Asia L/S Equity PM/Macro/Thematic Idea Generation

Rikki Malik

Equity Bottom-Up

China Communications Services Corp Ltd. / Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Stable, Steady, State-owned Enterprise with upside from policy push on AI</li>
<li>Lowly rated company with a new cyclical growth story in a strategic sector</li>
<li>Good balance sheet with the opportunity to raise payouts and yields.</li>
</ul>


Stable, Steady, State-owned Enterprise with upside from policy push on AI
Lowly rated company with a new cyclical growth story in a strategic sector
Good balance sheet with the opportunity to raise payouts and yields.


China Communications Services Corp. (552.HK)-Riding the AI Wave...

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>A better week for HK stocks as A-shares rebound on National Team buying, a PBOC RRR cut, and potentially other measures to boost the market. Foreigners stopped selling; that helped.</li>
<li>Southbound saw decent net buying on ETFs late in the week, but otherwise the week was pretty flat in single-stock land - net buying of SOEs, selling of tech.</li>
<li>Net SOUTHBOUND buying was HK$4.5bn on the week, mostly through Shanghai (interestingly, 90+% of the decent NORTHBOUND buy was also through Shanghai). </li>
</ul>


A better week for HK stocks as A-shares rebound on National Team buying, a PBOC RRR cut, and potentially other measures to boost the market. Foreigners stopped selling; that helped.
Southbound saw decent net buying on ETFs late in the week, but otherwise the week was pretty flat in single-stock land - net buying of SOEs, selling of tech.
Net SOUTHBOUND buying was HK$4.5bn on the week, mostly through Shanghai (interestingly, 90+% of the decent NORTHBOUND buy was also through Shanghai). 


HK Connect SOUTHBOUND Flows (To 26 Jan 2024); ETFs and High Div SOEs Again BIG Buys, Tech Sold

David Blennerhassett

China Unicom Hong Kong / Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>The rapid adoption of cloud computing has led to China boasting the world’s second-largest cloud computing market.</li>
<li>This migration to the cloud is in lock-step with global customer needs: scale, greater efficiency, and availability; together with a reduction in capex and infrastructure complexity.</li>
<li>The big three PRC telcos are firmly in the mix, with each announcing 100%+ growth in revenue for their cloud businesses in 1H22. Expect that trend to continue.</li>
</ul>


The rapid adoption of cloud computing has led to China boasting the world’s second-largest cloud computing market.
This migration to the cloud is in lock-step with global customer needs: scale, greater efficiency, and availability; together with a reduction in capex and infrastructure complexity.
The big three PRC telcos are firmly in the mix, with each announcing 100%+ growth in revenue for their cloud businesses in 1H22. Expect that trend to continue.


Forensic Analyst

Jason Yap, CFA

Forensic Accounting

Incorporated in Beijing in July 2014, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-tower-corp-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27037:1" rel="noopener">China Tower (788 HK)</a> is a state-owned telecommunications company that provides telecommunications tower construction, tower maintenance, ancillary facilities management and related services in China. 
As at 31 December 2020, China Tower operated and managed 2.023 million tower sites and its total assets were RMB337.4 billion, and it was therefore commonly known as the world's largest telecommunications tower infrastructure service provider. 
Amid aggressive 5G rollout in China in 2020, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-tower-corp-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27037:1" rel="noopener">China Tower (788 HK)</a> was initially poised to be a key beneficiary of the 5G secular growth story. Instead, its share price performance has significantly underperformed both the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-hang-seng-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22899:1" rel="noopener">Hong Kong Hang Seng Index (HSI INDEX)</a> and its telecommunication tower infrastructure peers listed internationally over the past 12 to 18 months. 
This was attributed to <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/5G-networks/Chinese-telecom-operators-cut-back-5G-network-construction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">weaker</a> than expected 5G-related demand for new towers, which was in turn due to a combination of factors, such as:
<ol>
<li>slower than expected 5G adoption;</li>
<li>China telecom operators, namely <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-telecom-corp-ltd-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1015:1" rel="noopener">China Telecom (H) (728 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-unicom-hong-kong-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1016:1" rel="noopener">China Unicom Hong Kong (762 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-mobile-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27:1" rel="noopener">China Mobile (941 HK)</a> and new entrant China Broadcast Network, striking partnerships to share network frequency bands; and </li>
<li>where possible, China telecom operators opting for co-location of base stations to save tower deployment capital expenditures. </li>
</ol>
In this Insight, we discuss if China Tower is past its trough and whether the upcoming tower lease negotiations in 2022 will become an overhang. Further, we address potential corporate governance concerns given that its major shareholders - that is, the Big 3 China telecom operators - are also its largest customers and therefore have considerable influence on China Tower's business decisions.

