9:00 am Kr 36: Remains of victims are found again one year after Jeju Air crash; "Apple Tax" in China is lowered; Market regulatory authorities take action to rectify "misleading small and large print" advertisements

Today's Hotspot Guide

Wang Xing of Meituan: "Reduce the 'bossy flavor', and don't call me 'Brother Xing' internally anymore."

Stellantis responds to "Maserati brand to be sold".

Didi refutes the rumor of an 8 - year - old over - age vehicle being extended for 3 years of operation.

Microsoft's market value evaporates $1 trillion in 5 months.

The Financial Regulatory Administration summons 5 platform operating institutions for talks.

Top 3 Big News

South Korean Media: Remains of Victims Found Again One Year After Jeju Air Crash

According to South Korean media such as Yonhap News Agency and Hankyoreh, regarding the South Korean Jeju Air crash that killed 179 people in December 2024, South Korea recently restarted the investigation into the wreckage of the crashed airliner and found the remains of victims again. As of March 12, a total of 33 pieces of remains have been found at the scene, and 9 of them have been confirmed through DNA comparison to belong to 7 victims.

The report said that in response to this incident, South Korean President Lee Jae - myung ordered on the 12th to thoroughly investigate the reasons why the remains were not collected in the early stage of the accident and the process of the remains being left untouched for more than a year.

On December 29, 2024, local time, Flight 7C2216 of South Korean Jeju Air, which took off from Bangkok, Thailand, crashed while landing at Muan Airport in Jeollanam - do. There were 175 passengers and 6 crew members on board. Except for 2 flight attendants who were rescued, the remaining 179 people all died. This is the deadliest air crash in South Korea. (Caixin)

Apple Tax Reduced in China

Apple has issued a notice stating that starting from March 15, 2026, the commission rates applicable to the App Store in Mainland China on iOS and iPadOS will be adjusted. The standard commission rate for in - app purchases and paid apps on Apple will be changed from the current 30% to 25%. The commission rate for eligible in - app purchases under the App Store Small Business Program and the Mini Apps Partner Program, as well as the commission rate for auto - renewing subscriptions after the first year, will be changed from the current 15% to 12%. (CCTV News)

Market regulatory authorities take action to rectify "misleading large and small font" advertisements

The State Administration for Market Regulation has issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Supervision of Prompting Terms in Advertisements" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), deploying a six - month cleanup and rectification campaign against relevant advertising irregularities.

The "Notice" has identified six key tasks, including rectifying "misleading large and small font" advertisements, investigating and dealing with advertisements that do not prominently indicate prompting terms in accordance with the law, investigating and dealing with advertisements that illegally use absolute terms in accordance with the law, strengthening the supervision of cited advertisements, strengthening the supervision of advertisers' self - verification of advertising content, and strengthening the supervision of major advertising publishing media. It requires market regulatory departments at all levels to effectively increase the intensity of cleaning up and rectifying marketing irregularities such as "using large fonts to attract attention and small fonts to exempt liability", "randomly claiming to be the first, the original, or the best", "using misleading citations", and weakening the indication of information unfavorable to consumers. They should resolutely investigate and deal with advertising violations that seriously deceive and mislead consumers and disrupt the market competition order in accordance with the law, actively promote the connection between high - quality advertising resources and high - quality products, relieve advertisers' "marketing anxiety", and guide all operators in advertising activities to actively abandon "word - game" advertisements. (Jiemian News)

Large companies/ Major events

Meituan's Wang Xing: "Reduce the 'Deng flavor', and don't call me 'Brother Xing' internally anymore."

On the morning of March 13th, Meituan held a management communication meeting in 2026. Meituan CEO Wang Xing said, "Agent has a greater impact on me than ChatGPT." For Meituan, the digitalization of the physical world will be a very important foundation for AI. He also said that he will firmly pursue internationalization but will not expand blindly.

