On November 3, 2025, during Hong Kong FinTech Week, ZHAOJIN MINING (01818)'s subsidiary Hong Kong ZHAOJIN MINING Limited signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with SigmaLayer Company Limited, a member of Ant Group's Ant Digital. Leveraging Ant Digital's core technologies in blockchain, tokenization, and AI, the two parties will collaborate on three major fronts: digitizing gold assets, intelligent supply chain risk control, and ESG-compliant value transfer, injecting new momentum into the digital transformation of the traditional gold industry.

Xu Jianzhuo, Investment Director of ZHAOJIN MINING and President of Hong Kong ZHAOJIN, stated that the current era is witnessing deep integration between the digital and real economies. Digital assets will become the "gold of the future," and blockchain technology will reshape the traditional mining industry's development landscape and operational processes, bringing unprecedented transparency and efficiency improvements across the entire supply chain. He emphasized that ZHAOJIN MINING's stable production capacity and abundant resource reserves provide a solid foundation for secure and sustainable blockchain operations, facilitating the transition from traditional mining to technology-driven mining.

As blockchain technology accelerates the restructuring of the global gold industry's value chain, Hong Kong is advancing its "International Gold Trading Center" initiative with policies supporting the convergence of digital finance and gold markets. This strategic partnership not only aligns with national digital economy development strategies but also reflects ZHAOJIN MINING's forward-looking approach to integrating industrial strengths with emerging digital technologies.

As a leading enterprise in China's gold industry, ZHAOJIN MINING boasts substantial resource reserves and a comprehensive industrial chain, with production and reserves consistently ranking among the industry's top performers. Its major shareholder, Shandong ZHAOJIN Group, is a key supplier in domestic and international gold markets. Partner Ant Digital holds competitive advantages in blockchain implementation and industrial digitalization solutions.

The collaboration aims to address challenges in transparency, efficiency, and trust within the traditional gold industry through technological empowerment, jointly pioneering new pathways for industrial upgrading. The partnership will focus on three key areas:

1. **Tokenization of Offshore Physical Gold Assets**: Utilizing Ant Digital's blockchain and tokenization technologies, the partners will explore innovative models for converting physical gold assets into on-chain digital assets (e.g., digital gold tokens).

2. **AI-Driven Supply Chain Risk Control**: Combining Ant Digital's AI capabilities and blockchain technology, the collaboration will provide intelligent risk control, credit assessment, and supply chain management services for upstream and downstream gold industry players, optimizing capital allocation and operational efficiency through data-driven risk identification and pricing models.

3. **Blockchain-Based ESG Traceability**: Aligning with global ESG trends, the partners will develop a blockchain-powered ESG tracking platform to transform responsible gold mining and trading practices into transparent digital value. This initiative will not only strengthen ZHAOJIN MINING's ESG management framework but also set industry benchmarks for sustainable, low-carbon, and socially responsible development.

Moving forward, ZHAOJIN MINING will actively embrace transformation, combining its physical gold advantages with blockchain technology to build a next-generation gold industry ecosystem that is more efficient, transparent, and sustainable.