Core Viewpoint - The recent competition in the food delivery market has intensified, with Meituan and Taobao Flash Purchase (Ele.me) engaging in aggressive subsidy strategies that have led to a chaotic market environment and significant challenges for local restaurants [1][2][3] Group 1: Market Dynamics - As of July 12, Meituan's daily order volume exceeded 1.5 billion, while Taobao Flash Purchase and Ele.me surpassed 80 million orders, indicating a fierce competition for market share [1] - The aggressive subsidy strategies, such as "0 yuan purchase" and "18 yuan off 18 yuan," have triggered a price war below cost, disrupting market order and harming the industry ecosystem [2][3] Group 2: Industry Concerns - The restaurant industry is facing a "lose-lose-lose" situation where merchants sacrifice long-term viability, consumers receive lower quality products, and delivery personnel suffer from overexertion [3][5] - The local restaurant association has called for an end to irrational subsidies and a return to value-based competition, emphasizing the need for sustainable practices in the industry [4][5] Group 3: Recommendations from the Industry - The association has proposed three main initiatives: 1. Stop irrational subsidies and return to value competition, including ceasing loss-leading promotions and establishing a reasonable pricing mechanism [3][4] 2. Protect merchants' legal rights by ensuring voluntary participation in promotions and providing support for non-participating small businesses [4][5] 3. Build a sustainable development ecosystem focused on food safety and fair competition [4][5]

Core Viewpoint - The recent subsidy war among food delivery platforms like Meituan and Ele.me has sparked a frenzy of consumer spending, but it raises questions about the sustainability of such practices and their impact on market dynamics [1][3]. Group 1: Consumer Behavior - Consumers are actively participating in the subsidy-driven promotions, with offers like "18 off 18" and "0 yuan milk tea" leading to a surge in orders, creating a perception that not participating means losing out [1][3]. - A survey indicates that 46% of users believe that subsidies only provide temporary satisfaction, while 22% feel their attachment to products is based on these discounts [4]. Group 2: Market Dynamics - The aggressive subsidy strategies may lead to a fixed expectation of low prices among consumers, diminishing their sensitivity to discounts and potentially harming brand value [3][4]. - Concerns are rising that such promotional tactics could result in "involution" within the industry, leading to reduced profit margins and market stagnation [4]. Group 3: Industry Sustainability - The industry is urged to shift from a price competition model to one focused on quality to ensure sustainable growth, including better worker protections and innovative service expansions [4]. - The need for a balanced value proposition among platforms, merchants, delivery personnel, and consumers is emphasized as essential for long-term sustainability [4].

央行主管金融时报：部分行业内卷式竞争、挤压行业利润空间、影响产业生态等问题引发了社会关注 金十数据7月14日讯，中国央行主管的《金融时报》称，近年来我国传统行业和部分新兴产业快速增长 对经济增长和就业起到了一定拉动作用，但部分行业内卷式竞争、挤压行业利润空间、影响产业生态等 问题也引发了社会关注。对此，决策层已加紧部署相关工作，《保障中小企业款项支付条例》等政策已 落地实施，中央财经委召开会议也明确要依法依规治理企业低价无序竞争，推动落后产能有序退出。未 来随着各项宏观政策加力扩内需，综合整治"内卷式"竞争政策效果逐步显现，经营主体竞争行为也更趋 理性有序，供需良性循环有望加快，对于促进物价回升也有积极作用。 ...

Core Viewpoint - The Chinese automotive industry is facing challenges such as "involutionary" competition and a persistent decline in profit margins, necessitating a shift from price-driven to value-driven market strategies [1][3]. Group 1: Industry Performance - In the first half of 2025, China's automotive industry achieved remarkable results, with both production and sales exceeding 15 million units for the first time, and new energy vehicle sales growing over 40% year-on-year [2]. - The automotive export market also experienced double-digit growth, indicating a positive trend in international competitiveness [2]. Group 2: Challenges and Solutions - The automotive industry's profit margins have been declining for nearly eight years, leading to a critical situation of "increment without profit" that needs urgent resolution [3]. - Industry leaders emphasize the need for innovation and focus on key technologies, particularly in new energy and intelligent connected vehicles, to enhance competitiveness and profitability [3]. - There is a consensus among industry experts that understanding and meeting consumer emotional needs is becoming a core competitive advantage in automotive product development [3]. Group 3: Collaborative Efforts - Industry stakeholders are encouraged to foster a new type of competitive and cooperative relationship, aiming to create new technologies, products, and business models to cultivate new growth areas in the industry [3].

