Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

大家好，我是主持人李莹亮。

Coming up on today’s program.

重点提要 

• Rare-earth index hit a record high on Tuesday, driven by robust market demand and reduced imports;

• China plans to build four national computing hubs to boost digital capacity.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours 

中国经济要闻

The price of rare earths hit a record high this week as demand has outpaced supply in China, the world’s top producer of the elements crucial to many cutting-edge products.

The rare-earth index rocketed 99 percent from about this time last year to reach 426.8 on Tuesday, before edging down 0.9 points on Wednesday. The index, published by the Association of China Rare Earth Industry, measures the prices in China of 21 rare earth oxides and combination products.

Prices have risen due to a supply-demand imbalance. Upstream raw materials and recycled waste are both in short supply, mainly due to factors such as environmental protection requirements and policy control of strategic resources, analyst said.

Reduced imports are also supporting prices, as it will take time to stabilize output from Myanmar, an important source of these materials, and supplies will remain tight, according to China International Capital Corp.

High prices also reflect booming demand from downstream industries including new-energy vehicles (NEVs) and wind power, given strong government policy support and the country's move toward industry upgrades and green development.

In December, China formed the China Rare Earth Group, an industry conglomerate, by merging several key producers. The goal of the merger was to realize the complementary advantages of rare-earth resources, as well as the coordinated development of the sector and its downstream industries.

Rare-earth stocks continued to surge today, with China Baoan Group up 4.5 percent, China Northern Rare Earth up 4.2 percent, China Minmetals Rare Earth and Aluminum Corporation of China rising 2.8 and 2.3 percent, respectively. 

供需矛盾突出的背景之下，中国稀土价格再创新高。

中国稀土行业协会数据显示，2月15日，国内稀土价格指数为426.8，续创历史新高，较去年同期上涨超99%。2月16日，价格指数为425.9。

稀土价格高企的主要原因是供不应求。分析显示，当前上游稀土矿原料、再生废料供应十分紧张。这主要是受环保以及战略资源政策性管控等因素影响，国内稀土矿开采指标增量有限，较难匹配逐年扩大的稀土产品下游需求，分离冶炼企业更多地依赖进口稀土矿。

缅甸是中国重要的稀土矿来源国，占比约10%。中金公司分析，尽管2021年末中缅封关政策松动，缅甸矿逐渐进入中国，但稳定产出仍需时间，稀土供应端将持续偏紧。

需求端方面，分析认为，春节节后风力发电机、新能源汽车等终端领域需求旺盛，订单增多，也使得稀土供不应求。

为实现稀土资源优势互补、稀土产业协同发展，去年12月，中铝集团、五矿集团和和赣州稀土集团旗下的稀土板块重组成立了新央企中国稀土集团。

A股稀土板块周三持续走强，英洛华、华阳新材等个股涨停。周四相关板块继续走高，中国宝安大涨4.5%，北方稀土涨4.2%，五矿稀土涨2.8%，中国铝业涨2.3%。

• China has approved plans to build four national integrated computing hubs to increase the nation's computing capacity and speed up the construction of new infrastructure, the country's top economic regulator said on Wednesday. The hubs will be built in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta region, the Chengdu-Chongqing city cluster and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. 

  四区域将建算力网络国家枢纽：16日消息，国家发改委、中央网信办、工信部能源局同意粤港澳大湾区、成渝地区、长三角地区、京津冀地区启动建设全国一体化算力网络国家枢纽节点。粤港澳大湾区枢纽要充分发挥本区域在市场、技术等方面的优势，发展高密度、高能效、低碳数据中心集群，扩展算力增长空间，实现大规模算力部署与土地等资源的协调可持续。

Update on COVID-19

疫情简报

• The Chinese mainland reported 35 domestic cases on Wednesday, among which 16 were in Jiangsu province, 7 in Liaoning and 7 in Guangdong. 

  2月16日，内地新增本土病例35例（江苏16例，均在苏州市；辽宁7例，均在葫芦岛市；广东7例，其中深圳市6例、广州市1例；内蒙古3例，均在呼和浩特市；广西1例，在百色市；云南1例，在德宏傣族景颇族自治州）。

Next on industry and company news

产经消息及公司新闻

• Shares in WuXi AppTec continued to gain 0.7 percent today after jumping 4.2 percent on Wednesday. The largest pharmaceutical research and development firm in China reported a 72 percent leap in net profit last year from the year before. Its profit in 2021 came in at 5.1 billion yuan and revenue jumped 38.5 percent to 23 billion yuan. 

