[Today's headlines]

European gas prices continue to soar, US gas futures prices soar

Due to strong demand for heating in winter, gas supply interruptions, etc., gas prices in Europe continued to soar, and gas prices rose to the highest level in more than a year on December 31, 2024. Also, according to US media reports on December 31, 2024, as the meteorological department predicts that parts of the US will experience abnormally cold weather in January 2025, the market expects demand for fuel for heating and power generation to rise sharply, leading to a sharp rise in US natural gas futures prices.

Gary Cunningham (Gary Cunningham), head of market research at Traditional Energy, said that it has seen continued strong demand for liquefied natural gas export facilities, and global demand for this fuel is expected to remain high, as production cuts in some North Sea assets will cause European buyers to actively seek goods to maintain storage levels.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to October this year, the country's apparent consumption of natural gas was 353.72 billion cubic meters, an increase of 9.9% over the previous year. The National Development and Reform Commission pointed out at the 2024-2025 heating season National Energy Insurance and Supply Conference that natural gas resources are fully prepared this winter, and the peak gas storage capacity has increased by 8 billion cubic meters compared to last year. It is expected that the overall balance between energy supply and demand during the heating season will allow energy supply to be effectively guaranteed, but extreme weather and other risks that may affect the stable supply of energy cannot be ignored.

[General outlook]

Due to the New Year's Day holiday, the US stock market was closed for 1 day on January 1

January 1, 2025 (Wednesday) is the New Year's Day holiday, and the US stock market will be closed for one day. Regular trading resumed on January 2, 2025 (Thursday).

[Hot Topics Preview]

1.7 trillion yuan! The Central Bank of China invests in medium- to long-term liquidity with two instruments

In order to maintain abundant liquidity in the banking system, in December 2024, the People's Bank of China (hereinafter referred to as the “central bank”) launched a 1,400 billion yuan buyout reverse repurchase operation using fixed amounts, interest rate tenders, and multiple price wins, respectively, 700 billion yuan for 3 months (91 days) and 700 billion yuan for 6 months (182 days), respectively. In addition, the central bank also launched an open market treasury bond trading operation in December, with a net bond purchase value of 300 billion yuan for the whole month. Both instruments released a total of 1.7 trillion yuan in medium- to long-term liquidity.

China's Supreme Court and Securities Regulatory Commission jointly issued the “Minutes of the Symposium on Effective Trial of Bankruptcy and Reorganization Cases of Listed Companies”

The “Minutes” focus on adhering to the general idea of adhering to active rescue and timely settlement, balancing the interests of creditors and small and medium shareholders, and strengthening judicial trial and administrative supervision coordination. It is conducive to better playing the role of bankruptcy trials, rescuing listed companies with restructuring value and market prospects, mitigating risks and maintaining capital market stability, further improving the quality of listed companies, and effectively protecting the legitimate rights and interests of listed company creditors and investors, especially small and medium-sized investors.

List of delivery data of major Chinese NEV companies in December 2024

Up to now: BYD: NEV sales volume was 0.5148 million units in December; cumulative NEV sales volume in 2024 was 4.2721 million units, up 41.26% year on year. Ideal cars: 58,513 vehicles were delivered in December, up 16.2% year on year, a record high; total deliveries for the full year of 2024 reached 500,508 vehicles. GAC Aian: Global sales volume in December was 46,851 vehicles, and continued to increase positively over the same period last year. Zero Sports Auto: 42,517 units were delivered in December, up 128% year on year. Deliveries surpassed 0.04 million units for two consecutive months, setting a record monthly delivery record high for seven consecutive months; in 2024, it delivered nearly 0.3 million units, an increase of more than 100% year on year. Cyrus: In December, sales of new energy vehicles were 37,319 units, down 9.57% year on year; in 2024, sales of new energy vehicles were 426,885 units, up 182.84% year on year. Xiaopeng Motor: Delivered 36,695 units in December, up 82% year on year and 19% month on month. It has been delivering a record high in a single month for 4 consecutive months. NIO Auto: Delivered 31,138 vehicles in December, up 72.9% year on year; in 2024, a total of 221,970 vehicles were delivered, up 38.7% year on year. Extreme Krypton: 27,190 units were delivered in December, another record high, with a year-on-year increase of 102%; a total of 222,123 units were delivered in 2024, an increase of 87% over the previous year. Avita: Delivered 11067 vehicles in December, breaking 10,000 for three consecutive months; sales volume for the full year of 2024 was 7,3606 vehicles, an increase of 140% over the previous year.

Gaoxin Retail (06808) plans to receive mandatory cash offer from Paragon Shine Limited

Zhitong Finance App News, Gaoxin Retail (06808) and offender Paragon Shine Limited jointly announced that on December 31, 2024, the offeror and seller (Jixin Holdings Co., Ltd., Taobao China Holdings Co., Ltd., New Strategic Retail Opportunities Investments 1 Limited) entered into a trading agreement to conditionally trade 7.508 billion shares (i.e. for sale) Shares, accounting for approximately 78.70% of the shares issued on the date of this joint announcement), had a total cost of HK$10.361 billion.

