8:01 AM | It is suspected that a "tail strike incident" occurred when a China Southern Airlines plane landed; Li Ziqi made her first public appearance in a year; Research shows that Asians are more tolerant of work.
Listing in Progress
Huitong Technology
36Kr learned that the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued a reply on agreeing to the registration of the initial public offering of Yangzhou Huitong Technology Co., Ltd., and agreed to the company's registration application for the initial public offering of stocks. According to the company's prospectus, the company plans to be listed on the ChiNext. The company is an overall technical solution provider of high-end equipment and products in chemical engineering.
Textron Shipping
36Kr learned that Textron Shipping announced in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it plans to offer 250.94 million shares for the Hong Kong IPO. The offering price range is HK$3.5 - 4.5 per share. The offering period is from October 24, 2024 to October 29, 2024. Each lot is 1,000 shares. It is expected that the shares will begin trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at 9:00 am on November 1.
Top 3 Big News
It is suspected that a "tail strike incident" occurred when a China Southern Airlines plane landed
Recently, multiple sources have reported that at noon on October 21, when China Southern Airlines flight CZ3534, operating from Shanghai Hongqiao to Guangzhou Baiyun, landed at Baiyun Airport, a "tail strike incident" was suspected to have occurred, resulting in damage to the lower part of the aircraft's rear fuselage and the interior of the bulk cargo compartment. The aircraft model is Boeing B787-9. On October 24, the reporter confirmed from relevant channels of China Southern Airlines that this incident did occur. However, when the reporter called the China Southern Airlines Guangzhou Baiyun Airport on the same day, the staff responded that they were "not clear". In addition, when the reporter called the China Southern Airlines customer service hotline, the other party said that it could not be found out whether the aircraft had a "tail strike" when it landed. A senior civil aviation pilot told the reporter that the B787-9 is an extended version of the Boeing 787-8, with the fuselage lengthened by about 6 meters, and the risk of a "tail strike" is inherently higher, but the occurrence of the accident should be largely related to the pilot's operational error. (Red Star News)
Li Ziqi makes her first public appearance in a year, showing up in a promotional video
Li Ziqi recently appeared in the promotional video of "Powerful Country Panda Week", which is her first public appearance after being away from the screen for nearly a year. Since July 14, 2021, Li Ziqi has not updated her content for three years. On July 14, 2021, the last episode of the "Daily Necessities" series was released. After that, Li Ziqi entered a state of not updating. A month later, she posted a complaint of "Capital has good tricks" on Weibo, which completely exposed the conflict between her and the MCN agency Weinian she belonged to at that time. This lawsuit finally ended at the end of December 2022, and the two sides reached a settlement under the court's mediation. By then, Li Ziqi had not updated for more than 500 days. (Mianyang Daily, The Paper)
Research shows that Asians are more tolerant of work
It is reported that in an article published by researchers from Radboud University in the Netherlands in the internationally authoritative psychological journal "Psychological Bulletin" (Psychol Bull), the researchers screened and identified 170 studies involving 358 different tasks and 4,670 subjects. The research results found that whether it is a repetitive task, a task with or without feedback, a task with high or low control, or a task with high or low significance, mental work makes us feel unpleasant equally. The only exception is that compared with Europe and North America, studies in the Asian region show that the unpleasantness caused by mental labor is slightly lower. (Life Times)
Big Companies / Major Events
Cybercab will be mass-produced in 2026, and Tesla expects to achieve fully autonomous driving next year
It is reported that Tesla plans to produce 2 million self-driving taxis, Cybercabs, annually. And it plans to provide unmanned vehicle-hailing services in Texas and California as early as 2025. Cybercab is Tesla's newly released self-driving taxi. Musk also said that Tesla has developed a ride-hailing application, and some employees in California have been able to use it this year.
Musk also mentioned the latest progress of the "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) software. The internal prediction is that by the second quarter of 2025, the safety performance of its FSD will surpass that of human drivers. He said: "We don't need to wait until Robotaxi or Cybercab. Let's make this goal a reality next year." (Tencent Technology, Yicai)
Tencent's More Than 20,000 Employees to Relocate is a Rumor
Recently, there are rumors that more than 20,000 employees of Tencent in Shenzhen will be relocated to the "Bao'an Binhai Digital Center" in succession, and it is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. At around 12:00 on October 24, the netizen "Kat Qin", whose Weibo is certified as "Tencent Public Relations Director", said on Weibo: "Friends, it's not true. There is no 'Bao'an Binhai Digital Center' on the earth, and there is no large-scale relocation plan at present. The Penguin Island is also under vigorous construction. (Sina Technology)
Lenovo Appoints Former Dell Executive as New President of ISG
36Kr has learned that Lenovo Group appoints Ashley Gorakhpurwalla to lead the ISG Infrastructure Solutions Group. He will join on November 11 and serve as Executive Vice President of Lenovo Group and President of the ISG Infrastructure Solutions Group, and become a member of the Lenovo Executive Committee (LEC). During his tenure as President and General Manager of Dell EMC Server and Infrastructure Systems, Gorakhpurwalla was responsible for managing a business with a revenue scale of $20 billion.
