Eight Chinese government departments have jointly issued an implementation plan to accelerate the integration of artificial intelligence with consumption. On the 18th, the Ministry of Commerce and seven other agencies released the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Development of 'AI + Consumption'." The document outlines 17 specific measures across five areas, including enhancing AI in goods consumption and expanding AI in service consumption, aiming to bring AI into millions of households and businesses to better meet the needs of a better life. Lin Jian, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, stated that the "Opinions" establish a multi-departmental policy framework for "AI + Consumption." In the long term, this is conducive to bridging the policy channel between technological innovation and consumption upgrade, shifting the growth logic of consumption from relying on external stimulus to technological empowerment, holding profound strategic value for building a new dual-circulation development pattern with domestic demand as the mainstay. This involves the Hong Kong-listed AI application sector.
Market Outlook
The three major U.S. stock indices closed higher last Thursday. At the close over the weekend, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72.15 points, or 0.14%, to 51,564.7. The S&P 500 index gained 80.48 points, or 1.08%, to 7,500.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 496.27 points, or 1.91%, to 26,517.93. Major tech stocks generally rose, with Amazon up nearly 3%. Chip stocks rallied across the board, with SanDisk surging over 11% (accumulating a gain of over 800% year-to-date), Intel and UMC up over 10%, Micron Technology up nearly 9%, and TSMC up almost 7%. Most optical communication concept stocks advanced, with Astera Labs (hitting a new high) and Corning up over 11%, and Credo Technology up over 9%. Popular Chinese stocks were mixed, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index down 0.88%. The Hang Seng Index ADRs rose, calculating to 24,015.91 points, up 91.10 points or 0.38% from the Hong Kong close. Regarding trading, U.S. markets were closed last Friday for the Juneteenth holiday.
Key Developments to Watch
Iran's military has announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces stated on the 20th local time that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to navigation for all vessels.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ASX: IDCBY), Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ASX: ACGBY), Bank of China, Ltd. (ASX: BACHY), China Construction Bank Corporation (ASX: CICHY), and Bank of Communications Co. Ltd. (ASX: BCMXY) have collectively announced the launch of pilot offshore renminbi foreign exchange trading. To promote the two-way opening of the foreign exchange market and the integration of onshore and offshore markets, People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng announced at the 2026 Lujiazui Forum the authorization for six banks, including ICBC, ABC, BOC, CCB, Bocom, and China Citic Bank, to conduct pilot offshore renminbi foreign exchange trading in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. So far, ICBC, ABC, BOC, CCB, and Bocom have all announced the launch of this pilot trading.
National Energy Administration data shows a 6.9% year-on-year increase in electricity consumption for May. On June 18th, the National Energy Administration released data on electricity consumption for May. In May, total electricity consumption reached 867.1 billion kilowatt-hours, a 6.9% increase year-on-year. By sector, primary industry consumption was 12.4 billion kWh, up 5.0%. Secondary industry consumption was 575.3 billion kWh, up 6.0%; within this, industrial electricity consumption was 570.3 billion kWh, up 6.2%, with electricity consumption for high-tech equipment manufacturing reaching 109.1 billion kWh, a 12.2% increase.
Sweden is building a nuclear reactor for the first time in over 40 years, signaling a resurgence of nuclear power in Northern Europe. Vattenfall, Sweden's largest power company, recently announced it has selected Britain's Rolls-Royce to build three small modular reactors in southwestern Sweden, marking a return to nuclear reactor construction after more than 40 years. Since deciding to phase out nuclear power in 1980, this Nordic country has shut down half of its existing 12 reactors, but the current government is re-encouraging nuclear development. Including Sweden, Nordic countries have faced energy supply chain shocks in recent years, leading to a revival in nuclear power development as they pursue stable, clean electricity sources. This involves Hong Kong-listed uranium mining concepts, including CNNC International (02302) and CGN Mining Company Limited (01164).
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.,Ltd. (03750) has re-obtained the land use pre-approval for its Jianxiawo lithium mine. Media reports indicate that Yichun Times New Energy Mining Co., Ltd. successfully re-acquired the "Project Land Pre-examination and Site Selection Opinion Letter" for the Jianxiawo lithium mine project on June 17th, as confirmed by the Department of Territorial Space Use Control of the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Natural Resources. The document is valid from June 17, 2026, to June 17, 2029. Fitch Ratings has upgraded CATL's issuer default rating from "A-" to "A" with a stable outlook.
