The first half of this year presented both strategic opportunities and a confluence of risks and challenges. "Involutionary" competition intensified, the "dual circulation" pattern accelerated its formation, and the momentum of transformation in both old and new industries underwent a profound shift. Faced with these turbulent waters, how can we navigate successfully? After the first half of the race, how can we win the second half? How can we achieve high marks on the "final exam" of the 14th Five-Year Plan? Zhenshi, through a meeting focused on "challenges, confidence, and development," once again boosted development confidence and clarified the direction forward.

"In the face of difficulties and challenges, we must firmly hold onto our goals, strive for innovation, excellence, strength, and scale!" At the Zhenshi Holding Group's 2025 mid-year work meeting held on July 15th, Zhang Yuqiang, Party Secretary and Chairman of the Board of Directors, emphasized, "Difficulties will certainly arise, but solutions will always exist; solutions always outnumber difficulties. Let us work together, believing that these are difficulties encountered during progress and development. Remember, the main trend is progress and development; overcoming difficulties is success."

"Striving for innovation, excellence" means combining it with the company's actual situation, accelerating innovation and transformation. Persisting in increasing R&D investment is both a strategic determination and a long-term approach. We must proactively break through, rely on differentiated competition, reduce costs, and use innovation to win the future. Proactiveness is the most effective way to deal with passivity. We must focus on "how to do it" and use systems thinking to promote structural optimization, asset improvement, and increased efficiency in various sectors, comprehensively improving asset quality and operational efficiency, strengthening the ability to allocate resources internally and externally, and finding ways to use innovative thinking to turn "impossibilities into possibilities," driving the group to achieve high-quality development, high-level improvement, and high-speed growth.

"Striving for strength and scale" means being full of confidence, pursuing pragmatic development, and achieving goals. In recent years, the group has developed rapidly, with significant investment and numerous projects, strengthening its development momentum. Leading enterprises should continue to leverage their advantages, make greater contributions, and shoulder more responsibilities. All industrial sectors should seize opportunities, take the initiative, and develop advanced productive forces in a way that suits local conditions, truly achieving enterprise reconstruction, product reconstruction, and efficiency reconstruction, and comprehensively improving contribution. We should seize the initiative in project construction, operation, and investment attraction, prepare for the market, and strive for early results. We must identify the direction and goals, move forward unswervingly, and achieve a leap in asset scale and industrial structure while adhering to diversified development.

"The more difficult the times, the more we must see every hope, seize every opportunity, do every little thing well, and achieve every goal. In the second half of the year, we must focus on target tasks, strive to complete the annual budget, successfully conclude the 14th Five-Year Plan, lay a solid foundation for the 15th Five-Year Plan, and lay a solid foundation for Zhenshi's centenary!" The call emphasized in the work report by Zhang Jiankan, President of the Group, is precisely the confidence and determination of Zhenshi's people to navigate the turbulent waters.

Project construction is a new engine. "In the future, our hot-rolled coils can be as thin as less than 2 millimeters, creating the world's thinnest hot-rolled strip, with emission standards reaching the best in the industry, and promoting the transformation of Jiaxing's stainless steel industry towards high-end." Shen Jiankang, general manager of Dongfang Special Steel, said that the green high-end nickel-chromium new material intelligent manufacturing project is accelerating, and the first berth has been put into use. At the same time, the "Tongxiang's tallest building," Zhenshi Plaza, on the banks of Phoenix Lake, is installing glass curtain walls at a speed of two floors every three days, and is expected to be completed in September.

Park investment attraction is a new highlight. "Focusing on breakthroughs in investment attraction, focusing on the park's carrying capacity, focusing on external coordination and compliance, and focusing on the coordination of resources and logistics." When talking about the work direction of Huobao Industrial Park in the second half of the year, Cai Zhengyang, the park's executive general manager, used four "focuses," emphasizing the need to maintain proactiveness in investment attraction, further deepen industrial park supporting facilities, and improve comprehensive service capabilities. Taking the park's wharf as an example, the unloading capacity can reach up to 120,000 tons/day, and the loading and unloading efficiency far exceeds that of similar parks in Indonesia.

Innovation and creation have yielded new results. "Accelerating the transformation of new products into products, assisting the transformation of products into commodities, and cultivating talent to enhance momentum." Zhang Yan, director of the group's subordinate research institute, said that the research institute will maintain confidence, meet challenges, continuously develop new products, and promote the integrated development of the industrial chain, talent chain, and innovation chain, laying a solid foundation for the group to explore new markets and develop new businesses.

There are new expectations for tertiary industry services. "We will build Zhenshi Garden into a new model of "good houses."" Yuan Hongtao, general manager of Jucheng Real Estate, said that Zhenshi Garden is about to open, and will strive to create a high-quality residential benchmark through innovative scheme optimization and refined management. In addition, the logistics sector is driving both domestic and international markets, and the "dual sea strategy" is continuing to deepen; the hotel sector will launch preparations for a new hotel, aiming to create a benchmark for luxury hotels in East China.

The journey is most challenging midstream and halfway up the mountain. But the more turbulent the waters, the more courage is shown in navigating them; the steeper the slope, the more progress is seen from those who strive. Let us move forward with greater confidence and more proactive actions, hand in a high-scoring answer sheet at the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, build momentum for the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and forge ahead towards the vast ocean of Zhenshi's centenary!