8:01 AM | Li Ziqi publicly updated her videos and announced her return; The national legal holidays will be increased by 2 days; South Korea will apply for the intangible cultural heritage for the bottle design of "Banana Milk".
Li Ziqi Returns After Three Years, Video Gets Over 10 Million Views in 1 Hour
On the afternoon of November 12, the popular online blogger Li Ziqi publicly updated her video to announce her return. The video updated by Li Ziqi is titled "Carved Lacquer with Hidden Patterns, Carving Out the Auspicious Purple Air from the East". Its view count exceeded 10 million within one hour of its release. It is understood that this is the 1217th day since Li Ziqi stopped updating. Her previous video was updated on July 14, 2021, which tells the production process of salt. Previously, Li Ziqi stopped updating due to a conflict with the MCN company Weinian. On December 27, 2022, the official WeChat public account of Weinian released an announcement stating that under the mediation of the Mianyang Intermediate People's Court, the two sides reached a settlement. (21st Century Business Herald)
The Latest Holiday Arrangement Announced: Two More Days Added to Legal Holidays for All Citizens
The State Council has decided to make the following amendments to the "Holiday Arrangements for Annual Festivals and Memorial Days in the Country": First, amend the second item of Article 2 to "(2) The Spring Festival, with a 4-day holiday (the Lunar New Year's Eve, the first to the third day of the first lunar month)", and the fourth item to "(4) The Labor Day, with a 2-day holiday (May 1st and 2nd)". Second, add one article as Article 7: "For the holidays for all citizens, a unified holiday arrangement and leave adjustment can be reasonably arranged. Combined with the implementation of the paid annual leave system and other systems, a relatively long holiday can be actually formed. Except for individual special circumstances, the continuous working days before and after the legal holiday generally shall not exceed 6 days." In addition, the sequence of the articles and individual words are adjusted and modified accordingly. This decision shall come into effect on January 1, 2025. The "Holiday Arrangements for Annual Festivals and Memorial Days in the Country" shall be modified accordingly according to this decision and re-announced. (CCTV News)
Korean Dairy Company to Apply for National Heritage Status for "Banana Milk" Bottle Design
The Korean dairy company Binggrae is planning to apply for the bottle design of its classic product, "Banana Milk," to be included in the National Cultural Heritage List. The company is currently actively collecting data to submit an application to the Korea National Heritage Administration. Binggrae claims that since the banana-flavored milk was launched in 1974, its bottle design has remained the same and has been widely circulated among the Korean people, becoming a common memory for generations.
It is reported that items applying to be included in the Korean Cultural Heritage List usually need to have a history of more than 50 years and must be reviewed and registered by the Cultural Heritage Committee. The bottle design of "Banana Milk" is inspired by the traditional moon jar and was originally intended to showcase a high-end product image. Binggrae's other flavored milk products also use this bottle shape, and in 2016, this packaging was registered as a trademark to protect its unique appearance. (Global Times)
The commercial loan interest rate is rising, and the interest rate for the newly issued first-home mortgage loan will not be lower than 3%.
Recently, a notice released by a loan intermediary has been spread across the entire network. The content of the information is: "The commercial loan interest rate is rising, and the loan interest rate for newly signed loans with a term of more than 5 years will not be lower than 3%."
This content was soon confirmed: The interest rate for the newly issued first-home mortgage loan will not be lower than 3%. The reason behind the adjustment is that under the policy stimulus of the central bank lowering the policy interest rate and canceling the lower limit of the mortgage loan interest rate, banks have been lowering the mortgage loan interest rate one after another, and even the situation where the commercial loan interest rate is lower than the provident fund loan interest rate has occurred. Regarding this phenomenon, the central bank pointed out in the "China Monetary Policy Implementation Report for the Third Quarter of 2024" that in the case of insufficient effective credit demand, banks are overly competing for loans, and some loan interest rates are significantly lower than the yield of treasury bonds of the same maturity. (China Business News)
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower collectively, with XPeng Motors falling by more than 10%
36Ammonia has learned that as of the close on November 12, the three major U.S. stock indexes collectively declined. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.86%, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell by 0.09%, and the S&P 500 Index fell by 0.29%. Most large technology stocks rose. NVIDIA rose by more than 2%, Netflix and Microsoft rose by more than 1%, Amazon rose by 1%, and Google and Meta rose slightly; Tesla fell by more than 6%. Popular Chinese concept stocks generally declined. XPeng Motors fell by more than 10%, NIO fell by more than 9%, JD.com, Bilibili, and Li Auto fell by more than 7%, iQIYI and Weibo fell by more than 4%, and Alibaba fell by more than 3%.