Hehuang Pharmaceutical (00013) subsidiary plans to sell a total of 45% shares in Shanghai Hehuanghe

Zhitong Finance App News, Hehuang Pharmaceutical (00013) announced that on December 31, 2024, the seller Shanghai Hewong Pharmaceutical Investment (Hong Kong) Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company) entered into a share purchase agreement with Gimpo Healthcare Equity Investment Management for sale with a total purchase price of RMB 3.483 billion (approximately US$0.473 billion); and with a total purchase price of RMB 0.995 billion (approximately 0.0.135 billion US dollars) (billion US dollars) sold Shanghai Pharmaceutical's shares for sale (accounting for 10% of Shanghai Hehuang Pharmaceutical's shares) and Shanghai Pharmaceutical entered into a stock purchase agreement with Shanghai Pharmaceutical. After the transaction is completed, Shanghai Pharmaceutical will hold a total of 60% of Shanghai Hehuang Pharmaceutical's shares and implement a merger list.

Haidilao: The turnover rate on New Year's Eve from 2024 to 2025 increased by 20% compared to the previous year

The reporter learned from Haidilao on January 1 that on the evening of December 31, 2024, Haidilao hot pot customers all over the world were like clouds. The “wave of winter New Year's Eve trips” and the “local New Year's Eve wave” simultaneously boosted the number of visitors to tourist cities and stores in large cities. According to data, on December 31, out of over 1,300 Haidilao hot pot stores in the country, about 60% had a turnover rate of over 7 rounds throughout the day, and stores in popular business districts such as Nanjing, Hefei, Changsha, and Xi'an had a turnover rate of nearly 10 rounds, bringing consumers a sense of unique Haidilao ceremony. In addition, backstage data showed that the turnaround rate during the nighttime to early morning period increased by about 20% compared to the same period last year's New Year's Eve.

Michelle Ice City submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

According to the listing application, in 2021, 2022, 2023, and the first nine months of 2024, Michelle Ice's store network achieved terminal retail sales of approximately RMB 22.8 billion, RMB 30.7 billion, RMB 47.8 billion, and RMB 44.9 billion, respectively. In 2022, 2023, and the first nine months of 2024, Michelle Ice City achieved revenue of 13.6 billion yuan, 20.3 billion yuan, and 18.7 billion yuan respectively, with year-on-year increases of 31.2%, 49.6% and 21.2%.

Bank of Yibin begins offering shares and is expected to be listed before the Spring Festival

According to the official website, Yibin Commercial Bank recently successfully passed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing hearing and plans to sell 0.6884 billion H shares globally. The exact amount will depend on the exercise of the over-allotment rights. According to the arrangement, the bank is scheduled to conduct a stock offering from December 30, 2024 to January 8 of the following year, and is expected to be officially listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 13, 2025, with the stock code 2596.HK. It is worth mentioning that before this bank, the IPOs of small and medium-sized banks had been “empty” for almost three years. Since the A-share listing of Bank of Lanzhou in January 2022, no banks have registered A shares or H shares.

Ganfeng Lithium: Providing project construction financing for the Malian government to build solar photovoltaic power generation and energy storage power plants

Ganfeng Lithium announced on the evening of January 1 that in order to promote the development of solar energy in the Republic of Mali, the company signed a “Tripartite Agreement on Safo 50MWc Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation and 25MWh Energy Storage Power Plant Phase I Construction Project”. The company promised to provide no more than 50 million US dollars of project construction financing for the Malian government to build the Safo 50MWC solar photovoltaic power generation and 25MWh energy storage power plant phase I project. The company or its holding subsidiary will supply energy storage power plant equipment to the Safo power plant project as part of this financing plan.

[Individual stock prices are clear]

JD Group-SW (09618): Announces launch of 2025 trade-in state subsidy campaign

On January 1, JD announced the launch of the 2025 trade-in state subsidy campaign. Among them, “state subsidy” activities have already been launched in Hubei, Jiangsu, Hunan, etc., and other provinces and cities are going online one after another. Up to now, JD's trade-in service has covered 200 segments, including home appliances, home, building materials, 3C digital, automobiles, electric bicycles, health equipment, and fitness equipment.

According to information, in JD, trade-in can also enjoy additional JD's old machine subsidy. For example, consumers can use up to 6 used electronic products to deduct the purchase cost of a new computer, up to 1,600 yuan; air conditioning cabinets and hangers can respectively deduct 550 yuan and 260 yuan of new machine purchase fees.

Since the implementation of the “two new” policy in 2024 (that is, large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in), JD immediately invested in supporting and accepting trade-in subsidies. Up to now, JD's trade-in service has covered more than 200 categories such as home appliances, home furnishings, building materials, 3C, digital, automobiles, electric bicycles, health equipment, fitness equipment, etc.; over 90% of the country's rural counties have traded in through JD.