Group 1: Report Overview - The report is a fixed - income research report released on September 3, 2025, written by analysts Liang Weichao and Li Shukai [1][2][6] Group 2: August Credit Bond Market Review - In August, the credit bond market was mainly in adjustment, with overall larger declines than interest rates, showing differentiation in duration and variety liquidity. The market can be divided into two stages: a sharp decline from late July to early August followed by a recovery, but continuous adjustment from the second week of August due to the stock - bond seesaw effect [2][11] - Ultra - long - term credit bonds performed the weakest in August, with most declines exceeding those of the same - term interest - rate bonds. Among them, ultra - long secondary and perpetual bonds with better liquidity had the lowest declines, while ultra - long urban investment bonds with the worst liquidity had larger declines [2][12] - From the perspective of curve shape, the steepness of the 1 - 2 - year and 2 - 3 - year periods for all ratings is high. After the major adjustment in August, the yield curve is steeper, with room to flatten the curve. For example, for AA+ medium - term notes, the slopes of the 1 - 2 - year, 2 - 3 - year, and 3 - 5 - year intervals are 0.1302, 0.099, and 0.0900 respectively; for AA urban investment bonds, they are 0.1497, 0.1313, and 0.1205 respectively [3][15] - The performance of different credit strategies in August varied. Only the short - duration weak - asset sinking strategy was relatively successful, while the ultra - long - term credit strategy performed the worst [14] - The secondary and perpetual bond market also weakened in August, but the decline was not significantly higher than that of general credit bonds, and the characteristic of being a volatility amplifier was not prominent. The 2 - 4 - year part of the curve is steeper, and the yields of 4 - year and above parts have exceeded the previous high in late July [3][20][21] Group 3: Institutional Behavior in August - In August, the overall buying of credit bonds by major buyers was weaker than last year. Bank wealth management and insurance had relatively larger allocation efforts. Bank wealth management and other products had a net secondary purchase of about 180 billion yuan of credit bonds, and insurance had a net purchase of 56.2 billion yuan. Public funds were net sellers [4][23] Group 4: Credit Bond ETF Performance in August - Since August, credit bond ETF products have not performed well, with weak scale growth and net - value performance. The second batch of science and technology innovation ETFs may bring marginal benefits to the market [4][25] Group 5: Outlook for September - In September, credit bonds have certain investment value after continuous market adjustments. The sinking strategy has opened up bond - selection space, with about 43% of public credit bonds having a valuation above 2.0%. Representative issuers include Xi'an High - tech, Tianjin Urban Construction, and Hebei Iron and Steel Group [4][26] - From the riding strategy perspective, 2 - 3 - year general credit bonds and 3 - 4 - year secondary and perpetual bonds have good opportunities. For the ultra - long - term strategy, caution is still recommended as the ultra - long - term bonds have had high declines since August and it is hard to say they have stabilized. Allocation investors with matched liability ends can consider entering the market, while it is not a good time for trading investors due to high liquidity risks [4][26]

Group 1 - The simulated portfolio's returns have declined this week, with credit style portfolios experiencing smaller drawdowns compared to interest rate style portfolios. The weekly returns for the industrial ultra-long and municipal short-end sinking strategies were -0.1% and -0.13% respectively [2][14] - In the credit style portfolio, the industrial ultra-long and broker debt sinking strategies were among the few that still had positive returns, recording 0.1% and 0.03% respectively [2][15] - The average weekly return for the credit style time deposit heavy combination fell to -0.01%, with a controllable decline compared to the previous week. The short-duration combinations demonstrated strong volatility resistance [2][17] Group 2 - The coupon income from municipal heavy strategies has dropped to a low point, making it difficult to cover weekly capital gains losses. Most municipal heavy combinations have seen their annualized coupon income fall below 1.9% [3][24] - The coupon contributions from the credit style combinations have generally turned negative, particularly for the municipal dumbbell and secondary debt duration strategies, which fell into the -35% to -30% range [3][24] Group 3 - In the past four weeks, broker debt strategies have gained favor, with cumulative excess returns for broker debt duration, municipal dumbbell, and broker debt sinking strategies at 18.5bp, 15.6bp, and 12.4bp respectively [4][28] - The broker debt duration strategy has achieved a cumulative return of 1.92% since the second quarter, ranking just below the municipal dumbbell strategy, which is around 1.98% [4][28] - Short-duration strategies have outperformed the mid-to-long-term benchmarks, with the municipal short-end sinking strategy exceeding the mid-to-long-term benchmark by the largest margin since May [4][30]

