8:00 am, 1st Kr. Zhou Hongyi responds to former executive's claim of helping him fabricate billions in false accounts; Yu Minhong makes a PPT to respond to the Antarctic tour; All five major global PC manufacturers will raise prices.
Today's Hot Topics Guide
The full - island customs closure of the Hainan Free Trade Port has been officially launched.
Elon Musk has become the first billionaire in history with a net worth exceeding $600 billion.
Trump sues BBC, claiming $5 billion in compensation
Douyin responds to "Those without qualifications cannot post financial content"
Moutai responds to "Distributors will be disqualified if they sell products below $1,650"
Pre-sales of "Avatar 3" are sluggish and fall short of previous installments
Top 3 Big News
Zhou Hongyi Issues Statement in Response to "Allegations of Financial Fraud"
On December 16, Zhou Hongyi, the founder and chairman of 360 Group, issued a statement: Recently, Yu Hong maliciously slandered Mr. Zhou Hongyi, the founder of 360 Group, and several entrepreneurs in multiple WeChat groups. The remarks were extremely inconsistent with the facts and had a bad influence. 360 Group attaches great importance to this and hereby issues the following solemn statement. First, after verification, Yu Hong once served as the person - in - charge of Gamewave, a game company, which was acquired by Qihoo 360, the former U.S. - listed entity of 360, more than a decade ago. Yu Hong joined a subsidiary of 360 Group in 2014 and left due to personal reasons in 2015. During his tenure, he never held a core management position in 360 Group. Second, Yu Hong's remarks such as "financial fraud" are completely contrary to the facts. 360 Group has always adhered to compliant operations, strictly abided by national laws, regulations and securities market rules, regularly accepted audits by authoritative institutions, and its finances are open, transparent, healthy and compliant. Third, in response to Yu Hong's malicious slander of 360 Group, its founder Mr. Zhou Hongyi and relevant entrepreneurs, 360 Group will take legal measures in accordance with the law to hold him legally liable and firmly safeguard the corporate reputation and legitimate rights and interests.
On the afternoon of December 16, according to online screenshots, Yu Hong, the former senior vice - president of 360 and the core initiator of the "Three - o'clock Community", "attacked" Zhou Hongyi on his WeChat Moments and in multiple group chats. Yu Hong said in the group chat: "I helped Zhou Hongyi fabricate accounts worth at least billions. I have the data. I will make it public across the network. All his game finances are fraudulent." Yu Hong emphasized in the group that his account had not been stolen. (Caixin, Sina Technology)
Yu Minhong Responds to Antarctic Trip with a PPT
On December 15th, Yu Minhong, the founder of New Oriental, appeared in the Dongfang Zhenxuan live-streaming room and responded again to the recent controversy over his Antarctic trip. He also said that he had specifically prepared a PPT to explain it in detail. During the live-streaming, Yu Minhong shared videos of penguins, sunsets, and sunrises taken during his Antarctic trip and also introduced in detail the geographical knowledge of Antarctica. When explaining the reason for his Antarctic trip, Yu Minhong stated that it was mainly to support the public-welfare project of his friend Xi Zhinong. Secondly, since New Oriental is also engaged in cultural and tourism business, he wanted to conduct an on-site inspection to see if there were more cost-effective plans to help people who want to go to Antarctica with their travel arrangements.
Previously, an all-staff letter written in Antarctica to mark the 32nd anniversary of New Oriental dragged Yu Minhong into an online storm. While Yu Minhong was watching penguins in the Antarctic ice and snow world, New Oriental employees in China were posting complaints about their high-intensity overtime work. (Yicai Global)
All Five Major Global PC Manufacturers Will Raise Prices
On December 16th, affected by the shortage and price increase wave of storage, both Acer and Asus confirmed that they will raise the prices of their PC products. Hu Shubin, the co-CEO of Asus, said that Asus will decide the most suitable timing (for price increase) based on market dynamics and adjust the product portfolio and prices very flexibly. According to Jiemian News, Lenovo will also soon raise the prices of its PC and server products. Winston Cheng, the CFO of Lenovo, previously said that Lenovo will try not to raise prices during the upcoming Christmas holiday, but in 2026, due to the overall increase in the price level of memory, price increases are inevitable. Another PC manufacturer, HP, has also stated that it will raise prices. At the end of November, Enrique Lores, the CEO of HP, said that the continuous soaring of memory costs will ultimately force the company to raise product prices and launch low - configuration versions of products. (Jiemian News)
Large Companies/Major Events
Since December 18, the Hainan Free Trade Port has officially launched the island-wide customs closure.
