9点1氪｜麦琳转让股权给李行亮；樊振东、陈梦宣布退出WTT世界排名；韩国拟斥资20万亿效仿台积电建韩积电
Listing in Progress
Hengkun New Materials Sci-Tech Innovation Board
36Kr has learned that the IPO application of Xiamen Hengkun New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. for the Sci-Tech Innovation Board has been accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It plans to raise 1.2 billion yuan, and CSC is its sponsor.
TOP3 Big News
Mailin withdraws from the producer of Li Xingliang's new song and transfers her equity to Li Xingliang
According to the Qichacha APP, recently, Beijing Shaonian Gonglue Culture Media Co., Ltd. has undergone industrial and commercial changes. Mailin has stepped down from positions such as legal representative, shareholder, and executive director, all of which have been taken over by Li Xingliang. Before withdrawing, she held 90% of the shares. The company was established in June 2023 with a registered capital of 500,000 yuan. It is reported that this company is the producer of "Mountains and Seas Have Rules," the ending song that Li Xingliang created and sang for the fourth season of "Goodbye My Lover." (Sichuan Observation)
Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng Announce Withdrawal from WTT World Rankings, Failure to Participate Will Incur a $5,000 Fine
On December 27, Fan Zhendong, the men's singles champion of the Paris Olympics, and Chen Meng, the women's singles champion, successively announced their withdrawal from the WTT World Rankings. Both mentioned in their reasons for withdrawal the new regulation recently introduced by WTT - a fine for not participating. According to the WTT rules, players are not allowed to participate in any table tennis event, club competition or exhibition match held in the same week that they have withdrawn from, cancelled or forfeited. If players do not comply with this rule, they will be subject to the following fines: Players ranked 1 - 20: $5,000; Players ranked 21 - 50: $3,000. It is reported that currently, Fan Zhendong has 4050 points and is ranked 6th in the world, while Chen Meng has 4700 points and is ranked 4th. If they do not participate, they will be fined $5,000 by the WTT. (Qianjiang Video)
South Korea Plans to Invest 20 Trillion Won to Build KSMC, Imitating TSMC
It is reported that the global semiconductor competition is becoming increasingly fierce. To ensure the advantage of semiconductor exports, recently, South Korea plans to allocate 20 trillion won (approximately 13.9 billion US dollars) to support the local chip industry, imitating the successful model of Taiwan, China's TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), to establish South Korea's "KSMC" (Korean Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), in order to address the unbalanced development of the domestic chip industry.
Recently, at a seminar held by the National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK), the South Korean industry and academia proposed to imitate TSMC and prepare to establish a government-funded chip foundry manufacturer - Korean Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (KSMC). The plan aims to create a balanced ecosystem between foundries and fabless companies through diversified manufacturing processes (including cutting-edge and traditional processes) to address the challenges faced by the domestic semiconductor industry and strengthen its competitiveness in the global market. Some experts estimate that an investment of 20 trillion won in KSMC can generate an economic benefit of 300 trillion won by 2045. (Global Times)
Big Companies / Major Events
The court ruled that "Longzhu - JiChe" should compensate BYD 2.02 million yuan
According to Sina Auto, on December 27, BYD's Legal Affairs Department announced on Weibo that in the case of BYD suing the self-media "Longzhu - JiChe" and related accounts for disputes over the right of reputation, the court's first-instance judgment is as follows:
The judgment found that the defendant has long published insulting and defamatory remarks against BYD, and there is a serious act of distorting the facts, which constitutes an infringement of BYD's right of reputation. The defendant is ordered to: delete the infringing remarks, apologize, and compensate BYD for economic losses, etc., totaling 2.0187 million yuan.
