Group 1 - The core viewpoint of the report is that China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) is rated as a "buy" due to several positive factors impacting its performance [2] Group 2 - The company's performance in the first half of the year was under pressure due to reduced inventory profits and weak supply-demand dynamics [2] - Continuous progress in upstream reserve and production increases has led to record high oil and gas equivalent production for the same period [2] - The refining segment is actively reducing costs, and the sales of chemical products are showing continuous improvement [2] - The arrival of a stock competition era is expected to benefit leading petrochemical companies in the long term [2]