The Hainan Provincial People's Government recently issued a notice regarding the official launch of the island-wide customs closure of the Hainan Free Trade Port. The notice states that, in accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee, since December 18, 2025, the Hainan Free Trade Port has officially launched the island-wide customs closure, and a series of documents will come into effect as of the date of the official launch of the island-wide customs closure. (Upstream News)
Elon Musk Becomes the First Billionaire in History with a Net Worth Exceeding $600 Billion
On December 16th, data from Forbes showed that Elon Musk's net worth reached $677 billion, making him the first person in history to have a net worth exceeding $600 billion. Previously, no one had ever crossed the $500 billion mark. In an interaction with tech media on social media, Musk revealed that his space exploration technology platform, SpaceX, might go public soon. Reports said that SpaceX is seeking to go public in the second half of next year, with a target valuation of about $1.5 trillion. This valuation scale will also rival the record of about $1.7 trillion set by Saudi Aramco in 2019. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk holds approximately 42% of the shares in SpaceX. This means that Musk is expected to become the world's first "trillion - dollar billionaire." (Jiemian News)
Trump sues BBC for $5 billion in damages
On December 15th local time, US President Trump officially sued the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for $5 billion in damages, accusing the documentary "Panorama" of defamation. According to part of an internal BBC memo leaked on November 3rd, the BBC's "Panorama" program spliced together two clips of Trump's speech in the documentary "Trump: A Second Chance?" broadcast last year, making it seem as if Trump was inciting his supporters to participate in the riot at the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021. The splicing of Trump's speech by the BBC has sparked huge public controversy. (CCTV News)
Moutai Responds to "Dealers Selling Below 1,650 Yuan Will Be Disqualified"
Recently, a document titled "Notice on Product Supply and Structural Reform of Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd." has been circulating on social platforms. It is signed by "Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd." and stamped with the company's seal, with a dated time of December 13, 2025. The content of the notice stipulates that "dealers selling Feitian Moutai below 1,650 yuan will have their dealer qualifications cancelled immediately."
On December 15, Kweichow Moutai responded to the document circulating on social platforms recently, stating that "this document is fake." Public information shows that Kweichow Moutai may officially announce its specific strategies for future market policies at the channel partners' get - together around December 28. Kweichow Moutai staff also responded to the rumors about the newly introduced quantity - control policy. The staff answering the phone at Moutai said that the company has always emphasized demand - driven operations and paid attention to protecting the resilience of sales channels. All products are precisely distributed according to the terminal sales situation. Regarding future market policies, the company is still in the research stage, and specific strategies may be officially announced at the channel partners' get - together around December 28. (Cailian Press)
The hospital involved in the "sky-high ambulance fee" incident was fined and had 87,000 yuan confiscated
The Credit China website shows that on December 2nd, Nanchang Ganyi Hospital Co., Ltd. was fined more than 61,000 yuan and had more than 26,000 yuan confiscated by the Nanchang Market Supervision and Administration Bureau for the act of producing and selling substandard drugs.
