NEWS

On the winter solstice, the sun is born, and the year returns to its rhythm. At this beautiful moment of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, we solemnly hold the "2024 Annual Work Summary and Advanced Commendation Conference of Juxian Graphite". The purpose is to summarize experiences, strive for excellence, and to commend the advanced and encourage hard work. Here, on behalf of the leadership team of Juxian Graphite Group and its subsidiaries, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the employees and their families who are working hard in various positions, and to the leaders, cooperative units, and people from all walks of life who care for, support, and help the development of the group. I extend my sincere greetings!

In 2024, we will continue to strive and forge ahead. We have experienced the baptism of wind and rain, overcome numerous difficulties, and achieved certain results. We must remember the various challenges of 2024 and be filled with firm confidence for 2025.

This year, our steps have been very steady. The key raw materials for carbon are high, and the operating rate of downstream steel mills is only two-thirds. Although the carbon market has basically maintained a balance between production and sales, the low-price bidding for products remains extremely harsh. Coupled with the anti-dumping sanctions from Europe, America, and Japan against China, it undoubtedly adds to the difficulties, creating significant resistance to the group's operational development and bringing challenging market challenges. In the face of the increasingly severe market situation, I would first like to thank the shareholders of the group for their trust and strong support for Juxian Graphite. Secondly, I would like to thank the leadership teams of the group's subsidiaries for adhering to the corporate philosophy of "working hand in hand to advance into the new era and leading the dream of a strong carbon nation" in this extremely harsh environment, promoting the corporate spirit of "unity, trust, innovation, and win-win", and leading all employees to work diligently and practically to achieve the stable operation of the group's business development.

This year, our steps have been very determined. We lead with technology, have accurate positioning, innovate, and take practical measures. Without crossing industries, we actively stabilize, strengthen, supplement, and extend the supply chain. We have successively established the group company through Juxian, Nuo Jin, San Xian, and He Xin. Through strategic integration and reorganization, the project construction of each subsidiary is changing with each passing day, and the business development is thriving. The main equipment installation of the calcination workshop of the Juxian forming branch has been completed; the high-rise part of the forming workshop has been successfully capped, and the assembly of the 52MN extrusion machine has been successful; the carbon block workshop of the machining branch has officially started operation, and the rooftop photovoltaic system of the machining workshop has been connected to the grid for power generation; the No. 1 graphitization workshop of Nuo Jin has officially started production, and the main masonry of the No. 2 graphitization workshop has been completed; the production and operation of San Xian and He Xin have made steady progress. The new development pattern of the group company is accelerating its construction, and high-quality development is being deeply implemented. Our "production industry chain with an annual output of 50,000 tons of carbon products" is progressing day by day.

This year, our steps have been very solid. We focus on maximizing corporate interests and maximizing employee happiness. Through group management, we work together and strive for excellence. We have completed loan matters with banks such as Pudong Development Bank and Jinshang Bank, and we are promoting the flow of production processes with measures, goals, and plans. We are advancing engineering project construction with plans, progress, and milestones; we have established a centralized procurement e-commerce center to achieve centralized procurement, correct price deviations, reduce material costs, and avoid capital waste; we have promoted a process-oriented, standardized, and refined management mechanism to enhance product quality and increase output at various production processes. Notably, the No. 1 graphitization workshop of Nuo Jin has increased its monthly output from 1,200 tons to 2,500 tons; we have optimized the marketing strategy for high-end products in the domestic and international markets to achieve production based on sales and precise service, promoting quality enhancement, distinctive improvement, and business expansion. These achievements embody the hard work and sweat of the Juxian people and demonstrate their extraordinary style and strength.