The First Quarterly Report of New Oriental after Dong Yuhui's Departure is Released
On the evening of October 23, the education and training giant New Oriental announced its latest quarterly financial report. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 (from June 1 to August 31, 2024), New Oriental's net revenue increased by 30.5% year-on-year to $1.435 billion. Excluding the revenue generated by the self-operated products and live-streaming e-commerce business of Oriental Select, the revenue increased by 33.5% year-on-year to $1.278 billion. Oriental Select brought about $157 million (approximately 1.1 billion yuan) in revenue to New Oriental in this quarter. Compared with the past, New Oriental's revenue in this fiscal quarter has significantly exceeded that before the Double Reduction policy. (Securities Times)
ByteDance's Revenue Growth and Profit Margin Both Declined in 2024
Exclusive from 36Kr, in the first three quarters of 2024, ByteDance's revenue growth rate has decreased significantly. After a short-term increase in its profit margin through "trimming the fat and strengthening the muscles", it has also entered a downward trend. This is because ByteDance is facing three challenges: the slowdown in domestic advertising revenue; the impact of geopolitics on TikTok's revenue is beginning to emerge; the large-scale model business is in the early stage of high investment, and the return is not visible in the short term.
Over 700 million parcels collected in a single day, the peak season of express delivery business kicks off
It is learned from the State Post Bureau that the peak season of express delivery has started. On October 22, the national express delivery parcels collected in a single day exceeded 700 million, setting a new record. This year's peak season of express delivery business started from October 21 and is expected to end before the Spring Festival in 2025. Data from the State Post Bureau shows that from October 21 to 23, the national postal and express delivery industry collected about 1.92 billion express delivery parcels, with a year-on-year growth of 48.7%; and delivered about 1.655 billion express delivery parcels, with a year-on-year growth of 29.5%. Among them, 729 million express delivery parcels were collected on October 22, with a year-on-year growth of 74%, refreshing the single-day business volume record. (CCTV News)
Jaguar Land Rover China Denies Massive Layoffs, Admits Organizational Adjustment
It is reported that recently, there are rumors that Jaguar Land Rover's Integrated Marketing and After-Sales Service (IMSS) is carrying out large-scale layoffs, with a layoff ratio of more than 50%. Almost all senior managers in the marketing department and above have been laid off, and the remaining senior managers have accepted demotion. IMSS has also opened a fast resignation area where employees receive a meeting invitation after work, enter the company to sign the contract the next day, and leave on the same day.
In response, Jaguar Land Rover China told reporters that IMSS is indeed undergoing structural adjustment and personnel optimization, but "the massive layoffs are untrue news." An insider of Jaguar Land Rover China told reporters that the layoff ratio of IMSS is about 20%, and the layoff compensation is "n + 3"; during the adjustment, some departments have been merged, and job positions have also been optimized simultaneously; in this adjustment, Jaguar Land Rover has added some new positions and is open for employees to compete for them. (China Business News)
More than 40% of People Worldwide Still Not Using Mobile Internet
The GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association) released the "Mobile Internet Connectivity Status in 2024" report this month. 43% of the global population (equivalent to 3.45 billion people) still do not use mobile Internet. The report states that Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the least Internet connectivity globally, with only 46% of the adult population using mobile Internet services. On a global average, 71% of adults (approximately 4.018 billion people over the age of 18) are using mobile Internet services. (ITHome)
Lei Jun: The price of Xiaomi 15 really needs to increase
36Kr has learned that Lei Jun posted on a social platform, saying: Many friends are concerned about whether the price of Xiaomi 15 will increase? Last year, I told everyone that Xiaomi 14 was definitely the last time to be priced at 3999. This year, the cost of components has increased significantly, and in addition, our investment in research and development is also very large. The price of Xiaomi 15 really needs to increase. It is understood that Xiaomi will hold a new product launch event on October 29.