According to The Cover News, according to the news provided by BYD's Legal Affairs Department, on July 24, 2023, for the situation that the Sina Weibo user "Longzhu - JiChe" has long published a large amount of false information, maliciously slandered, belittled and insulted BYD, which has caused serious damage to BYD's brand reputation. BYD's Legal Affairs Department collected and fixed a large amount of evidence, fed back clues of its suspected black public relations to the relevant departments, and decided to formally sue "Longzhu - JiChe", requiring it to delete the relevant infringing remarks, publicly apologize and compensate 5 million yuan. (Sina Auto, The Cover News)
Tesla Beijing: Model 3 Test Drive Volume Increased by 60% Week-on-Week
36Kr exclusively learned from Tesla that the test drive volume of Model 3 in the Beijing area has increased by nearly 60% week-on-week since this week. According to statistics, driven by policies such as trade-in subsidies, 5-year 0-interest, and free car paint, Beijing users can save up to 70,000 yuan when purchasing a car.
Netease Cloud Music Customer Service Responds to Inaccuracies in Annual Music Listening Report: Generated Reports Cannot Be Changed
According to Zhongxin Jingwei, some netizens claimed that "the data in the annual music listening report is inaccurate" and "there are songs that I haven't listened to" and so on. In response, the customer service of Netease Cloud Music stated that the data statistics period for the 2024 annual report is from January 1 to December 20, 2024. If the user has used functions such as private roaming/daily recommendations, the randomly played songs will also be included. If the account has been lent to others for use, it will also lead to differences in the music listening data. Currently, the music listening report has been generated and cannot be changed or regenerated.
In addition, the customer service said that songs that have not been listened to may be added to the song playlist, music listening ranking, and music listening records due to the following reasons: Songs may have been collected or authorized for playback on other devices such as speakers, car audio systems, watches, and games; Shared accounts or logged in and collected or played songs on infrequently used devices; The bound mobile phone number or third-party account is no longer in use. It is recommended to change the binding in a timely manner. (Zhongxin Jingwei)
In 2024, the market size of China's Goods Economy is projected to grow by over 40%, and it is likely to surpass 300 billion yuan in the future.
According to CCTV Finance and Economics, this year, the number of "Goods" stores has witnessed an explosive growth. In 2024, the market size of China's "Goods Economy" will amount to 168.9 billion yuan, with a growth of more than 40% compared to 2023. The market is in a phase of rapid expansion, and it is anticipated to reach 308.9 billion yuan by 2029.
"Goods" is the transliteration of the English word "goods", and it is a general term for derivatives related to the two-dimensional (a term referring to Japanese anime, manga, and games culture and its associated subcultures) periphery. Stores that sell these derivatives are called "Goods Stores", and purchasing these products is called "Consuming Goods". As a new consumption trend, the "Goods Economy" has stimulated a consumer market worth over hundreds of billions of yuan. According to statistics, the majority of consumers in the "Goods Economy" are women, and the majority are from first-tier cities.
According to the China Fund News, previously, the concept stocks of the "Goods Economy" in the market were popular, with many individual stocks experiencing consecutive daily limit-ups. Many securities firms have released research reports related to the "Goods Economy", believing that the rise of the "Goods Circle Culture" has become a new consumer force that cannot be ignored and will support a market of hundreds of billions of yuan in the future.
Dong Mingzhu Says Some People Want Her to Retire, but Shareholders and Employees Won't Let Her
According to Sina Finance, Dong Mingzhu, the chairperson of Gree Electric Appliances, talked about the retirement issue in an interview. She said that as long as her retirement does not affect the development of the enterprise, it doesn't matter. Eventually, one must fulfill this mission, which is to cultivate the successive teams. "Some people want me to retire," Dong Mingzhu further stated, "Whether I retire or not is a matter decided by Gree itself. What does it have to do with the outside? None of my shareholders will let me retire. Those who want me to retire are not shareholders, nor are they my employees."
According to Kuaitech, Dong Mingzhu has publicly responded to the issue of her retirement from Gree many times. In 2022, she directly stated in an interview: "I haven't considered it because now is not the time to consider this matter. Once I consider it, I will become slack." She also emphasized that she needs to forge ahead with full energy. In these three years, she wants to make the enterprise successful and build a very perfect and combative team. (Sina News, Kuaitech)
Some Russian product stores have begun to close, with the brand once claiming: The investment can be recovered in as fast as three months.