The reasons for the punishment show that an employee of the hospital privately transferred patient Tang from the Jiangxi Provincial Children's Hospital to an emergency department of a hospital in Shanghai on behalf of the hospital. The round - trip distance of the whole journey was 1,600 kilometers. The patient was charged 28,000 yuan for the transfer service. Due to the hospital's failure to effectively manage the ambulance and the employee involved in the case, the hospital staff charged more than 17,000 yuan in addition to the publicly - marked "ambulance fee" during the ambulance transfer service. In addition, the hospital used drugs beyond their expiration dates and over - charged and double - charged patients during medical services. It is reported that in June this year, the news of "being charged 28,000 yuan for an 800 - kilometer transfer from the Jiangxi Provincial Children's Hospital to a hospital in Shanghai" sparked heated discussions. (Jiemian News)
Douyin Responds to "No Qualification, No Financial Content Allowed"
On December 16, Li Liang, the vice president of Douyin, posted on Weibo, saying that the launch of the financial industry convention aims to crack down on the phenomenon of accounts without professional qualifications explaining professional content such as the financial market and recommending financial products. Some accounts even impersonate or package themselves as experts or employees of financial institutions to publish financial content, which is highly misleading and has a very bad influence. We hope to clean up such accounts through stricter qualification restrictions. We also advocate that in - depth professional content sharers complete qualification certification in advance to make users feel at ease. It is completely okay for everyone to share objective and compliant financial experiences in daily life. Additionally, it should be emphasized that having qualifications does not mean one can speak freely.
Previously, Douyin released the "Douyin Community Financial Industry Convention (Trial)", which clearly defines the core governance norms such as account qualifications, content management, and marketing behaviors, as well as the mechanism for handling violations and holding accountable. It aims to regulate the dissemination of financial - related content. The scope of application of the "Convention" covers all accounts that publish financial - related content in the Douyin community, defining the governance boundaries from the source. (Yicai Global)
Information: Apple will release at least seven new iPhone models in the next two years
According to multiple sources directly involved in Apple and its suppliers' product work, Apple plans to significantly expand its smartphone product line in the next two years. It may release at least seven new flagship models before the fall of 2027. The first foldable iPhone is expected to be released in the fall of 2026. According to multiple people involved in the project, when unfolded, this device is wider than it is tall, looking like a small iPad. (Sina Finance)
Pre-sales of "Avatar 3" are sluggish, falling short of previous installments
According to real-time data from Dengta Professional Edition, as of December 16, the total pre-sale box office of the film "Avatar: The Seed Bearer" (hereinafter referred to as "Avatar 3") has exceeded 40 million yuan. "Avatar 3" started pre-sales on December 12 and will be officially released on December 19. Early screenings will begin at 6 p.m. on December 18. The film has a runtime of 198 minutes. Four days have passed since the pre-sales started, and the box office of the film has been growing at a rate of nearly 10 million yuan per day. It's worth noting that four days after the pre-sales of "Avatar 2" started in 2022, the box office from early screenings and pre-sales had exceeded 100 million yuan. However, compared with the data of the second installment during the same period, the box office of "Avatar 3" is almost halved. (Blue Whale News)
Mannings Announces Closure of Stores in the Chinese Mainland Market
On December 16, Jiemian News learned from Mannings' official website in China that the beauty and health products chain store, Mannings, is about to close all its offline stores and online mall in the Chinese mainland. According to the announcement from Mannings China, the last business day of its offline stores will be January 15, 2026, after which they will officially cease operations. In addition, its official online mall (mini-program) will stop operating at 24:00 on December 28, 2025, while its Tmall flagship store, JD flagship store, and Tmall health products specialty store will stop operating on December 26.
Mannings entered the Chinese mainland market in 2004. According to the official website, as the largest health and beauty products chain store in Hong Kong, Mannings has over 320 stores in Hong Kong and Macau, and more than 120 stores in the Chinese mainland. (Jiemian News)
HotMaxx Closes Stores in Multiple Locations Across China, Halts New Franchises in Some Cities
Consumers in multiple locations have recently noticed that HotMaxx is gradually closing its stores in core cities, covering popular business districts in cities such as Guangzhou, Changsha, Hangzhou, and Beijing. In response, an internal staff member of HotMaxx stated that the store closures are mainly due to "issues with mall rent, proactive adjustments after the lease expires, or losses caused by poor management in some stores."
