8:01 AM | McDonald's lowers delivery fees and charges packaging fees; The mold content in Haoshi Bread exceeds the standard by nearly 6 times; It is popular in South Korea to go to China after work on Fridays.
TOP Big News
McDonald's Announces that McDelivery Will Adopt a New Pricing Model, Lowering Delivery Fees and Charging Packaging Fees
36Kr has learned that McDonald's announced that McDelivery will adopt a new pricing model on December 9. The delivery fee will be adjusted from 9 yuan to 6 yuan, and a packaging service fee will be charged based on the number of meals (the new pricing model also applies to group meal channels).
Haushi Bread Fails Sampling Inspection Again: Mold Content Exceeds the Standard by Nearly 6 Times
Recently, the well-known baking brand Haushi has once again been listed on the blacklist of sampling inspections. The notice issued by the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Hubei Province shows that one batch of "Haushi Mini Bread" (2024-08-11) nominally produced by Zhengzhou Renrenli Food Co., Ltd. has been found to be unqualified. The mold test value is 1000 CFU/g. According to the national standard, the maximum limit of mold in pastries and bread should not exceed 150 CFU/g. This result shows that the mold content of this batch of products exceeds the standard by nearly 6 times, seriously exceeding the allowable range of food safety.
Haushi Bread is not the first time that the regulatory authorities have named the product as unqualified. In 2023, Haushi Chinese Hamburger Bread was found to have an excessive total number of colonies; in 2022, Haushi Lactobacillus Bread (Sterilized Type) was found to have an excessive total number of colonies; in September 2021, Haushi Breakfast Toast Bread was found to have an excessive total number of colonies; in June of the same year, Haushi Pork Floss Sandwich Bread was found to have an excessive total number of colonies; in September 2020, Haushi Pure Cake was found to have an excessive total number of colonies. (Consumer Reports)
Korean Trend of Traveling to China after Work on Fridays: Shanghai Becomes a Popular Destination
According to a report by South Korea's SBS TV on November 29, since China implemented a visa-free trial policy for South Korea, the number of bookings for trips to China from South Korea has soared. Many young people choose to take advantage of the weekend after work on Friday to embark on an impromptu trip to China. The report said that it takes only a little over an hour to fly from South Korea to China, and now the complicated procedures and costs of applying for a visa have been waived, releasing the demand for travel to China from South Korea. A South Korean travel agency said that from November 1 to 21, the agency's orders for trips to China increased by 75% month-on-month, among which the orders for trips to Shanghai soared by 178%. (HaiKe News)
Big Companies/Big Events
Using freight insurance to defraud over 1 million in 8 months, merchants collectively close freight insurance
In September of this year, the Lianhua County Public Security Bureau in Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province, cracked a case of specifically defrauding the "freight insurance" compensation payment. Liu Qi, the captain of the Anti-Fraud Squadron of the Criminal Police Brigade, said in an interview that in this case, the two suspects fabricated a large number of transactions and purchased the "large-item return freight insurance" insurance product. Within 8 months, they defrauded a total of more than 1 million yuan in claim settlement insurance money.
Recently, many consumers have found that their "freight insurance" rights and interests have been cancelled by the platform, and some merchants have also begun to close this service. The reporter found on the Black Cat Complaint Platform that in the past month, many consumers have been restricted by the platform from using the "freight insurance" rights and interests. In addition, many merchants have stated on social platforms that since the end of August this year, their stores have voluntarily closed the "freight insurance" service. (China National Radio)
Luobo Kuaipao Responds: It Has Been Granted Hong Kong's First Autonomous Driving License, Initiating Global Business Expansion
36Kr has learned that on November 29, the Transport Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced that it has issued the first pilot license for autonomous driving vehicles in accordance with the Road Traffic (Autonomous Driving Vehicles) Regulation. According to the documents of the Islands District Council of Hong Kong, Luobo Kuaipao previously submitted an application for autonomous vehicle testing and pilot use to the Transport Department, and the first stage of testing will be launched before the end of this year. On December 2, the official response of Luobo Kuaipao stated that the license issued by the Hong Kong Transport Department is the first batch of autonomous driving test licenses for right-hand drive and left-hand traffic areas obtained by Luobo Kuaipao, and it will become an important part of Luobo Kuaipao's globalization. In addition, on December 4, Baidu Apollo will also release version 10.0 of the autonomous driving open platform for global users in Hong Kong.
