【Market Headlines】

**Chinese Assets Gain Appeal as Korean Capital Accelerates Allocation**

Korean investors' aggressive purchases of Chinese assets have recently become a hot topic. Data shows China has become Korea's second-largest overseas investment destination. According to the latest data from Korea Securities Depository (KSD), cumulative trading volume in Hong Kong stocks reached over $5.8 billion by August 20, second only to the U.S. market. Additional statistics reveal Korean funds achieved net purchases of approximately $499 million in Chinese equities this year, compared to cumulative net sales of $985 million over the previous three years, indicating Korean investors' gradually recovering confidence in Chinese market allocation. Notably, China-themed ETFs listed in Korea have delivered impressive returns, with some products posting monthly gains exceeding 60%, outperforming most U.S. index ETFs.

**Statistics Show Retail Investors Averaged 20,000 Yuan Gains This Year**

A-shares have recently surged with full momentum. The Shanghai Composite Index reached a near-decade high, firmly holding above 3,700 points. Margin financing balances also broke through the 2 trillion yuan threshold, similarly hitting a near-decade high.

As A-share markets continued rising, total market capitalization surged accordingly. Following A-shares' first breakthrough of 100 trillion yuan on August 18, market cap reached 101.18 trillion yuan by August 21 close. Using comparable statistics, A-share market cap stood at approximately 85.68 trillion yuan at year-end last year, representing a cumulative increase of 15.63 trillion yuan this year. According to authoritative data, individual investors hold approximately 33% of shares, meaning individual investor market value increased by 5.16 trillion yuan net. Based on the current 240 million retail investors, this translates to average net gains of approximately 21,500 yuan per investor this year.

**RMB Breaks Above 7.17, Hits 9-Month High**

The RMB-USD exchange rate reached a 9-month high.

On August 21, the USD/CNY spot rate briefly broke above 7.17, reaching a high of 7.1682. For the central parity rate, the RMB-USD rate was set at 7.1287 on August 21, up 97 basis points and hitting the highest level since November 7, 2024.

On the news front, the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium for global central bankers is being held in Wyoming from August 21-23 local time. Fed Chair Powell will deliver remarks at 10 PM Beijing time on August 22. Currently, markets have almost certainly priced in Fed rate cuts beginning in September.

**Multiple Banks Announce Deposit Rate Cuts, Maximum Reduction of 20 Basis Points**

Recently, multiple small and medium banks announced deposit rate cuts.

On August 19, Jilin Longtan Huayi Village Bank issued an announcement stating it would adjust deposit listing rates starting August 20, covering demand deposits, notice deposits, and time deposits.

Specifically, the bank adjusted its demand deposit annual rate from 0.20% to 0.15%; 1-day notice deposit annual rate from 0.65% to 0.55%; and 7-day notice deposit annual rate from 1.05% to 0.95%, representing cuts of 5BP, 10BP, and 10BP respectively.

**July Electricity Consumption Exceeds 1 Trillion kWh, Doubling from July 2015**

On August 21, the National Energy Administration released July electricity consumption data. In July, total social electricity consumption reached 1,022.6 billion kWh, up 8.6% year-over-year, doubling from July 2015 levels and equivalent to ASEAN countries' annual consumption.

Jiang Debin, Deputy Director of Statistics and Digital Intelligence at China Electricity Council, stated in written correspondence that multiple heatwave cycles in July drove sustained rapid growth in social electricity consumption, reaching 1.02 trillion kWh and marking the first time monthly social electricity consumption exceeded the trillion kWh threshold. Data analysis shows July electricity consumption in primary and tertiary industries hit new highs since 2008.

**Improving Fund Utilization Efficiency: Hunan Provincial Housing Fund Center Cleans Up "Dormant Accounts"**

Long-term sealed dormant funds affect capital utilization efficiency.

Hunan Provincial Housing Fund Management Center recently issued a notice to begin centralized cleanup of individual housing fund "dormant accounts" effective immediately, with a deadline of October 31.

The cleanup scope specifically targets "individual provident fund accounts sealed for over 2 years, without provident fund loans, guarantees, freezes or restrictions, meeting conditions for account closure withdrawals or inter-regional transfers but with long-delayed processing procedures."

Hunan Provincial Housing Fund Management Center emphasized that cleaning up housing fund "dormant accounts" aims to activate long-term sealed dormant funds, protect workers' legitimate rights, and further enhance employees' housing consumption capacity.

**U.S. and EU Issue Joint Statement on Trade Agreement Framework**

On August 21 local time, the White House issued a joint statement with the EU announcing agreement on a trade deal framework. The EU subsequently issued its own joint statement.

According to the White House statement, the U.S.-EU trade agreement framework contains 19 key points covering agricultural products, automotive, aircraft and other industrial goods, semiconductors, energy, EU investment in the U.S., relaxed environmental protection regulations, cybersecurity protocols, digital trade barriers, and other areas.

**China's Foreign Ministry Responds to Potential U.S. Military Action Against Venezuela**

At the August 21 regular press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was asked about U.S. naval patrols in the Caribbean and potential use of force under the pretext of combating drugs, which Latin American and Caribbean leaders have condemned as violating regional peace and security.

Spokesperson Mao Ning stated China opposes any actions violating UN Charter purposes and principles or infringing on other countries' sovereignty and security. China opposes the use or threat of force in international relations and opposes external forces interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs under any pretext, hoping the U.S. will do more to benefit peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean.

**Breaking: Russia Strikes U.S. Factory**

According to Bloomberg, around 4:40 AM local time on August 21, two Russian cruise missiles struck a Flextronics facility in Mukachevo, Ukraine. The attack triggered massive fires and injured at least 15 people. Ukrainian President Zelensky posted on social media: "This is an ordinary civilian enterprise established with American investment, producing coffee machines and other daily products."