In the past year, HotMaxx's expansion pace has significantly slowed down. It officially opened franchise opportunities in April 2023. At that time, HotMaxx had more than 500 stores covering 32 cities, and it planned to add around 600 new stores throughout the year. However, this year, the number of newly added stores has dropped sharply to dozens, and some cities no longer accept new franchisees. (Sina Finance)
Baidu Mind Mapping Announces Service Discontinuation
Baidu Mind Mapping recently issued an announcement stating that due to product adjustments, it will officially stop providing services on March 31, 2026. "We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused. Please make sure to log in to your account before the service discontinuation and export and save your important data locally to avoid losses." Baidu Mind Mapping is a mind mapping editing tool that allows users to create, save, and share ideas directly online. The official Q&A page of Baidu Mind Mapping states that the mind mapping service won't suddenly shut down and cause data loss. If it does shut down, users will be given a six - month notice in advance to migrate their data. (Sina Technology)
AMD's Lisa Su Visits China
Exclusive news obtained by Yicai reporters reveals that on December 16th, Lisa Su, Chairwoman and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), led a senior management team to visit Lenovo Group's global headquarters in Beijing. Accompanied by several senior executives of Lenovo Group, the AMD delegation visited a number of Lenovo's latest products and technological achievements, including humanoid robots. (Yicai)
Official Report on Alleged Abnormal Blood Lead Levels Among Employees of a New Energy Company in Jiangxi
On December 16th, the Administrative Committee of Guixi Economic and Technological Development Zone in Jiangxi Province issued a situation report with the following details: On December 15th, the media reported that "some employees of Jiangxi Yuehai New Energy Co., Ltd. had abnormal lead levels in their blood tests." Upon learning this, the Guixi Economic Development Zone immediately established a task force to conduct a comprehensive investigation. All employees of the enterprise were organized to undergo physical examinations. Double verification was carried out on the submitted samples, and an expert group was formed to conduct an on - site assessment of the enterprise's production environment. Subsequently, strict actions will be taken in accordance with laws and regulations based on the test and assessment results to effectively safeguard the health rights and interests of employees. (Caixin)
Accident Occurs at Xiaomi Delivery Center in Hangzhou, Company Insider and Local Traffic Police Respond
On the afternoon of December 15th, it was reported that a traffic accident occurred at the Xiaomi Xiasha Delivery Center in Mengma Automobile Town, Qiantang District, Hangzhou. A newly - picked - up car owner knocked down a park staff member while reversing the car. A Xiaomi insider said that at the time of the accident, the Xiaomi car was under manual driving rather than intelligent driving. When reversing in a narrow aisle, the driver mistakenly stepped on the accelerator pedal deeply instead of the brake pedal, resulting in a collision with a pedestrian behind the car. The police and an ambulance from 120 rushed to the scene quickly and transferred the injured. Currently, the accident is still under further investigation and handling. The Hangzhou Traffic Police Detachment stated that a traffic accident did occur at the Xiaomi Xiasha Delivery Center. Regarding whether the victim died on the spot, as the accident is being handled in accordance with legal procedures, it is not convenient to disclose further information. (Jiemian News)
Renowned Director of "Flipped" and His Wife Found Dead at Home, Son Arrested on Suspected Murder Charge
As reported by CCTV reporters on the 15th local time, Rob Reiner, a well - known American director who helmed movies like "When Harry Met Sally" and "Flipped", and his wife were found dead at their home in Los Angeles on the 14th. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed on the 15th that Rob Reiner's son, Nick Reiner, was arrested on suspicion of murdering his parents.
Police stated that 32 - year - old Nick Reiner has long been troubled by drug abuse issues. He is currently registered as a suspect in the murder case and is being held on a $4 million bail. Records show that he is currently detained at the Los Angeles County Jail. (CCTV News)
XPeng Obtains L3-Level Autonomous Driving Road Test License
On December 16th, XPeng Motors has obtained an L3-level autonomous driving road test license in Guangzhou and launched regular L3 road tests. This license is mainly used for conditional autonomous driving tests on the intelligent connected vehicle test expressways in Guangzhou. At the 2025 Tech Day, XPeng Motors officially released the second-generation VLA with L4-level capabilities. This software is expected to be mass-produced and installed in vehicles in the first quarter of 2026. In 2026, XPeng Motors plans to launch models with both hardware and software reaching the L4-level autonomous driving standard. (Yicai Global)
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed, with Tesla rising more than 3% to a record high
36Kr learned that at the close on December 16, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed. The Dow fell 0.63%, the Nasdaq rose 0.23%, and the S&P 500 index fell 0.24%. Large technology stocks generally rose. Tesla rose more than 3% to a record closing high, Meta rose more than 1%, and Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon posted small gains, while Google posted a small decline. Popular Chinese concept stocks closed mixed. Zhihu rose more than 3%, and Baidu, NIO, XPeng Motors, and Li Auto posted small gains; Pinduoduo, NetEase, and iQiyi fell more than 1%, and Alibaba and Bilibili posted small declines.