A Sichuan Airlines Flight Made an Emergency Landing in Guilin Due to a Passenger's Power Bank Smoking
On the evening of December 1, according to Beautiful Sichuan Airlines: On November 30, after the 3U8925 flight from Chengdu to Xiamen took off, the power bank carried by a passenger in the cabin emitted smoke. The flight attendants and the security team responded quickly and effectively controlled the situation, without further affecting the safety of the cabin facilities and the cabin order. To ensure flight safety, the crew handled the situation according to the procedures and made a decisive decision. The aircraft made a safe emergency landing in Guilin at 18:38 and took off again after completing the relevant safety confirmation work. It delivered the passengers to Xiamen at 21:29 that night. (Cover News)
Renren.com has stopped its service, and the subsequent recovery time is unknown
On December 2nd, Renren.com could not be logged in, indicating that the account password was incorrect. In addition, many users of Tieba have expressed similar statements. It was found that the login page of Renren.com can still be opened currently, but there are no options such as registering an account or retrieving a password. Subsequently, some media called the official customer service phone number of Renren.com and learned that Renren.com has stopped its service, and the subsequent recovery time is unknown. As early as June this year, some netizens claimed that the album data of Renren.com suddenly disappeared, and the official did not give a response at that time. (IT Home)
Volkswagen Workers to Conduct Warning Strikes Across Germany
Volkswagen workers will carry out warning strikes at factories across Germany in early December, the union IG Metall said, marking the first large-scale strike in Volkswagen's domestic operations in Germany since 2018. Labor representatives of Volkswagen voted on November 22 to conduct limited strikes at German factories starting from early December after negotiations on wages and factory closures failed to make a breakthrough. A negotiator for IG Metall in Germany said, "If necessary, this will be the toughest collective bargaining battle in Volkswagen's history," (Sina Finance)
Bulgari CEO: In the next two years, e-commerce business in China will be strengthened to reach more consumers in smaller cities
Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin said in an interview on December 1 local time that Bulgari will strengthen its e-commerce business in China within the next two years to reach more luxury customers in smaller-sized cities instead of opening new physical stores. Babin also said that he believes the potential tariff measures of the US President-elect Trump against China will have little impact on the luxury goods industry, as most of the fashion products imported into China come from European countries such as France and Italy. (Jiemian News)
Elon Musk's Record Compensation Plan Rejected by Judge Again, Currently Valued at Over $100 Billion
On Monday local time, a judge in Delaware, the United States, once again rejected Tesla CEO Elon Musk's record compensation plan, despite the fact that shareholders previously supported the restoration of this plan. Although Tesla shareholders voted in favor of this plan at the annual meeting in June this year, Judge Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery still decided to adhere to the initial ruling in January, that is, the company's board was too influenced by the billionaire entrepreneur when the plan was adopted in 2018. (Sina Finance)
Intel Announces Retirement of CEO Pat Gelsinger
Intel announced on December 2 that CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired and resigned from the board of directors, effective as of December 1 local time. Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus have been appointed as interim co-CEOs of Intel, and the company's board is searching for a new CEO. Holthaus has also been appointed as the CEO of the newly established Intel Products Division. (Jiemian News)
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed with mixed results, and large technology stocks generally rose
36Kr learned that as of the close on December 2, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed with mixed results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.29%, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell by 0.97%, and the S&P 500 Index fell by 0.24%. Large technology stocks generally rose. Tesla and Meta rose by more than 3%, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Netflix rose by more than 1%, and Apple and NVIDIA rose slightly. Most popular Chinese concept stocks rose. Tencent Music rose by more than 6%, XPeng Motors rose by more than 5%, Bilibili rose by more than 3%, Pinduoduo rose by more than 2%, Baidu, Weibo, and NetEase rose by more than 1%; Li Auto fell by more than 3%.