Several Mobile Phone Manufacturers Suspend Large Foldable Product Lines
It is reported that a mobile phone brand has once again suspended its large foldable screen mobile phone product line. The internal team is re-planning the product positioning of large foldable screen phones and has suspended the release plan for new products next year. Foldable screen phones have always been in an awkward category. Huawei, Samsung and other brands are among the few mobile phone manufacturers that can make profits on foldable screen products. In addition, most mobile phone manufacturers are still in the trial stage.
In July this year, after the release of Xiaomi MIX Fold Flip, its sales performance was excellent. According to supply chain sources, the expected total life cycle sales of Xiaomi MIX Fold Flip is 500,000 units, and the actual production this year has reached 460,000 units, while the total sales of Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 is less than 100,000 units. Previously, mobile phone manufacturers such as OPPO and Vivo also spread the news that the research and development of small foldable screen phones was postponed, but they still retained large foldable products to maintain high-priced product lines.
In addition, the mobile phone brand Transsion, which mainly focuses on the overseas market, has also stopped the development of foldable screen products. According to the latest quarterly mobile phone tracking report released by IDC, the shipment of foldable screen phones in China in the third quarter of 2024 reached 2.23 million units, with a year-on-year growth of only 13.6%. Its growth rate has slowed significantly compared with the previous eight quarters. (LeiFeng Network)
Employment of technical talents in the 2025 campus recruitment is picking up, and JD Technology's R & D positions offer a salary package of 20 months' salary
36Kr has learned that after entering November, many domestic Internet and technology companies have begun to send employment offers to the 2025 campus recruits one after another, and the salary standards of each company this year have also been exposed one after another. After the news that JD will gradually increase the salary of positions such as purchasing and marketing to 20 months' salary has been confirmed one after another, JD Technology also announced that the technical R & D positions will be given an average salary of 20 months, which is much higher than the previous level of about 16 months' salary in the cloud computing industry. It is understood that the "counter-trend increase" in this salary is, on the one hand, due to the development opportunities brought by industry growth points such as large models, and on the other hand, it also shows JD Technology's emphasis on and investment in technical talents.
Maogeping Completes Filing for Hong Kong Stock Market Listing
36Kr has learned that recently, the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued a notice on the filing for the overseas issuance and listing of Maogeping Cosmetics Co., Ltd. and the "full circulation" of its unlisted domestic shares. Maogeping plans to issue no more than 115,000,000 ordinary shares and list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. 14 shareholders of the company intend to convert a total of 171,655,400 unlisted domestic shares into overseas listed shares and list and circulate them on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Samsung Responds to Rumor of "Suspending Supply of 7nm and Below Processes to Some Customers": Cannot Comment on Matters Related to Customers
Regarding the recent media reports that Samsung may suspend the foundry service of 7nm and below advanced processes for some customers, Samsung Semiconductor replied on the 12th: "We cannot comment on matters related to customers." Additionally, according to a shareholder of a computing power chip enterprise, Samsung and TSMC recently sent emails to the enterprise he invested in, requiring customers to cooperate in verifying the qualification of chip production. (Caixin News Agency)
Huatai Securities: In the short term, the year-on-year growth rate of social financing is expected to stabilize and rebound
36Kr has learned that the research report of Huatai Securities indicates that whether the growth rate of social financing can stabilize and rebound in the short term might mainly rely on whether the fiscal policy can continue to exert strength, whether the net issuance of government bonds can accelerate once again after the debt resolution plan is implemented, and whether the real estate cycle can continue to remain stable. In October, the year-on-year growth of fiscal deposits decreased significantly, suggesting that the fiscal policy is exerting more power. Simultaneously, the adjusted monthly sequential growth rate of M1 turned positive in October, indicating that the cash flow situation of enterprises is no longer worsening. Additionally, the year-on-year increase in household loans in October demonstrates that the drag of the real estate cycle on the credit cycle has decreased. Looking ahead, with the implementation of the debt resolution plan, the net issuance of local special bonds is expected to accelerate once more within the year. If the fiscal policy continues to exert strength, along with the continuous stabilization of the real estate cycle, the year-on-year growth rate of social financing is anticipated to stabilize and rebound in the short term.
