8:01 AM | Yao Ming steps down as the chairman of the Basketball Association; A Russian court imposes a 35-digit fine on Google; The six major banks will implement a new mechanism for the interest rate of existing mortgage loans from November 1.
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TOP3 Big News
Yao Ming Resigns as Chairman of the Basketball Association
On October 31, the Executive Committee of the 10th Members' Congress of the Chinese Basketball Association held a meeting in Beijing. The meeting reviewed and approved Yao Ming's application to resign as the chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association and elected Guo Zhenming as the new chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association. Yao Ming said that this decision was made after careful consideration, based on the consideration of the development of Chinese basketball and personal planning. "Whether in the past, present or future, basketball is a cause that I have always loved. I hope that everyone will continue to support Chinese basketball with me in the future." (CCTV News)
A Russian court fines Google with a 35-digit amount
On October 29 local time, due to Google's closure of the accounts of Russian TV channels on its video website YouTube, a Russian court fined Google about 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (a 35-digit number) US dollars. This figure far exceeds the total global GDP (about 110 trillion US dollars in 2023, a 15-digit number). The court ordered Google to restore the accounts of All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, Channel One, NTV, Zvezda TV and other TV channels, otherwise a fine will be imposed on Google.
It is reported that Google lost a lawsuit in 2020 for blocking multiple Russian media accounts on its YouTube video platform. Since then, Google has been fined 100,000 rubles per day. Legal professionals told TASS that if the fine is not paid within 9 months, the fine amount will double every day without an upper limit. Only by complying with the court's judgment can Google return to the Russian market. This figure far exceeds Google's own market value. (CCTV News, Global Network)
New Mechanism for Existing Mortgage Interest Rates to Be Implemented by Six Major Banks Starting from November 1
On October 31, six major commercial banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, and Postal Savings Bank of China, issued announcements. Starting from November 1, they will successively implement a new pricing mechanism for commercial individual housing loan interest rates. This also means that the requirements for improving the pricing mechanism for commercial individual housing loan interest rates issued by the People's Bank of China a month ago are about to be officially implemented. Regarding the situation where many loan borrowers previously believed that the repricing cycle of mortgage interest rates was uniformly set at one year, which could not timely reflect changes in market supply and demand and easily led to a large interest rate spread between new and old mortgages, the announcements of the six major banks clearly canceled the restriction that the shortest repricing cycle of mortgage interest rates is one year. In addition to the six major commercial banks, other commercial banks will also issue announcements in the near future to clarify the new pricing mechanism for individual mortgage interest rates. After the implementation of the new pricing mechanism for commercial individual housing loan interest rates, the People's Bank of China will no longer uniformly adjust the interest rates of existing mortgages. (CCTV News)
Big Companies/Big Events
Guo Jinyi Publicly Responds to "Luckin's Plan to Enter the US Market": The Company Actively Explores Business in the US, with No Timeline to Return to Nasdaq
Luckin released its business announcement for the third quarter of 2024 on the evening of October 30. During the subsequent conference call, Guo Jinyi, the Chairman and CEO of Luckin, responded to the recent news that "Luckin plans to enter the US market". He stated that Luckin is actively exploring opportunities in the US and other markets. "We will closely monitor the overseas business and timely communicate the progress with the market. At the same time, we will also actively attempt to explore and innovate the organizational and business models to expand the overseas business in a more suitable and flexible manner." Guo Jinyi also said that Luckin will continue to pay attention to the US capital market. However, the primary task at this stage is still to implement the company's business strategy, and there is currently no clear timeline for returning to the main board and restoring the listing status on the main board. (Meijing News Network)
NIO Middle East Team Starts Secret Recruitment: The Highest Position Reaches Assistant Vice President
It is learned from multiple independent sources that in order to expand the Middle East team, recently, NIO has started a secret recruitment in China: The job level is level 5 and above, and the position is senior director and above, with the highest reaching the Assistant Vice President (AVP) level. The talents needed include fields such as vehicle manufacturing, three electrics, intelligent cockpit, and intelligent driving. "The salary is basically the same as that of domestic level 5 employees, but the scope of authority is smaller than that in China, and it is dedicated to specific matters." An insider close to NIO's Middle East business said. "Because candidates need to work overseas for a long time, it is not easy to recruit suitable talents." (21st Century Business Herald)
NIO Holdings Company Increases Its Registered Capital to Approximately 7.43 Billion Yuan
36Kr has learned that the Aiqicha App shows that recently, NIO Holdings Limited has undergone industrial and commercial changes, and its registered capital has increased from approximately 6.43 billion yuan to approximately 7.43 billion yuan. NIO Holdings Limited was established in November 2017, with Li Bin as the legal representative. Its business scope includes the technical development, technical services, technology transfer, and technical consultation of new energy vehicles and related components. Shareholder information shows that the company is jointly held by Nio Nextev Limited, NIO User Enterprise Limited, Hefei Jianheng New Energy Vehicle Investment Fund Partnership, etc.