When mentioning his expectations for the company's managers, Wang Xing said that they should strive to reduce the "Deng flavor". "For example, everyone is used to calling me 'Brother Xing'. I think this is an obvious way of calling with the 'Deng flavor'. Starting from me, from this moment on, don't call me Brother Xing anymore. Just call me Wang Xing. Let's start from ourselves and embrace new things and new trends." (Yicai)

Stellantis Responds to Rumors of Maserati Brand Being Sold

In response to rumors such as "the Stellantis Group may disintegrate and the Maserati brand may be sold," on March 13th, Wang Chao, a member of the Executive Committee of Stellantis Group's Asia - Pacific region and Vice President of Communications, told a reporter from the Shell Finance of Beijing News that the Maserati brand will not be sold externally. The claim that "Stellantis Group is considering a plan to split the group" has no factual basis at all, and such related assertions are purely speculation and fabrication.

In response to the rumor that "Stellantis Group is discussing cooperation plans with Chinese automakers, hoping to inject funds into its European business by introducing Chinese capital, and has contacted Xiaomi Group and XPeng Motors to discuss the restructuring plan for Stellantis Group's European business," Wang Chao said, "We have no comment on speculative reports." (Beijing News)

Qunar accused of unauthorized flight changes, consumers demand refund of original ticket price and triple compensation based on the original purchase amount

Recently, some consumers reported that they encountered unauthorized flight changes after purchasing tickets on the "Qunar Travel" APP. Ms. Jian from Chongqing said that she spent 6,234 yuan on February 1st to buy three tickets from Sanya to Chongqing. Before her departure on February 24th, she found that the flight had been changed from 17:05 to a "red-eye flight" at 23:25, and she didn't receive any notice.

Ms. Jian said that since there were children in her group and it was inconvenient to take a flight late at night, after failing to communicate with the platform, she was forced to spend 23,000 yuan to buy return business-class tickets. She believes that the platform's operational mistakes caused her additional losses, and she demands a refund of the original ticket price and triple compensation. Qunar responded that it was a booking error by the agent. The involved agent has been punished, and Ms. Jian has been compensated for the actual loss of 23,000 yuan for her second ticket purchase. However, the platform said it cannot meet her demand for triple compensation of the original order ticket price. (The Paper)

Didi Debunks Rumor of 3-Year Operation Extension for 8-Year-Old Vehicles

On March 13th, Didi Chuxing issued a rumor - debunking statement, saying that recently, several false pieces of information have been circulating on some social platforms, claiming that "Didi has introduced a new policy allowing 8 - year - old vehicles to extend their operation for three more years, and those meeting the requirements can handle it online." Didi strictly adheres to relevant national and local laws, regulations, and platform rules when implementing access and withdrawal standards. It has never introduced the so - called policy of "extending the operation of 8 - year - old vehicles for 3 more years." Any claim that one can get an extension on Didi after the vehicle reaches 8 years of age is a rumor.

Both the "Didi Platform User Rules" and the "Conditions for Joining Didi and Commitments" on the driver's side clearly state that if the vehicle registered by the driver is over 8 years old or has traveled more than 600,000 kilometers, it does not meet the vehicle access standards and will not be allowed to enter. Didi strictly follows national laws and regulatory requirements in various regions. The driver - side system automatically identifies the vehicle age. Vehicles over 8 years old cannot be normally registered, bound, and used for service. There are no policies such as "illegal extension of over - aged vehicles" or "internal special channels." The so - called "relaxed conditions" are all false information. Didi stated that currently, many of the videos labeled "extending over - aged vehicles" or "tutorials for over - aged vehicles to run on Didi" on the Internet appear in batches with the help of AI. The information is purely fabricated and is suspected to be content for attracting traffic by black - gray industries. Didi said that it reserves the right to pursue legal liability for the above - mentioned acts of spreading false information and seriously misleading drivers. (Jiemian News)

LABUBU's Co-branded Sanrio Blind Boxes Sold Out Instantly upon New Release, with Hidden Edition Resold at Nearly 1,000 Yuan, Over 5 Times the Original Price

At 10 p.m. on March 12th, Pop Mart launched a new series of LABUBU blind boxes called "Dream Adventure". This series is a brand - new vinyl figure blind box series jointly launched by Pop Mart and Sanrio. A reporter from Lanjing News tried to purchase the blind boxes on the night of the release. After entering the purchase page, it immediately showed that "there are too many people in the queue". In just a few seconds, the blind boxes in this series were sold out. Subsequently, the reporter found that not only the official mini - program but also platforms such as Taobao, Douyin, and Dewu all showed that the products were out of stock.

