Hong Kong Market Update: BYD’s EV Sales Surge Over 40% in 2025, Hainan Airport Plans $23 Billion Stake Acquisition in Meilan Airport

Hong Kong Stock Market Morning Brief | BYD’s New Energy Vehicle Sales Surge Over 40% Year-on-Year; Hainan Airport Plans to Acquire 50% Stake in Meilan Airport for Over 2.3 Billion Yuan

Market Insights

1. Four emerging car manufacturers, including Li Auto, Xpeng, NIO, and Leap Motor, have announced their delivery figures for April. Leap Motor achieved a monthly delivery exceeding 40,000 vehicles for the first time in three months, marking a 173% year-on-year increase. NIO delivered 23,900 new vehicles in April, reflecting a 53% year-on-year growth. Xpeng’s deliveries totaled 35,045 vehicles, a significant 273% surge compared to last year, while Li Auto delivered 33,939 vehicles, a 31.6% increase. Xiaomi also delivered over 28,000 vehicles in April.
2. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Basset indicated that the U.S. bond market is signaling that the Federal Reserve should lower interest rates. During a media interview, Basset stated, “We observe that the yield on two-year U.S. Treasury bonds is now below the federal funds rate. This is a clear signal indicating that the market believes the Federal Reserve should consider a rate cut.”
3. According to Tongcheng Travel, the demand during the 2025 May Day holiday could reach a three-year peak. As of April 24, domestic flight ticket reservations for this holiday surpassed 5.42 million, an increase of approximately 31% compared to the same time last year. During the holiday, daily traffic on national highways is expected to average around 62 million vehicles, with both interprovincial traffic and the number of new energy vehicles rising.
4. The China Index Academy recently released the “Top 100 Real Estate Companies Land Acquisition Rankings for January to April 2025.” In this period, the total land acquisition amount by the top 100 companies reached 360.8 billion yuan, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 26.6%, but a decrease of 4.0 percentage points compared to the previous month. The land auction activity in 22 hot cities continued to thrive, with residential land sales increasing by over 40% year-on-year from January to April 2025, driven by intense competition for high-quality plots and reflecting the value of land in core areas.
5. According to data from online platforms, by 5 PM on May 1, the total box office for new movies during the May Day period (including previews and presales) surpassed 200 million yuan.

Global Market Overview

On Thursday, U.S. stock indices closed higher, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices rising for the eighth consecutive trading day. At the close, the Dow gained 0.21%, the Nasdaq rose 1.52%, and the S&P 500 increased by 0.63%. Most major tech stocks also saw gains, with Amazon up 3.13%, Google A increasing by 1.57%, Nvidia rising 2.47%, and Apple climbing 0.39%. Chinese concept stocks exhibited mixed performance, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index up 0.21%. Kingsoft Cloud and GDS Holdings both rose by over 2%, while Alibaba, JD.com, Ctrip, and Li Auto saw slight increases.

Company News

Meilan Airport (00357.HK): The controlling stake will change hands, as Hainan Airport (600515.SH) plans to make a premium offer of approximately 10.63% for a full acquisition. The announcement states that on April 30, Hainan Airport’s major shareholder, Haikou Meilan International Airport Co., Ltd. (the seller), entered into a share transfer agreement with Hainan Airport. Hainan Airport has conditionally agreed to purchase shares representing about 50.19% of the company’s total issued share capital for approximately 2.339 billion yuan, equivalent to 9.85 yuan per share (or 10.62 HKD).

BYD Company (01211.HK): In the first four months, the company reported sales of approximately 1.3809 million new energy vehicles, marking a year-on-year increase of 46.98%.

Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00388.HK): The first quarter saw record highs in revenue and net profit; total revenue reached 6.857 billion HKD, a year-on-year increase of 32%; net profit was 4.077 billion HKD, a year-on-year rise of 37%.

Zijin Mining (02899.HK): Plans to spin off Zijin Gold International for a listing on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The spin-off plan is still in the preliminary planning stage and requires relevant approvals before it can be implemented, reflecting some uncertainty.