Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
大家好，我是主持人李莹亮。
Coming up on today’s program.
重点提要
China suspends all imports of aquatic products originated from Japan starting today;
Six countries are invited to join BRICS.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
中国经济要闻
China will suspend the import of aquatic products, including edible aquatic animals, originating from Japan starting from Thursday, said the General Administration of Customs in an online statement.
The head of the GAC's bureau of import and export food safety, said that the Japanese government, disregarding strong international doubts and opposition, unilaterally initiated the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday.
The official said that the Chinese Customs authorities are highly concerned about the radioactive pollution risks posed by this action to Japanese food and agricultural products being exported to China.
The GAC will closely monitor Japan's release of nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean and will adjust relevant regulatory measures as the situation evolves.
China’s Foreign Ministry said China firmly opposes and strongly condemns Japan’s action, and has made serious demarches to Japan and asked it to stop the discharge, adding that Japan "is bound to face international condemnation for many years to come".
Live video provided by the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) showed that a staff member turned on a seawater pump at around 1:00 p.m. local time, marking the beginning of the controversial ocean discharge.
Hit by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and an ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima plant suffered core meltdowns that released radiation, resulting in a level-7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.
The plant has been generating a massive amount of water tainted with radioactive substances from cooling down the nuclear fuel in the reactor buildings, which are now being stored in about 1,000 storage tanks.
China’s aquatic product imports from Japan dropped 29 percent in July, customs data showed, as the country banned the import of food from 10 regions in Japan including Fukushima on July 7 and strictly implemented 100 percent inspection on food from other regions in Japan.
Triggered by Japan's dumping decision, shares of nuclear contamination prevention concept stocks took the lead with prices surging across the index on the Chinese A-share market on Thursday. The aquatic-related shares rose across the board today, and some salt producers soared during the week.
当地时间8月24日13时，日本福岛第一核电站启动核污染水排海。
在日本正式开始排放核污染水后，中国海关总署发布关于全面暂停进口日本水产品的公告。
公告称，为全面防范日本福岛核污染水排海对食品安全造成的放射性污染风险，保护中国消费者健康，确保进口食品安全，依据《中华人民共和国食品安全法》及其实施条例、《中华人民共和国进出口食品安全管理办法》有关规定，以及世界贸易组织《实施卫生与植物卫生措施协定》有关规定，海关总署决定自2023年8月24日（含）起全面暂停进口原产地为日本的水产品（含食用水生动物）。
中国外交部发言人24日就日本政府启动福岛核污染水排海发表谈话。8月24日，日本政府无视国际社会的强烈质疑和反对，单方面强行启动福岛核事故污染水排海，中方对此表示坚决反对和强烈谴责，已向日方提出严正交涉，要求日方停止这一错误行为。
日本福岛核污染水处置是重大的核安全问题，具有跨国界影响，绝不是日本一家的私事。自人类和平利用核能以来，人为向海洋排放核事故污染水没有先例，也没有公认的处置标准。12年前发生的福岛核事故已经造成严重灾难，向海洋释放了大量的放射性物质。日方不应出于一己之私利，给当地民众乃至世界人民造成二次伤害。
日本政府没有证明排海决定的正当合法性，没有证明核污染水净化装置的长期可靠性，没有证明核污染水数据的真实准确性，没有证明排海对海洋环境和人类健康安全无害，没有证明监测方案的完善性和有效性，也没有同利益攸关方充分协商。
A股市场上，相关板块首次影响出现异动，盐业、水产养殖、核污染防治等板块纷纷走强。今天，核污染概念持续活跃，江盐集团3连板；环保板块午后反弹，中电环保涨停；水产养殖股拉升，国联水产20CM涨停。
中国海关总署发布的数据显示，今年7月中国从日本进口鱼类等水产品为2.34亿元，同比减少29%。有分析称，中国今年7月全面启动了对从日本进口的水产品的放射性物质检测，进口额或是受此影响而下降。
BRICS leaders agreed on Thursday to invite six countries, namely Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to join the group. The six countries' membership will take effect on Jan. 1, 2024, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced at a press conference during the 15th BRICS Summit.
6国获邀成为金砖新成员：当地时间8月24日上午，金砖国家领导人第十五次会晤召开特别记者会，宣布金砖国家扩员。阿根廷、埃及、埃塞俄比亚、伊朗、沙特阿拉伯、阿联酋获邀加入金砖国家合作机制。
Moving on to regional highlights
区域观察
Shanghai saw a surge in the number of cargo ships and aircraft traveling between it and other BRICS countries in the first seven months of this year, as foreign trade between China and these nations maintained rapid growth, local customs authorities said on Wednesday. A total of 526 international ships sailed directly from Shanghai to the rest of the block, including South Africa, from January to July, according to Shanghai Customs. That was an increase of 140 percent over the same period last year. There were 602 inbound and outbound aircraft at Shanghai ports, an increase of 110 percent year-on-year. During the same period, the total value of trades between Shanghai and other BRICS countries was 411.2 billion yuan, up 15.8 percent year-on-year.