The 2024 Medical Insurance Negotiation is about to begin
It is learned from the National Healthcare Security Administration that according to the work arrangement, the on-site negotiation/bidding for the 2024 medical insurance catalog is scheduled to be carried out in Beijing from October 27th to 30th. It is expected that the adjustment results will be announced in November, and the new drug catalog will be implemented from January 1, 2025. (CCTV News)
In order to control the number of tourists, Venice, Italy will continue to trial an entry fee policy in 2025
On October 24 local time, the Venice municipal government of Italy announced that it will continue to trial an entry fee policy for day-trippers in 2025. The Venice municipal government said that there will be a total of 54 fee-charging days during the peak tourist season from April to July 2025, while there were 29 fee-charging days in 2024. In order to control the number of tourists and deal with the damage caused by over-tourism to cultural heritage, on April 25, 2024, Venice, Italy began to collect an "entry fee" from day-trippers. (CCTV News)
Several banks confirm that currently, the minimum commercial mortgage loan interest rate can only be set at 2.85%.
On the morning of October 24, some borrowers received a notice from the bank stating that the commercial loan interest rate cannot be lower than the provident fund loan interest rate. In response, the reporter confirmed with several banks in Guangzhou, and the above situation is true. On October 21, the latest Loan Prime Rate (LPR) was announced. Both the 1-year and the over 5-year LPR decreased by 25 basis points, and the over 5-year LPR dropped to 3.6%. This is the largest LPR reduction this year. Various banks have adjusted the mortgage loan interest rates, and in some banks' quotations, the commercial loan interest rate and the provident fund loan interest rate have been "inverted". (Nanfang Daily)
India's Minister of Information and IT: Initial discussions with Nvidia on developing AI chips are underway
According to Indian media The Economic Times' report on the 22nd local time, India's Minister of Information and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, confirmed to the media that India is having initial discussions with Nvidia on developing AI chips. Indian officials said that Nvidia hopes to utilize India's large pool of chip design talents to develop AI chips customized for the Indian market use cases. "(The) Indian government is currently finalizing the details such as the cost, benefits, and use cases of the jointly developed chip." In Nvidia's "India-customized" chips, Indian government and civilian institutions are expected to undertake 10%-20% of the integrated circuit design work. (IT House)
Strong Demand for Handbags Leads to Hermès' Counter-Trend Sales Growth
Hermès' sales have risen, benefiting from the strong demand from consumers for its expensive handbags, while the overall decline in the luxury goods market has dragged down the performance of peers such as Kering, the parent company of Gucci. Hermès said in a statement on Thursday that sales in the third quarter increased by 11.3% at constant exchange rates, slightly higher than analysts' estimates. Meanwhile, Kering Group warned that due to the sluggish demand in China, making it difficult for Gucci to get out of the predicament, the annual profit may fall to the lowest level since 2016. (Caixin News Agency)
It is reported that Amazon is preparing to launch a discounted store in the US
According to the tech media The Information on October 22, the e-commerce giant Amazon is preparing to launch a new low-cost storefront and impose strict restrictions on the product prices of merchants. It is reported that a document provided by a merchant shows that 700 items have been included in the "price limit list", including jewelry at $8 (about 57 yuan), guitars at $13 (about 93 yuan), and sofas at $20 (143 yuan). Amazon plans to ship directly from Guangdong, China to US customers. The fulfillment fees for goods sold through the low-price store will also be significantly lower than those for goods shipped domestically in the US. (Observer.com)
It is reported that Apple plans to open four new stores in India next year and recruit about 400 employees
According to local media reports, Apple plans to recruit 400 new employees for its new stores to be opened in Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Mumbai in India. The report said that Apple has listed a large number of job vacancies on its Indian website, with the aim of filling various positions before the opening of these retail stores next year. The recruitment includes full-time and part-time positions, similar to the company's existing stores in Mumbai and Delhi. (Sina Finance)
Bank of Japan Governor: Achieving the 2% price stability target will take time
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on October 23 that it will "take time" to continuously achieve the 2% price stability target. Ueda stated that through Japan's long-term low-interest rate policy, "inflation expectations are changing very slowly". He said that although the Bank of Japan ended the negative interest rate policy in March and decided to further raise interest rates in July, "it still maintains a loose monetary policy stance". (Jiemian News)
De Beers' Parent Company Considers Further Reducing Diamond Production
Anglo American said on Thursday that it is considering further reducing diamond production as the industry is weighed down by weak demand and oversupply. The mining giant intends to sell or spin off its De Beers diamond business, which has been affected by a sharp drop in diamond prices due to weak consumption and competition from lab-grown diamonds. (Sina Finance)
Papa John's Fined 1.48 Billion Won by South Korean Antitrust Agency