The reporter observed that once this series of blind boxes were released, there was a price premium in the resale market. According to the Dewu APP, among the multiple styles in this series, the prices of common styles such as Hello Kitty and Kuromi have risen to 239 yuan and 200 yuan respectively. The hidden edition "Classic Hello Kitty" has a price premium up to 919 yuan, more than 5 times the original selling price of 159 yuan, and the price is still rising. (Lanjing News)

Moutai's New Channel Policy Takes Effect: Non - Standard Products Are Fully Consigned, and Channels Receive a 5% Sales Commission

It was learned from channel insiders that recently, the Moutai dealers' associations in various provinces held a meeting, clarifying that non - standard Moutai products such as 15 - year - old aged Moutai, premium Moutai, Chinese zodiac Moutai, and kilogram - sized Moutai will be fully sold on a consignment basis. According to the arrangement, the above - mentioned products must be sold at the official unified price through i Moutai, and the channels can receive a 5% sales commission (settled monthly). In addition, Moutai has also set relevant assessment requirements. Moutai's consignment system means that the ownership of the goods still belongs to the manufacturer. Dealers do not need to prepay the full payment for the goods, but only need to pay a deposit to start selling. (Caixin)

It's reported that Samsung has won an order for 20 million iPhone Fold screens and will start mass production in May

South Korean media ajunews published a blog post on March 12, reporting that in Apple's supply chain, Samsung's dominance is being strengthened unprecedentedly. It has won an order for up to 20 million panels of Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Fold, and it is estimated that mass production will start in May 2026.

Supply chain sources said that the initial order volume of Apple's iPhone Fold was 1.3 million units, which then increased to 1.5 million units. The latest data shows that it has been increased to 20 million units, an increase of about 20%. To handle the large Apple order, Samsung Display is urgently reorganizing its production lines. The company is currently transforming the core production lines of its Asan factory in Chungcheongnam-do into exclusive production lines for iPhones and foldable screens, fully preparing for the peak of mass production in the second half of the year. (IT Home)

Jiang Yan, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of the Board of Kweichow Moutai, Under Investigation

According to the news from the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Team dispatched by the Guizhou Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision to Kweichow Moutai Group Co., Ltd. and the Zunyi Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision: Jiang Yan, a member of the Party Committee, Deputy General Manager, Chief Financial Officer, and Secretary of the Board of Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd., is suspected of serious violations of discipline and laws. Currently, she is under disciplinary review by the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Team dispatched by the Guizhou Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision to Kweichow Moutai Group Co., Ltd. and under supervision and investigation by the Zunyi Municipal Supervisory Commission. (China News Service)

Microsoft's market value evaporates by $1 trillion in five months

Microsoft's stock price has been continuously declining in the past few months. At the close of U.S. stocks on March 12, Microsoft's stock price fell 0.75% to $401.86, with a market value of $2.98 trillion. At the end of October last year, Microsoft's stock price reached a peak of about $540, and its market value exceeded $4 trillion. In less than five months, Microsoft's market value has evaporated by $1 trillion. Some institutions have recently downgraded Microsoft's stock rating. In February, Melius Research downgraded Microsoft's stock rating from "Buy" to "Hold", with a target price of $430. In addition, Stifel downgraded Microsoft's rating from "Buy" to "Hold" and lowered the target price from $540 to $392.