Nissan Responds to "Possibly Being Acquired by Honda"
According to foreign media reports, currently, Nissan is looking for an anchor investor as its long-term partner Renault is selling its shares in Nissan. According to informed sources, Nissan is looking for a stable long-term shareholder (such as a bank or insurance company) to replace part of Renault's equity, and even does not rule out the possibility of cooperating with other Japanese automakers, including Honda. In response, Nissan said: "We do not comment on speculative reports." (Everyday Economic Network)
The Cross-Provincial Mutual Assistance Function of the National Medical Insurance Personal Account Officially Goes Live
On December 2, the National Healthcare Security Administration officially launched the cross-provincial mutual assistance function of the national medical insurance personal account in Suzhou, Jiangsu. It is reported that under the overall planning and promotion of the National Healthcare Security Administration, currently, 31 coordinated areas in 9 provinces (cities) including Jiangsu and Hebei have officially launched the cross-provincial mutual assistance function of the medical insurance personal account, breaking the original regional restrictions of the personal account and further expanding its scope of use. This will play a positive role in promoting the security level of the majority of insured people and their families, as well as the rational allocation of resources. (People's Daily)
Elon Musk Asks US Court to Stop OpenAI from Transforming into a For-Profit Enterprise
On December 1 local time, it was reported that the well-known American entrepreneur Elon Musk has asked a US court to prevent the OpenAI Research Center from "illegally" transforming into a for-profit enterprise. A spokesperson for OpenAI said Musk's application is "repetitive and still baseless". (Sina Finance)
The number of corporate bankruptcies in Sweden may exceed 10,000 this year, reaching the highest level since the financial crisis
The Swedish credit consulting agency Creditsafe i Sverige AB said on Monday that the number of corporate bankruptcies in Sweden is expected to exceed 10,000 this year, a figure that has never been seen since the financial crisis in the 1990s spread from the banking sector to the broader economy. Henrik Jacobson, the CEO of Creditsafe, said in a statement: "So far this year, a total of 9,197 limited companies have gone bankrupt, an increase of 24% compared to the same period last year and 64% compared to two years ago." (Sina Finance)
BYD Doubles Employment Target for New Factory in Brazil to 20,000
According to the announcement on Monday, BYD plans to recruit 10,000 employees for the factory from January to August 2025. It is expected to add 2,000 positions in January, 3,000 in May, and 5,000 in August. (Sina Finance)
Can WeChat withdrawal be free of handling fees? Tencent responds: Only one situation is possible
Some netizens claim that transferring money directly from the salary card to WeChat's Change Tong, and when needed, withdrawing it from Change Tong to the salary card will not be charged a handling fee. In response, Tencent customer service confirmed that funds transferred to Change Tong from a bank card can be withdrawn to the bank card for free. However, the change in the WeChat wallet transferred to Change Tong only supports withdrawal to the change without a service fee. If the funds transferred from the bank card to the change are withdrawn to the change, and then withdrawn from the change to the bank card, a service fee will be charged according to the change withdrawal rules. (Cailian Press)
Enterprise WeChat: Due to a surge in access, some documents had abnormal opening, and the issue has been fixed.
36Kr learned that on December 2, many netizens reported that the Enterprise WeChat documents crashed. In response, Enterprise WeChat stated that due to a surge in access, some Enterprise WeChat documents had abnormal openings when being accessed. Currently, the issue has been fixed. We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused.
TikTok Vice President Li Liang Responds to Algorithm Issues: Poor Science Popularization, Insufficient Transparency
Recently, Li Liang, Vice President of TikTok Group, wrote that "All major platforms are using algorithms, and algorithms are not that complicated and mysterious. However, the science popularization of algorithms is not done well, and the transparency is insufficient. At the same time, the recognition and crackdown on rumors and cyber violence are not strong enough. This is indeed something that our platform companies need to strengthen." Li Liang stated that the difficulty in platform content governance is how to identify rumors and lies. For example, in order to achieve the purpose of spreading rumors, some marketing accounts use the routine of first sending false information with a small account, and then the marketing account screenshots it as material (to evade legal responsibility, the small account then deletes the false information) and quotes and spreads it in large quantities. This routine of spreading false rumors often has a huge impact on business operations and should become the key direction for all major platforms to crack down on. (21st Century Business Herald)
The China-Russia Eastern Gas Pipeline was fully completed on December 12.
According to the news from the China Oil & Gas Pipeline Network Corporation on December 2, the China-Russia Eastern Gas Pipeline, the natural gas pipeline with the largest single-pipe gas transmission capacity in China, has been fully completed. With the full completion of the China-Russia Eastern Gas Pipeline, the "northern gas flowing southward" has directly reached the three northeastern provinces, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and the Yangtze River Delta region, forming an eastern energy strategic passage in China. The natural gas resources supplied to the areas along the pipeline will be more abundant and more guaranteed. (CCTV News)
Yu Yinan, Vice President of Horizon Robotics, Resigns to Enter the Field of Robotics
Yu Yinan, the vice president of Horizon Robotics and the former president of the Software Platform Product Line, has officially resigned recently. After leaving Horizon Robotics, Yu Yinan will start an embodied intelligence venture, mainly focusing on the consumer product direction, including robots. (21st Century Business Herald)
There are many positive signals in the real estate market. New home transactions and land acquisition by real estate enterprises have reached a new high this year.
Under the intensive and superimposed impact of the new real estate policies, positive changes have occurred in new home transactions and land acquisition by real estate enterprises. In November, the transaction area of new homes in 30 key cities reached a new high within the year, and the land acquisition amount of 30 key real estate enterprises also reached a new high this year. In some cities, there are individual cases of private enterprises acquiring land at a high premium in the land auction market. From January to November, the year-on-year decline in the total sales of the top 100 real estate enterprises continued to narrow. Data from the Kerui Research Center shows that in November, under the intensive superimposition of favorable policies, the transaction area of new homes in 30 key cities turned positive year-on-year, reaching a new high within the year, with a slight increase of 3% month-on-month and a year-on-year growth of 20%. Compared with the monthly average in the third quarter, it increased by 60%. (Securities Times)
The Forefront of AI
CITIC Construction Investment: The penetration rate of AI search is expected to continue to increase
36Kr has learned that the research report of CITIC Construction Investment shows that 360 recently launched "Nano Search", which has four core capabilities of "searching, learning, writing, and creating". It transforms search results into creative resources, and the number of visits on the first day of its launch has exceeded 1 million. In addition to "Nano Search", the main forms of the current mainstream AI search products can be divided into two categories: "web content integration" and "answer generation". The former mainly adds an AI summary function to the original search engine, while the latter emphasizes directly generating the answers that users need. With the continuous iteration of AI search products in recent months, diversified products can better meet the needs of users, and the penetration rate of AI search is expected to continue to increase.
