Editor's Note：

This year marks the conclusion of the 14th Five-Year Plan period. To showcase the achievements of central state-owned enterprises in fully implementing the new development philosophy, achieving high-quality development, enhancing sci-tech innovation capabilities, solidly advancing layout optimization and structural adjustments, and deepening the reform and enhancement actions of state-owned enterprises, the website of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) recently launched a "Five Years of High-Quality Development" series. An article titled "China Merchants Group: Comprehensively Accelerating the 'Third Pioneering Endeavor'" was published, detailing the solid strides CMG has made on the path of high-quality development since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period. The full text is reproduced below.

Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, facing complex and changing internal and external environments, China Merchants Group (CMG) has adhered to the principles of seeking progress while maintaining stability, upholding fundamental principles while breaking new ground. It has comprehensively accelerated the advancement of its "Third Pioneering Endeavor," making solid strides on the path of high-quality development and realizing five key transitions: a shift to a new stage of development, an optimization of the business portfolio, a tangible focus on innovation-driven growth, a strengthening of functional support, and a tightening of risk prevention and control.

It is estimated that by the end of 2025, CMG's total assets will reach approximately 156 trillion yuan. Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the Group's Return on Equity (ROE) attributable to parent company shareholders has consistently remained above 10%, achieving comprehensive breakthroughs in transportation and logistics, integrated finance, property and industrial parks, and sci-tech innovation industries. CMG has been rated Grade A in the business performance assessment for principals of central SOEs for 21 consecutive years, recognized as an "Outstanding Performance Enterprise" for seven consecutive terms, ranked first among central SOEs in the 2022-2024 term assessment, received an "Excellent" rating in its board of directors evaluation for nine consecutive years, and has continuously improved the development quality of its state-owned capital investment company and financial holding company operations.

Sci-Tech Innovation Leading the "Third Pioneering Endeavor"

CMG has scientifically analyzed new trends in the technological revolution and accurately grasped the characteristics of its development stage, making a strategic deployment centered on sci-tech innovation. It has clarified its overarching strategic direction of "One Goal, Two Curves, Three Drives," anchored on the goal of building a world-class enterprise, shaping the "Smile Curve" and the "Malik Curve," comprehensively accelerating the "Third Pioneering Endeavor," and charting a correct path of high-quality development led by strategic transformation.

| CMG Lion Mountain Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

Over the past five years, CMG's foundation for high-quality development has become increasingly solid. It has achieved multiple breakthroughs in sci-tech innovation, accelerated the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, expedited the layout of strategic emerging industries, and realized effective qualitative enhancement alongside reasonable quantitative growth. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan began, the Group's cumulative R&D investment has reached 89.3 billion yuan, nearly doubling compared to the 13th Five-Year Plan period. The number of new patents granted is 3.8 times that of the previous plan period, and it has won two Second Prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. CMG has established a Chief Scientist Committee, set up an Advanced Technology Research Institute and the Lion Rock AI Laboratory, and created joint laboratories in areas like micro-nano surgical robots and perovskite semiconductor new materials. The Advanced Technology Research Institute has successfully connected over 50 key cutting-edge technology projects, with five advancing to substantive research stages. The Lion Rock AI Laboratory has made breakthroughs in fields such as quadruped robots and multimodal algorithms.

CMG has fully leveraged its integrated advantages in "sci-tech — industry — finance" to promote the large-scale development and systematic construction of strategic emerging industries. It established the China Merchants Innovation Technology Group as a key platform for developing strategic emerging industries and nurturing future industries, focusing on three main directions: digital and intelligent technology, life science and technology, and green technology, and steadily implementing a trinity model of "R&D + Investment + Operation." The Group has increased investment and M&A efforts, seizing development opportunities in niche sectors like biomanufacturing, biomedicine, high-end shipbuilding, inspection and testing, and embodied AI. It is estimated that by the end of 2025, the total assets and annual revenue of the sci-tech innovation industrial sector will be 2.92 times and 2.76 times, respectively, those at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan.

Optimizing the Portfolio to Enhance Value Creation Capabilities

CMG is accelerating two shifts in its growth model: "from quantity to quality" and in its business structure: "from heavy to light," unswervingly following a path of connotative development driven by innovation, model upgrades, and value creation.

| Strategic investment in CATHAY to accelerate the industrial layout of bio-manufacturing. The image shows the Shanxi Synthetic Biology Industrial Park of CATHAY

The financial sector has maintained steady development, solidly contributing to the "Five Key Areas of Finance," and resolutely serving the building of a strong financial nation. China Merchants Bank adheres to building itself into the best value-creating bank driven by innovation, leading in models, and distinctive in features, continuously strengthening its core competitiveness and enhancing capital operation capabilities, with its total market value exceeding one trillion yuan. CMPIC Life Insurance has continued its transformation towards a value-oriented model, achieving sustained healthy development, reasonable and moderate scale, and sufficient, safe capital.

Upholding the philosophy of high-quality development, CMG vigorously promotes its secondary companies to resolutely exit non-core and non-advantageous businesses, reforming where suitable and exiting where necessary, reducing irrelevant diversification, and tilting advantageous resources towards core responsibilities and main businesses as well as strategic emerging industries. Simultaneously, it continuously promotes "internal synergy and external cooperation as two sides of the same coin, driven by dual wheels," effectively building professional platforms for synergistic empowerment; continuously deepens internal collaborations such as "support through sci-tech industrial scenario orders" and "property purchase/leasing"; and vigorously strengthens strategic cooperation with fellow central SOEs, renowned universities, and outstanding private enterprises. It continues to expand cooperation with regions like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, building momentum through synergistic work.

