April 8th: Highlights and summaries of the front-page headlines from the four major domestic securities newspapers and key financial media outlets

April 8 (Wednesday). The main takeaways from today’s headline coverage are as follows:

China Securities Journal

Is the gold price topping out? The central bank’s gold-buying trend is hard to reverse The long-term upside logic remains unchanged

Most central banks’ gold purchases are still not shaken. On April 7, the latest data from the People’s Bank of China showed that as of the end of March, China’s gold reserves were 74.38 million ounces, up 160k ounces quarter-over-quarter, marking the 17th consecutive month of increasing gold holdings.

M&A and restructuring are active among listed mining companies Shengtun Mining “hoards” another mine—US$300 million!

Mining heavyweight Shengtun Mining announced late on April 7 that its wholly owned subsidiary Hongsheng International and Preeminence recently signed an agreement with NovelMining, a company in the Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and its wholly owned subsidiary Nkoyi. Preeminence plans to acquire 50% of the equity of Nkoyi for US$300 million, ultimately to obtain a 30% interest in Nkoyi’s indirectly held specific copper-cobalt mining rights.

Energy storage leader 11 billion yuan with a major move!

Late on April 7, energy storage leader EVE Energy Co., Ltd. issued an announcement stating that it plans to sign an agreement with the government of Qidong City to invest in and build a 50GWh energy storage battery production base, with a total investment of about 5 billion yuan; and to sign an agreement with the government of Shanghang County to invest in and build a 60GWh energy storage battery production base, with a total investment of about 6 billion yuan. The total investment amounts to 11 billion yuan.

Filing with the HKEX XREAL pushes toward the “smart glasses No. 1 stock”

On April 1, AR glasses leader XREAL submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and Citigroup served as joint sponsors, as it targets the “smart glasses No. 1 stock.” Unlike large manufacturers that moved in prominently in recent times, XREAL has focused on the design, R&D, and sales of smart glasses since it was founded in 2017.

Shanghai Securities News

The state continues to take measures to regulate refined oil prices

The reporter learned from the National Development and Reform Commission on the 7th that since the domestic refined oil price adjustment on March 23, international market crude oil prices have fluctuated sharply. To mitigate the impact of rising international oil prices on the domestic market, the state continues to take regulatory measures regarding refined oil prices.

Falling capital demand among financial institutions The central bank continues “low-volume” operations

In April, the central bank’s 7-day reverse repos continued to be conducted with low volumes. The “outright” reverse repo shrank in scale and was rolled over for continuation. The main reasons are that institutions have abundant funds and that their demand for central bank liquidity has declined; the operating volume has fully met the needs of primary dealers. □ In early April, market interest rates on funds fell noticeably, liquidity in the market was loose, so the central bank did not need to increase supply further. Management tools were adjusted to respond flexibly, not to tighten monetary policy.

Geopolitical conflict risk premiums keep being pulled back and forth Where will the oil and gas price midpoint go?

The U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict has continued to intensify for more than a month, affecting China’s crude oil and natural gas markets. A relatively high external dependency in the oil and gas sector tests the resilience of domestic energy security. Many industry experts believe that even if the conflict eases later, oil and gas prices are unlikely to return to the previous level of US$70 per barrel. Spot LNG prices may maintain high-level range-bound fluctuations in the short term. Meanwhile, diversified supply, strategic reserves as a backstop, and accelerating the transition to new energy are becoming key measures to build a solid barrier for China’s energy security.

Robust orders, sufficient capacity Listed companies in multiple sectors reveal Q1 operating highlights

In Q1, many listed companies in various industries showed a clear uptrend in order growth, with production capacity staying at a high level. Combined with accelerated new product iterations, this provides solid support for subsequent performance □ Affected by factors such as rising raw material prices, in Q1 many listed companies in multiple industries initiated product price adjustments, and the price transmission effect has gradually become evident.