前7月上海口岸对其他金砖国家进出口超4000亿元：8月23日上海海关消息，今年1-7月，上海口岸直航往来其他金砖国家国际航行船舶数量共计526艘，同比增长1.4倍，进出境航空器602架次，同比增加1.1倍。便捷通达的国际航线，带动上海口岸与其他金砖国家进出口保持较快增长。据上海海关统计，今年前7个月上海口岸对其他金砖国家进出口值4112亿元，同比增长15.8%，占全国17%。
A total of 360 investment and trade deals were inked at the 2023 (China) Eurasia Commodity and Trade Expo in Northwest China's Xinjiang, organizers said Wednesday. The deals had a total value of over 521 billion yuan, with the expo witnessing a record-high exhibition space and number of international exhibitors
亚欧商博会经贸成果超5200亿元：据2023（中国）亚欧商品贸易博览会23日新闻发布会，本届商博会共签订经贸合作项目360个，经贸成果达5210.37亿元。本届商博会有40个国家和地区以及7个国际组织的800余名嘉宾、工商界人士、知名学者出席，参展参会规模为历届商博会之最。
Greater Bay Area, Greater future
新使命，大未来
Hong Kong residents will have the chance to see 120 Bronze Age artifacts from the Sanxingdui archaeological site during this year's National Day holiday, including many that will be displayed for the first time outside of Sichuan province where they were unearthed. Tickets to the much-anticipated exhibition, which runs from Sept 27 to Jan 8 next year at the Hong Kong Palace Museum, go on sale at 10 am on Sept 1. Artifacts of bronze, jade, gold and pottery dating from 2,600 to 4,500 years ago will be put on display for Hong Kong residents.
“凝视三星堆”特展9月亮相香港：香港故宫文化博物馆8月23日宣布，将于今年国庆前夕推出主题为“凝视三星堆──四川考古新发现”特别展览，展期约4个月。展览将聚焦以三星堆遗址为代表的四川地区考古新发现，包括120件距今2600至4500年的青铜器、玉器、金器及陶器等珍贵文物，部分展物更是首次在四川省外展出。本次展览展期为2023年9月27日至2024年1月8日，其中，9、10月份的门票将于9月1日早上10时起公开发售。
Next on industry and company news
产业及公司新闻
The scale of civil aviation passenger transport reached a new high in July, media reported on Wednesday. The number of passenger transport witnessed an 83.7 percent year-on-year growth to reach 62.43 million in July, up 5.3 percent over the same period in 2019, setting a monthly new record high for civil aviation. A total of 59.08 million passengers were transported on domestic routes in July, up 74.6 percent year-on-year, and the scale exceeded 12.1 percent in the same period of 2019. The number of international air passengers transported in July stood at 3.35 million, up 32.6 percent from the previous month and around 51 percent of the pre-pandemic level.
民航7月客运规模创新高：8月23日，中国民用航空局公布的数据显示，7月份，民航旅客运输量6242.8万人次，同比增长83.7%，较2019年同期增长5.3%，创民航月度历史新高。其中，国内航线共完成旅客运输量5907.5万人次，环比增长16.8%，同比增长74.6%，客运规模超过2019年同期的12.1%。7月份的民航国际客运市场仍处于恢复阶段，共完成旅客运输量335.3万人次，环比增长32.6%，客运规模相当于2019年同期的50.9%。
Crime thriller "No More Bets" saw its total box office revenue exceed 3 billion yuan on Wednesday, becoming the second film after "Lost in the Stars" to hit this revenue milestone during the ongoing summer movie period, according to film data platforms. Total earnings from the 2023 summer movie season has also hit a record high of over 19.5 billion yuan as of 1:00 pm today.
《孤注一掷》破30亿票房：8月23日，《孤注一掷》票房突破30亿，继《消失的她》后，暑期档第二部影片票房破30亿大关，创下中国影史暑期档新纪录。截至8月24日13时，2023年暑期档总票房突破195亿，持续刷新中国影史暑期档最高票房纪录。
CRRC, China's top train manufacturer, said it has been officially awarded a contract to build electric units for Chilean State Railways, also known as EFE, the largest single stock order in the Chilean company's history. CRRC, in a consortium with local railcar services company Temoinsa, will supply 32 three-car units for Santiago's suburban rail network. These new trains are an upgrade for EFE, CRRC said, noting that the trains will have a maximum speed of 140 kilometers per hour and capacity for around 800 passengers. The design of the units will emphasize lightweight construction, intellectualization and eco-friendliness.
