Fed Delivers First Rate Hike in Three Years; PBOC Governor Pan Signals Shift Toward Price-Based Policy Framework

AShare pre-market brief — key developments 1) Pan Gongsheng: PBOC to refine monetary-policy targets and strengthen market-based rate transmission Qiushi on Sept. 16 published an article by Pan Gongsheng, Party Secretary and Governor of the People's Bank of China, titled "Deeply Understanding the Transformation of China's Financial Structure to Enhance the Alignment of Financial Services with the Real Economy." Pan said China will continue optimizing monetary-policy intermediate targets, dialing back emphasis on quantity-based goals and reducing overreliance on bank lending as a single channel. Aggregate financing indicators should serve more as observation, reference and forward-looking gauges. He called for a stronger role for price-based tools, improved market-oriented interest-rate formation and transmission, and a more robust short-term rate control framework. Pan also urged further refinement of policy rates and supporting institutions to enhance the effectiveness of central bank rates, better deposit and loan pricing to expand benchmark choices, and tighter enforcement to curb "internal competition" and financial "capital circulation" detached from the real economy. He also advocated a credible, regular and institutionalized communication mechanism to guide market expectations. 2) Fed hikes for first time in three years GoldTen Data reported Sept. 17 that the Federal Reserve raised rates by 25 basis points, taking the benchmark rate to 3.75%–4.00%. It was the first hike since July 2023 after five straight meetings on hold, in line with market expectations. Company and stock-specific updates 1) CATL: response expected on automaker supplier-switch rumors Jinshi Data on Sept. 16 cited China Securities Journal saying CATL is expected to respond soon to market rumors that certain automakers have chosen other battery suppliers, which has been linked to the stock's continued decline. 2) Zijin Mining: unit to commit RMB 1 billion to AI-focused fund Zijin Mining said wholly owned subsidiary Zijin Xiamen Equity will invest RMB 1 billion as a limited partner in the Xiamen Shenyuan Venture Investment Fund, representing 20.4081% of committed capital. Total committed capital is RMB 4.9 billion, targeting areas including artificial intelligence, embodied intelligence, technology applications and frontier technologies. 3) Sany Heavy Industry: RMB 299 million share buyback on Sept. 16 Sany Heavy Industry (600031.SH) said it repurchased 16.6206 million shares on Sept. 16, 2026 via centralized bidding, equal to 0.1808% of total shares outstanding. The buyback price ranged from RMB 17.64 to RMB 18.96 per share, with cash outlay of RMB 299 million excluding fees. Cumulative repurchases as of Sept. 16, 2026 totaled 18.3685 million shares (0.1998%) for RMB 333 million. The program earmarks RMB 400 million–RMB 800 million for employee stock ownership plans or equity incentives. 4) Bee Assistant: adapting scheduling engine for NVIDIA/Ascend/Hanbo servers Fengzhushou said on an interactive platform that its in-house computing power scheduling engine supports elastic scheduling of ARM-architecture chips and dynamic load balancing for services such as cloud terminals. The framework is compatible with multiple server types, and the company is developing and optimizing the technology to support NVIDIA, Ascend, Hanbo and other computing servers to improve returns on its computing assets. 5) Kanghui Shares: subsidiary signs RMB 1.72 billion compute services deal; RMB 1.141 billion server purchase contract Kanghui Shares (603139.SH) said wholly owned subsidiary Beijing Kanghui Zhichuang signed a five-year Computing Power Service Agreement with Client A worth about RMB 1.72 billion (tax included). To support delivery, it also signed a server Purchase and Sales Agreement with Supplier G totaling about RMB 1.141 billion (tax included). Supplier G is a controlled subsidiary of an A+H listed company. The agreement requires full payment for each server batch within 50 days after delivery, creating significant short-term funding pressure. The company expects to raise about RMB 1.141 billion mainly via financial institutions, which could lift the consolidated debt-to-asset ratio from 69% to roughly 78%. Server deliveries are scheduled in batches from end-Q3 2026 through end-Q1 2027. If services are delivered on schedule, the contract is expected to add about RMB 30 million revenue in 2026; the impact on 2026 net profit remains uncertain. 6) Jingwei Shares: China Software Xi'an to buy 29.68% at RMB 53/share; trading resumes Sept. 17 Jingwei Shares (301390.SZ) said actual controller Ye Xiaohua and concert parties, the employee shareholding platform, shareholders holding over 5% (Juhua Technology and concert party Juhua Lianxin), and shareholder Wu Rende signed a Share Transfer Agreement with China Soft International (Xi'an) Intelligent Technology. The sellers plan to transfer 17,806,200 shares, or 29.68% of total share capital, at RMB 53 per share for total consideration of RMB 944 million. Upon completion, China Soft International (Xi'an) Intelligent Technology will become controlling shareholder. Shares resume trading Sept. 17. China Soft International indirectly holds 100% of Shenzhen China Soft via China Soft International (China) Technology Co., Ltd. and China Soft International Technology Services Co., Ltd., thereby controlling China Soft Xi'an. 7) Mindong Electric Power: no cooperation with computing or data centers Mindong Electric (000993.SZ) said its shares rose more than 20% over two consecutive sessions, constituting an abnormal fluctuation. The company said it has drawn market attention tied to themes including "virtual power plants," "compute-power synergy," "direct green power connection," "offshore wind," and "smart grids." After verification, it is not engaged in compute-power synergy, direct green power connection or smart grid businesses, and has no collaborations with computing centers or data centers. Its virtual power plant business is in an early stage, not yet commercialized, and has generated no substantive revenue or profit; it is not expected to contribute in 2026 and will not materially affect results. Offshore wind projects in which it holds stakes have not started or are not yet operating, have generated no revenue, are not expected to contribute in 2026, and will not materially affect performance. 