The South Korean antitrust regulator said on Thursday that it has decided to impose a fine of 1.48 billion won (about 1.07 million US dollars) on Papa John's Korea for taking unfair business practices against its franchisees. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) of South Korea said that from July 2015 to recently, the pizza chain designated 15 kinds of cleaning supplies such as hand soap as products that must be purchased from the head office, and forced franchisees to purchase and use them. According to its operating guidelines, franchisees who violate the regulations will be subject to business suspension penalties. The FTC said this violates South Korea's Franchise Business Act. (Sina Finance)
The satellite manufactured by Boeing disintegrated in space, generating a large amount of debris
The satellite Intelsat 33e (abbreviated as IS-33e) of Intelsat, an international communication satellite company, disintegrated in space recently, generating a large amount of debris. The company stated that it is coordinating with the satellite manufacturer, Boeing of the United States, and relevant agencies to analyze the cause of the satellite's disintegration. It is reported that the satellite was designed and manufactured by Boeing. It was launched in August 2016 and put into use in January 2017, mainly providing communication services to users in Europe, Africa, and some parts of the Asia-Pacific region. The initial estimated service life of the satellite is 15 years. (CCTV News)
The Forefront of AI
The speech large model "MaskGCT" is officially open-sourced in the Amphion system
36Kr learned that on October 24, TQW Technology announced that the speech large model "MaskGCT", jointly developed with The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, is officially open-sourced in the Amphion system and is open for global users. Different from the traditional TTS model, this model adopts an innovative paradigm of decoupling the mask generation model and the speech representation encoding, showing excellent performance in tasks such as voice cloning, cross-language synthesis, and speech control.
OpenAI Dissolves AGI Preparation Team
OpenAI is dissolving its "AGI Preparation" team, which provided advice to the company on OpenAI's own ability to handle increasingly powerful artificial intelligence and the world's preparedness to manage the technology. On Wednesday, Miles Brundage, a senior advisor to the AGI Preparation Team, announced his departure from the company through a Substack post. He stated that the main reason for leaving is that the opportunity cost is too high. He believes that his research will be more influential externally, he wants to reduce bias, and he has achieved his goals at OpenAI. He also said that neither OpenAI nor any other cutting-edge laboratory is well-prepared for AGI, and the world is not ready either. (Cailian Press)
Nvidia will provide India with the most advanced AI chips and reach cooperation with tech giants such as Reliance.
On Thursday local time, Nvidia announced that it has reached a partnership with Reliance Group, the second-largest consortium in India and owned by Asia's richest man Ambani, to jointly build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in India and will promote the application of this technology in the country with the largest population in the world. At an AI summit held in Mumbai, India on the same day, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had a meeting with Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries Group. Jensen Huang said that the large data center newly built by Reliance Group in India will use Nvidia's upcoming next-generation flagship GPU chip Blackwell, and Nvidia has also established cooperative relationships with enterprises such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services. (Caixin)
Kuaishou: KeLing AI Users Exceed 3.6 Million, Independent App to Be Launched Soon
36Kr learned that at the 2024 China Computer Conference, Zhang Di, Vice President of Kuaishou and Head of the Large Model Team, announced that KeLing AI will conduct an internal test of the video face model function. Based on the innovative ID retention capability, it supports users to self-train the face model. After the training is completed, the model can be used to generate 5s/10s text-to-video. This solves the problem that in the past AI video generation, it was impossible to create a stable character IP role. It was also introduced at the conference that since its release in June this year, KeLing AI has more than 3.6 million users, and has cumulatively generated 37 million videos and more than 100 million images. Recently, KeLing AI will also launch an independent App to facilitate user use.
Big Company Financial Reports
Eoptolink: Net profit in the first three quarters is 1.646 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 283.2%
36Kr learned that Eoptolink disclosed its third quarterly report. The company achieved an operating income of 5.13 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2024, with a year-on-year growth of 145.82%; the net profit is 1.646 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 283.2%; and the basic earnings per share is 2.33 yuan. During the reporting period, benefiting from the high industry prosperity, the company's sales revenue increased significantly compared with the same period of the previous year. Among them, the company's net profit in the third quarter is 781 million yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 453.07%.
Proya: Net profit in the first three quarters is 999 million yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 33.95%
36Kr learned that Proya disclosed its third-quarter report. In the first three quarters, it achieved an operating income of 6.966 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 32.72%; the net profit is 999 million yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 33.95%. The company stated that the performance growth is mainly due to the revenue growth of the online channel and the steady growth of small brands.
