The scale of dividends has reached a new high, the pace of dividends has been continuously optimized, and large dividends from listed companies have become frequent... In 2024, with the implementation of the new "National Nine Measures" (Several Opinions on Strengthening Supervision and Preventing Risks to Promote High quality Development of the Capital Market) and the new dividend regulations, cash dividends from A-share listed companies have shown positive changes. The new dividend ecosystem is gradually taking shape. 2024 is the "dividend year" for A-shares, with significant improvements in the number, frequency, and scale of dividends compared to previous years. The total amount of cash dividends from 3755 Shanghai and Shenzhen listed companies is about 2.4 trillion yuan, and the dividend scale has reached a new high; Two listed companies have dividend amounts exceeding 100 billion yuan, and over 30 companies have dividend amounts exceeding 10 billion yuan; The proportion of cash dividends continues to increase, with the dividend amount for the 2023 fiscal year accounting for 42.5% of the year's net profit, a year-on-year increase of 1.62 percentage points... The rising numbers reflect the gradual formation of a new dividend ecosystem in the current A-share market. Specifically, mature companies have higher dividend amounts. Taking the Shenzhen Stock Exchange as an example, since the release of the new "National Nine Measures", the main board companies of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange have implemented a total of 405.9 billion yuan in cash dividends, a year-on-year increase of 30%. The main board companies account for about 54% of the overall market share in Shenzhen, while the total dividend payout accounts for 80%. From the release of medium and long-term dividend plans by Shanghai listed companies, there are 360, 353, and 387 companies respectively that have released their shareholder return plans for the next three years from 2022 to 2024, further forming a normalized cash dividend mechanism for listed companies. Tian Lihui, Dean of the Institute of Financial Development at Nankai University, stated that dividends can help companies optimize their capital structure, improve the efficiency of fund utilization, and promote stable and healthy market development. At the same time, dividends from listed companies can send a signal to the market that the company's financial condition is good, which helps to enhance investor confidence. The effect of the new "National Nine Measures" policy highlights that cash dividends for listed companies are one of the fundamental systems in the capital market, and also an important manifestation of protecting investor rights and strengthening shareholder returns. Since 2024, the policy level has continuously improved the incentive and restraint mechanism for dividends of listed companies. The new "National Nine Articles" issued in April 2024 explicitly strengthen the supervision of cash dividends for listed companies. For companies that have not received dividends for many years or have a low dividend ratio, restrictions will be imposed on major shareholders to reduce their holdings and risk warnings will be implemented. Intensify incentives for high-quality dividend companies and take multiple measures to promote the increase of dividend yields. Enhance the stability, sustainability, and predictability of dividends, promote multiple dividends per year, pre dividends, and dividends before the Spring Festival. Since then, the policy support for dividends of listed companies has continued to upgrade. In November 2024, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the "Regulatory Guidelines for Listed Companies No. 10- Market Value Management", encouraging the board of directors to formulate and disclose medium - and long-term dividend plans based on the company's development stage and operating situation, increase dividend frequency, optimize dividend rhythm, reasonably increase dividend rate, and enhance investors' sense of gain; In December, China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited announced that starting from January 1, 2025, it will implement a preferential measure of halving the handling fees for A-share dividends in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets. Under the support and promotion of policies, the enthusiasm of listed companies to distribute dividends has significantly increased. Industry insiders say that a series of policies are conducive to promoting listed companies to return real money to shareholders on a stable and sustainable basis, effectively enhancing investors' sense of gain, and also helping to improve the company's market image and investment attractiveness. Listed companies are gradually increasing the frequency of dividends. In response to the new "National Nine point Plan" proposing "multiple dividends per year, pre dividends, and dividends before the Spring Festival", listed companies are actively responding. From the perspective of mid-term dividends, as of January 21, 2025, a total of 975 listed companies have released 2024 mid-term dividend announcements (including first quarter reports, semi annual reports, and third quarter reports), with a cash dividend amount of 691.92 billion yuan, which is 4.2 times and 2.7 times that of the same period last year, respectively. The number and amount of mid-term dividends of Shanghai and Shenzhen listed companies have doubled. At the same time, the trend of multiple dividend payouts during the year has gradually emerged, and the atmosphere of dividend payouts before the Spring Festival has become increasingly strong. In the two months leading up to the Spring Festival (December 2024 to January 2025), it is expected that a total of 324 companies will implement dividends, with a dividend amount of 350.99 billion yuan, which is 9.8 times and 7.8 times higher than the same period last year. It is worth mentioning that companies in different industries, growth stages, and business situations have varying levels of dividend distribution, but they are actively responding to policy guidance and gradually increasing the frequency of dividends. Taking companies listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board as an example, public data shows that the number of companies implementing mid-term dividends on the board has increased from 15 in 2020 to 111 in 2024. A total of 105 companies listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board have explicitly stated in the "Quality Improvement, Efficiency Enhancement, and Heavy Return" plan for 2024 that they will study multiple annual dividends, mid year dividends, or pre Spring Festival dividends. The concept of investor return for companies listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board is gradually deepening Yang Delong, Chief Economist of Qianhai Open Source Fund, stated that companies listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board are currently in a stage of increasing research and development investment, accelerating technology commercialization, and accelerating capacity expansion. It is necessary to respect the company's ability to formulate medium - and long-term dividend plans based on its industry, development stage, business model, and other actual situations, and balance the relationship between supporting the company's development and improving investor returns. (New Society)