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower collectively, and most popular Chinese concept stocks declined.
36Kr learned that as of the close on October 31, the three major U.S. stock indexes collectively declined. The Nasdaq dropped by 2.76%, the S&P 500 index fell by 1.86%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 0.9%. Most large technology stocks fell. Microsoft dropped by more than 6%, Nvidia and Meta dropped by more than 4%, Intel and Amazon dropped by more than 3%, Tesla dropped by more than 2%, Google and Apple dropped by more than 1%; Netflix rose by 0.3%. Most popular Chinese concept stocks declined. Li Auto dropped by more than 13%, NIO dropped by more than 4%, iQIYI dropped by more than 3%, Weibo, Futu Holdings, Baidu, and Xpeng Motors dropped by more than 1%; JD.com and Vipshop rose by more than 1%.
Cui Dongshu of the China Passenger Car Association: China accounted for 36% of the world's auto market share in September
36Kr learned that Cui Dongshu, the secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, wrote in an article that the world's auto sales reached 7.72 million units in September 2024, a year-on-year decrease of 4% and a month-on-month increase of 8% compared to August. In September 2024, it was still slightly 10% lower than the peak in September 2017, at a medium level over the years. From January to September 2024, the sales volume was 66.13 million units, with a year-on-year increase of 2%. In September 2024, the world market share of Chinese auto companies was 36%. From a global perspective, the Chinese auto market recovered strongly in 2024. Chinese auto companies such as BYD, Chery Automobile, Geely Automobile, and Changan Automobile had the most prominent recovery effects, while the performance of Asian groups represented by Toyota and Kia was still relatively poor.
Agricultural Bank of China: Zhang Xuguang Resigns as Executive Director and Vice President of the Company
36Kr has learned that the Agricultural Bank of China announced that due to reaching the retirement age, Zhang Xuguang has requested to resign as the company's executive director, vice president, and member of the Board of Directors' Strategic Planning and Sustainable Development Committee, Risk Management and Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Committee, and the Risk Committee of the US Regional Institution. Zhang Xuguang's resignation letter was delivered to the company's board of directors on October 31, 2024, and took effect.
Starbucks Plans to Fully Reform Its US Stores, Including Reducing Customer Waiting Time and Simplifying the Menu, etc.
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said on October 30 that the company plans to fully reform Starbucks' US stores, including adding more comfortable seats, ceramic cups, etc., and reducing the customer waiting time to less than four minutes. Niccol said that to help achieve the above goals and make the prices clear, Starbucks will also simplify the menu. (Jiemian News)
SoftBank's Masayoshi Son: Preparing Billions of Dollars for Next "Major Move"
According to the Nikkei news, Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, attended the 8th Future Investment Initiative (FII) Summit held in Saudi Arabia on October 29 and stated that "he is preparing billions of dollars for the next major move". He also mentioned that it is expected to achieve an "Artificial Super Intelligence" (ASI) with 10,000 times the intelligence of humans by 2035. Masayoshi Son said that to achieve the super artificial intelligence, "it requires a cumulative investment of $9 trillion and 200 million semiconductors". Regarding the super artificial intelligence, he also estimated that the annual net profit in the future will reach $4 trillion. (Jiemian News)
Suzuki Motors: To Produce Pure Electric SUVs for Toyota in India Under OEM from Next Year
Suzuki Motors stated on October 30 that it will start providing pure electric SUVs produced in India to Toyota from next spring. This is the first time that Suzuki supplies electric vehicles to Toyota in an OEM manner. (Jiemian News)
It is reported that the Shanghai Stock Exchange is accelerating the inclusion of the STAR Market ETF in the Fund Connect Platform for transfer.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange held an exchange meeting on the STAR Market Index and products, and had discussions and exchanges with representatives of some market institutions on the research and development of the STAR Market Index and the development of products. In-depth exchanges were conducted on the construction of the ETF market ecosystem, the development direction of indexed investment, STAR Market index products and supporting mechanisms, and the guidance of medium and long-term funds into the market. Taking the supporting mechanism as an example, it is understood that the Shanghai Stock Exchange is accelerating the inclusion of the STAR Market ETF in the Fund Connect Platform for transfer, studying and optimizing the market maker mechanism and after-hours trading mechanism, actively guiding more social funds to flow into key national support areas such as new-quality productive forces to meet the asset allocation needs of the majority of investors. Relevant work has made certain progress. (China Securities Journal)