TAL Education Releases Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results: Quarterly Revenue Reaches $619 Million
36Kr has learned that TAL Education has announced its unaudited financial report for the second quarter of the fiscal year 2025 ending on August 31, 2024. The financial report shows that the net income of TAL Education in this quarter increased from $412 million in the same period of the previous year to $619 million in this quarter; the operating profit increased from $31.790 million in the same period of the previous year to $47.622 million in this quarter; the net profit attributable to TAL Education is $57.431 million, and the net profit attributable to TAL Education in the same period of the previous year was $37.902 million; the basic and diluted net profit per ADS is $0.09; as of August 31, 2024, the combined balance of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments is $3.454 billion.
Edifier: Net profit in the first three quarters is 338 million yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 21.91%
36Kr learned that Edifier disclosed the third quarterly report. The company achieved an operating income of 2.146 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2024, with a year-on-year increase of 15.22%; the net profit was 338 million yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 21.91%; and the basic earnings per share was 0.38 yuan.
Unilever's Q3 sales increase by 4.5%, exceeding expectations
Consumer goods giant Unilever's financial report released on Thursday shows that its sales in the third quarter were slightly better than expected. It has won back more shoppers through product innovation and a slower increase in prices. The company's underlying sales in the third quarter increased by 4.5%, exceeding the average analyst expectation of 4.2%. The underlying price increase in this quarter was 0.9%, while the underlying volume growth was 3.5%. Analysts previously expected prices to rise by 1% and volume to increase by 3.2%. (Sina Finance)
Investment and Financing
"Zedman Pharma" Announces Completion of Nearly 100 Million Yuan Series A+ Financing
36Kr learned that according to Zedman's official WeChat account, "Zedman Pharma" announced the completion of nearly 100 million yuan in Series A+ financing. This round of financing is led by Qingdao Guoxin, and the company's existing shareholders, Baino Capital, Hankang Capital, and Beda Fund, continue to make additional investments. Kaichen Capital continues to serve as the exclusive financial advisor. The funds raised in this round of financing are mainly used to accelerate the research and development, clinical studies, and commercial promotion of multiple related therapeutic drugs for autoimmune inflammatory diseases targeting the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR).
"Jiliu Technology" Completes Pre-A Round Financing
36Kr learned that, according to Zhuoyuan Asia, the ultra-large-scale computing power network provider "Jiliu Technology" has completed the Pre-A round of financing. Lightspeed Photosynthesis, Lianxing Capital, Zhuoyuan Asia, Zhangjiang Haocheng, Shanghai Lingang Group, Zhongguancun Science City, and others jointly invested. This round of financing will be further used for R & D iteration and upgrade, as well as the R & D of the leading ultra-large-scale computing power network and switches, and AI super servers in China.
"Resay Intelligence" Completes Series A Financing of Over 100 Million Yuan
36Kr learned that "Resay Intelligence" has recently completed a Series A financing of over 100 million yuan. The lead investor in this round of financing is Xieli Investment, with several oral industry entrepreneurs participating in the investment. The raised funds will be mainly used for product research and development, capacity expansion, and global business layout. Resay Intelligence was established in 2019 and focuses on developing and providing dental 3D printing solutions.
Cool Products
Apple is about to produce the new MacBook Air equipped with the M4 chip
According to Bloomberg, sources familiar with the matter revealed that Apple is about to produce the new MacBook Air equipped with the M4 chip, which may be launched between January and March next year. Meanwhile, the company has postponed the release of the new high-end Mac Studio, and its debut is expected to be between March and June next year. In addition, during the same spring product launch cycle, Apple plans to launch an improved iPhone SE, a new iPad Air, and an upgraded iPad keyboard. Sources said that during the same period, Apple also plans to release the 11th-generation entry-level iPad with the code names J481 and J482. (Jiemian News)
Fotile Releases a New Generation of High-End Fully-Integrated Refrigerators
36Kr learned that on October 24, the 2024 Fotile Happiness Insights Conference and the global launch of a new generation of high-end fully-integrated refrigerators were held at the Shanghai World Expo Center. Fotile released a new high-end full-scenario kitchen appliance Ruiyin series and a new generation of high-end fully-integrated refrigerators, and launched the world's first AI health cooking system, Healthy Cooking GPT. Healthy Cooking GPT has built a tens of millions of kitchen appliance knowledge graph including a tens of millions of dietary health knowledge graphs, 6 million sets of healthy meal combination solutions, more than 260 sets of food storage guidelines, and 380 sets of cooking skills. It can plan exclusive solutions according to the user's entered personal basic information, sports and health data, and the needs of special populations.
Organized by | Yang Xinyan