Group 1 - The core viewpoint of the article emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach to address "involution" in various sectors, highlighting the role of government, enterprises, and residents in this context [2][65] - The current round of "anti-involution" is characterized by a higher stance, broader coverage, and stronger coordination, with a focus on promoting a unified national market and addressing low-price disorderly competition [2][65] - The revenue growth rate of "involution" industries is projected to decline significantly from 28.5% in 2021 to -0.4% in 2024, while fixed costs remain rigid, leading to a drastic drop in average net profit growth to -28.2% in 2024 [20][19] Group 2 - "Involution" may lead to negative feedback, hindering industrial transformation and affecting long-term industry development, as evidenced by a decline in return on assets (ROA) to 2.9% in 2024, down 2.7 percentage points from the 2021 peak [40][4] - The low-price competition strategy has resulted in a decrease in accounts payable turnover rate to 4.6% in 2024, while inventory turnover remains high at 5.4%, indicating a shift in cost management strategies [26][31] - Internal cost control measures in "involution" industries have led to a significant reduction in sales expenses, projected at -9.7% in 2024, and a decrease in employee growth rates, with average salary growth dropping to 4.6% [31][40] Group 3 - To resolve the "involution" dilemma, it is crucial to alleviate supply-demand contradictions and promote the orderly exit of backward production capacity, while also restructuring demand expansion dynamics [44][50] - Structural transformation can be achieved through policy guidance, industry self-discipline, and market mechanisms, encouraging innovation and moving away from price competition [50][56] - Addressing structural unemployment during the transformation process by accelerating the development of the service industry is essential, as recent trends show a decline in employment in sectors like culture, education, and health [56][55]

Core Viewpoint - The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) is implementing comprehensive measures to address "involutionary" competition, aiming to maintain fair market order by identifying and regulating seven types of typical illegal behaviors that contribute to this issue [1][7]. Group 1: Types of Illegal Behaviors - The seven types of typical illegal behaviors identified by SAMR include: 1. Illegal commercial advertising 2. Commercial defamation 3. Unfair pricing practices 4. Quality non-compliance 5. Unreasonable platform rules 6. Abuse of market dominance 7. Improper interference in market competition [1][5][7]. Group 2: Characteristics and Impacts of Involutionary Competition - Involutionary competition is characterized by low-price competition, low-quality competition, repetitive competition, and lack of innovation, which disrupts fair market competition and lowers product quality, leading to overall low industry profit margins [7]. - Large enterprises may exert pressure on upstream and downstream companies, harming the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises and stifling innovation [7]. - Continuous price wars can result in practices such as "cutting corners" and the proliferation of counterfeit products, negatively impacting innovation and industrial upgrading [7]. Group 3: Consumer Impact - While consumers may benefit from short-term low prices, they ultimately face declining quality and reduced choices, as companies cut costs by sacrificing quality and reducing service content, leading to a "bad money drives out good" phenomenon [9]. Group 4: Regulatory Actions and Legal Revisions - SAMR has initiated special actions to rectify improper online competition and advertising market order, resulting in the investigation of 1,514 cases of online unfair competition and over 14,000 illegal advertising cases [11]. - The agency is enhancing regulatory measures and legal frameworks, including the revision of the Price Law, Anti-Unfair Competition Law, and E-commerce Law, with the Anti-Unfair Competition Law set to take effect on October 15 this year [11].

Core Viewpoint - The State Post Bureau emphasizes the need to strengthen industry regulation and improve market rules in the postal and express delivery sector, explicitly opposing "involution-style" competition and addressing issues related to the quality of end services [1] Group 1 - The meeting held by the State Post Bureau on July 8 highlighted the importance of enhancing industry supervision [1] - The bureau aims to contribute to the establishment of a unified national market through improved service quality and regulatory compliance [1] - The focus is on legally and systematically addressing the quality issues in end services within the postal and express delivery industry [1]

