Krypton Evening News | Haidilao Enterprise Hotpot, the first in the Beijing area, opens in partnership with Xiaomi; Xiaomi significantly upgrades the "Ten Million Technology Award", and Lei Jun announces a 10 million yuan grand prize for engineers; The National Development and Reform Commission urgently allocates 100 million yuan to support the post-earthquake emergency recovery in the Tibet earthquake-stricken area.
Big Companies:
Haidilao Partners with Xiaomi, The First Haidilao Enterprise Hotpot Opens in Beijing Area
36Kr learned that recently, the "Haidilao | Enterprise Hotpot" Beijing Xiaomi store has started its trial operation, which is also the first store of Haidilao Enterprise Hotpot in the Beijing area. It is understood that Haidilao launched the "Red Pomegranate Project" last year, aiming to promote the diversified and multi-level development of its business. Its new catering businesses are constantly being implemented, with categories ranging from hotpot to barbecue and fried chicken, and the scenes and experiences are becoming increasingly rich.
JD.com is About to Integrate Alipay, and the Latest Responses from Both Customer Services Are Here
The Alipay customer service said that it supports payment on JD.com. When asked whether it supports all users, the customer service said that please consult JD.com, and the reply from JD.com customer service shall prevail. JD.com customer service said that the use of Alipay is gradually being opened. Alipay cannot be used for some merchants and special products, and whether it is available is subject to the page prompt. When Alipay is not available, payment methods such as JD.com Pay, UnionPay QuickPass, and WeChat Pay can be selected.
On January 6 local time, the US Department of Defense included several Chinese technology companies such as Tencent and CATL in the 1260H List (CMC List). CATL responded that the company has never participated in any business or activity related to the military, and this decision by the US Department of Defense is truly wrong. This list does not restrict CATL from cooperating with other entities other than the US Department of Defense, and has little impact on the company's business. Subsequently, CATL will actively communicate and clarify with the US Department of Defense, including taking necessary legal actions to safeguard the rights and interests of CATL and its shareholders.
Alibaba Donates Daily Necessities to the Earthquake-stricken Area in Dingri County, Tibet
36Kr learned that on January 7, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake occurred in Dingri County, Xigaze City, Tibet. Alibaba took prompt action and urgently responded to the emergency material government-social collaborative guarantee mechanism. Under the unified deployment of the Disaster Relief and Material Support Department of the Ministry of Emergency Management, it delivered daily necessities to the disaster area to help solve the urgent needs of the affected people. With the collaboration of Cainiao, the first batch of 100,000 convenience food items has been arranged for loading and shipment, and will be safely delivered to the disaster area today. At the same time, the Alibaba Public Welfare Foundation will also fund the Gongyang Rescue Team to arrive in Dingri County on the evening of the 7th to carry out on-site rescue.
36Kr learned that Lei Jun, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Xiaomi Group, announced that Xiaomi's highest technical honor has been significantly upgraded to the "Ten Million Technology Award", and the bonus investment has increased to 10 million yuan, to continuously reward engineers with greater sincerity. After intense evaluation, the "Xiaomi Super Motor V8s" technology won the highest award of Xiaomi's "Ten Million Technology Award" in 2024 with outstanding performances in the three dimensions of innovation, leadership, and influence.
Sunac China will undergo a secondary restructuring of its overseas debt, and the initial restructuring plan may be available in March at the earliest. A creditor told reporters that Sunac China informed that it may not be able to make the payment for the US dollar bond due in September 2025 on time, and the company is studying alternative solutions, but no plan has been formed yet.
Apple May Expand the Operating Countries of Apple News
According to reports, informed sources said that Apple is considering expanding the country range of its news application Apple News service. Currently, Apple News operates in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, with nearly 125 million monthly active users.
36Kr learned that Cloudwalk Technology issued a statement, noting that the US Department of Defense has released the latest "Chinese Military-Connected Companies" list based on the provisions of Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, and Cloudwalk Technology is once again included in it. In response, we firmly deny the allegations and express our strong dissatisfaction. The US government made this decision without sufficient communication, lacking the necessary transparency and fair procedures, which has caused unnecessary uncertainty in the international business environment. This list is based on unfounded speculation rather than specific evidence and has no substantial impact on Cloudwalk's business.