Organization: YouTube TV is expected to become the largest pay - TV operator in the United States by 2027
36Kr learned that according to the latest prediction by Omdia, by 2027, the number of pay - TV subscribers of YouTube TV will reach 10.4 million, surpassing Charter (10 million) and Comcast (9.2 million) to become the largest pay - TV operator in the United States. This will be the first case where a virtual pay - TV provider takes the top spot in the market.
The EU to Abandon the 2035 Ban on Internal Combustion Engines
It is reported that the EU will abandon the 2035 ban on internal combustion engines. The EU plans to relax the new vehicle emission standards and cancel the substantial ban on internal combustion engines. The European Commission will lower the original standard of banning the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles starting from 2035, and instead allow some plug - in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles equipped with fuel range extenders to be launched on the market. The new proposal requires a 90% reduction in tailpipe emissions by the middle of the next decade compared with the current target (the original target was a 100% reduction). (Caixin Press)
On the Market Now
Xingyu Co., Ltd.
36Kr learned that the China Securities Regulatory Commission disclosed that Xingyu Auto Parts Co., Ltd. has launched listing guidance, and the guidance institution is Orient Securities.
Chinese Online
36Kr learned that Chinese Online announced that the company held the 5th meeting of the 6th Board of Directors on December 15, 2025, and reviewed and approved relevant proposals regarding the company's issuance of H-shares and listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company intends to issue foreign shares for overseas listing (H-shares) and apply for listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Kingdee Z-Visual
36Kr learned that according to documents from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, on December 15, Zhuhai Kingdee Z-Visual Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The joint sponsors are Guotai Haitong and BOC International.
The Cutting - Edge of AI
NVIDIA Releases Open-Source Nemotron 3 Series Models
On December 15th, NVIDIA released the open-source models of the Nemotron 3 family, including the Nano/Super/Ultra versions. This model introduces a hybrid Mixture-of-Experts architecture of Mamba-Transformer. (Jiemian News)
Canva Officially Launches Conversational AI Assistant in the Chinese Market
36Kr learned that Canva, a visual design platform, officially launched its conversational AI assistant, Canva AI, in the Chinese market at its annual sharing event. Centered around the concept of "initiate with conversation and modify while chatting," this product simplifies the design process into natural conversations. Users only need to describe their ideas to generate an editable first draft and can make real-time adjustments through colloquial instructions, thus lowering the operational threshold.
OpenAI's Chief Communications Officer to Leave
Hannah Wong, OpenAI's Chief Communications Officer, is about to leave. (Sina Finance)
OpenAI Poaches Google Executive to Head Corporate Development
A spokesperson for artificial intelligence startup OpenAI said that it has hired Albert Lee from Google to lead its corporate development business. Lee previously led corporate development for Google Cloud and Google DeepMind. He was involved in several high - profile acquisition deals at Google, including the $32 billion acquisition of cloud security startup Wiz announced in March this year. (Sina Finance)
DreamTech Officially Launches the New-Generation Foundation Model Architecture Neural4D-2.5
36Kr learned that recently, at the AI and Robotics Themed Event of the 2025 Shenzhen Global Investment Promotion Conference, AI startup DreamTech officially launched its new-generation foundation model architecture Neural4D-2.5. It is understood that the Neural4D-2.5 architecture adopts the "Native 3D Texture Mapping and Perception Integration" technology, which expands the cognitive boundaries of AI models through the ultra-long context understanding ability of millions of Tokens.
Compiled | Jingjing