Recently, in these Russian product stores, the phenomenon that not all the goods are from Russia and many are domestically produced for other brands has led many netizens to "avoid them". A reporter's investigation found that the regulatory authorities have already inspected this issue. Some Russian product stores have closed due to problems with the business location and product qualifications. The Russian product stores that gathered for "profits" also show signs of retreat. Currently, the craze of opening stores seems more like a short-term carnival for making quick money. (Beijing Business Today)
Oriental Select First Time to Disclose in Detail Self-operated Product Sales Data
36Kr learned that on the occasion of its third anniversary, Oriental Select announced the list of "Top 10 Self-operated Best-selling Products of Oriental Select", which is also the first time for Oriental Select to disclose in detail the various sales data of its self-operated products. The list shows that the cumulative sales of Oriental Select's self-operated sausages, eggs, milk, toast, jelly oranges, chicken breasts, green shrimp, pasta, pizza, and blueberry anthocyanin lutein ester gummies rank in the top ten. In June 2024, Oriental Select once announced that from December 2023 to May 2024, the half-year GMV of self-operated products exceeded 3.6 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 108%. Currently, more than 400 self-operated products have been launched.
Over 1,000 Bags of Ice Cubes at Lawson Convenience Stores in Japan Recalled Due to Suspected Glass Fragments
It was learned on December 27 local time that Lawson Group in Japan announced the recall of 1,320 bags of ice cubes sold in convenience stores because glass fragments might be mixed in them. It is reported that the product subject to the recall is "Lawson Ice Cubes 1.1 kilograms", which was sold in some Lawson convenience stores in Tokyo, Saitama Prefecture, and Yamanashi Prefecture from 0:00 on the 25th to 16:00 on the 26th local time. Lawson said that the factory that produced the ice cubes on the 25th confirmed that the glass cover of the sterilization lamp was damaged. As of 19:00 on the 26th, no reports of related health damage to consumers have been received. (CCTV News)
The number of CEOs of listed companies in the US who resigned this year has reached a record high
The prosperity of the US stock market has enabled the CEOs of listed companies in the US to receive considerable salary bonuses this year, but the turmoil in the management seems to be becoming more and more frequent. So far this year, the number of CEOs of listed companies in the US who resigned has reached a record high. The CEOs of many well-known companies, including Boeing, Intel, Nike, and Starbucks, have resigned due to poor performance. Some people are also worried that the tariffs and trade wars after Trump took office will surely severely impact the supply chain, and they choose to "jump ship" in advance. (Beijing Business Today)
Research Report: Apple Will Enter a Golden Age of Growth in 2025, Expected to Reach $4 Trillion
According to the research report, Apple will enter a golden age of growth in 2025, and it will usher in a several-year, AI-driven iPhone upgrade cycle. However, Wall Street has not yet paid sufficient attention to this. Analysts say that the seeds of the company's Apple Intelligence strategy are taking shape and will change its consumer growth narrative in the coming years. Analysts estimate that hundreds of applications developed around Apple Intelligence should generate billions of dollars in revenue from annual services. (Sina Finance)
Elon Musk's "Cost-Saving Expert" Lands in Washington, Recruiting for the Government Efficiency Department
According to multiple media reports, Elon Musk's long-time deputy Steve Davis is helping the proposed "Government Efficiency Department" in the United States to recruit employees. According to informed sources, Davis is known for his frugality in the "Musk Group", and the procurement projects he handles can be as low as a few hundred dollars. Media analysis suggests that Davis' involvement in the work of the US Government Efficiency Department indicates that this department may reproduce some of the radical cost-cutting measures he once took, and may even cause short-term chaos in the federal government. (Cailian Press)
Nvidia Becomes the Favorite of Retail Investors: Attracts $29.8 Billion in Investments This Year
It is reported that retail investors have purchased nearly $30 billion worth of Nvidia stocks this year, making the company the U.S. stock with the highest net buying by retail investors in 2024. As of December 17 local time, retail investors have bought $29.8 billion worth of Nvidia stocks this year, topping the list of U.S. stocks, compared with $11.4 billion last year, ranking fourth. Compared with 2021, it has increased by nearly 9 times. (Sina Finance)
The peak daily volume of cross-regional personnel flow during this year's Spring Festival travel rush may reach a new high.
