Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

Mainland buying in Hong Kong stock market doubles in first seven months;

China's summer box office surpasses 7 billion yuan mark.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

Southbound capital flowing into the Hong Kong stock market hit an all-time high in the first seven months of 2025, reflecting investor confidence in the city on the back of surging turnover and a revived pipeline of initial public offerings (IPOs).

Investors in the Chinese mainland snapped up more Hong Kong equities so far this year than in all of 2024, as southbound flows hit HK$866.8 billion up to July, according to data compiled by Wind. That was already 107 percent of last year’s total.

The total value of Hong Kong stocks held by mainland investors had reached record highs and southbound trades accounted for 20 to 30 percent of Hong Kong’s daily turnover, according to a strategist at Everbright Securities International, as many are turning to the Hong Kong market for high-dividend quality names, especially among Chinese enterprises.

The sharp increase in mainland buying came as trading and fundraising activity in the city rebounded strongly after a multi-year slump. The southbound trades via the Stock Connect program accounted for 23.1 percent of total turnover on the Hong Kong stock exchange in the first six months of 2025, up from 18.3 percent from a year earlier, according to a midyear review released by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on Thursday.

In the first half, average daily turnover in Hong Kong jumped 82.2 percent from a year earlier to HK$240.2 billion, the SFC said.

The buoyant sentiment was partly driven by the IPO market, which was experiencing a robust recovery. A total of 42 new listings raised a combined HK$107.1 billion, a sevenfold increase from a year earlier, putting Hong Kong at the top of the global league table, according to the SFC’s report. Four companies raised more than HK$5 billion each, while a batch of seven dual-listed firms together accounted for HK$77 billion in proceeds.

Net purchases via the southbound channel during the first half of the year reached HK$731.2 billion – equivalent to 91 percent of the total for all of 2024, the report showed. All told, the southbound scheme brought in HK$4.42 trillion as of the end of June 30 since its inception, according to the report.

GBA express

Hong Kong is poised to become the world's largest global wealth management center in the coming years, according to an article by Eddie Yue, chief executive of the HKMA, citing the recent expansion plans of global financial institutes in the city. Participating investors in the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect (WMC) 2.0 scheme have surged over 1.2 times since its launch last year, exceeding 162,000 by the end of June, Yue said. The transaction amount of digital and tokenized assets traded in Hong Kong banks reached HK$26.1 billion in the first half of the year, up 233 percent from a year earlier.

Hong Kong is putting the final touches on its preparations for the upcoming 15th National Games, with organizers ensuring smooth logistics for athletes, free-to-air TV coverage for local audiences, and special entry arrangements for delegations. In a move to maximize public engagement, the games will be broadcast locally through free-to-air television stations, with CCTV handling the primary production of event footage. Meanwhile, ticketing systems are undergoing final testing, and details on public sales will be announced soon. To facilitate smooth arrivals for athletes and officials, special clearance channels will be set up at four major entry points.

Industry and company news

China's 2025 summer box office, including presales, exceeded CNY7 billion (USD979 million) as of 9.28 p.m. yesterday, according to online ticketing platform Beacon. The summer movie season runs from June 1 to Aug. 31.

China's Shenhua Energy announced plans to acquire 13 subsidiaries from its parent, China Energy Investment Corp, as part of a sweeping asset restructuring that could prove to be one of the nation's largest mergers and acquisitions. The cash-and-share deal involves coal, coal-fired power and coal-chemical businesses. Shenhua's shares in Shanghai will be suspended for 10 trading sessions, beginning today.

A Hong Kong court has frozen an HSBC bank account holding US$1.8 billion related to the estate of Zong Qinghou, late founder of beverage giant Wahaha. The account freeze stems from a lawsuit filed by three of Zong's extramarital children against Kelly Zong Fuli, Wahaha's chief executive who is publicly known as sole heiress. The plaintiffs claim Kelly breached a family agreement by withdrawing over US$6 million and failing to establish offshore trusts worth US$2.1 billion. The court ruled the account will remain frozen until related proceedings in a Hangzhou court are resolved or a further order is issued. 

China's State Administration for Market Regulation on Saturday unveiled new guidelines on how much e-commerce platforms can charge participating merchants. The aim is to reduce the cost burden on sellers and create a more transparent pricing structure. Three major instant food delivery platforms, Ele.me, Meituan and JD.com, issued statements promising more reasonable discounts and subsidies, and opposing malicious competition.

JD inked a deal with Ikea to launch the Swedish furniture giant's flagship store on Aug. 8, the Chinese e-commerce platform said today. The shop has listed over 6,500 products across 168 categories, with visible and interactive experiences based on JD's naked-eye 3D tech.

CATL said today it is working with CAR to roll out over 100,000 battery-swappable autos on the Chinese car rental platform this year, with the battery giant relying on the platform's 2,000 outlets and parking resources to co-build a battery swap network covering core transport hubs.

Panda bonds worth CNY116.7 billion had been issued via China's interbank market this year as of yesterday, bringing the overall figure to more than CNY1 trillion, according to financial data provider Wind.

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