Guotai Junan: AutoGLM Product Upgrade, Edge-side AI Implementation Imminent
36Kr has learned that Guotai Junan issued an article. According to the 2024 Zhipu Agent Conference, AutoGLM has been intelligently upgraded with the addition of cross-application execution, supporting 50-step ultra-long autonomous driving. The implementation of the Agent highlights the voice interaction scenario, empowering hardware carriers such as glasses and headphones. For mobile phones and PCs empowered by AI Agent, users no longer need to operate by clicking, touching, etc., but can directly give voice commands to complete tasks and execute them independently, which is more portable and direct. With the intelligent upgrade of AI Agent, it can support more autonomous driving operations, and the future voice interaction scenarios will increase significantly. Wearable devices such as glasses and headphones are more lightweight. Equipped with AI Agent, they can directly obtain and understand the information received by the user's senses, driving a qualitative change in the experience, and the penetration rate is expected to accelerate.
14 Newly Registered Generative AI Services Added in Shanghai
36Kr learned that, according to the information from Shanghai Cyberspace Administration, as of December 2, 14 newly registered generative AI services have been added in Shanghai. A total of 60 generative AI services have been registered.
Big Company Financial Reports
Tencent's major shareholder Prosus reported an EBIT of $60 million in the first half of the fiscal year
Tencent's major shareholder Prosus released its financial report on Monday, showing that it achieved a profit in the first half of the fiscal year, thanks to the gains from the sale of shares in online businesses in China and South Africa. The Amsterdam-based company said in a statement that for the six months ended September 30, the group's adjusted EBIT was $60 million, compared with a loss in the same period last year. Its core earnings per share from continuing operations (HEPS) increased from 76 cents in the same period last year to 144 cents. (Sina Finance)
Investment and Financing
"Gaofu Power" Completes Multi-Million Yuan A++ Round of Financing
36Kr learned that recently, "Gaofu Power" has completed a multi-million yuan A++ round of financing. The amount is several million yuan, and this round of financing is exclusively invested by Tianying Capital. This round of investment will mainly be used for technological research and development and market expansion to accelerate the industrial application and promotion of magnetic bearing technology.
"Xuanren Technology" Completes Series A+ Strategic Financing
36Kr learned that "Xuanren Technology" has recently completed its Series A+ strategic financing. This round of financing is jointly participated by Huatai GenScript and Shunwei Capital. The raised funds will be mainly used to increase R & D investment, etc., so as to better serve the cutting-edge fields such as drug research, synthetic biology, and diagnostic testing.
"Yingzhi Technology" Secures Multi-Million Dollar Series A Financing
36Kr has learned that Yingzhi Technology Co., Ltd. has obtained multi-million dollar Series A financing. This round of financing was jointly completed by Xunfei Ecology Investment and Inner Mongolia Baosheng Asset. In the future, the coffee large model is another key layout of Yingzhi Technology. It is introduced that Yingzhi Technology is an artificial intelligence application developer, dedicated to the research and development and promotion of humanoid robots, AI companion robots, intelligent cultural and creative products, and related products in the big health industry.
"Ou Chang Medical" Completes Multi-Million Yuan Pre-A Round Financing
36Kr learned that "Ou Chang Medical" has recently completed a multi-million yuan Pre-A round of financing. This round of financing is led by Rong'an Venture Capital, with Suzhou Medical Device Industry Development Group (MedPark) and Jiangsu Gongda Collaborative Medical Robot Research Institute as co-investors. Shuangcheng Capital serves as the exclusive financial advisor. The raised funds will be mainly used for the research and development, production, and marketing of its related products such as natural orifice surgical robots.
Cool Products
Tesla Starts Rolling Out the Latest Version V13.2 of FSD
On Saturday (November 30) local time, Tesla finally released the latest version of its "Full Self-Driving" software, FSD V13.2. Although it almost missed the previously promised Thanksgiving deadline, it was finally delivered before the end of November, marking another major victory for Tesla's artificial intelligence team. If no major issues are found, Tesla will begin a slow rollout on an increasing number of vehicles in the coming weeks. Assuming everything goes smoothly with this version, it may be pushed to the majority of vehicle owners by Christmas. (Sina Finance)
Organized by | Wang Xinyie