中国中车获智利国铁史上最大订单：8月24日，据“国资小新”官方微博消息，智利当地时间8月18日，中车四方股份公司在圣地亚哥正式获得智利国家铁路公司（EFE）“梅里皮亚和巴图科”电动车组采购项目授标函。这是智利国铁历史上最大的轨道车辆采购订单。该项目于2021年启动国际招标，中车四方与Temoinsa智利公司组成的联合体在国际招标中胜出。该项目电动车组将是智利国家铁路的升级产品，运行时速140公里。采用3辆编组，最大载客量约800人，将应用轻量化、智能化、绿色化等先进设计理念。
China’s Volcano Engine, a unit of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, announced that it will make the underlying video processing technology co-developed with Nvidia that is the base for its newly-released video codec integrated circuit chip freely available to the public. Compared with central processing unit chips with general-purpose computing power, Volcano Energy’s new chip only supports video codec tasks and has higher computing power in specific application scenarios, according to sources from the two developers.
火山引擎牵手英伟达提升计算资源：8月23日消息，字节跳动旗下火山引擎视频云宣布其自研的视频编解码芯片已成功出片。为此，火山引擎与英伟达合作开源BMF多媒体处理框架，能够更好地支持CPU、GPU以及视频编解码专用芯片等异构计算资源。与具备通用计算能力的CPU芯片相比，该自研芯片仅支持视频编解码任务，在特定场景具备更高的计算密度。
American drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. has applied to register a new anti-obesity medicine similar to Novo Nordisk’s hit drug Ozempic in China, which is expected to have a huge impact as over 40 percent of adult male in the Asian country are overweight based on recent survey findings. The National Medical Products Administration has accepted Eli Lilly’s latest registration application for Tirzepatide, an injectable medicine that is also pending approval to be used by type 2 diabetics to control their blood sugar levels.
又一款明星“减肥”药物提交注册申请：8月23日消息，国家药监局药品审评中心官网显示，跨国药企礼来的替尔泊肽注射液（即Tirzepatide注射液）的一项新适应症在国内申报上市，该药正是近年来大火的GLP-1类药物。目前，礼来在中国递交的用于治疗成人2型糖尿病患者血糖控制的替尔泊肽正在审评中。此外，6月初，国家药品监督管理局药品审评中心官网显示，另一款著名减肥产品，诺和诺德原研药物司美格鲁肽注射液也已提交上市申请。
Earnings reports express
财报速递
Meituan said Thursday it turned losses into profits in the second quarter of 2023, while revenue jumped 33.4 percent to 68 billion yuan from a year earlier, as operating profit at its core local commerce segment surged 39 percent to 51.2 billion yuan. The Chinese food-delivery giant posted net profit of 47 billion yuan, compared with net loss of 1.1 billion yuan in the year-earlier period. Meituan said total orders at its food-delivery and Meituan Instashopping businesses rose 31.6 percent to 5.4 billion during the second quarter, with daily orders peaking at 110 million. Operating income at its restaurant- and hotel-booking service segment more than doubled last year’s figure.
美团二季度扭亏为盈：8月24日，美团发布2023年第二季度及半年业绩报告。今年二季度，美团实现营收680亿元人民币，同比增长33.4%；期内溢利为47亿元，相比2022年同期的期内亏损11亿元，同比实现扭亏为盈；本季度经调整EBITDA及经调整溢利净额均为77亿元，创历史新高。分业务来看，美团核心本地商业实现稳步增长，季度营收达512亿元，同比增长39.2%。本季度即时配送订单量同比增长31.6%至54亿单。美团闪购日订单量峰值于本季度再次突破1100万单，美团闪购年活跃商家数同比增长30%。美团外卖季度新入驻商家数量同比增长超过一倍；到店酒旅业务交易额较去年同期增长超过120%。
Chinese state-owned insurer China Life Insurance recorded an 8 percent fall in its interim net profit to 36.2 billion yuan, citing the changes in accounting standards and market volatilities. Gross written premiums for the first half of the year increased 6.9 percent yearly to 470 billion yuan, which China Life said hit a historic high, with the premiums from new policies jumping 22.9 percent to 171 billion yuan. However, the gross investment yield for the first half amounted to only 3.33 percent.
