For listed companies, the number of indices they are included in and the market recognition of these indices serve as important reference points for evaluating their investment value. Generally speaking, the more indices a listed company is included in, and the higher the market recognition of these indices, the greater the investment value of that company.
Since entering August, the bull market atmosphere in China's capital markets has been intensifying, with major A-share and H-share indices competing to reach new highs, suggesting that an index-driven rally may be imminent. Under these circumstances, high-quality individual stocks that are "favored" by as many indices and index-linked funds as possible are particularly worth focusing on. After all, once the index rally enters an acceleration phase, corresponding weighted stocks will inevitably attract more buying interest, especially from off-market investors, making these targets more explosive in bull markets.
Following this logic to search for investment targets, China Hongqiao (01378) listed in Hong Kong represents a company with tremendous potential. According to Wind data, leveraging its solid fundamentals, outstanding growth prospects, and high dividend characteristics, China Hongqiao has been included in a total of 216 indices as of press time.
Among these 200-plus indices, 16 have linked fund products, with a total of 45 linked funds representing approximately 42.6 billion yuan in total scale, with an average market value of China Hongqiao shares held by each index fund of about 946 million yuan. Notably, Hongqiao holds relatively large weight proportions in many actively managed index fund products, reflecting that professional investors highly recognize Hongqiao's scarce investment value.
Take the CSI Hong Kong 100 Equal Weight Index, which has cumulatively risen by more than 20% this year. Currently, Hongqiao's weight in this index fund is approximately 1.41%, making it the second-largest holding by market value. The CSI Hong Kong 100 Equal Weight Index, established on December 30, 2005, has been operating for nearly 20 years. Currently, the fund's top ten holdings are all leading companies in various industries, with China Hongqiao and Zijin Mining being the only two resource companies among them.
According to statistics, China Hongqiao, with its continuously improving operations, has been newly included in 24 indices this year. The most recent example was on August 11, when China Hongqiao was selected and included in the Hang Seng Stock Connect Resources Series Index. This index, with a base date of December 31, 2021, selects the 40 highest market-cap resource securities from the Stock Connect universe as constituent stocks.
Reviewing the list of indices that have included China Hongqiao this year, another noteworthy value signal is that many indices are themed around "dividends" and "high dividends," such as the Guolian Minsheng Hong Kong Dividend Index, Hang Seng High Dividend Yield 30, Hang Seng Shanghai-Shenzhen-Hong Kong (Selected Enterprises) High Dividend Yield, Hang Seng Stock Connect Dividend Select, and MSCI China A-shares Stock Connect Dividend Low Volatility Select Index.
The underlying logic for these dividend-themed indices unanimously "favoring" Hongqiao naturally lies in China Hongqiao's accelerated establishment and improvement of shareholder return mechanisms in recent years, gradually increasing dividend payout ratios while implementing long-term share buybacks and other multi-dimensional measures to enhance shareholder returns.
Data shows that from 2022-2024, China Hongqiao's dividend per share was 51 HK cents, 63 HK cents, and 161 HK cents respectively, with dividend strength increasing year by year. In terms of buybacks, Hongqiao has spent 2.61 billion HK dollars in the first half of this year to repurchase approximately 187 million shares. According to the company's latest announcement disclosing new buyback guidance, Hongqiao will deploy no less than 3 billion HK dollars for additional share buybacks.
The successive inclusion in so many important indices is itself one of the most powerful proofs of China Hongqiao's solid strength. Additionally, China Hongqiao recently disclosed its 2025 interim results, with the latest financial report showing that core financial metrics continue their strong growth momentum. During the reporting period, revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders reached 81.039 billion yuan and 12.361 billion yuan respectively, representing year-on-year increases of 10.1% and 35%.
Beyond strong earnings delivery, China Hongqiao's internal and external growth logic continues to strengthen systematically. For instance, following Yunnan Hongqiao's 9 billion yuan investment to acquire a 25% stake in Yunnan Hongtai, Hongqiao's equity ratio in the latter has increased year-on-year, which will further boost China Hongqiao's aluminum smelting capacity rights. In overseas markets, Hongqiao's investment in the Simandou project is about to begin production, which will not only help enhance the company's core competitive advantages in the global value chain but also further thicken company profits and open up more growth space for Hongqiao.
Standing at the current high prosperity cycle of the aluminum industry, China Hongqiao is strongly advancing into a new development stage. From an investment perspective, as the company is included in more and more indices, the number of index fund products holding Hongqiao either actively or passively is expected to continue growing.
Looking ahead, given that Hongqiao inherently combines outstanding growth prospects with high dividend characteristics, the intrinsic support for the company's stock price is strong. Under the coordination of the broader market's bull atmosphere, as a weighted stock in multiple important index funds, Hongqiao has high attractiveness to off-market investors, which is expected to attract continuous buying flow.
Based on this analysis, it can be anticipated that the sustainability of China Hongqiao's current stock price uptrend is very likely to exceed market expectations.