From the analysts' point of view, the downgrade of Microsoft's rating is mainly due to two aspects: Microsoft's own decisions and external shocks. Regarding the reasons for the downgrade, Melius Research believes that artificial intelligence products such as those of Anthropic will have an impact on Microsoft's 365 products, and perhaps Microsoft will sacrifice profit margins to maintain competitiveness. In addition, the capital expenditure in the latest quarterly financial report also worries research institutions, as higher capital expenditure in the field of artificial intelligence will bring risks to cash flow. (Yicai Global)

The First Invasive Brain-Computer Interface Medical Device Approved for Market Launch

Recently, the National Medical Products Administration approved the registration application for an innovative product of the implantable brain-computer interface hand motor function compensation system of Boraycon Medical Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. This achievement marks the world's first market launch of a brain-computer interface medical device, indicating that the world's first invasive brain-computer interface medical device has entered the stage of clinical application. (CNR)

Trademark applications related to "100% coconut water" by enterprises such as Coconut Palm Group have all been rejected

On March 13th, the topic of "Multiple 100% coconut water products are reported to be diluted with water and sweetened" trended on social media. Relevant data shows that with the booming coconut water industry, trademarks such as "100% coconut water" and "100 coconut water" have been applied for registration by multiple parties. However, the status of the above trademarks is either invalid or under review after rejection.

According to the trademark information in relevant data, the trademark "100% Fresh Coconut Water Production, No Water Added" applied for by Coconut Palm Group Co., Ltd. on April 15, 2019, is in the state of "under review after rejection". The trademark "Fresh Coconut Water Production, No Water Added, 100%" applied for by the company on April 22, 2019, is currently in the state of "trademark invalidation". In addition, the trademark "100 Coconut Water" applied for by Anhui Yezhidao Food Co., Ltd. on January 3, 2025, is currently in the state of "trademark invalidation". The trademark "100% Coconut Water COCONUT—WATER" applied for by Hangzhou Hydrocarbon Oxygen Technology Co., Ltd. on August 3, 2023, is also in the state of "trademark invalidation". The coconut water-related trademarks applied for by the above companies all belong to the international classification of beer and beverages. (Beijing News)

Financial Regulatory Administration Summons Five Platform Operators

36Kr learned that recently, in response to issues in the Internet loan assistance business, the Financial Regulatory Administration summoned the operators of five platforms, namely Fenqile, Qifu JieTiao, Niwodai Jiekuan, Yixianghua, and Xinyongfei. The requirements of the summons state that when platform operators cooperate with financial institutions to carry out lending business, they should effectively standardize marketing and publicity behaviors, clearly disclose the interest and fee information of lending products, strictly abide by personal information protection regulations, conduct debt collection in accordance with laws and regulations, improve the customer complaint resolution mechanism, and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of financial consumers.

South Korea's Duty-Free Shop Sales Nearly Halved in the Past Six Years

Data released by South Korea's Ministry of Finance and Economy on Friday showed that the total sales of local duty-free shops in South Korea in 2025 were almost halved compared with six years ago, partly due to the depreciation of the Korean won and the decline in demand from Chinese purchasing agents. The data showed that the total sales of South Korea's duty-free shops in 2025 were 12.5 trillion won (about $8.4 billion), a 49.6% decrease from 24.8 trillion won in 2019. The data also showed that the sales of South Korea's duty-free shops had dropped to 15.5 trillion won in 2020 and had remained below 20 trillion won since then. (Sina Finance)

Most popular Chinese concept stocks are rising in pre - market trading of U.S. stocks, with NIO up more than 3% 

36Kr learned that most popular Chinese concept stocks are rising in pre - market trading of U.S. stocks. As of press time, NIO is up more than 3%, NetEase is up more than 2%, and Alibaba, Baidu, iQiyi, Weibo, and XPeng Motors are up more than 1%; Li Auto is down more than 1%.

The Japanese government announces that it will start releasing oil reserves on the 16th

On March 13th local time, the Japanese government officially announced that to prevent problems in the domestic supply of petroleum products, it will start releasing oil reserves from the 16th. The government plans to lower the reserve volume that oil companies are required to hold as stipulated by law. This move is expected to release oil equivalent to 15 days' worth of demand. (Yicai Global)

The forefront of AI

Peacekeeper Elite: The cumulative number of users experiencing all AI NPC gameplay has reached 110 million

36Kr learned that the 2026 Game Developers Conference (GDC) was held in Los Angeles, USA. At the conference, Xue Bing, the deputy director of the Peacekeeper Elite planning team at Tencent's Photon Studio Group, said that as of now, the capabilities of large AI models have been widely applied in Peacekeeper Elite. The cumulative number of users experiencing all AI NPC gameplay has reached 110 million, the highest daily active user count has reached 17.7 million, the number of message interactions per game has reached 70, and the microphone activation rate is nearly 75%.