At the press conference on the "Achievements of High-Quality Economic Development in China" series held by the Information Office of the State Council on December 27, Li Yang, Vice Minister of Transport, said that recently, the General Office of the Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in Relevant Work During the New Year's Day and Spring Festival in 2025". The 2025 Spring Festival travel rush will start on January 14 and end on February 22, lasting for 40 days. Through comprehensive analysis and judgment, the peak daily volume of cross-regional personnel flow in the whole society and the traffic volume on expressways may reach a new historical high. Relevant departments will make special arrangements in the near future. The Ministry of Transport has, together with relevant departments, established a special working team for the Spring Festival travel rush of comprehensive transportation, and will go all out to achieve the goals of a "Safe Spring Festival Travel Rush, Convenient Spring Festival Travel Rush, and Warm Spring Festival Travel Rush". (CCTV News)
Lincoln China Responds to Rumor of "Lincoln Merged into Ford China": It's Actually the Financial System Merged
In response to the rumor that "Lincoln will be merged into Ford China", Lincoln China responded on December 27 that from 2025, Lincoln's financial settlement system will be merged into Ford China to simplify and integrate the complex internal financial system to achieve more efficient internal operations. "All businesses of Lincoln China remain unchanged. It will continue to operate independently in the Chinese market as a wholly-owned foreign-funded enterprise of the Ford Group." (Caixin News Agency)
Where to Go: Half of the Popular Scenic Areas for Ice and Snow Tours during New Year's Day Are in the South
36Kr learned that according to data from Qunar, as of December 26, the most popular scenic areas on the platform for New Year's Day are Harbin Ice and Snow World, Universal Beijing Resort, Shanghai Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, Emei Mountain in Leshan, Tianjin TEDA Aircraft Carrier Theme Park, Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area in Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Changbai Mountain Scenic Area in Yanbian, Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, and Badaling Great Wall in Beijing. Ice and snow tours are particularly popular during the New Year's Eve of 2025, with the search volume for keywords such as "skiing", "ice and snow", and "hot spring" on the platform increasing by 1.7 times compared to the previous month. In addition, among the top ten scenic areas for ice and snow tours this New Year's Day, half are in southern cities.
The Bank of Korea: Over 30% of South Koreans Hold Cryptocurrencies
The Bank of Korea released a report based on the statistics of the number of investors who have accounts in the five major South Korean exchanges, Upbit, Bithumb, Coin One, Cobit, and Gopax. As of November this year, the number of people holding cryptocurrencies in South Korean exchanges exceeded 15.59 million, an increase of 610,000 from 14.98 million in October. Currently, the total population of South Korea is expected to be around 51.23 million. This means that the number of people holding cryptocurrencies is equivalent to more than 30% of the total population. The report states that the number of cryptocurrency investors in South Korea has been on the rise, and in November, it soared sharply. (Caixin)
More than 600 Air Conditioners of Panasonic in Japan Found with Falsified Performance Data
On December 26 local time, Panasonic in Japan stated that the data related to the air conditioning performance of some of its commercial air conditioning products was falsified. The company said that the actual performance of 668 air conditioning units sold from 2012 to 2024 did not meet the marked values. It is reported that as of 2024, among the 2,305 air conditioning units sold by the company, in addition to the 668 units that have been confirmed to have data falsification problems, the remaining 1,637 units may also have similar problems. The investigation and confirmation work will last until April 2025 at the latest. (CCTV News)
The Indian Rupee registers the biggest drop since June, hitting a record low
The Indian Rupee against the US Dollar has witnessed the largest decline since June, reaching a record low of 85.5875. The end-of-month dollar purchases by importers and concerns over the widening trade deficit in India have put pressure on the Rupee. "The weakening of Asian currencies will put the Rupee at risk as the intervention of the Reserve Bank of India may weaken," said Kunal Sodhani, Vice President of Shinhan Bank. He indicated that the Rupee could fall to 85.60 - 85.80 in the coming days. (Sina Finance)
The Forefront of AI
OpenAI: API is now operational, ChatGPT is recovering
According to IT Home, OpenAI's AI server has "tripped" again. This system service disruption began at around 2:30 am Beijing time on December 27, affecting the ChatGPT chatbot, the Sora video generation model, and some API calls. OpenAI's status page shows that a dynamic was released at 3 am Beijing time today, stating that ChatGPT, the API, and its text-to-video generator Sora "currently have a high error rate".