ByteDance Accelerates Overseas Short Drama Business
It is reported that ByteDance has established an overseas short drama business team and recruited multiple positions related to the overseas short drama business, such as overseas short drama user product manager and European and American copywriter. Previously, ByteDance launched a short drama APP called "Melolo" overseas, featuring a free model. This product is ByteDance's first short drama product for overseas markets. The relevant person in charge of Melolo said: "Melolo is an overseas free short drama APP that meets the drama-watching needs of overseas users by providing free short drama resources. This product was launched in markets such as Indonesia and the Philippines in mid-November 2024 and is currently in the process of business exploration and verification."
New Products:
iFLYTEK Upgrades Multiple Office Intelligences Based on Xinghuo Large Model
36Kr learned that on January 7, iFLYTEK held the "Office Intelligence Product Upgrade Conference" in Beijing. At the conference site, Yu Jidong, Senior Vice President of iFLYTEK and President of the Consumer BG, officially announced the upgrade of multiple office intelligences based on the iFLYTEK Xinghuo Large Model, covering typical scenarios such as PPT generation, document creation, video generation, and enterprise bidding.
Nvidia Releases the New RTX 50 Series Graphics Cards, with the RTX 5090 Starting at $1,999
At CES 2025, Nvidia released the new RTX 50 series graphics cards, which will be available in late January. The new generation RTX 5090 based on the Blackwell architecture was officially released, with 92 billion transistors, starting at $1,999. In addition, the prices of laptops equipped with RTX 5070Ti, RTX 5080, and RTX 5090 were also announced, which are $1,599 (approximately RMB 11,719), $2,199 (approximately RMB 16,116), and $2,899 (approximately RMB 21,247), respectively.
Intel Releases New Products of Core Ultra 200HX and 200H Series
36Kr learned that Intel released the new Intel® Core™ Ultra processors (second generation) at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2025). This series of products achieves enhanced AI functions, as well as higher efficiency and performance improvements. Among them, Core Ultra 200HX is mainly for ultra-high-end laptops and mobile workstations, Core Ultra 200H is for high-end thin and light laptops, and Core Ultra 200U is mainly for low-power laptops.
Investment and Financing:
Toyota Will Invest Over $44 Million in Japanese Space Startup Interstellar
Japanese space startup Interstellar Technologies, which develops satellite launch vehicles, announced on Tuesday that Toyota Motor will invest 7 billion yen (approximately $44.4 million) in it through its mobility technology subsidiary Woven by Toyota. It is understood that Interstellar Technologies' goal is to mass-produce lightweight rockets and one day compete with large companies for a part of the growing commercial space industry. Toyota said the company hopes to use its experience in mass-producing automobiles to cooperate with Interstellar Technologies to produce rockets.
Today's Views:
36Kr learned that Everbright Securities said that the A-share market before the Spring Festival is mainly characterized by a structural market, and the performance of the A-share market after the Spring Festival is worth looking forward to. On the one hand, the current consensus expectations of analysts on the earnings growth rate of A-share companies in 2025 have not shown significant upward or downward adjustments, which may to some extent reflect that the current market has not yet formed a consensus expectation on the earnings of A-share companies in 2025, and it may be difficult to have a major positive catalyst in January. On the other hand, in most years since 2015, the increase or decrease of the Shanghai Composite Index in January of the current year has shown a certain "trade-off" feature with the increase in December of the previous year. Historically, the A-share market usually performs relatively mediocre in the period before the Spring Festival, while it usually performs well in the 20 trading days after the Spring Festival.
Other News Worth Noting:
Learned from State Grid East Inner Mongolia Electric Power Co., Ltd., as of December 31, 2024, the cumulative outer delivery electricity volume of the Inner Mongolia Ultra-High Voltage Power Grid has exceeded 640 billion kilowatt-hours, reaching 647.7 billion kilowatt-hours, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 220 million households. It has achieved on-site conversion of over 200 million tons of standard coal and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 530 million tons.
Today, the National Development and Reform Commission urgently allocated 100 million yuan of central budget investment to support the post-earthquake emergency recovery in the Tibet earthquake-stricken area, focusing on the emergency recovery construction of infrastructure and public service facilities such as damaged roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals in the disaster area, to promote the restoration of normal production and living order as soon as possible.