Group 1: Portfolio Strategy Performance Tracking - The simulated portfolio returns have rebounded, with significant increases in credit positions. The industrial ultra-long and secondary ultra-long strategy combinations in the interest rate style portfolio both recorded returns around 0.15% [2][14] - In the credit style portfolio, the industrial ultra-long and secondary ultra-long strategy combinations achieved returns of 0.41% each, leading the performance [2][15] - The weekly average return of the credit style time deposit heavy combination rose to 0.14%, an increase of 9.3 basis points compared to the previous week, while the city investment heavy combination's average weekly return increased to 0.23%, up over 20 basis points from last week [2][18] Group 2: Sources of Returns - The interest income from various strategy combinations has slightly rebounded, with most strategies showing an increase in interest income. The city investment short-end sinking and secondary debt sinking strategies saw interest income increases of approximately 0.04 basis points [3][27] - The annualized interest income for most combinations remains below 2%, except for the city investment short-end sinking and barbell combinations, which are still above 1.95% [3][27] - The contribution of interest income in credit style combinations generally falls within the range of 10% to 25%, with capital gains being the primary source of returns, particularly for the city investment bullet-type and secondary debt duration combinations, where interest contributions dropped to around 13% [3][27] Group 3: Credit Strategy Excess Return Tracking - Over the past four weeks, the cumulative excess return difference between duration strategies and sinking strategies has widened. The cumulative excess returns for city investment barbell, city investment duration, and broker debt duration strategy combinations were 33.6 basis points, 7.4 basis points, and 5.8 basis points, respectively [4][31] - The excess returns for short-end strategies have decreased, with the time deposit strategy dropping to around -1.6 basis points, while the city investment sinking strategy slightly surpassed the benchmark [4][34] - The excess returns for ultra-long strategies have rebounded to levels seen in early June, with the secondary ultra-long strategy combination's excess return rising to over 17 basis points this week, contrasting with the negative readings from the previous three weeks [4][34]

Group 1 - The report indicates that in the first half of 2025, the market saw an increase in government bond yields, while credit bond yields fluctuated, leading to a compression of credit spreads, particularly in lower-rated bonds [2][8][11] - The overall strategy for credit bonds in the second half of 2025 suggests that yields may follow government bonds downward, but supply could increase while demand weakens, posing a risk of widening credit spreads [2][30][35] - The report recommends focusing on city investment bonds with weakening supply, followed by financial bonds, as potential investment opportunities [2][30][39] Group 2 - For city investment bonds, the report highlights opportunities for spread compression in high-quality regional bonds, supported by policies aimed at alleviating credit risks [3][43][54] - In the industrial bond sector, the report suggests monitoring the recovery of spreads following the resolution of risk events related to state-owned enterprise bonds, as well as opportunities arising from debt collection policies [3][58][63] - The financial bond segment is expected to see a decrease in supply pressure for perpetual bonds, particularly due to the consolidation of rural commercial banks, which may present structural opportunities [3][67][76] Group 3 - The report notes that the supply of credit bonds is expected to increase in the second half of 2025, with government bond net financing projected to be lower than the previous year, while industrial bonds may see a rise in supply [30][32][35] - Demand for credit bonds may weaken, leading to a potential widening of credit spreads, as the report anticipates a decrease in the attractiveness of bank deposits compared to bonds [33][35][36] - Historical data suggests that during periods of widening credit spreads, extending duration and focusing on lower-rated bonds have been effective strategies [36][37][39] Group 4 - The report emphasizes that the city investment bond market is under strict regulatory scrutiny, particularly for lower-rated bonds, which may limit their issuance [54][57] - The industrial bond sector is expected to benefit from government policies aimed at supporting state-owned enterprises, particularly in real estate and construction [63][66] - The financial bond market is likely to experience a shift towards stronger credit profiles, especially in regions undergoing consolidation of rural commercial banks [72][76]

