The disclosure of the 2026 semi-annual report has come to an end, and the number of mid-term dividends paid by A-share listed companies has reached a new high. Wande data shows that as of August 31, a total of 867 A-share companies have launched mid-term dividend plans, of which 856 companies have implemented cash dividends, with a total planned cash distribution of 716.751 billion yuan (including those that have been implemented). From once a year to multiple times a year, mid-term dividends are accelerating to become an important way for listed companies to reward investors.
Behind this change is the continuous improvement of the investor return mechanism in the capital market. The new "Nine National Articles" released in 2024 clearly propose to promote multiple dividends a year, pre-dividends, and dividends before the Spring Festival. In recent years, a series of institutional arrangements have been continuously improved to enhance the stability, sustainability and predictability of cash dividends. Listed companies' awareness of returning investors has been continuously enhanced, and "multiple dividends a year" has been accelerated from policy advocacy to market practice.
Under the guidance of the system, mid-term dividends have gradually moved from the choice of a few companies to the norm. In 2022, there will be only a hundred companies paying mid-term cash dividends in A-shares. This number will increase to more than 180 in 2023, exceed 700 in 2024, increase to 852 in 2025, and reach 856 this year. The scale of dividends has also increased significantly. Compared with the medium-term cash dividend scale of approximately 200 billion yuan in 2023, it has remained above 700 billion yuan in the past two years. Especially since 2024, the number of companies paying mid-term dividends has jumped significantly, and more and more listed companies have included mid-year cash returns in their profit distribution arrangements.
"The number of companies paying mid-term cash dividends has exceeded a record high, which is a clear signal of the qualitative change of the A-share ecology and a deep resonance between policy guidance and market choice. The new 'National Nine Articles' establish the institutional framework of 'multiple dividends a year', allowing mid-term dividends to move from the consciousness of the minority to the norm of the majority." Tian Lihui, dean of the Institute of Financial Development of Nankai University, said that the normalization of mid-term dividends will also affect the market valuation logic, making investors pay more attention to the company's true cash creation ability and sustained return capabilities.
From the perspective of dividend entities, large blue chips are still the basic players in medium-term cash dividends, and more growth companies have begun to join. The total planned mid-term dividends of the six major state-owned banks in 2026 are approximately 220.989 billion yuan, and the total planned mid-term dividends of PetroChina, Sinopec, and CNOOC are approximately 99.074 billion yuan. At the same time, some technology growth companies have increased shareholder returns. Zhongji InnoLight plans to distribute cash in the mid-term of about 1.404 billion yuan, more than three times that of the same period last year; Hikvision plans to distribute cash in the mid-term of 5.041 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 40% from the same period last year. Mid-term dividend entities show a trend of extending from traditional high-dividend industries to some growth sectors.
The expansion of the dividend list is a direct reflection of the development stage and capital allocation methods of some growing companies. Companies in a period of rapid growth usually need to use more profits for technology research and development, production capacity expansion and market development; as some leading companies in artificial intelligence, new energy, high-end manufacturing and other fields gradually stabilize their profit models and improve their operating cash flow, after ensuring R&D investment and necessary capital expenditures, they are beginning to have the conditions to balance reinvestment and shareholder returns. Increasing cash dividends has become a new choice for capital allocation.
However, the increase in the number and amount of dividends does not mean that the more dividends, the better. "Dividends of listed companies cannot simply be based on 'how much', the core is quality and sustainability." Xu Jiajun, vice chairman and secretary-general of the Shanghai Pudong New Area Private Equity Alliance (Chuansha), said that to measure the quality of dividends, we need to see whether the dividends match the company's profitability and operating cash flow, while also considering capital needs such as debt repayment, R&D investment, and capital expenditures. "If a technology company pays high dividends beyond its capabilities when it has insufficient investment in R&D, has not yet stabilized its market share, and even needs financing to maintain daily operations, this approach of catering to the market's short-term preferences may squeeze future development space and be unsustainable."
While emphasizing the quality of dividends, Xu Jiajun also analyzed the long-term value of stable dividends. "From an investor's perspective, the value of stable, continuous, and predictable dividends is much higher than a one-time high dividend." He believes that stable dividends can help convey information about corporate operations and cash flow status to the market, and enhance investors' expectations for long-term returns. "This is like a long-term 'basic salary', which gives people a greater sense of security than an accidental 'bonus'." This is also one of the important reasons why dividend assets have attracted the attention of long-term funds such as insurance and pension funds.
From "once a year" to "multiple times a year", the expansion of mid-term dividends reflects the continued improvement of the return mechanism for A-share investors. The number of companies reaching a new high and the amount remaining high are only one aspect. What is more important is to promote listed companies to form return arrangements that match their profitability, cash flow status and development stage. Only by further shifting from focusing on the number of dividends to improving the stability, sustainability and rationality of dividends can investors better share the long-term development results of the company and provide a more solid foundation for long-term value investment.