Meta Delays Release of New AI Model, Performance Lags Behind Peers

Some media previously reported that Meta began developing a text-based artificial intelligence model codenamed "Avocado" last December and planned to launch it in the first quarter. However, the latest news indicates that Meta has postponed the release of the "Avocado" AI model code from March to at least May. According to people familiar with the matter, Meta spent several months developing this AI model, but its performance in internal inference, coding, and writing tests fell short of the leading AI models of competitors such as Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. (Caixin)

Investment and Financing

XPeng HT Secures Nearly $200 Million in Equity Financing

36Kr learned that XPeng HT announced the completion of a new round of equity financing of nearly $200 million recently. The investment institutions include Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Banyan Capital, Fortune Capital, etc. Among them, Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital China continued to increase their investments after the Series A financing. After this round of financing, the total historical equity financing of HT is approximately $1 billion.

"Tongren Intelligence" Completes Nearly 400 Million Yuan Series A Financing

Recently, "Tongren Intelligence" has completed nearly 400 million yuan in Series A financing. The investors include an industrial investor and multiple state-owned investors. It is understood that Tongren Intelligence is a hardcore scientific and technological innovation enterprise led by scientists. Relying on the original embodied intelligence theoretical framework and core technologies, it has taken a differentiated technological path - centered on "small-sample stereo vision accurate recognition" and "autonomous planning of target task paths", without the need for large computing power and massive data training, and has achieved large-scale application of embodied intelligence in fields such as intelligent manufacturing and national defense equipment.

Financial Reports of Large Companies

Didi's order volume in the fourth quarter increased by 13.5% year-on-year, and the average daily order volume increased to 52.65 million orders

On March 13th, Didi released its performance report for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2025 on its official website. In the fourth quarter, the order volume of Didi's core platform (China's ride-hailing and international business) increased by 13.5% year-on-year to 4.844 billion orders, and the average daily order volume increased to 52.65 million orders. Among them, the order volume of China's ride-hailing business increased by 10.1% year-on-year to an average of 38.9 million orders per day, and the international business increased by 24.5% year-on-year to an average of 13.75 million orders per day. During the same period, the Gross Transaction Value (GTV) of the core platform increased by 19.9% year-on-year to 123.8 billion yuan. The GTV of China's ride-hailing and international business increased by 11.2% and 47.1% year-on-year to 87.2 billion yuan and 36.6 billion yuan respectively. Didi achieved an adjusted net profit of 530 million yuan in the fourth quarter. Throughout 2025, the order volume of Didi's core platform increased by 14% year-on-year, reaching 18.24 billion orders. The annual GTV of the core platform increased by 14.8% year-on-year to 450.8 billion yuan. Didi achieved an adjusted EBITA profit of 3.67 billion yuan in 2025.

Zhangyuan Tungsten Industry Performance Report: Net profit in 2025 was 290 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 68.73% 

36Kr learned that Zhangyuan Tungsten Industry released a performance report. In 2025, its operating income was 5.202 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41.61%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 290 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 68.73%; the basic earnings per share was 0.24 yuan.

Cool Products

The original Microsoft Xiaoice founding team releases "Guardian Claw", which can be installed with just one sentence

36Kr learned that on March 13th, Mingri Xincheng (the original Microsoft Xiaoice founding team) officially released "Guardian Claw". It can help users prevent all abnormal risk behaviors of lobsters on the local machine in real - time, and the installation is extremely simple. Users only need to say one sentence to their Claw: "Go to Claw.myTuanzi.com to download and install Guardian Claw." Guardian Claw will automatically complete the entire installation and immediately start real - time protection of the local machine.

Compiled | Zixin Xu