The conference specially invited Chen Kuncai, Managing Director of the Global Macro Strategy Office of Noah Holdings, to share with us the topic of "Grasping Small Opportunities and Paying Attention to Major Trends" and explore the future development trend of the construction economy. He stated that looking back at 2023, China's development is facing a complex situation, with an increasing number of unfavorable factors in the international political and economic environment, and domestic cyclical and structural contradictions overlapping. How to grasp small opportunities and capture major trends in 2024 is a topic worth exploring.

Since the 1990s, the bursting of the asset foam led to a balance sheet recession in Japan's economic growth. In the 30 years of Japan's "loss", many enterprises have still survived and developed. The result of large-scale enterprises going to sea is that Japan's total overseas assets exceed twice its GDP, which is worthy of reference for Chinese entrepreneurs.

2023 is often referred to as the "Year of AI" by many, as the innovation and application of AI technology are sweeping the globe by leaps and bounds. A new technological revolution is taking place, which will comprehensively affect intellectual work centered on education, science, and culture, and completely change the knowledge ecosystem. Chinese enterprises actively participate in AI and urgently need to commercialize the technology and integrate it into To-C scenarios. Doing a good job in application development should be a great opportunity.

Tonight is also the award ceremony for the 10th North Star Architecture Awards. The North Star Architecture Award is a public welfare award launched in 2014. The award judging panel is composed of authoritative representatives from various fields of the construction industry, using "new buildings, new products, and new technologies" as the evaluation criteria to select the most innovative and practical new building products of the year. Only new products launched that year are eligible to participate in the selection. It can be said to be one of the most influential technological innovation awards in the Chinese construction industry. It is also known as the "Nobel Prize" of China's construction industry. The award-winning products fully demonstrate the latest innovative achievements in the industry and serve as a benchmark for leading the innovation and development of the industry.

The selection of this year's North Star Architecture Award was carried out by a team of expert judges over a period of 6 months, who rigorously selected 55 new products for 2023-2024 from 234 new products. Shibo Group's refined stainless steel profiles stand out among numerous products and have won the North Star Architecture Award of this year. On behalf of our group's South China branch, Kong Dexiang, received the award on stage.

This award is also the third time that Shibo Group has received this honor. The selected refined stainless steel is Shibo's innovative masterpiece of 2023. Its node texture is delicate, with smooth lines of conventional and irregular nodes, smooth surfaces, sharp edges, and excessively smooth welds, which can perfectly showcase the beauty and atmosphere of architecture.

This series of products is the result of in-depth research and improvement of stainless steel by the R&D department of Shibo Technology, with a focus on optimizing the processing accuracy and surface treatment of raw materials. Make it have a beautiful and slender visual appearance while meeting the stress requirements of large-span curtain walls. Its node designs are diverse and can be customized according to design requirements. Surface treatment processes include apple cider sand, mirror finish, wire drawing, titanium plating, etc. Various color effects can be created according to customer needs. Moreover, refined stainless steel is more corrosion-resistant, less prone to fading, and has lower maintenance costs in the later stage. It can effectively solve the problem of anti-corrosion design for curtain walls in coastal cities, and is more suitable for salt alkali and humid environments, providing long-lasting and reliable structural support for buildings.