Zhitong Hong Kong Stock Exchange Unravels | China's sharp rise in free trade (01880) has driven a consumer boom, and space has become a new wrestling field

[Anatomy Dashboard]

A-shares are still strong. The Shanghai Index directly jumps and fluctuates upward today, breaking through the 3,900 mark. Hong Kong stocks mainly followed the rise. Although they also jumped short, they made up the gap and closed up 0.43%.

There are still concerns about foreign investment. According to a Xinhua News Agency report over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is preparing to inform US President Trump that Israel may attack Iran-related facilities again, amid concerns about Iran's “expanding its ballistic missile production.” Furthermore, US Trump said that it is not ruled out that they will use force against Venezuela. On December 22, spot gold rose more than 1% in the intraday period, breaking through 4,382 US dollars/ounce, reaching another record high. Wanguo Gold Group (03939) rose nearly 11%; Lingbao Gold (03330), China Gold International (02099), and Zhaojin Mining (01818) rose more than 6%. Apart from the obvious rise in precious metals as a whole, the price of rare metals, including the metal tungsten, has risen quite sharply this year. Today, Jiaxin International Resources (03858) surged more than 12%.

The People's Bank of China authorized the National Interbank Lending Center to announce that on December 22, 2025, the loan market quoted interest rate (LPR) was 3.00% for 1-year LPR and 3.50% for LPR for 5 years or more, all unchanged from the previous month. There is no doubt that it will not change this time, because in history there has never been a precedent for a drop in December. The reason is that it is bad for banks. Currently, the market is expected to decline in January.

What was intensively fermented over the weekend was information on the customs closure of the entire island of the Hainan Free Trade Port. Since the start of operation, the duty-free consumer market in Sanya has continued to be booming, with sales exceeding 100 million yuan in a single day for three consecutive days. According to data from the Sanya Municipal Bureau of Commerce, on the first day of customs closure on December 18, duty-free sales in Sanya reached 118 million yuan; on December 19, the single-day sales of duty-free shops in Sanya reached 105 million yuan, an increase of 45.8% over the previous year; on December 20, the daily sales volume of duty-free shops in Sanya reached 108 million yuan, an increase of 47% over the previous year. Let's also look at China Free (01880) data: On the first day of the customs closure, the number of visitors entering the Sanya International Duty Free Mall exceeded 36,000 on the same day, an increase of more than 60% over the previous year; sales increased 85% year over year, and sales of all stores under China Free Hainan exceeded 250 million yuan, +90% year over year. The naked eye can see a huge increase in traffic and sales. Today it surged nearly 16%. The A-share sector is surging across the board today in the Hainan sector.

Why did Hainan's customs clearance concept stocks fall on the day the news came out and the day before, and only then began to rise? Let's analyze it here. According to common practice, seeing that favorable sales are routine hype. It only came up later. The initial idea was actually a change of perception. One of the major disturbances was the border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. If the situation in Southeast Asia is unstable, then it will be difficult for this free trade zone to meet expectations. With China's strong mediation, the current situation is under control, and capital sees the ability to control it, then it is only natural that this free trade revolves around Southeast Asia, radiating countries around the world.

The explosion of the Hainan concept is significant, driving the entire consumer sector. At this point, consumer stocks with little news are easily hyped up. On December 20, Beijing time, the Michelle Ice City (02097) Los Angeles Hollywood store officially opened. According to reports, the store is located across from the “China Theatre” on Avenue of Stars, attracting local consumers to check in with affordable products such as $1.19 ice cream and a localized menu. Up to now, the overseas layout of Michelle Ice City has been expanded to 13 countries. Today's increase is more than 10%; Bubble Mart (09992): The Crybaby special exhibition will be held at the Shanghai West Bund Dream Center Dream Factory from December 20, 2025 to January 25, 2026, and Hi Tea and Bubble Mart Stars will jointly launch the product design image and series of activities. Today, it is up nearly 5%.

According to the Ministry of Commerce's website, according to the “Countervailing Regulations of the People's Republic of China”, on August 21, 2024, the Ministry of Commerce issued Notice No. 34 of 2024, deciding to open a countervailing investigation against imported dairy products originating in the European Union. The investigation authorities initially determined that there were subsidies for imported dairy products originating in the European Union, that the relevant dairy industry in China had suffered substantial damage, and that there was a causal relationship between subsidies and material damage. Youran Animal Husbandry (09858): The largest supplier of raw milk in China, currently has 100 ranches and raises about 620,000 cows. Raw milk production in 2024 is about 3.74 million tons, accounting for 12.1% of the country's total output. The company has a leading position in the upstream industry and is the largest ruminant feed provider in China. Its subsidiary Secco Star is the largest dairy breeding enterprise in China. In the first half of this year, the average feed cost of the company's raw milk was 1.91 yuan/kg, and the yield of adult cows reached 12.9 tons, which is the leading level in the industry. Today it surged nearly 12%.

