Recently, the 18th Frost & Sullivan China Growth, Innovation and Leadership Summit 2024 and the 3rd New Investment Conference, co-hosted by Frost & Sullivan and LeadLeo, were successfully held at the Jing'an Ruiji Hotel in Shanghai. With the theme of 'Gather Strength to Win the Future', this year's Frost & Sullivan New Investment Conference brought together the wisdom and strength of the global industry, academia, and investment community to jointly explore new growth points, new markets, and new tracks for the Chinese economy in the new era.
At the opening ceremony of the conference, Sun Nianrui, a member of the Party Committee and vice president of the China Listed Companies Association, delivered a speech as a special invitee. He stated that Frost & Sullivan, as a liaison member of the China Listed Companies Association, has always provided valuable insights and suggestions to the industry with its professional perspective, in-depth research, and forward-looking judgment. He emphasized that the conference theme “Gather Strength for Innovation & Win the Future with Quality” accurately captured the pulse of the economy. As the basic fabric of the national economy, listed companies have not only achieved new results in high-quality development but have also become an important force leading technological innovation. At the same time, he pointed out that the merger and reorganization market is entering a new ecosystem, and the China Listed Companies Association will actively assist listed companies in achieving high-quality development, promote the implementation of merger and reorganization policies, stimulate market vitality, and jointly contribute to developing new quality productive forces.
Sun Nianrui, Member of the Party Committee and Vice President of the China Listed Companies Association
*The following is the main content of Sun Nianrui's speech, organized by Frost & Sullivan.
Dear President Zou Yaru, Director Tu Guangshao, Professor Wang Yu, President Sun Jianping, President Zhang Guohua, Dr. Wang Xin, and all distinguished guests, good day!
Today, we gather here in grand celebration to participate in the 18th China Growth, Innovation and Leadership Summit and the 3rd New Investment Conference, hosted by Frost & Sullivan. On behalf of the China Listed Companies Association, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations on the convening of this conference! At the same time, I also extend my sincere welcome and heartfelt gratitude to all the distinguished guests and friends who have traveled from afar!
The conference, themed 'Gather Strength for Innovation & Win the Future with Quality', accurately grasped the pulse of China's current economic development and global technological advancement.
As an associate member of our association, Frost & Sullivan has always provided the industry with many valuable insights and recommendations through its professional perspective, in-depth research, and forward-looking judgment. With its profound global accumulation and expertise, Frost & Sullivan offers comprehensive investment and financing consulting as well as various other consulting services for Chinese companies. It has ranked first in the market share for industry consultants assisting Chinese enterprises in listing in Hong Kong and overseas for many consecutive years. In recent years, its reports have increasingly been applied in leading A-share markets, especially in the prospectus documents and primary-secondary market research reports of companies listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.
This conference brings together elite forces from the industry, academia, and investment community to jointly explore new growth points, new markets, and new tracks for China's economy in the new era. I believe that through today's exchanges and discussions, we will surely be able to spark new ideas, gather new strength, and jointly contribute to the development of new quality productive forces.
In addition, Sun Nianrui has summarized the following five characteristics presented by listed companies.
Firstly, overall performance has shifted from high growth to high-quality development, with continuous recovery, a solid foundation, strong resilience, and tremendous potential.Last year, the operating income of all listed companies reached 73 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1%. Among them, 4,183 listed companies achieved profitability, accounting for 90%. Of these, 658 companies saw their profit growth double, reaching 100%. This means that last year's annual reports showed that the profits of more than 600 listed companies doubled, which is no easy feat.
Secondly, the return capability has been steadily improving, with the stability and predictability of cash dividends continuously enhancing.We often say that listed companies are like cocks with combs, but after 5 to 6 years of development, there have been earth-shattering changes in the way actual listed companies return value to investors. In the past two years, the total cash dividends distributed by listed companies each year have exceeded 2 trillion yuan, surpassing the total amount of refinancing and initial public offerings (IPOs). Among them, 274 listed companies have distributed more than 1 billion yuan in cash dividends, and 30 have distributed more than 10 billion yuan.
Third, the concept of sustainable development is being continuously deepened.In the past two years, listed companies have been required to independently prepare sustainability reports during the annual report approval process, covering aspects such as environmental protection, social responsibility, and corporate governance. The number of listed companies has increased from 1,100 three years ago, growing by 300 to 400 each year, to about 2,100 listed companies that independently disclosed sustainability reports last year.
Fourth, the technological content of listed companies is continuously increasing.Currently, there are 5,300 listed companies in China, of which about 2,800 belong to strategic emerging industries, accounting for more than 50%. The total market R&D investment is 1.8 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.23%, with an R&D intensity of 2.47%, a year-on-year increase of 0.17 percentage points. Among them, 897 companies have an R&D intensity exceeding 10%.
Fifth, high-quality mergers and acquisitions for restructuring play an important role in the development of new productive forces.This year, the State Council issued guiding documents for the capital market, marking the third such document in 30 years and the new National Nine Articles. The release of the new National Nine Articles has made the accompanying '1+N' policy system of the China Securities Regulatory Commission clearer. One of the most prominent aspects is the greater support for mergers and acquisitions (M&A). For example, it supports listed companies on the Sci-tech Innovation Board to carry out mergers and integrations upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. It enhances the valuation inclusiveness for M&A, supports listed companies on the Sci-tech Innovation Board to acquire high-quality unprofitable 'hard technology' enterprises. It enriches payment tools for M&A, and conducts research on installment payments for share consideration. It supports listed companies on the Sci-tech Innovation Board to focus on optimizing and strengthening their main businesses through absorption mergers.