MicroStrategy, a Bitcoin "Whale", Plans to Raise $42 Billion to Buy Coins, Claiming a 17.8% Yield Rate Since the Beginning of This Year
On October 30 local time, MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, announced a strategic goal to raise $42 billion in the next three years, including $21 billion in equity and $21 billion in fixed-income securities. The company calls it the "21/21 Plan". Phong Le, President and CEO of MicroStrategy, said: "As a Bitcoin financial company, we plan to use the additional funds to purchase more Bitcoin as a financial reserve asset so that we can achieve a higher Bitcoin yield rate." Andrew Kang, the Chief Financial Officer of MicroStrategy, revealed that the company increased its Bitcoin holdings by 11% this quarter, raising the Bitcoin yield rate so far this year to 17.8%. (Jiemian News)
Hyundai Motor Unveils Hydrogen Fuel Cell Concept Vehicle INITIUM, Mass Production Vehicle to be Launched in the First Half of Next Year
Hyundai Motor has released the latest hydrogen fuel cell concept vehicle named INITIUM in Seoul, South Korea. Based on the INITIUM concept vehicle, Hyundai Motor will launch a new mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in the first half of 2025. It is introduced that the INITIUM concept vehicle is equipped with low-drag wheels and low-rolling-resistance tires to reduce resistance, and its cruising range exceeds 650 kilometers. Hyundai Motor plans to display the INITIUM concept vehicle at the Guangzhou Auto Show and the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. (Jiemian News)
Samsung implies the possibility of starting to supply HBM chips to NVIDIA in the near future
On October 31, South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. hinted that it may provide advanced High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) to the US artificial intelligence giant NVIDIA in the near future. The South Korean tech giant has been working to have its HBM3E chips pass NVIDIA's quality tests, while its local competitor SK Hynix Inc. has recently begun mass-producing the industry-leading 12-layer HBM3E chips. Kim Jae-june, vice president of Samsung Electronics' memory business, said at a conference call after the announcement of the third-quarter earnings report: "Currently, we are mass-producing 8-layer and 12-layer HBM3E products." (Sina Finance)
Morgan Stanley: Reduces AMD's Target Price from $178 to $169
36Kr learned that Morgan Stanley's report shows that AMD's quarterly performance meets expectations, but the market reaction indicates that the company faces the challenge of high expectations. The bank still looks favorably on investment opportunities in the field of artificial intelligence from 2024 to 2025, although some expectations for revenue and earnings may be too high. Morgan Stanley reduces AMD's target price from $178 to $169, maintains a "market perform" rating, and expects AMD's quarterly revenue as of March next year to be $6.986 billion, with full-year revenue in 2025 to be $31.07 billion, and revenue in 2026 to increase by 25% to 29%.
Siemens Agrees to Acquire Simulation Software Company Altair for $10.6 Billion in Cash
On October 30 local time, Siemens announced that it has agreed to acquire simulation software company Altair Engineering in an all-cash transaction worth $10.6 billion. Siemens will pay $113 in cash for each share of Altair, valuing the latter at $10.6 billion. This offer represents a 19% premium over Altair's unaffected closing price on October 21, 2024. Altair is headquartered in Michigan, USA, and sells data analysis technologies and services to large enterprise customers in the industrial manufacturing, consumer goods, energy, and other industries. (Jiemian News)
The Forefront of AI
OpenAI Adds Search Functionality to ChatGPT
On October 31 local time, OpenAI announced the addition of a new search feature to ChatGPT. OpenAI said that this option, named "ChatGPT Search", will allow users to search for timely information as they would on the web and obtain news and other data sources with displayed attributions. (Jiemian News)
Toyota: To Start Developing an Artificial Intelligence Platform with NTT in 2025
Toyota stated that it will start developing an artificial intelligence platform with NTT in 2025. It is expected that the total investment in the artificial intelligence platform with NTT by 2030 will reach 500 billion yen. (Caixin)
Microsoft CEO Nadella: AI sales will exceed $10 billion in the next quarter
Microsoft CEO Nadella said that AI sales will exceed $10 billion in the next quarter; Azure Cloud gained market share in the first quarter; Approximately 70% of the companies in the Fortune 500 are using Office AI tools. (Caixin)
Big Company Financial Reports
Li Xiang Auto: Net profit of 2.82 billion yuan in the third quarter, with a year-on-year increase of 0.3%
36Kr learned that Li Xiang Auto released its financial report for the third quarter of 2024. The financial report shows that in this quarter, Li Xiang Auto achieved a net profit of 2.82 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 0.3%; it is expected that the delivery volume in the fourth quarter will be 160,000 to 170,000 vehicles, with a year-on-year increase of 21.4% to 29.0%. Li Xiang Auto's US stocks fell by more than 4% before the market opened.
