“What about the quality of the listed companies that I pay attention to and what shall I focus on in the future?” After the introduction of the “12 Measures for Strengthening Reforms” in the capital market, it may be one of the most asked questions for investors, and the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) has soon provided the investors with the most direct experience. Recently, the SSE has successively organized a number of special activities of “Tour of SSE-listed Companies on Quality – I’m a Shareholder”. By organizing investors to visit the listed companies, the SSE has established a platform for close communication between investors and listed companies. Up to now, more than 100 investors have paid visits to four listed companies, including Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd., Grandblue Environment Company Limited and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd., and the relevant officials of the local offices of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and associations of listed companies in Shanghai, Qingdao and Guangdong have also participated in the above-mentioned activities.
Visiting “Smart Manufacturing” and “Smart Home”, the investors keep a close eye on the transformation and upgrading of listed companies.
What are the listed companies in the traditional industries busy with? Only on site can you know that they are actually "smarter" than you think.
When it comes to the steel mills, do you still think of the scene of the "fully armed" workers fighting with the heat in front of a large blast furnace? Recently, quite a few investors were amazed to find their imagination overturned when visiting Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. According to the company, the cold rolling mill introduces robots for production operations and can operate with the lights off, so it is also called the "dark factory" or the "smart factory". During the visit, it happened that an unmanned vehicle hoisting steel coils passed by, and the investors “gave way” to it, actually learning the attraction of the “smart manufacturing” at an “unattended” factory in terms of safety and efficiency. “I have traded the stock of Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. for more than 10 years. I drive by the factory every day, but it is the first time that I have watch closely how the steel is made,” said a local investor from Baoshan District, Shanghai, who was active in asking the workers about the hot rolling production processes such as heating, rough rolling, finish rolling, laminar cooling, and coiling.
What will the smart family life be like in the future? The investors visited the exhibition hall of Haier Smart Home with such curiosity and expectation. The move undoubtedly provided an excellent window for the investors to directly learn about the considerations in changing the ticker symbol from “Qingdao Haier” to “Haier Smart Home”. With the explanations of the workers, the investors “experienced” the good life of future smart home customized for the users: tired workers can use the mobile phone to remotely turn on the air conditioning, thus enjoying the comfortable temperatures upon returning home; one can say in the kitchen "I want to bake a pizza", putting the ingredients into the oven as required, and the oven will automatically complete the whole baking process... According to the company, the development of smart home appliances has transformed from the single product core-based style to the all-scenario interaction. “Renaming also serves as the vane of the company's strategic development and transformation, and the smart home is the trend in the future.” During the visits and exchanges, the investors strengthened their understanding of the listed companies.
Actively "questioning" and "suggesting", the investors eagerly participate in the governance of the listed companies.
Where do the competitive advantages lie, what is the industry trend, and what does the company itself think about the data in the financial statement? The investors directed such questions to the executives of the companies during the on-site exchange section, while "scoring" the quality of the company secretly as well as providing suggestions on the company's development.
“I am an investor from Nanhai District. I was very interested in the equipment and technologies of garbage disposal during the visit. Does the company consider increasing investment in technology R&D and building its own brand?” “The company has completed rounds of merger and acquisition in the past ten years. Can you brief us on the experience in conducting the integrations?” With the concept of all-society environmental protection widely accepted, the investors from Foshan City, Guangdong Province, not only paid attention to the performance of Grandblue Environment Company Limited, but also compared notes with the executives of the company on the impact of the latest policy for garbage classification and the risks for the company in conducting the mergers and acquisitions in a style of “snake swallowing elephant”. According to the company, the power generation through waste incineration is the main solution to the problem of “garbage-besieged city”. During the construction and the implementation of related projects, the company has attached great importance to listening to the investors' opinions and suggestions, and opened the environmental protection theme park and the environmental protection exhibition hall in the industrial park to the public free of charge, hoping that the investors can raise their awareness of the environmental science in terms of waste incineration and gain more experience and reward.
Among the investors visiting Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd., there were quite a few in favor of domestic cars. After visiting the laboratories of GAC R&D Center and the production line welding and assembly shops of GAC New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., and conducting the driving test, the investors had an intuitive understanding about the company's products. On the basis of the current development of the industry, the investors referred questions to the executives. “I just visited the production line, and found that many operations were done by robots. Has the 24-hour operation been achieved now?” “Can you compare the company’s new energy vehicles with those of Tesla?” “The 2019 semi-annual report shows that the profit from whole car manufacturing has declined this year. What are the reasons?” After hearing the replies made by the company executives in a patient and detailed manner, the investors said that they were able to rationally understand the changes in the operating performance of the listed company, and in the future, would not only pay attention to the financial information but also attach more importance to the company's potential in sustainable development.
A bridge of communication is built to provide investors with high quality services and experiences.
Since its launch in 2013, the “I’m a Shareholder” activities have been receiving attention and praise from investors, especially small and medium-sized investors, listed companies, securities companies, the news media and other parties in the society. In the past 6 years, the SSE has organized the securities businesses to offer nearly 700 activities and about 15,000 small and medium-sized investors to visit more than 500 SSE-listed companies. With the activities covering all parts of the country, the SSE has joined hands with the investors to practice the rational investment.
In recent years, with market-wide efforts continuously made in investor education and protection and the listed companies increasingly attaching importance to management of investor relations, the investors have constantly raised their awareness of rational investment. However, as the capital market is full of diverse information, the small and medium-sized investors are still relatively disadvantaged in terms of information acquisition, risk resistance and self-protection. The “I’m a Shareholder” activities have further made the listed companies more active in managing the investor relations, effectively built a bridge of communication between investors and listed companies, and encouraged small and medium-sized investors to vigorously participate in corporate governance and energetically exercise the shareholder’s rights.
With the rapid development of the capital market, the main board market on the SSE has gathered a large number of listed companies that focus on the main business and operate in an earnest and regulated manner, effectively playing a leading role in the process of the capital market serving the real economy. The current special event of “Tour of SSE-listed Companies on Quality” will help guide investors in further enhancing the awareness of rational investment, comprehensively and objectively understanding and learning about the listed companies, and strengthening their confidence in the capital market. Going forward, the SSE will continue to improve the forms and contents of the activities, organize the investors to visit the listed companies in the banking, coal, pharmaceutical, retail services and other industries, and constantly improve the quality of investor services and the investors' sense of gain.