Mabwell(Shanghai)Bioscience Co.,Ltd. (02493) announced that 9MW2821 will present the latest clinical data in both oral and poster presentations at the 2026 European Society for Medical Oncology Gynecological Oncology Congress. 9MW2821 is the company's first site-specific conjugated ADC drug targeting Nectin-4, developed using its ADC drug development platform. Utilizing proprietary conjugation linker technology and optimized ADC conjugation processes, it enables site-specific antibody modification. After administration, 9MW2821 binds to Nectin-4 on the surface of tumor cells, enters the cells, and releases the cytotoxic payload through enzymatic cleavage, achieving precise tumor killing.
KWOON CHUNG BUS (00306) issued a positive profit alert, expecting annual comprehensive pre-tax profit to increase to approximately HK$290 million. The increase in comprehensive pre-tax profit is primarily due to the overall solid performance of the Group's various businesses during the year, with both non-franchised and franchised bus operations achieving considerable revenue growth. Benefiting from robust growth in demand for cross-border and local bus services, as well as fare adjustments and passenger recovery in franchised bus services, the Group's bus-related business performance reached its best level in recent years.
HK.AI Capital (01140) issued a positive profit alert, expecting annual net profit attributable to shareholders to increase to between approximately HK$6.0 billion and HK$6.3 billion. The company announced that it expects to record a net profit attributable to owners of the company ranging from approximately HK$6.0 billion to HK$6.3 billion for the year ended March 31, 2026, compared to a comprehensive net profit of approximately HK$64.2 million for the year ended March 31, 2025. The increase in comprehensive net profit attributable to owners is mainly attributable to: (i) a one-time gain of between approximately HK$3.45 billion and HK$3.65 billion from the completion of a very substantial disposal involving the sale of 60 million shares (representing 22.50% of the total issued share capital) of CSOP Asset Management Limited to Guofu Quantum Innovation Limited, settled by the allotment and issue of shares in Guofu Quantum. The one-time gain arose from the difference between the fair value of the consideration shares and the fair value of the target shares as of the completion date. (ii) Unrealized investment gain net of approximately HK$2.53 billion to HK$2.79 billion recognized during the year on the Group's investment in Guofu Quantum measured at fair value through profit or loss, due to an increase in the fair value of the consideration shares during the year.
TSE SUI LUEN (00417) issued a positive profit alert, expecting an annual profit of not less than HK$100 million, a turnaround from a loss to a profit year-on-year. The company announced that the Group expects to record a profit of not less than HK$100 million for the year ended March 31, 2026, compared to a loss of approximately HK$198 million for the year ended March 31, 2025. The expected turnaround from loss to profit for the year is primarily attributable to the successful implementation of the Group's business transformation strategy.
XIAOMI-W (01810) has entered into an agreement with an independent broker for an automatic share buyback of up to HK$4 billion. The company announced that on June 18, 2026, as part of the HK$20 billion share buyback plan in the market disclosed in the May 26, 2026 announcement, the company entered into an agreement with an independent broker. The broker will, based on predetermined parameters in the agreement, repurchase not more than HK$4 billion worth of the company's Class B ordinary shares on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the automatic share buyback plan.
New Stock Grey Market
HQVT (01392) closed up over 262% in grey market trading, with a profit of HK$9,440 per lot. Dubbed the "first Physical AI stock," HQVT is scheduled to list in Hong Kong on June 22nd. At the close of grey market trading, the price was HK$26.08, up 262.22% from the offer price of HK$7.20. Based on a board lot of 500 shares, this translates to a profit of HK$9,440 per lot, excluding fees.
Stock Spotlight
KNOWLEDGE ATLAS (02513): The popularity of GLM-5.2 continues to heat up. On June 18th, Tesla Motors (TSLA) founder Elon Musk, responding to a user question on social media about his estimated timeline for China reaching Fable-level capabilities, stating "GLM-5.2 undoubtedly narrows the gap," replied, "Perhaps Q1 (2027)." Shortly after, Tang Jie, founder and chief scientist of Zhipu AI, responded on X: "It won't take that long." Marc Andreessen, co-founder of top Silicon Valley venture capital firm a16z, also joined the conversation, as did Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas on X. Many international users sided against Musk, calling his prediction "too conservative." On the Artificial Analysis composite leaderboard, GLM-5.2 scored 51 points, ranking among the top three global models and achieving state-of-the-art status for open-source models. Based on multiple benchmark evaluations, it is generally considered to be on par with Claude Opus and Fable 5. This also signifies that the coding capabilities of open-source models have reached a level recognized by the industry as comparable to top-tier proprietary models for the first time. Hugging Face, the world's largest AI open-source community, officially announced an unprecedented decision: it will self-fund global free computing power support for up to 6 hours for Zhipu AI's latest open-source flagship model, GLM-5.2. This marks the first time Hugging Face has opened such a "dedicated VIP channel" with real financial backing for a domestic Chinese model.
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