

Citigroup's report stated that Macau's gambling revenue for the first 22 days of September should reach 12.15 billion Macau Patacas, equivalent to 0.521 billion Macau Patacas per day, a weekly drop of about 3%. According to industry sources, VIP room win rates fell by 11% to 13% month-on-month, while mass market win rates fell by 11% to 14% month-on-month. The bank pointed out that some tourists have postponed their trips to the National Day Golden Week, indicating that September's gambling revenue may be lower than expected. The bank has revised its September gambling revenue forecast from 17.75 billion to 17 billion Macau Patacas, representing a 14% increase year-on-year or 77% of the level in September 2019, to reflect the trend from the beginning of the month to the present and the lower VIP room win rates, implying a daily gambling revenue of 0.606 billion Macau Patacas for the remaining days of this month.

From January to August, the total electricity consumption in the whole society of Shenzhen increased by 7.4%.

According to the Southern Power Grid Shenzhen Power Supply Bureau, from January to August, the total electricity consumption in Shenzhen reached 80.75 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%, a growth rate 1.5 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

From January to August, the electricity consumption of the secondary, tertiary industries, and residential sectors in Shenzhen was 37.99 billion kilowatt-hours, 28.93 billion kilowatt-hours, and 13.79 billion kilowatt-hours, respectively, representing a year-on-year increase of 8.9%, 4.9%, and 8.6%.

In terms of changes in electricity consumption structure, the proportions of electricity consumption in the secondary, tertiary industries, and residential sectors in the total social electricity consumption were 47.1%, 35.8%, 17.1%, respectively, with changes of 0.7 percentage points, -0.9 percentage points, and 0.2 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Looking at industrial transformation, the electricity consumption of the secondary industry continues to lead the share over the tertiary industry, reflecting the steady progress of industrial structural transformation in Shenzhen.

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%.

Miniso (09896) announced that it will use approximately 6.27 billion yuan (RMB, same below) (approximately 6.92 billion Hong Kong dollars) in cash to acquire a total of approximately 2.668 billion shares of Yonghui Superstores (601933) from two wholly-owned subsidiaries of JD.com (09618) and a milk company, accounting for approximately 29.4% of the equity. The acquisition is subject to shareholder approval. The purchase price per share of Yonghui Superstores is 2.35 yuan, a 3.1% premium over the closing price of 2.28 yuan per share of the company last Friday (20th). The consideration will be paid with internal financial resources and external financing. JD.com will sell its 8.3% stake in Yonghui Superstores to Miniso for approximately 1.774 billion yuan (approximately 1.952 billion Hong Kong dollars), and the milk company will sell its 21.1% stake in Yonghui Superstores for approximately 4.496 billion yuan (approximately 4.96 billion Hong Kong dollars). After the completion of the acquisition, Miniso will hold 29.4% of Yonghui Superstores. According to the top ten shareholder information of Yonghui Superstores as of June 30 this year, Miniso is expected to become the major shareholder of Yonghui Superstores. However, Yonghui Superstores' financial performance will be included in Miniso's investments in associated companies.

Shougang Resources (00639) announced a proposal for a 30-for-1 bonus issue, issuing up to 0.164 billion new shares, accounting for approximately 3.2% of the enlarged share capital. The rights issue price is 2.6 Hong Kong dollars per share, a premium of approximately 1.96% over the closing price of 2.55 Hong Kong dollars today, with a total proceeds amount of up to approximately 0.427 billion Hong Kong dollars. The estimated net proceeds amount is not expected to exceed approximately 0.4254 billion Hong Kong dollars, intended for general operating funds and/or additional capital reserves to seize business opportunities in China's coking coal mining industry, strengthen its financial position, and prepare for future investment opportunities.

Yankuang Energy (01171) announced that the company has signed Implementation Agreement and Subscription Agreement with Highland Resources. The company will acquire additional shares of Highland Resources through asset injection and cash subscription, becoming the largest shareholder of Highland Resources after the transaction and controlling the board of directors. Highland Resources is registered in Australia and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in February 2012 with its main business being the development of a potash project, with the core project being the Muga potash mine project in northern Spain. Under the Implementation Agreement, the company will transfer its 100% equity interest in Yancoal Canada to Highland Resources, issuing ordinary shares as consideration at a price of 0.5 Australian dollars per share. According to the Subscription Agreement, Highland Resources will issue shares to several strategic investors including the company at a price of 0.5 Australian dollars per share, raising 0.22 billion US dollars. The company intends to subscribe for up to 90 million US dollars, but if other strategic investors subscribe for more than 0.13 billion US dollars, the company's subscription amount may be reduced accordingly. The funds raised will be mainly used for capital expenditures required for the construction of the Muga project and general working capital needs.

Zhongzheng International (00943) issued a profit warning, expecting a comprehensive loss attributable to owners of the company between HK$0.68 billion and HK$0.72 billion for the year ending June 30, 2024, compared to a comprehensive profit of approximately HK$69 million in the same period last year.