Several product heads for overseas business of Dark Side of the Moon are reported to have left to start their own businesses.
Several product heads for overseas business of Dark Side of the Moon have recently left to start their own businesses. In September this year, Dark Side of the Moon decided to stop updating two overseas products that have been launched - Ohai and Noisee, temporarily shrinking the overseas to C applications. Dark Side of the Moon replied that making these two products was just an attempt and they were not officially approved, so adjustments were made quickly; Dark Side of the Moon is more focused on the development of Kimi. Since then, more than ten people have left Dark Side of the Moon. At least two of them have started their own businesses and are in contact with investors. (LatePost)
The exchange rate of the South Korean won against the US dollar dropped below the 1,400 won per US dollar mark.
On November 12 local time, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the exchange rate of the South Korean won against the US dollar closed at 1,403.5 won per US dollar, down 8.8 won from the previous day. This is the first time since November 7, 2022, that the exchange rate of the South Korean won against the US dollar has exceeded 1,400 won per US dollar. (CCTV News)
On the first day of the Airshow, COMAC signed orders for 130 aircraft
On November 12, on the first day of the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, COMAC signed a confirmation order for 60 C919 aircraft and a confirmation order for 40 C909 aircraft with HNA Aviation Group respectively; and signed an order for 30 C909 aircraft with Colorful Guizhou Airlines, including 20 confirmation orders and 10 intention orders. (CCTV News)
AstraZeneca Raises Revenue and Profit Forecasts for This Year Once Again
The British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca raised its annual revenue and profit forecasts on Tuesday for the second time in less than four months, thanks to strong market demand for its cancer and rare disease drugs. The London-listed company now expects revenue and core earnings per share to increase by more than 15% in 2024, compared with its previous forecast of around 15% growth in revenue and earnings per share at constant exchange rates. (Sina Finance)
The Italian government claims to have reached an agreement with Lufthansa on the acquisition of ITA Airways.
Lufthansa, the German airline, has resolved the differences with the Italian government over the acquisition of Italy's ITA Airways. The Italian government said later on the evening of November 11 local time that it has submitted a series of remedial measures related to the transaction to the European Commission, allowing the transaction to proceed and awaiting the final approval of the European Commission. The Italian Ministry of Finance said that the financial terms of the proposed transaction remain unchanged after the agreement was unexpectedly blocked last week. Previously, due to the decline in the value of ITA since 2023, Lufthansa demanded to acquire a 41% stake in ITA at a discounted price based on the originally agreed 325 million euros. (Jiemian News)
Thailand Approves Nearly $1.6 Billion Soft Loan to Support Real Estate Industry
The Deputy Finance Minister of Thailand, Paopoom Rojanasakul, said on Tuesday that the Thai Cabinet has approved soft loans worth 55 billion baht (approximately $1.58 billion) to boost the real estate industry. Paopoom said that these loans will be used for purchasing, renovating, repairing, and constructing houses. (Sina Finance)
Air China Intends to Become the World's First User of the C929 Wide-body Aircraft
On November 12, at the 15th China Airshow, Air China Limited and Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. signed the framework agreement for the first user of the C929 passenger aircraft, expressing their intention to become the world's first user of the C929 wide-body aircraft. The C929 is a jet wide-body passenger aircraft independently developed by China, with a seating capacity of 280 and a range of 12,000 kilometers. The preliminary design work is underway. (CCTV News)
Jaguar suspends new car sales in the UK until 2026
The British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover announced on Monday that its Jaguar brand will suspend the sale of any new cars in the UK until 2026. At that time, it will re-emerge and only sell high-end electric vehicles. Until then, Jaguar Land Rover will not deliver any new Jaguars to UK dealers. A spokesperson for the company said that all Jaguars still in inventory are now classified as used cars, regardless of the number on the odometer. (Sina Finance)
Michael Levie, Co-founder of CitizenM Hotels, Appointed as Rotating President of CHTA
36Kr has learned that recently, the China Hospitality and Travel Innovation Alliance (CHTA) held the "Future Traveler 2024" Global Conference in Shenzhen. At the conference, Michael Levie, the co-founder of CitizenM Hotels, was appointed as the rotating president of CHTA. It is introduced that Michael Levie will assist in leading the innovative development of CHTA and is committed to promoting technological innovation and cooperation between the East and the West in the industry.