Revitalization: Digital-Intelligent and Green Transformation of Traditional Industries

In the transformation, upgrading, and digital-intelligent empowerment of traditional industries, various levels of CMG have shown numerous highlights. China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry has proactively positioned itself in high-end shipbuilding, such as large LNG carriers, achieving steady development and sustained profitability. China Merchants Cloud has been recognized as the "Transportation and Logistics Industry Cloud." The large "AI + Logistics" model "Merchant Way" and the "AI + Finance" model "OneCM" have been implemented in 227 application scenarios. China Merchants Energy Shipping has developed the "Vessel Carbon Intelligence" ship energy integrated management platform, promoting the green transition of the shipping industry.

| In November 2025, the first 180,000-cubic-meter LNG carrier built byChina Merchants Industry Holdings Co., Ltd. departed from the dock for sea trials

CMG adheres to green and low-carbon development. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan began, its investment in energy conservation and environmental protection has exceeded 3.6 billion yuan. It has built distributed photovoltaic power generation capacity of 215 MW, with electricity generation reaching 138 million kWh in 2024. In green ports, it has achieved "coal-free" energy consumption, with new energy container trucks accounting for 64% and "diesel-to-electricity" conversion for gantry cranes in container terminals reaching 95%. In green shipping, CMG co-developed the first and second generations of intelligent rigid wing sails. After application, these achieve average annual fuel savings of over 7.4% per vessel, reducing carbon emissions by over 2,200 tons, with comprehensive performance indicators reaching world-leading levels. In green property development, the application ratio of green and clean energy in newly built self-owned commercial and office projects has reached 100%. It has cumulatively developed 549 green building projects with a total area of 78.29 million square meters, 72% of which have obtained green building certifications, including 45 LEED-certified projects. In green manufacturing, China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry has been recognized with 5 National Green Factory titles and 3 National Green Supply Chain Enterprise certifications.

Demonstrating Responsibility, Resolutely Serving the "National Priorities"

Focusing on "what the nation needs, where global trends are heading, and what CMG is capable of," CMG resolutely serves the "national priorities." It actively supports the high-quality co-construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, implements an internationalization strategy of "taking root in Hong Kong, deepening presence in Southeast Asia, cultivating Europe, carefully developing the Middle East and Latin America while extending into Africa," continuously strengthens overseas development, and improves its global port layout and logistics network. It actively serves Hong Kong's transition "from governance to prosperity," leveraging its comprehensive advantages in Hong Kong's port, shipping, logistics, integrated finance, and retail trade sectors. For five consecutive years, it has led the organization of the World Maritime Merchants Conference in Hong Kong, continuously strengthens, optimizes, and expands its Hong Kong business, and supports Hong Kong's development as "three centers and one hub." It has created a series of brand public welfare projects, deeply serving the improvement of Hong Kong's livelihood.

| On November 17, 2025, the 5th World Airline Congress opened at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre

Leveraging its advantages as a "century-old SOE, comprehensive SOE, and SOE based in Hong Kong," CMG deeply serves the building of a strong transportation nation, strong maritime nation, strong financial nation, and strong sci-tech nation. Its asset scale in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area exceeds 75 trillion yuan, with total profit exceeding 100 billion yuan. It supports the comprehensive revitalization of Northeast China in the new era, promotes the strategic optimization and integration of Liaoning ports, drives the high-quality development of the Taipingwan Cooperation and Innovation Zone through industrial introduction, and has total assets in the three northeastern provinces exceeding 500 billion yuan.

Anchoring the Goal: Building a World-Class Enterprise

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, CMG has anchored its goal of accelerating its transformation into an innovation-driven, international, and comprehensive world-class enterprise. Firmly committed to its mission of "strengthening the nation through industry, serving the nation through finance, and rejuvenating the nation through technology," it is accelerating the development of four "world-class" enterprises—CM Ports, Sinotrans, China Merchants Energy Shipping, and China Merchants Bank—and four "China-leading" enterprises—CM Highway, China Merchants Shekou, China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry, and China Merchants Securities, continuously enhancing its core functions and core competitiveness.

| China Merchants Port Shenzhen Western Port Area

CM Ports has further improved its global network layout, with the proportion of overseas revenue continuously increasing. Its equity-based container throughput ranks second globally. Sinotrans is accelerating the construction of a "New Carrier" model, ranking first globally in ocean freight forwarding volume and fifth in air freight forwarding volume. China Merchants Energy Shipping continues to optimize its fleet structure, with its VLCC/VLOC fleet size ranking first globally. China Merchants Bank maintains leading positions in multiple core indicators, leads peers in smart banking development, and was ranked No. 1 among the top 10 Chinese banks in The Banker's "Top 1000 World Banks" list.

CM Highway manages and controls highway projects covering 22 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, with controlled mileage of 2,143 km and total investment mileage reaching 14,900 km. China Merchants Shekou has strengthened its strategic focus, actively responded to the industry downturn, and its property management business, CM Service, has achieved leapfrog development, ranking among the top three in China's property management industry in terms of comprehensive strength. China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry has elevated its ship repair and building competitiveness to the first tier in China, ranking second in ship repair output value and fifth in new ship orders. China Merchants Securities' ROAE ranks second among the top ten securities firms, with its 2024 operating income rising to fifth in the industry.

Looking ahead, CMG will strengthen strategic guidance. Through the 15th Five-Year Plan, it will scientifically chart its development blueprint, solidly advance the "Third Pioneering Endeavor" to greater depth and with fruitful results, continuously deepen the "five transitions," accelerate the building of a world-class enterprise, and demonstrate new responsibilities and new actions of a century-old central SOE on the new journey of the new era.

(Reprinted from official account Centennial China Merchants Group)