Group 1: Macroeconomic Overview - Shanghai will implement eight financial opening measures to enhance cross-border trade and investment facilitation [12] - In May 2025, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 4.1 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.4%, with a month-on-month acceleration of 1.3 percentage points [12] - From January to May, national fixed asset investment (excluding rural households) was 19.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%, with a slowdown of 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous four months [12] Group 2: Consumer and Production Trends - The passenger car market continues to show high growth, with average daily retail and wholesale numbers increasing by 22.7% and 38.0% year-on-year, respectively [17][19] - The film market saw a decline in box office revenue, with a year-on-year decrease of 9.5% as of June 20 [19] - The construction chain shows insufficient recovery momentum, with the total transaction area of commercial housing in 30 cities down by 4.4% year-on-year, although the number of transactions increased by 12.8% [18][61] Group 3: Commodity Prices - Agricultural product prices are under pressure, with the average wholesale price of pork down by 17.8% year-on-year, while the average price of six key fruits increased by 7.0% [77][79] - Industrial products generally declined, with the average price of thermal coal down by 29.9% year-on-year, and the average price of rebar down by 13.1% [85][87] Group 4: Bond Market and Institutional Behavior - As of June 20, the yields on 1-year, 5-year, 10-year, and 30-year government bonds were 1.36%, 1.50%, 1.64%, and 1.84%, respectively, showing a decline compared to June 13 [100] - The average duration of long-term bond funds has risen to approximately 5.0 years, reflecting a shift in institutional strategies towards long-duration investments [110][115] - The average duration of credit bond funds remains stable at around 2.3 years, indicating a focus on structural opportunities as credit spreads compress [111][115]

Group 1 - The report indicates that the simulated portfolio performance remains mixed, with most strategies showing reduced returns except for some credit style portfolios. The city investment long-term and secondary long-term strategies achieved returns of 0.2% and 0.15% respectively [2][14] - In terms of heavy-weighted bond types, credit bond-heavy strategies generally outperformed interest rate bond-heavy portfolios. The average weekly return for credit style time deposit-heavy strategies decreased by 0.7 basis points, while the city investment heavy-weighted portfolio's average weekly return fell to 0.15%, a decline of 4.3 basis points from the previous week [2][18] - The cumulative investment returns for the city investment dumbbell strategy were -0.12% in Q1 and 1.85% in Q2 to date, indicating it is one of the more balanced strategies this year [2][18] Group 2 - The report highlights that the cumulative excess returns for duration strategies have outperformed sinking strategies over the past four weeks. The cumulative excess returns for the city investment dumbbell, broker debt duration, and city investment duration strategies were 45.7 basis points, 17.3 basis points, and 11.5 basis points respectively [4][30] - The report notes that the sinking strategies generally underperformed compared to duration strategies in the past month, with financial bond-heavy portfolios lacking aggressive attributes [4][30] - The report also states that the excess returns for short-end strategies are lacking, with the city investment sinking strategy's excess return significantly narrowing, and the time deposit strategy's return deviating from the benchmark by only 1 basis point [4][30]

Core Insights - The report suggests that credit spreads may widen in the second quarter of 2025, while extending duration remains a favorable strategy [3][26] - The overall strategy for credit bonds indicates a potential decline in yields following government bonds, but increased supply and weakened demand may lead to passive widening of credit spreads [3][26] Market Review - Since the beginning of 2025, credit bond rates have generally increased, but the rise is less than that of government bonds, resulting in a compression of credit spreads, particularly in lower-rated bonds [5][8] - The first quarter of 2025 saw a significant increase in net financing of government bonds compared to credit bonds, with the latter remaining relatively stable [14][25] Sector Strategies City Investment Bonds - Focus on opportunities for spread compression in high-quality city investment bonds from good regions, as policies are favorable for mitigating credit risks [3][51] - The new regulations from the exchange may lead to a decrease in supply of lower-rated city investment bonds, while good regional city investment bonds may see a more significant decline in supply [3][50] Industrial Bonds - Attention is drawn to the opportunities in state-owned real estate and construction bonds due to debt resolution policies, which are expected to accelerate cash flow for state-owned enterprises [3][61] - The report highlights that the safety of state-owned enterprise bonds is assured under supportive policies [3][55] Financial Bonds - The report emphasizes the potential for overall opportunities in financial bonds due to reduced supply pressure from perpetual bonds and the consolidation of rural commercial banks [3][70] - The ongoing reforms in rural commercial banks are expected to lower credit risks associated with financial bonds [3][73]