中国人寿中期净利降8%：中国人寿8月23日发布2023年中期业绩，归属于公司股东的净利润361.51亿元，同比下降8.0%。总保费达4701.15亿元，同比上升6.9%，创历史同期新高，保费规模稳居行业首位，新单保费为1712.13亿元，同比上升22.9%。2023H1 国寿净投资收益率为3.31%，总投资收益率为3.33%。
Shares of Anta Sports Products jumped after the leading Chinese sportswear brand said its interim profit surged 40 percent from a year earlier. The net profit, excluding that from Anta's joint ventures, was 4.8 billion yuan in the first six months. Net profit including JVs rose 32 percent, while revenue climbed 14.2 percent to 29.7 billion yuan, doubling from the same period in 2019. Operating income from Anta brand was 14.2 billion yuan, while that from Fila, which Anta acquired in 2009, was 12.2 billion yuan, ranking second and fifth in China, respectively, among sportswear brands.
安踏上半年业绩亮眼：安踏体育用品有限公司8月22日发布中期业绩公告，财报显示，上半年集团营收为296.45亿元，同比增长14.2%，较2019年同期增长100.2%；净利润同比大幅增长39.8%至52.6亿元。安踏主品牌和FILA分别实现了141.7亿元及122.3亿元的营收，在市场前五大品牌中独占两席，分居第二、第五。
Switching gears to financial news
金融市场消息
A specialized board for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises, or "little giants", started trading in Beijing on Thursday, with the first batch of such firms numbering 50. Operated by the Beijing Equity Trading Center, the board marks part of the capital city's efforts to leverage the regional equity market to further facilitate listing channels for innovative SMEs. Su Guobin, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, said more "breakthrough" policies will be launched to support such firms, including facilitating the issuance of stocks and bonds for innovative SMEs.
北京“专精特新”专板正式开板：8月24日上午，北京“专精特新”专板在金融街揭牌亮相，首批共有50家企业登陆专板。作为全国首批专板之一，北京“专精特新”专板将为企业提供更基础、更全面的多层次资本市场服务，助推“专精特新”企业成长壮大，打造加快完善北京中小企业金融支持体系的又一“新样板”。北京市经信局苏国斌表示将从“政策、融资、服务、上市、创新”五个方面打造“12345”“专精特新”服务体系，引导中小企业走“专精特新”发展之路。
At least 63 listed companies have announced plans for share buybacks during the past week, with several companies each planning to buy back 100 million yuan worth of shares or more, in a move to help stabilize the domestic stock market, which is at its lowest point since January. According to data from industry portal China Fund, the number of companies that will complete share buybacks this year is expected to exceed the total for 2022. As of Sunday, 857 companies had completed such moves, closing in on the 2022 total of 1,098.
A股上市公司“回购潮”持续：据媒体统计，8月17-23日约一周的时间里已有63家上市公司宣布了回购计划，并有荣盛石化、广联达、联影医疗、大全能源、东方日升、华熙生物、纳芯微等多家公司拟回购金额超过1亿元。根据研究报告，预计2023年完成回购上市公司家数或超2022年。具体来看，2022年内完成回购的上市公司家数达到1098家，截至2023年8月20日，2023年该项数值达到857家。
Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market
股市收盘情况
Chinese stocks rebounded on Thursday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite inched up 0.1 percent, while both the Shenzhen Component and its tech-focused ChiNext Index rallied over 1 percent. Hong Kong stocks rose on a second day with the Hang Seng index surging 2 percent, and the TECH index jumped 3.7 percent.
A股反弹港股续涨：周四A股大盘全天震荡反弹。截至收盘，沪指涨0.12%，深成指涨1.02%，创业板指涨1.26%。沪深两市全天成交额7857亿元，较上个交易日放量798亿。北向资金全天净买入32.33亿元，终结连续13日净卖出姿态。港股恒生指数收涨2.05%，恒生科技指数收涨3.72%。
Biz Word of the Day
财经词汇划重点
Nuclear-contaminated water refers to water that contains high concentrations of radioactive substances. Water being used to cool fuel debris, which is fuel that has melted and solidified, becomes contaminated water that contains radioactive substances when it comes in contact with this fuel debris.
核污染水，指的是含有放射性的污水。如核泄漏事故中产生的高放射性废水，或者与核燃料直接接触的冷却水等。
Executive Editor: Sonia YU
Editor: LI Yanxia
Host: Stephanie LI
Writer: Stephanie LI
Sound Editor: HUANG Qingyi
Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni
Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.
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编委: 于晓娜
策划、编辑：李艳霞
播音：李莹亮
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