At 8:20 am Beijing time on December 27, OpenAI updated the description, stating that the API is now operational and ChatGPT is recovering. Earlier, OpenAI said that Sora is now fully operational and the API has begun to recover. Several users reported problems with the use of OpenAI on that day, with more than 10,000 failure reports in the United States. (IT Home, Jiemian News)
Keling AI Launches Ketu 1.5 Model with New AI Model Function
36Kr learned that Keling AI globally released the Ketu 1.5 image model. At the same time, the new AI model function is added, which supports one-click generation of AI models. Combined with the capabilities of AI costume changing and image-to-video, it can provide a full-process solution for the display of clothing and other commodities. In addition, the Keling 1.5 model also brings a new enhanced ability to generate the final frame and an enhanced lip-syncing function, etc.
Google Clarifies That Gemini Was Not Trained on Anthropic Model
It is reported that contractors involved in improving Google's Gemini artificial intelligence model are comparing its answers with the output of Anthropic's competing model Claude. This move has raised compliance questions about whether Google has obtained Anthropic's authorization to use Claude for testing. Google DeepMind spokesperson McNamara said that DeepMind does "compare model outputs" for evaluation, but Gemini was not trained on the Anthropic model. (Sina Finance)
Guotai Junan: OpenAI Enhances User Experience, o3 Model Achieves Innovative Breakthrough
36Kr has learned that Guotai Junan's research report indicates that OpenAI released the latest functions such as the o1 API and o3 in the last four days of its 12-day conference. The o1 model significantly improves the efficiency of developers and the diversity of application scenarios by enhancing API functions (such as function calls, structured output, and visual input); the o3 series models demonstrate capabilities approaching or surpassing human experts in areas such as coding, mathematics, and scientific reasoning. At the same time, through the flexible setting of reasoning intensity, the usage cost is significantly reduced. Focus on the following tracks: AI development tools and platforms (such as API services and SDK support); AI reasoning and high-performance computing, as well as AI security alignment technology products. These fields may benefit from OpenAI's technological breakthroughs and gain more development opportunities.
Investment and Financing
New Heavy-duty Industrial Robot Developer "Wire Control Technology" Completes Tens of Millions of Yuan in Pre-A Round Financing
36Kr has learned that recently, the new heavy-duty industrial robot developer "Wire Control Technology" has completed tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A round financing. This round of financing is led by Yunshi Capital, with the old shareholder Tsingyan Tiancheng making an additional investment. Yuanshan Capital serves as the exclusive financial advisor. The funds will be used to continuously explore the application of wire control robot technology in multiple scenarios and continuously improve the talent team, etc.
"Haidiliz" Secures Multi-Million Dollar Series A Financing
36Kr has learned that "Haidiliz" has obtained multi-million dollar Series A financing. This round is led by Beishang Capital, with Xingye Hengsheng Capital participating. It is introduced that Haidiliz is continuously expanding application scenarios around the trinity of "hydrogen, electricity, and heat". In 2024, on the basis of several projects that have already been implemented, such as the combined heat and power supply of high-temperature membrane fuel cell technology and the extended-range forklift, the successful implementation of projects such as the power supply for Beijing mobile base stations, the combined heat and power supply for the zero-carbon park in Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone, and the power supply for ships in Baiyangdian will be realized.
"Enpower Dynamics" Completes Hundreds of Millions of Yuan in Series B Financing
36Kr has learned that recently, "Enpower Dynamics", a solid-state battery solution provider, has completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Series B financing. It is jointly led by Tsinghua Strait and Jinshi Investment, with the fund under Daxing Investment, an existing shareholder, following the investment. This round of funds will be used for solid-state battery research and development, market expansion, and capacity building, among other aspects.
Compiled by | Wang Xinyi