HK Stock Market Move | ZTO EXPRESS-W(02057) rises over 4%, Guangdong express minimum price overall increased, institutions optimistic about industry competition ecosystem optimization.

ZTO EXPRESS-W (02057) rose more than 4%, temporarily leading the blue chips. As of the time of writing, it has risen by 4.28% to HK$163.3, with a turnover of HK$542 million. On the news front, according to Nanfang Daily, starting from August 4th, the overall minimum price for express delivery in Guangdong Province has been raised by 0.4 yuan/ticket, with the average price rising to over 1.4 yuan. According to relevant departments, all companies must not charge less than 1.4 yuan as the cost price, otherwise they will be heavily penalized. Many express delivery company insiders have confirmed this news, saying "the price has indeed increased, 0.1kg cannot be lower than 1.4 yuan, it has already started." On July 29th, the State Post Bureau held a symposium for express delivery companies, emphasizing the need to actively address the prominent issues of "internal competition" and illegal fees in rural areas for receiving express deliveries, in order to maintain a good development situation in the industry. Zheshang pointed out that as the off-season ends and the peak season in September arrives, it is expected to see a larger scale of stabilized price increases, which may alleviate the operational pressure for franchisees and improve the performance and sentiment of the express delivery sector in the short term. In addition, STO's recent acquisition of Dan Niao has opened the curtain for resource integration in the express delivery industry under the national drive to combat internal competition. In the medium to long term, the State Post Bureau encourages express delivery companies to merge and restructure, leading to a healthier industry structure and optimized competitive ecology, which may bring about sector-specific investment opportunities.