  药明康德去年大赚51亿元：15日晚间，药明康德披露2021年业绩快报。2021年药明康德实现营业收入229.02亿元，同比增长38.5%；归属于上市公司股东的净利润为50.97亿元，同比增加72.19%。2月16日，药明康德A股股价开盘直线拉升，收涨4.16%，今天续涨0.69%。

• Dingdong Maicai’s net loss shrank 12 percent in the fourth quarter of last year from a year earlier. The net loss was 1.1 billion yuan, the Shanghai-based firm said in its latest earnings report released on Tuesday. And its revenue jumped 72 percent to 5.5 billion yuan. 

  叮咚买菜亏损收窄：15日晚间，叮咚买菜发布截至2021年12月31日的第四季度业绩报告。第四季度总收入从2020年同期的31.88亿元增至54.84亿元，同比增长72.0%。2021年营收为201.2亿元，同比增长77.5%。第四季度非美国通用会计准则净亏损为10.34亿元，2020年同期净亏损为12.39亿元。

• Medical device maker Meihua International priced its IPO at the mid-point of a marketed range, the first China-based company to sell shares in the US since last July after Didi Global’s IPO sparked a regulatory backlash. Meihua sold 3.6 million shares, fewer than it had originally proposed, for $10 each on Wednesday.

  美华国际在美上市：中国医疗设备商美华国际周三在美国挂牌，成为去年7月滴滴出行以来首家在美国上市的中国企业，股价最多升48%，收市升近三成。美华招股价为10美元，周三收市报12.92美元。根据其公布的流通股份数量，美华市值为3.05亿美元。美华原定发售500万股，每股作价介于9至11美元，最后落实发售股数为360万股，集资3600万美元。

• US coffee chain Starbucks plans to raise the prices of its coffee drinks and snacks in China by 1–2 yuan following similar hikes at its U.S. stores, report said on Wednesday. The company plans to increase prices several times in 2022, citing inflation, supply chain disruptions and rising labor costs, Starbucks said earlier this month. 

  星巴克4个月内再提价：16日，星巴克因“涨价”登上微博热搜，包括美式咖啡、拿铁咖啡在内的不少产品售价均较此前有1-2元的提价，这已是其4个月内第二次提价。对此，星巴克客服表示，涨价原因是公司对运营成本等多方面因素进行综合评估和考量后决定的。此前，星巴克CEO凯文·约翰逊还表示，预计未来几个月还将继续涨价。

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

最后来看股市收盘情况

• Chinese stocks finished higher for three consecutive days as lithium battery stocks recovered. The benchmark Shanghai Composite inched up 0.06 percent and the Shenzhen Component gained 0.35 percent. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.3 percent as the tech stocks rallied. 

  周四A股震荡上行，集体收涨，三大指数连涨三个交易日。沪指微涨0.06%，深成指涨0.35%。锂电池为首的赛道迎来反弹。港股恒生指数涨0.3%，科技指数涨0.82%。

Biz Word of the Day

财经词汇划重点

• The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or rare-earth oxides, are a set of 17 nearly-indistinguishable lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals. There are 250 kinds of rare earth in nature.

  稀土是元素周期表中的镧系元素和钪、钇共十七种金属元素的总称。自然界中有250种稀土矿。

（欢迎大家提供意见和反馈，请联系主播李莹亮：liyl@21jingji.com）

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI, ZHANG Ran, WEN Sixian

Producer: XIANG Xiufang

Sound Editor: WEN Sixian

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Wanni

Co-produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News & SFC Audio/Video Dept.

Presented by SFC

编委:  于晓娜

策划、编辑：李艳霞 

播音：李莹亮

撰稿：李莹亮、张然、温思娴

监制：向秀芳 

音频制作：温思娴 

设计：郑文静、廖苑妮

21世纪经济报道海外部 南财音视频部  联合制作

南方财经全媒体集团  出品