Group 1: CPI Marginal Improvement - In June, the CPI showed a marginal improvement with a year-on-year increase of 0.1%, reversing a three-month trend of -0.1%, primarily driven by rising domestic fuel prices and a rebound in durable goods prices [2] - Food prices performed better than seasonal averages, with fresh vegetable prices increasing by 0.7% month-on-month, compared to a historical average decline of -3.9% [2] - Energy prices saw a month-on-month increase of 0.1% in June, recovering from a previous decline of -1.7%, influenced by rising international oil prices due to geopolitical tensions [2][3] Group 2: PPI Continued Pressure - The PPI decreased by 0.4% month-on-month in June, marking the seventh consecutive month of negative growth, with a year-on-year decline of 3.6%, the largest drop since August 2023 [4] - The decline in production material prices was a significant factor, with a month-on-month decrease of 0.6%, compared to a historical average of -0.1% [4] - Life goods prices remained sluggish, with a month-on-month decrease of 0.1%, reflecting weak seasonal performance [4] Group 3: Future Price Outlook - CPI is expected to show a mild recovery, with an annual increase projected around 0%, higher than the first half's average of -0.1% [5] - Core CPI is anticipated to rise by approximately 0.6% for the year, supported by policies aimed at improving supply-demand structures [6] - PPI is expected to remain under pressure, with an annual decline projected at around -2.3%, an improvement from the first half's -2.8% [6] Group 4: International and Domestic Commodity Trends - Internationally, commodity prices are expected to show increased divergence and reduced volatility, with oil prices likely to continue declining due to OPEC+ production increases and weakening global demand [7] - Domestically, weak internal demand persists, particularly in real estate and infrastructure investments, which are not expected to drive resource prices upward [7] - The manufacturing sector is facing challenges with low capacity utilization, indicating a phase of oversupply in certain industries [7]

Group 1 - The current consensus in the market is to combat "involutionary" competition through legal and market measures, stabilizing market prices and promoting the orderly exit of backward production capacity [1] - The complex causes of "involutionary" competition include local governments using industrial policies for inter-regional capacity investment competition, leading to overcapacity and price competition in related industries [1] - The shift to high-quality development emphasizes the importance of the real economy, with a focus on developing emerging industries and promoting the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing [1] Group 2 - Industrial policies and competition policies have coexisted in China, with industrial policies being necessary for promoting technological innovation and industrial upgrading, but they should be based on competitive policies [2] - The experience of Japan suggests that an overemphasis on industrial policies can lead to low growth, highlighting the need for a balance between industrial and competition policies during different growth phases [2] - During the high-quality development phase, the main drivers of economic growth are innovation and the market's ability to shift resources from low productivity to high productivity sectors [3] Group 3 - The need for a coordinated approach between industrial policies and macroeconomic policies is crucial to avoid asset bubbles and ensure effective resource allocation [3] - When industrial policies are misused by local governments for quantity-based expansion, it can lead to "involutionary" competition, reducing corporate profits and hindering innovation investment [3] - Establishing a unified national market is essential for ensuring fair competition and effective resource allocation [4] Group 4 - There is an urgent need to establish a system and institutional guarantees for achieving high-quality development, with central government-led industrial policies to promote innovation and industrial upgrading [4] - A well-coordinated relationship between industrial and competition policies is necessary to prevent local governments from undermining fair competition rules [4] - Improving the assessment systems for high-quality development and local government performance can help avoid the distortion of industrial policies into tools for regional competition [4]

Core Insights - The country has reached a stage of large-scale production of new quality productivity, but the relevant mechanisms have not fully adapted [1] - The "new three drivers" of economic growth, namely basic research, application technology transformation, and financial services, must work in synergy to avoid being trapped in the "middle-income trap" [2] Group 1: New Three Drivers - Basic research is primarily conducted by universities and research institutions, while application technology transformation is mainly the responsibility of high-quality manufacturing enterprises [1][2] - Financial services are crucial for application technology transformation, but there is a lack of long-cycle venture capital systems to support high-risk technology transformation [2] Group 2: Industry Policy and Regulation - Industry policy should focus on creating new productivity and upgrading traditional industries through new technologies [2] - There is a need for appropriate relaxation of regulations on innovation exploration and technology implementation to foster a better business environment [3] Group 3: Role of SMEs - Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable to challenges posed by a complex international economic environment, but their resilience and flexibility should not be underestimated [3][4] - The government should emphasize the importance of SMEs, especially specialized and innovative enterprises, and consider a "small first, large later" approach in resource allocation [3] Group 4: Global Expansion - The trend of enterprises "going out" should focus on high-quality, innovative products rather than competing in low-end markets [4] - State-owned enterprises and private enterprises should have clear divisions of labor in international expansion, with state-owned enterprises handling large-scale infrastructure and private enterprises focusing on integrating into local societies [4]