8) Raycus Laser: C- and L-band gain fiber in mass supply to leading telecom equipment makers Raycus Laser said on an interactive platform that subsidiary Ruixin is a domestic leader in specialty optical fiber technology, spanning terrestrial high-speed transmission and space radiation-resistant applications. Its self-developed erbium-doped and erbium-ytterbium co-doped fibers support 400G/800G high-speed data communications, 5G bearer networks and trunk DWDM systems. C-band and L-band gain fibers have been mass supplied to leading telecom equipment manufacturers. Multiple radiation-resistant fiber products have been developed and commercialized with full domestic sourcing of raw materials and performance comparable to top international peers; products are being validated across scenarios, including for extreme space conditions such as satellite inter-satellite communications. 9) Henggong Precision: up to RMB 810 million convertible bond issuance for embodied intelligence robotics projects Henggong Precision (301261.SZ) said it plans to issue convertible bonds to unspecified investors, raising up to RMB 810 million. Net proceeds will be used for an embodied intelligent robot manufacturing project, a pilot base and Shanghai R&D center for embodied intelligent robots, expansion of high-end equipment components, expansion of new materials for high-end components, and working capital. 10) Guangzhi Technology: wins order for 6-inch indium phosphide substrates; advances germanium purification buildout Guangzhi Technology (300489.SZ) said in an investor relations record that it has taken full control of Xianrui Technology via capital injection, assuming all indium phosphide substrate assets from Lead Technology Group. The company has completed the transition from 2-inch to 6-inch third-generation crystals and is among the first domestic manufacturers able to supply 6-inch indium phosphide substrates. Products have been delivered in bulk to optical communication chip and device makers at home and abroad, and the 6-inch substrate has secured an order from a leading global customer. The company noted domestic demand is moving from 2/3-inch to 4-inch, while overseas customers are shifting from 4-inch to 6-inch. It cited group capabilities including mass production of 8N-purity indium and electronic-grade red phosphorus at 6.5N purity or higher, plus in-house development of core equipment to ease materials bottlenecks. In the germanium chain, the company set up wholly owned Inner Mongolia Guangzhi Mining Technology Co., Ltd. in August, planning to purchase lignite powder from the group for germanium purification. Purified metallic germanium will be used for electronic-grade germanium dioxide, fiber-optic-grade germanium tetrachloride, and space photovoltaic-grade zone-refined germanium ingots. Xilingol League has confirmed proven lignite reserves including 113 million tons of lignite and 3,458 tons of metallic germanium. The group is investing RMB 5.3 billion in an optical materials industrialization project in the region; once completed, it will process 900,000 tons of lignite per year and produce 80 tons of germanium ingots annually. The business has not yet contributed to revenue or profit. 11) *ST Wenyi: credit rating cut to BBB, outlook negative *ST Wenyi said rating agency CCXI conducted an unscheduled review and on Sept. 15, 2026 issued a notice downgrading Wenyi Technology Co., Ltd. and related debt instruments. The issuer credit rating was lowered to BBB with a negative outlook, and the "Wenyi Convertible Bond" was also downgraded to BBB. Previously, both were rated BBB+ with a negative outlook. 12) Shanghai Yahong: Feike Investment to become controlling shareholder; trading resumes Sept. 17 Shanghai Yahong (603159.SH) said controlling shareholder Ningsheng Group and shareholders holding over 5% (Xie Yaming and Xie Yue) agreed to sell a combined 29.99% stake to Feike Investment at RMB 21.43 per share, for total consideration of RMB 900 million. After completion, Feike Investment will become controlling shareholder and Li Gaiteng will become the actual controller. Subject to the transfer closing, Feike Investment also plans a partial tender offer to acquire an additional 10.21% at RMB 21.43 per share. Shares resume trading Sept. 17, 2026. 13) Sanbo Neurosurgery: joint controllers to donate RMB 100 million worth of shares to Capital Medical University Sanbo Neurosurgery (301293.SZ) said controlling shareholder and actual controllers Zhang Yang, Yu Chunjiang, Shi Xiangen and Luan Guoming signed a donation agreement with the Capital Medical University Education Foundation. They plan to donate, in three installments and without compensation, company shares with total market value of RMB 100 million. All donated shares are unrestricted tradable shares. Funds will support educational development at Capital Medical University, including talent training, teaching, medical research, academic exchanges, institutional development, scholarships and student aid. The donation will not change control or materially affect governance or ongoing operations. 14) Huacan Optoelectronics: Micro LED communications chip still in performance and sampling stage Huacan Optoelectronics said on an interactive platform that its Micro LED communications application chip targets frontier areas such as AI computing interconnects. The chip is in a phase of performance improvement and sample testing and has not generated revenue.