【Featured Companies】

**Alibaba Major Move: Plans to Spin Off Banma for Hong Kong Listing**

On August 21, Alibaba announced plans to spin off Banma Network Technology Co., Ltd. for independent listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Main Board. The announcement shows Banma was previously an Alibaba subsidiary primarily engaged in smart cockpit solution development, providing three solution categories including system OS solutions, AI full-stack end-to-end solutions, and in-vehicle platform services.

**DeepSeek Official Announcement: New Model, New Breakthrough, New Pricing**

On August 21, DeepSeek's official account announced the formal release of DeepSeek-V3.1. According to the introduction, this large model features hybrid reasoning architecture supporting both thinking and non-thinking modes. It offers higher thinking efficiency and can provide answers faster compared to DeepSeek-R1-0528. Additionally, the new model shows significant improvements in tool usage and agent tasks.

Currently, DeepSeek's official app and web platform have upgraded to DeepSeek-V3.1. Users can switch between thinking and non-thinking modes using the "Deep Thinking" button. DeepSeek API has also been upgraded simultaneously.

【Industry Highlights】

- Partnerships with Listed Companies and Early-Stage Investments: Analyzing Zhiyuan Robotics' "Ecosystem Strategy" - Commercialization Driving Demand Growth: eVTOL Battery Technology Paths Becoming Clearer - Technology and Demand Convergence: Exoskeleton Robot Industry on Eve of Explosion - Over 20 Titanium Dioxide Producers Announce Price Increases

【Market Performance】

**A-Shares:** On the 21st, A-share major indices pulled back in the afternoon, with the Shanghai Composite maintaining gains while ChiNext turned negative. At close, Shanghai Composite reported 3,771.10 points, up 0.13% with 997.74 billion yuan turnover; Shenzhen Component Index at 11,919.76 points, down 0.06% with 1,426.32 billion yuan turnover; ChiNext Index at 2,595.47 points, down 0.47% with 648.04 billion yuan turnover. Sector-wise, oil & gas extraction and services, internet e-commerce, and beauty care led gains, while new metal materials, electronic chemicals, and motors posted largest declines.

**Hong Kong Stocks:** On the 21st, Hong Kong's three major indices closed collectively lower, with Hang Seng Tech Index falling as much as 1.3% in the afternoon before closing down 0.77%. Hang Seng Index and H-share Index declined 0.24% and 0.43% respectively, showing weaker afternoon sentiment. On the board, major tech stocks as market bellwethers mostly underperformed, with Meituan down 3%, Baidu down 2.58%, Xiaomi down over 2%, Alibaba down 1.5%, JD.com down over 1%, while Tencent barely turned positive and NetEase gained 1%.

**U.S. Stocks:** U.S. stocks closed lower Thursday Beijing time early August 22, with the S&P 500 declining for the fifth consecutive trading day. Dow fell 152.81 points or 0.34% to 44,785.50; Nasdaq dropped 72.55 points or 0.34% to 21,100.31; S&P 500 declined 25.61 points or 0.40% to 6,370.17.

**European Stocks:** European markets held steady after three consecutive days of gains as investors weighed Eurozone business activity data while focusing on the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed nearly unchanged. Energy and banking sectors rose while chemicals and media led declines.

【Market Strategy】

Looking ahead, Dongxing Securities expressed views that the market may break through the 4,000-point integer threshold in the near term, reinforcing the grand narrative of medium-term trend upward movement while potentially further activating off-market capital allocation enthusiasm for A-shares.

Dongxing Securities believes A-shares will enter a medium-to-long-term upward trend, with the current market stage far from over. Space for household deposit migration remains enormous, and the timing for the economy entering a new recovery cycle won't be too distant. Meanwhile, capital market institutional dividends continue emerging, listed company quality steadily improves, and new productive forces content continuously increases, suggesting potential medium-to-long-term trends of earnings and index resonance.

【New Stock Subscriptions】

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【Announcement Highlights】

【Operating Data】 - Digital Vision: H1 net profit 16.7 million yuan, up 2747.64% YoY - Intellivision: H1 net profit 170 million yuan, up 1287.12% YoY - Suzhou Goodark: H1 net profit 43.7 million yuan, up 310.28% YoY - Sino Medical: H1 net profit 13.84 million yuan, up 296.54% YoY - Livzon Pharmaceutical: H1 net profit 343 million yuan, up 235.04% YoY - Tech-Long: H1 net profit 90.87 million yuan, up 217.89% YoY - Nari Technology: H1 net profit 159 million yuan, up 197.03% YoY - Ruijie Networks: H1 net profit 452 million yuan, up 194% YoY - Lante Optics: H1 net profit 103 million yuan, up 110.27% YoY - Sinopec: H1 net profit down 39.8% YoY, proposes interim cash dividend of 0.088 yuan per share - Kuaishou: Q2 total revenue 35 billion yuan, adjusted net profit 5.6 billion yuan - Sany Heavy Industry: H1 net profit up 46% YoY, proposes 3.1 yuan dividend per 10 shares

【Refinancing】 - Shandong Hi-Speed: Public issuance of up to 4 billion yuan corporate bonds approved by CSRC - iFlytek: Plans private placement raising up to 4 billion yuan

【Share Changes & Buybacks】 - Sinopec: Plans 500 million to 1 billion yuan share buyback - Boji Medical: Controlling shareholder and concert parties plan to reduce holdings by up to 3% - BOC Securities: Jiangxi Copper plans to reduce holdings by up to 3%

【Others】 - Rhein Biotech: Company experienced safety incident - Feilu Co.: Planning control change, trading suspended from August 22