This year, our steps have been very firm. We adhere to the development concept of "being the world's leading manufacturer of carbon products", focusing on management, standards, processes, and innovation. We have applied for and passed four invention patents, including "an automatic marking device and marking method for graphite electrodes"; participated in the revision of four national standards, three industry standards, and two group standards, including "the method for determining the elastic modulus of carbon materials"; formulated 71 corporate standards, including production processes, product quality, testing and inspection, and equipment regulations; improved the "Employee Management System Manual", "Employee Job Instruction Manual", and "2025 Production and Operation Outline"; and successfully verified with Sinopec that Jinling needle coke can "produce Φ600mm ultra-high power graphite electrodes". Over the years, the series of new concepts, new ideas, new strategies, and new goals we have proposed, the series of corporate standards, regulations, management methods, and codes of conduct we have issued, and the series of major measures and significant work we have promoted are all about "managing people with systems, managing hearts with culture, managing affairs with processes, and doing things with standards", and "solving every problem, doing every task well, seeking benefits for employees, and seeking development for enterprises".

This year, our steps have been very vibrant. The group company interprets great love for the enterprise with the highest priority on employee belonging and happiness. All employees have written an epic of operation with unity and perseverance. Over the past year, from the market to the enterprise, from the enterprise to the employees, and from the employees to their families, we have all shown tenacity and shared responsibility during difficult times. The hardworking figures in the furnace, the diligent lifting operations, the dedicated service to steel mills, and the continuous construction scenes... We are connected at heart and work together, having walked through seven springs and autumns without leaving each other. Along the way, we have weathered storms and overcome obstacles, creating one miracle after another. It is our courage to innovate, our boldness to take the lead, and our vigorous spirit that have pushed our great cause forward step by step. Every ordinary Juxian person has made an extraordinary contribution, and our ordinary Juxian heroes are always our greatest reliance in overcoming all difficulties and challenges.

Comrades, "The material resources possessed by humanity are limited. One day, non-renewable resources such as coal, natural gas, oil, and iron ore will be exhausted, but only culture can be everlasting, and only knowledge can be passed on." All high-value products, first-class technologies, and well-known brands are created by human wisdom. We have no natural environment to rely on, nor do we have natural resources to depend on. Only by digging out new renewable resources from the minds of Juxian people... can we ensure continuity and sustainability. Today, we commend the advanced collectives and individuals that emerged in 2024 to promote the loyalty, nobility, persistence, and simplicity they embody. The achievements of the group today are due to your innovative spirit and hard work. It is precisely because you have applied your professional knowledge and solid skills in your respective ordinary positions, continuously advancing management innovation, standard innovation, process innovation, technology innovation, and service innovation... that extraordinary achievements have been created. Here, I would like to express my highest gratitude to every manager, every technician, every builder, and every participant: "Thank you, you have worked hard!"

The long river of history flows endlessly, with both calm and stormy waves. On the road ahead, there is still room for improvement in the quality of our products; the existing process capacity has not yet been fully released; marketing efforts should be further optimized and expanded; investment in engineering projects needs to be accelerated; procurement costs still need to be deeply explored for potential; the performance of standard processes still requires innovative implementation. Solving these challenges is our inexhaustible motivation for achieving high-quality development in the new era. There is still much for us to do, and we cannot stop our efforts to run forward, nor can we change our unwavering pursuit of dreams.

Currently, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is developing rapidly, with new technologies such as artificial intelligence emerging. We should grasp the trend of digitalization, networking, and intelligence, take innovation as the primary driving force, safety as the bottom line requirement, and quality as the pursuit of the enterprise. We should actively explore a cooperative development path that suits our actual situation, timely grasp market dynamics, adjust production and operation structures as needed, and achieve the established goals of 20,000 tons of finished product sales, 310 million yuan in sales revenue, 160 million yuan in processing income, and zero safety accidents by 2025 through sincere cooperation with upstream and downstream customers.

Though the road is long, we will reach it by walking; though the task is difficult, we will succeed by doing. Our grand goal of fully establishing a "10,000-ton annual production carbon product production industry chain" through digitalization, networking, and intelligence will not change. Our confidence in "seeking benefits for employees, quality for customers, and development for enterprises" and our determination to "become the most competitive large carbon material enterprise in the world" will not change. We will work diligently, be practical and innovative, unite our efforts, and strive for excellence, hand in hand, to build a more prosperous and beautiful graphite industry.

Finally, I wish this conference great success. Let us embrace the beautiful vision of the future and welcome the first ray of sunshine in 2025 together.

I wish all colleagues warmth throughout the seasons and smooth health! Thank you all!