Securities Times

Strong guidance, improve capabilities, optimize mechanisms Shanghai’s 16 measures to loosen state-owned asset funds

On April 7, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of State-owned Assets officially issued the “Guiding Opinions on Further Promoting High-Quality Development of Private Equity Investment Funds for Enterprises Supervised by the Shanghai State-owned Assets Commission” (hereinafter referred to as the “Guiding Opinions”). From three aspects—strong guidance, enhancing capabilities, and optimizing mechanisms—it lays out 16 work measures to push for state-owned capital to become long-term capital, patient capital, and strategic capital serving industrial development.

Securities Times Watch | Tightened supervision drives corporate governance to reach a new level

Recently, penalties from the capital market have landed in clusters. In just one day on April 3, 10 listed companies were penalized. From cracking down on misleading statements and heavily punishing inflated profit figures, to targeting controlling shareholders’ short-term trading and intermediaries’ failure to fulfill duties, behind a series of high-frequency, high-intensity penalties is the regulator’s effort to address disorderly corporate governance among listed companies. The focus is shifting from single-point punishment to systematic governance, laying a foundation for high-quality development of the capital market.

Mobile phone makers take multiple measures to offset price increases Will the thousand-yuan phones really disappear?

After OPPO and vivo raised prices for multiple models in succession, Xiaomi has also officially announced that it will adjust the suggested retail prices of some models currently on sale starting April 11. Wei Siqi, General Manager of Marketing for Xiaomi China, said directly: “The rise in memory prices and the magnitude are still far beyond our expectations.” A wave of price adjustments across the smartphone industry triggered by memory chip price hikes is spreading across the board. As major brands raise prices one after another, especially mid- to low-end models, many consumers say on social platforms that they plan to delay upgrading and hold cash to wait. Discussions about “whether thousand-yuan phones are about to disappear” have also heated up accordingly.

Why did refinancing “hit a wall”? Six dimensions to examine the key factors

In recent years, the scale of A-share refinancing has kept expanding. However, as the pace of financing has accelerated, some notable problems have also emerged. To guide the market toward rational development, relevant policies have undergone a shift from phased tightening to structural optimization, and from “one-size-fits-all” restrictions to “support the best and support science” targeted support. The core orientation has always been strict examination and oversight, emphasizing industrial orientation, and serving the real economy and new quality productivity.

Securities Daily

Brokerage sector sees a dual recovery in performance and valuation

At present, the securities industry is undergoing a dual recovery in both performance and valuation. As of the reporter’s deadline on April 7, more than half of A-share listed brokers have already disclosed their 2025 annual reports, and the outlines of operating data for Q1 2026 are gradually becoming clear. Among the 25 listed brokerages that have already disclosed annual reports, their combined operating revenue increased 30.96% year over year, and their combined net profit attributable to shareholders surged 45.54% year over year.

At the end of last year, Central Huijin’s holdings of ETFs broke through 1.5 trillion yuan

With the disclosure of 2025 public fund annual reports completed, the investment shifts of Central Huijin—which functions like a “stabilization fund” (including Central Huijin Investment Co., Ltd., Central Huijin Asset Management Co., Ltd., and its two special asset management plans)—have become visible. Wind Information data shows that as of the end of 2025, Central Huijin Investment Co., Ltd. (short for “Central Huijin Company”), its subsidiary Central Huijin Asset Management Co., Ltd. (short for “Central Huijin Asset Management”), and its two special asset management plans together held more than 380 billion units of ETFs (open-ended exchange-traded index funds). Their total market value of holdings exceeded 1.5 trillion yuan, demonstrating Central Huijin’s strong confidence in A-share core assets and its determination for long-term allocation.

Beijing’s “early spring” in the housing market arrives as expected Second-hand home sales bounce back first

In March, Beijing’s “early spring” market appeared as expected. According to Lianjia data, in March, second-hand housing in Beijing recorded 19,886 units for online contract registrations, up 3.4% year over year and up 144.6% month over month, reaching the highest level in nearly 15 months. Cumulatively in Q1, online contract registrations totaled 43,098 units, basically in line with the same period last year. Based on signing data from tripartite agreements, in March the signing volume of second-hand housing tripartite agreements by major agencies rose 8.7% year over year, and the actual monthly signing volume reached the highest level in nearly 17 months. In Q1, the signing volume of second-hand housing tripartite agreements by major agencies rose 7.7% year over year.

