Junli Henderson announced the latest global dividend index, with global first quarter dividends rising to $339.2 billion, a basic increase of 6.8%, but overall growth slowing to 2.4% due to a decrease in special dividends. This is mainly because the first quarter is the off-season for dividend payouts in various global markets including Asia. The bank specially mentioned that Alibaba (09988) distributed dividends totaling $2.6 billion, driving the total dividends paid in mainland China up nearly 5 percentage points so far this year. The bank pointed out that dividends in China amounted to $3.3 billion, as a few mainland Chinese companies paid dividends in the first quarter. Alibaba distributed dividends for the first time, totaling $2.6 billion, leading mainland China in total dividends paid so far this year. NetEase (09999) is another Chinese company that only paid dividends in the first quarter, with dividends four times higher than last year. Dividends in Hong Kong amounted to $2.2 billion, driven by Hang Seng Bank (00011) distributing dividends totaling $800 million, resulting in a basic growth of 11.2% in dividend payouts during the first quarter off-season. Sat Duhra, co-portfolio manager for Asian dividend income at Junli Henderson, said that some positive market news last quarter affected future dividend trends in the region. For example, the Chinese government released new "Nine Articles" policies aimed at improving the capital market through dividends and share buybacks, with measures expected to boost dividends in the medium term. Encouraging dividend actions have been observed in these markets. Junli Henderson expects stable growth in dividends in the second half of the year. They maintain their forecast of total dividends for the year at $1.72 trillion, expecting it to reach $1.72 trillion. Overall growth rate is expected to be affected by lower special dividends, with a year-on-year increase of 3.9%, equivalent to a basic growth of 5.0%.