In "The Big Banks," Citigroup: A new driving force has emerged in the mainland industrial sector, with JSHL and other stocks as top picks

According to the report from Citigroup, under the background of the continuous promotion of anti-involution policies and the reversal of deflationary headwinds, three key driving forces are emerging in China's industrial sector, including rising demand for mining equipment, the maturity of the humanoid robot supply chain, and the consolidation of the express delivery industry.

In terms of core business, the bank expects the equipment replacement cycle to continue, coupled with record-high investments in the power grid and renewable energy, which will drive excavator sales growth of about 10%. The overseas factories of first-tier suppliers are ready and will start mass production of humanoid robots in the second half of the year; meanwhile, driven by strong performance and rising prices in the lithium-related fields, automation demand is expected to recover by about 5% year-on-year.

The bank prefers companies with stable or recovering core businesses that can benefit from emerging driving forces, with top picks being JSHL (601100.SH), SANY Heavy Industry (600031.SH), SANY International (00631.HK), and ZEEKR (01519.HK). Among them, JSHL is rated as "highly confident to outperform the market," while the other stocks are rated as "outperform the market."