Stepping into a “humanoid robot school”: scalable “classes” add “data fuel” to embodied intelligence

“Welcome to the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Beijing Humanoid’) robot data training base—this is where we ‘go to school’ every day.” The moment a humanoid robot “speaks,” you are instantly placed in a sci-fi world. In this training base in Yizhuang, Beijing, covering nearly 5,000 square meters, humanoid robots with different configurations are “in class” at the same time—not learning “language, math, and English,” but changing diapers for babies, washing and dressing older people, and cleaning dinner plates in the kitchen. Operators teach step by step; the robots repeatedly practice again and again, repeating a set of actions hundreds of times, so that it can be distilled into effective training data.

21st Century Business Herald

Seven straight daily limit-ups! Tianjin Pharmaceutical without any R&D innovative drugs yet is being heavily speculated on?

In recent days, shares tied to the innovative drug concept have repeatedly been active. According to Tonghuashun data, since March 24, innovative drug concept stocks have risen more than 13%, and multiple individual stocks have hit the daily trading limit within the session. Among them, Tianjin Pharmaceutical’s stock price unusual movement has drawn particular attention from the market. Over 10 consecutive trading days from March 24 to April 7, the cumulative deviation in the stock’s daily closing price increase reached 100%. From March 26 to April 7, the company’s stock hit the daily limit up for seven consecutive trading days, during which the cumulative stock price gain was 93.69%. As of the close on April 7, the price was 7.67 yuan per share, with a market capitalization of about 160k yuan.

Major U.S. large-model company blocks “lobsters” Annualized $30 billion can’t stop the loss of compute control

On April 7, U.S. large-model leader Anthropic announced that its annualized revenue (ARR) has surpassed $30 billion, more than doubling compared with $9 billion at the end of 2025. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s annualized revenue is $25 billion. This means that on the key commercial benchmark of sustained payments from enterprises and institutions, Claude has overtaken GPT for the first time, taking the lead. The race in the large-model track has entered a critical turning point.

First Finance

New rules on industrial chain and supply chain security introduced Set up scientific countermeasures

To safeguard industrial chain and supply chain security with legal backing. According to Xinhua News Agency, on March 31, State Council Premier Li Qiang signed State Council Order No. 834, releasing the “Regulations of the State Council on the Security of Industrial Chains and Supply Chains” (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations”), effective from the date of promulgation. This is China’s first dedicated administrative regulation to safeguard national industrial chain and supply chain security, with landmark significance.

First Finance Editorial: Better serving the real economy is the foundation of life for e-commerce

E-commerce is a bridge connecting supply and demand. Recently, six ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on Better Serving the Real Economy and Promoting High-Quality Development of E-Commerce.” Around strengthening and expanding the foundation of the real economy, enhancing innovation leadership, developing “artificial intelligence + e-commerce,” promoting cross-border e-commerce, expanding “Silk Road e-commerce” to accelerate institutional opening up, and advancing the alignment of rules, it aims to build a full-ecosystem, chained high-quality e-commerce development framework and system.

Economic Information Daily

Two years since the rollout of the new “Five No. 9s” rules: 5 trillion yuan in dividends and buybacks plus 15k yuan in IPO financing

The new “Five No. 9s” rules are about to mark their second anniversary. Over the past two years, under the guidance of the new “Five No. 9s” rules, along with a series of reform measures landing, the investment and financing ecosystem of the capital market has undergone fundamental changes. The level of market returns and the quality of listed companies have improved significantly, market resilience and ability to withstand risks have continued to strengthen, and it is moving into a key stage of high-quality development.

“Stem cell therapy” for autism is still inconclusive

After stem cell therapy, “cells can pass through the blood-brain barrier or remotely regulate the brain microenvironment by secreting active factors,” and “patients can reduce stereotyped behaviors, improve connections in brain regions, ease anxiety, and strengthen willingness for active social interaction”… April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day. In response to such autism treatment methods publicized by social institutions, the reporter interviewed authoritative experts.

（Source: Eastmoney Research Center）