Incorporated in Beijing in July 2014, China Tower (788 HK) is a state-owned telecommunications company that provides telecommunications tower construction, tower maintenance, ancillary facilities management and related services in China. 
As at 31 December 2020, China Tower operated and managed 2.023 million tower sites and its total assets were RMB337.4 billion, and it was therefore commonly known as the world's largest telecommunications tower infrastructure service provider. 
Amid aggressive 5G rollout in China in 2020, China Tower (788 HK) was initially poised to be a key beneficiary of the 5G secular growth story. Instead, its share price performance has significantly underperformed both the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index (HSI INDEX) and its telecommunication tower infrastructure peers listed internationally over the past 12 to 18 months. 
This was attributed to weaker than expected 5G-related demand for new towers, which was in turn due to a combination of factors, such as:

slower than expected 5G adoption;
China telecom operators, namely China Telecom (H) (728 HK), China Unicom Hong Kong (762 HK), China Mobile (941 HK) and new entrant China Broadcast Network, striking partnerships to share network frequency bands; and 
where possible, China telecom operators opting for co-location of base stations to save tower deployment capital expenditures. 

In this Insight, we discuss if China Tower is past its trough and whether the upcoming tower lease negotiations in 2022 will become an overhang. Further, we address potential corporate governance concerns given that its major shareholders - that is, the Big 3 China telecom operators - are also its largest customers and therefore have considerable influence on China Tower's business decisions. 

China Tower (788 HK) - Deep Value, Though Lease Negotiation Overhang Persists

<ul>
<li>Gross SOUTHBOUND volumes again US$17+bn a day this past 5-day week. Net buying strong at +US$550mm a day. Meituan the top buy extending a very strong 12 week run.</li>
<li>Among the top buys as a percentage of volume, FINANCIALS stood out, dramatically. Again. INFO TECH negative again after two weeks of buying broke a three-month sell streak.</li>
<li>The data tables below update on a daily basis in the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/tools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tools</a> section of Smartkarma. The <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/tools/quiddity/south-flow-monitor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SOUTHBOUND Flow Monitor</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/tools/quiddity/ah-shares-monitor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AH Monitor</a> are both there free for SK readers.</li>
</ul>


Gross SOUTHBOUND volumes again US$17+bn a day this past 5-day week. Net buying strong at +US$550mm a day. Meituan the top buy extending a very strong 12 week run.
Among the top buys as a percentage of volume, FINANCIALS stood out, dramatically. Again. INFO TECH negative again after two weeks of buying broke a three-month sell streak.
The data tables below update on a daily basis in the Tools section of Smartkarma. The SOUTHBOUND Flow Monitor and AH Monitor are both there free for SK readers.


HK Connect SOUTHBOUND Flows (To 18 July 2025); Volumes Strong, Net Buying Decent, Meituan Hot

China

China Telecom Corporation Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides wireline telephone, data, and Internet, as well as leased line services in China.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

China Telecom (H) (728 HK)

China Communications Services Corp. (552.HK)-Riding the AI Wave...

The company is quietly making 52-week highs as sentiment improves around Chinese technology, AI and data centres. The news on GDS Holdings spin off...

Rikki Malik

HK Connect SOUTHBOUND Flows (To 26 Jan 2024); ETFs and High Div SOEs Again BIG Buys, Tech Sold

SOUTHBOUND flows were positive on the week but most of the net buying was in the big two ETFs. The trend of buying low PER high div SOEs continues....

Travis Lundy

China Telcos: Send In The Clouds

At 1x forward EV/EBITDA and a 5.6% yield, Unicom is cheap. I don't have a bone to pick with Mobile at 2.1x and a 7.9% yield; or Telecom - but...

David Blennerhassett

China Tower (788 HK) - Deep Value, Though Lease Negotiation Overhang Persists

We discuss whether China Tower's share price has bottomed and address potential corporate governance concerns given that the Big 3 China telcos...

Jason Yap, CFA

HK Connect SOUTHBOUND Flows (To 18 July 2025); Volumes Strong, Net Buying Decent, Meituan Hot

SOUTHBOUND again strong in overall volume helped by big day-trading in Guotai Junnan, still. Meituan tops and still running after 12 weeks.

Travis Lundy

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)