Starbucks: Net income in the fourth quarter was $783.7 million, with a 6% quarter-on-quarter growth
36Kr learned that Starbucks released its fourth-quarter financial report. The financial report shows that the net income in the fourth quarter was $783.7 million, with a 6% quarter-on-quarter growth (excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations); in fiscal year 2024, Starbucks' net income in China reached $2.958 billion. In the fourth quarter, 290 new stores were added net, and it entered 78 county-level markets. At the end of the quarter, the total number of Starbucks stores in China reached 7,596, covering nearly 1,000 county-level markets. In fiscal year 2024, based on the annual store expansion plan, Starbucks added 790 new stores net in China, with a year-on-year growth of 12%, setting a new historical high.
Apple: Net profit of $14.736 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024, a 36% year-on-year decrease
36Kr learned that Apple released its fourth-quarter earnings report for fiscal year 2024. The earnings report shows that Apple's total net revenue for the quarter was $94.930 billion, a 6% year-on-year increase; the net profit was $14.736 billion, a 36% year-on-year decrease. Apple's Greater China revenue in the fourth fiscal quarter was $15.033 billion, lower than the analysts' expectations of $15.8 billion and the $15.084 billion in the same period last year.
Shimao Group: Operating income in the first three quarters is approximately 3.987 billion yuan
36Kr learned that Shimao Group announced that the operating income in the first 9 months of 2024 is approximately 3.987 billion yuan, compared with approximately 3.394 billion yuan in the same period of the previous year; the net loss attributable to the owners of Shanghai Shimao is approximately 2.724 billion yuan, and the net loss attributable to the owners of Shanghai Shimao in the same period of the previous year is approximately 2.126 billion yuan.
Investment and Financing
Faraday Future Announces Receipt of $30 Million in Financing
On October 31, Faraday Future announced on Weibo that it has received the full net financing amount related to the $30 million (approximately 210 million yuan) financing commitment announced in September 2024. The company stated that the funds come from investors in the Middle East, the United States, and Asia, and they will be received in batches. Among them, the first installment was received on September 12, 2024, the second installment was received on September 30, and the last installment was received this week. The availability of this financing not only helps with the delivery of the FF 91 and the gradual recovery of the supply chain but also provides financial support for the advancement of the FX project. On the same day, Jia Yueting also posted a video on Weibo saying, "The last tranche of the $30 million financing for FF has been received, and this round of financing has been officially completed. Another significant progress has been made in the FF Dream Realization Battle." (National Business Daily)
"Linke Zhihua" Completes a 23-Million-Yuan Seed Round Financing
36Kr learned that "Linke Zhihua" recently announced the completion of a 23-million-yuan seed round of financing. The investor is Qianyi Capital. For this round of financing, Linke Zhihua will use the funds for team building, technology research and development, and the infrastructure construction of artificial intelligence core technologies. Linke Zhihua was established in 2024 and is committed to providing data intelligence solutions for companies in various industries.
"Donghui Equipment" Completes Pre-A Round of Investment
36Kr has learned that "Donghui Equipment" has completed the Pre-A round of investment, led by Oriza Holdings, with Hanli Capital, Zhuhai High-tech Golden Investment as co-investors, and Shendu Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor for this round and will continue to serve as the financial advisor for the next round. Donghui Equipment focuses on the research and development, production, and sales of high-end precision laser equipment. This round of financing is mainly used for the company's domestic research and development and manufacturing in the field of high-end laser solutions, and to support the company's large-scale mass production and delivery.
"Zhuling Technology" Completes Pre-A Round Financing of $10 Million
36Kr has learned that "Zhuling Technology" recently announced the completion of its Pre-A round financing of $10 million, led by Shunwei Capital, with follow-on investments from existing shareholder BlueRun Ventures and Beijing Hanjian Group. The funds from this round of financing will be mainly used to expand the team, enrich the product line, build a manufacturing system, and establish a sales channel system.
"Dingzhi Dental" Completes Hundreds of Millions of Yuan in Series A Financing
36Kr learned that, according to EKC Capital, "Dingzhi Dental" announced the completion of hundreds of millions of yuan in Series A financing. This round of financing was exclusively invested by Eight Roads Ventures. EKC Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for Dingzhi Dental in this transaction.
Big Events in Kr
The "Big Events in Kr" short-video column vividly interprets major events in the business world. What industry truths are revealed by the ranking changes of the 1,000 richest people in China?
Organized by | Yu Mo