The AI direction is also quite active. Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology Co., Ltd. passed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing hearing on December 17, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will welcome for the first time a listed company with the AGI base model as its core business. Following Smart Spectrum, another big model unicorn knocked on the Hong Kong stock market. On the evening of December 21, MiniMax officially sprinted to an IPO through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange hearing and disclosure of the prospectus. Big model company Shang Tang-W (00020) was moved by the news, rising more than 8%. Huiju Technology (01729) surged more than 13%.

Last Friday, there were media reports that China has built a prototype EUV lithography machine. The market is fermenting quite strongly. There are also orders and the like. SMIC (00981) and Huahong Semiconductor (01347) rose more than 5%. Encapsulated ASMPT (00522) rose more than 4%.

All relevant upstream are being driven. LightCounting predicts that the global optical module market is expected to exceed 37 billion US dollars in 2029, a five-year compound growth rate of 22%, and 1.6T will start in 2026. Cambridge Technology (06166) rose 6%; recently, the price of ordinary single-mode optical fiber (G.657 fiber) increased by 20%, confirming that demand for Ai optical fiber has exceeded expectations and has already squeezed out the production capacity of ordinary optical fiber. The entire optical fiber industry chain needs to be revalued, and the leader Changfei Optical Fiber Cable (06869) has increased by more than 11%. Jiantao Laminate (01888) and FITHONTENG (06088) both increased by more than 5%.

Lithium batteries are once again in demand. Mining operations have been suspended after the mining license for the Jianxiawo mine expires on August 9, and the mining license renewal application is being processed as soon as possible in accordance with relevant regulations. With the implementation of the EIA announcement and the processing of subsequent approval procedures, the resumption of production may be delayed until the first half of 2026, exacerbating the current tight lithium supply situation, and the rise in lithium prices has been strongly supported. Tianqi Lithium (09696) and Ganfeng Lithium (01772) rose more than 4%.

[Section Focus]

According to the latest news, billionaire Bill Ackman (Bill Ackman) proposed to list SpaceX through the Special Purpose Acquisition Rights Tool (SPARC) he created. According to reports, SpaceX is preparing for a potential IPO. The company's valuation may be as high as 1.5 trillion US dollars, which may make it the largest IPO in global history.

On December 18, local time, the US White House issued a statement saying that Trump signed an executive order on the same day, setting out a vision for an “America First” space policy to ensure that America “leads the world” in space exploration, security, and commerce.

The space sector has become the latest wrestling field in the Sino-US game. As the launch of Long March 12A approaches, once recyclable rocket technology succeeds, the rocket industry will usher in rapid development in the future. The main types of Hong Kong stocks: China Technology Group (01725), Aerospace Holdings (00031), Asia Pacific Satellite (01045), and Goldwind Technology (02208), a shareholding concept.

[Individual Stock Mining]

Jiantao Laminated Board (01888): Price increases have become a trend under cost pressure, and the supply of high-grade copper-clad panels is tight

Following the price increase letter issued by Taiwan South Asia Plastics in November, copper clad plate giant Jiantao Laminate issued a price increase notice on December 1. The notice said that due to the current high price of copper, raw copper is difficult to find, and the supply of glass cloth is also very tight. Due to cost pressure, the prices of our full range of copper-clad plate products will be raised from today's order, with an increase range of 5% to 10%.

Comment: Prices of all raw materials are rising, and the price increase of the company's products is also a general trend. AI copper clad plate has become the engine driving a new round of industry growth. According to estimates, the AI copper clad plate market size in 2025 will be 2.2 billion US dollars, an increase of 100% over the previous year. The rapid development of AI and strong demand for emerging electronic products around the AI concept are driving the Group's demand for copper-clad panel products and printed circuit board products to grow. As a leader in traditional copper-clad plate integration, the company has a high-end layout, and is the most advanced in material-side special electronic cloth. The company's first low dielectric electronic yarn kiln has already been announced and put into operation, and the progress of the previous step in the technology path is relatively leading in China. The company announced that production capacity for second-generation low-dielectric low-expansion fiber cloth, quartz cloth, etc. is expected to be gradually launched in 25H2 and '26. Special electronic cloth is in a boom phase where supply and demand are tight along with the upgrade of copper-clad panels. The company's traditional electronic cloth production capacity is also in a leading position. It has a production capacity of 200,000 tons of electronic yarn, which is estimated to correspond to 7-800 million meters/year of traditional electronic cloth production capacity. The price trend of traditional electronic cloth is also currently in an upward cycle. In terms of high-end products, Jiantao Laminated Board has successfully developed HVLP3 copper foil and ultra-thin VLP copper foil for IC packaging boards. High-end copper foil has been certified to enter many of the world's leading tier 1 and communication terminal customers; the first low dk glass yarn kiln was put into operation in 2025H1, and 2025H2 is expected to add 3 additional kilns, which have the capacity to produce second-generation glass yarn; 6 more high-end kilns are expected to be put into operation in 2026 to produce low dielectric low expansion and quartz glass yarn. 2025H2 has taken the lead in raising the price of copper clad plates, and strong PCB demand may support price rigidity. Product upgrades and price increases for copper clad plates are expected to contribute to the company's performance growth potential.