Recently, there have been frequent mergers and reorganizations among small and medium-sized banks. In fact, this continues the overall trend of "reducing quantity" since 2018 and is a specific manifestation of the regulatory authorities' promotion of reform and risk reduction of small and medium-sized banks. In addition, the current rural financial market is the "main battlefield" for promoting the reform and risk reduction of small and medium-sized banks. After promoting risk resolution, it is necessary to further improve the service quality and effectiveness of the rural financial system. According to experts interviewed, the ongoing mergers and reorganizations will help enhance the sustainable development capabilities of rural small and medium-sized financial institutions. It is also necessary to promote the improvement of a multi-level and sustainable rural financial service system through external measures such as expanding capital supplementation channels, differentiated supervision, and optimizing executive talent teams in the future. (Securities Times)

Recently, the Guangdong Development and Reform Commission issued the Implementation Plan for the Guangdong-Guangzhan Hydrogen Energy High-speed Demonstration Project. It is reported that this is the first hydrogen energy high-speed project launched in Guangdong Province and the first provincial-level hydrogen energy high-speed implementation plan in the country. It is expected to further promote the construction of demonstration cities for fuel cell electric vehicles in Guangdong Province and further promote the development of the hydrogen energy industry. Swhy believes that the development of the hydrogen energy industry has significant strategic significance. With the issuance of national-level incentive funds in 2024 and the introduction of multiple central and local policies, the policy system will become more perfect and the prosperity of the hydrogen energy industry chain will continue to rise. It is estimated that by 2025, more than 1,000 hydrogen refueling stations will be built in China, the application scale of fuel cell electric vehicles will exceed 110,000, and the total output value of hydrogen energy will be nearly one trillion yuan. (Securities Times)

The Bank of England said in a report on UK financial stability that higher long-term interest rates remain a challenge for private equity firms, increasing refinancing risks and dragging down performance. The report states that 'the vulnerability of the industry - with its high leverage, opaque valuations and close links to higher risk credit markets - means that it could cause losses for banks and institutional investors, and generate market spill-overs to highly correlated and interconnected markets such as leveraged loans and private credit', which may cause interest rates to rise further. The turbulence in the international private equity market could also spill over into the UK, particularly the US market, given the size and importance of the US market and the fact that most private equity funds supporting UK firms are based in the US.

The U.S. Treasury's issuance of $44 billion 7-year bonds in a bid, with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.58 and an awarded yield of 4.276%, The pre-auction trading level was 4.279% at 1 p.m. EST. This is the third and final ACC bond auction this week. Following the steady bidding results, Treasury bonds maintained their upward momentum, with the mid-term bond yield slightly lower but still within the daily range of fluctuation. The yield on 7-year Treasury bonds fell by about 5 basis points during the day, slightly outperforming the front end of the curve.

Federal Reserve Director Bowman reiterated on Thursday that she is still not ready to support a monetary policy easing in spite of persistent inflationary pressures. She believes that the current position of the Federal Reserve's interest rate is still "restrictive," and even if monetary policy is maintained at its current level, price pressures will eventually cool down. She said that if future data indicates that inflation is continuing to move toward our target of 2%, gradually lowering interest rates to prevent monetary policy from becoming too restrictive would eventually be appropriate. However, we have not yet reached an appropriate time to lower policy interest rates and continue to see some upside risks for inflation. If future data shows that inflation progress is stagnant or reverse, she is still willing to raise the target range of federal funds rate at future meetings.

Scientists from Oregon State University College of Engineering and Adobe in the USA have collaborated to develop a new technology for training artificial intelligence (AI) called FairDeDup. The technology not only reduces training costs but also has the potential to reduce social biases in AI systems. The research team presented the FairDeDup algorithm at the IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, a global top-tier academic conference jointly organized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society and the Computer Vision Foundation (CVF).

Shusuke Yamada, Bank of America's forex strategist, pointed out that the next key level to watch for the trend of the Japanese yen against the US dollar's devaluation is the lowest level in 38 years, which is 164.5. He believes that if this level is reached, the risk of intervention by the Japanese Ministry of Finance will increase significantly. "There seems to be no significant historical resistance level for the USD/JPY below 200, and the Japanese Ministry of Finance may want to temporarily restrict it below this level." If the speed of the yen depreciation catches up with the level before the previous two interventions and drops sharply to 164, the pace of Japan's intervention will also accelerate. This Bank of America strategist believes that the recent rise of the USD/JPY is partially due to the expansion of domestic investors' imbalance in the supply and demand of the Japanese yen. Bank of America previously stated that it would continue to maintain 165 as the red line for the intervention of the Ministry of Finance.

The three-day summer Davos Forum closed in Dalian on the 27th. Many guests expressed confidence in the development prospects of China's medical health, new energy and other industries, and in the economic and market prospects of China. The global head of a German medical supplies company said that with the increasing aging population in China, the demand for medical and nutritional products is increasing, and the company will increase its investment in China. China's renewable energy power generation equipment accounts for more than 50% of the total installed capacity, and the exports of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products have exceeded 100 billion yuan. During the forum, guests from all walks of life focused on green development and global energy transformation, and hoped that China's development in the new energy industry would be more diversified. The attending guests believed that finding the right investment direction and maintaining investment intensity are crucial to promoting sustainable growth of China's economy. (CCTV Finance)

Coinbase has filed a lawsuit against two US federal financial regulatory agencies to obtain records of their regulation of crypto trades, in the latest development in a series of legal battles between the company and US institutions. The consultant hired by Coinbase, History Associates Inc., on Thursday filed a suit with the US Securities and Exchange Commission requesting documents related to three crypto investigations, hoping to obtain detailed information on how the securities regulator views its crypto power. The second case against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is attempting to force the banking regulator to hand over letters allegedly sent to banks requesting that they halt crypto-related activities.

Recently, BYD Caixin WeChat public account has opened up car insurance application entrance, which has caused a stir. Many car owners expressed that BYD Caixin's quote for new energy vehicle insurance is lower. Dai Haiyan, the Director General of Risk Information of Legal Business Union, said that BYD Caixin's entry could become a "catfish" that affects the price trend of new energy vehicle insurance by promoting industry competition, innovative service models, optimizing cost structures, ultimately benefiting the majority of new energy vehicle consumers, and also promoting the healthy development and transformation and upgrading of the entire auto insurance industry. However, for BYD Caixin to really succeed, it still needs to overcome various challenges such as professional expertise and cost control in the industry, and effectively use its data and technological advantages to innovate insurance products and service models.