American genetic technology company 23andMe announces a 40% layoff
American genetic technology company 23andMe announced a business restructuring on November 11 local time to streamline its operations and reduce costs. Additionally, 23andMe will halt the further development of all therapeutic projects. 23andMe stated that the company will reduce more than 200 employees, accounting for approximately 40% of the total workforce. The business restructuring is expected to significantly reduce operating expenses, saving more than $35 million in costs annually. The company expects to incur costs and expenses of up to $12 million, mainly related to one-time severance, transition, and termination-related expenses. (Jiemian News)
Alibaba Cloud Open Source Code Model Qwen2.5-Coder
36Kr has learned that the Alibaba Cloud Tongyi Model team has open-sourced the entire series of Tongyi Qianwen code models, including a total of 6 Qwen2.5-Coder models. It is introduced that the newly released flagship model, Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct, has refreshed the score records of open-source models on more than ten mainstream code generation benchmarks such as EvalPlus, and outperforms GPT-4o on 9 benchmarks such as Aider, which examines code repair capabilities, and McEval, which assesses multi-programming language capabilities, achieving the overtaking of closed-source models by open-source models.
Baidu Releases Miaoda, Li Yanhong: An Unprecedented Era Where Making Money Just by Ideas is Coming
36Kr has learned that at Baidu World 2024 Conference. Baidu releases Miaoda, which can realize any idea without writing code. Baidu CEO Li Yanhong introduced that the three characteristics of Miaoda are no-code programming, multi-agent collaboration, and multi-tool invocation. "We will usher in an unprecedented era where making money just by ideas is possible," enabling everyone to have the ability of a programmer. At the same time, Baidu releases the "Free Canvas" jointly developed by Baidu Wenku and Baidu Netdisk. It is introduced that the Free Canvas is an all-purpose whiteboard empowered by the ERNIE Bot multimodal large model, which can help users complete all tasks from finding materials to editing, generating, and sharing.
Robin Li of Baidu: Large Models Basically eliminate hallucinations
36Kr learned that Robin Li, the founder of Baidu, said at the Baidu World Conference that the biggest change in the large model industry in the past 24 months is that large models have basically eliminated hallucinations. At the same time, Robin Li released the retrieval-enhanced text-to-image generation technology iRAG, which combines Baidu Search's hundreds of millions of image resources with the powerful basic model capabilities to generate various ultra-realistic images. "The overall effect far exceeds the native text-to-image generation system, removing the machine-like flavor." The iRAG technology greatly improves the usability of AI-generated images and has commercial values such as no hallucinations, ultra-realism, no cost, and immediate availability.
Xiaodu AI Glasses Debuted at Baidu World 2024, Expected to Be Listed in the First Half of Next Year
36Kr has learned that at the Baidu World 2024 conference, Li Ying, the CEO of Xiaodu Technology, released the world's first native AI glasses equipped with a Chinese large model - Xiaodu AI Glasses. It is understood that Xiaodu AI Glasses will be listed in the first half of next year.
The new Thunderbird AI shooting glasses will be released soon
36Kr learned that according to the data from JD Business Intelligence and Tmall Business Advisor, during the Double 11 period, Thunderbird Innovation won the first place in the XR industry sales on the JD and Tmall platforms, with an industry market share of up to 42%; the sales of Thunderbird stores increased by 220% compared to the 618 in 2024. At the same time, Thunderbird Innovation also announced that the new AI shooting glasses, Thunderbird V3, will be released soon.
Sohu: Revenue in Q3 2024 was $152 million, with a year-on-year growth of 5%
On November 12, Sohu Inc. announced its financial report for the third quarter of 2024. The financial report shows that Sohu's total revenue in the third quarter was $152 million, with a year-on-year growth of 5%. Among them, brand advertising revenue was $19 million, and online game revenue was $128 million. The non-GAAP net loss attributable to Sohu Inc. was $12 million, and the net loss was better than expected. Zhang Chaoyang, the founder, chairman of the board, and CEO of Sohu, said: "In the third quarter of 2024, our brand advertising revenue reached the high end of the previous expectations, and both the online game revenue and the net loss were better than expected."
Huya: Total revenue in the third quarter was 1.54 billion yuan, and Non-GAAP net profit was 78 million yuan
36Kr learned that Huya Company released its financial report for the third quarter of 2024. The financial report shows that in the third quarter of 2024, Huya Company's total revenue reached 1.54 billion yuan. Among them, the revenue from game-related services, advertising, and other businesses increased by 209.3% year-on-year to 410 million yuan. Under non-US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, the net profit attributable to Huya Company in this quarter was 78 million yuan. In terms of user data, in the third quarter of 2024, the MAU (monthly average active users) of Huya's mobile terminal reached 84 million, and the number of paying users increased by 9.5% year-on-year to 4.6 million.
Tencent Music: Total revenue in the third quarter was 7.02 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 6.8%
36Kr learned that Tencent Music released its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024. The total revenue in the third quarter of 2024 was 7.02 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 6.8%; the adjusted net profit was 1.94 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 29.1%; the revenue from online music subscriptions increased by 20.3% year-on-year to 3.84 billion yuan; the number of online music paying users increased by 15.5% year-on-year to 119 million. In this quarter, the average monthly revenue per paying user (ARPPU) of Tencent Music further increased to 10.8 yuan.
Dianxin Technology Completes Nearly 100 Million Yuan in a New Round of Financing
Recently, Shanghai Dianxin Technology has completed a new round of financing of nearly 100 million yuan. Sinan Park Science Fund under Lingang Group and Xinding Capital led the investment, Hongfeng Investment and Fangyu Venture Capital followed the investment, and received investment and loan linkage credit from institutions such as Bank of Nanjing and China Merchants Bank. The funds will be used for large-scale mass production and delivery of equipment, as well as the research and development of new products. Dianxin Technology was established in 2021 and focuses on MicroLED new solid-state display and Chiplet advanced packaging equipment. (Dianxin Technology)
JD Intelligence Completes Series B Financing
36Kr has learned that the Aiqicha APP shows that recently, Hangzhou JD Intelligence has completed the Series B+ financing. The investors are Demao Capital and Hangzhou Xihu Science and Technology Innovation Investment. Founded in 2016, JD Intelligence is an enterprise dedicated to the research, development and production of electric actuators, special motors and turntable products. It possesses technologies such as high-impact and overload resistance, hollow cup motors, and high-power density motors.
Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple's First Entry into the Smart Home Network Camera Market, with Planned Mass Production in 2026
Tianfeng International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Apple will make its first foray into the smart home IP camera (network camera) market, with plans for mass production in 2026, aiming for an annual shipment volume of tens of millions. Ming-Chi Kuo stated that GoerTek has obtained NPI (New Product Introduction) and will become the exclusive assembly supplier for this product. (Yicai Global)
XPeng HT Aero's "Land Aircraft Carrier" Completes Its First Global Public Flight, and the Flying Car Factory Is Planned to Be Completed in Q3 Next Year
XPeng HT Aero's detachable flying car, the "Land Aircraft Carrier" aircraft, showcased four flight maneuvers, including "low-altitude linear acceleration," "spiral ascent," "constant altitude descent," and "precise landing" at Zhuhai Lianzhou Airport. The entire flight was conducted with autonomous driving. According to XPeng HT Aero, this is the world's first public flight of the "Land Aircraft Carrier". Currently, the XPeng HT Aero Flying Car Manufacturing Base is under construction. It is the world's first flying car factory to use a modern assembly line for large-scale mass production. It will be used to produce the aircraft part of the detachable flying car "Land Aircraft Carrier", with a planned annual production capacity of 10,000 units. The construction is planned to be completed in the third quarter of next year, and the flying cars will be mass-produced and delivered in 2026. (Caixin)
"Ke Da Shi" Short Video Column, Vivid Interpretation of Major Events in the Business World. Two More Days Off, Reduced Make-up Workdays. Has the Holiday Arrangement for 2025 Finally Listened to Advice?
How Can Chinese Brands Go Global?
How can Chinese products be sold overseas and build a brand from scratch? How can we move from white-label products to branded ones and break out of the "low-price competition" trap? How can we achieve great things with small investments in the process of brand globalization?
At 7 p.m. on November 14th (this Thursday), the "CEO Tips" Globalization Season has invited Chen Min, the founder and CEO of Haohan, Liu Dake, the founder and CEO of Kuanyang Network, and Chen Hemin, the founder and CEO of Tiannuoxi Globalization. Let's talk together about: How Can Chinese Brands Go Global? Come and make an appointment.
Compiled by | Wang Xinyie