8:01 AM | iQIYI's hit drama "Bleaching" is embroiled in a plagiarism controversy, and the screenwriter responds; Bilibili responds to the employee who implanted malicious code to retaliate against users; Xiaohongshu App adopts the English name "rednote".
Listing in Progress
Futaihe
The official website of the Beijing Stock Exchange shows that on January 20, the listing application of Shenzhen Futaihe Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd. was accepted, which is the first case in 2025. The company intends to raise about 330 million yuan this time for the intelligent production line project of key components for new energy and traditional vehicles, as well as to supplement working capital. (Shanghai Securities News)
DaHang KeGong
36Kr learned that according to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, DaHang KeGong (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. has officially submitted an application for listing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CSC International as the sole sponsor.
TOP3 Big News
iQIYI's "Bleaching" Gets Involved in Plagiarism Controversy, Screenwriter Responds: The Novel and the Report with the Same Name Enjoy Independent Copyright
iQIYI's hit drama "Bleaching" is involved in a plagiarism controversy. The drama is adapted from the novel of the same name by screenwriter Chen Ping. On January 20, Wang Meng, a former in-depth investigative reporter of Southern Metropolis Daily, posted an article on WeChat Official Account stating that both the title and the plot of iQIYI's "Bleaching" have "bleached" his in-depth investigative report "Bleaching" published in Southern Metropolis Daily in 2012. The creative team of iQIYI's "Bleaching" did not contact him or Southern Metropolis Daily in advance, and in the promotional materials, the source of the original work was not indicated.
On January 21, Chen Ping, the screenwriter of "Bleaching," issued a statement on Weibo in response, saying, "The in-depth report 'Bleaching' and the novel 'Bleaching' are works created for the same real criminal case, and each enjoys independent and inviolable copyright. All the remarks of the author of the in-depth report on the Internet have no legal basis. If the obsession does not subside, a lawsuit can be initiated based on this." Chen Ping also stated that the use of the concept of "bleaching" obviously belongs to the public domain concept rather than the author's original creation. The so-called "plagiarism facts" put forward by the author of the in-depth report all belong to the content of the public domain or limited expressions and are not protected by the Copyright Law. (The Beijing News, Jimu News)
Bilibili Responds to Employee's Malicious Code Implantation to Retaliate Against Users: Vulnerability Has Been Fixed, Employee Has Been Punished
According to reports from Finance World, recently, an incident occurred within Bilibili where an internal employee abused their privileges to maliciously retaliate against specific users. It is reported that this employee used their technical privileges to implant malicious code in the Bilibili web page code, resulting in a certain user receiving an error prompt stating "Account has been banned" while watching a video.
On January 21, Bilibili's customer service responded that the website vulnerability has been fixed, and the employee involved has been publicly punished. Specific details of the punishment have not been disclosed yet, but it has been confirmed that Ni used his position to maliciously retaliate against users, which is extremely bad in nature. The employee involved has been fired. At the same time, Bilibili has removed the relevant malicious code and advises users to clear their browser cache and Cookies to prevent being affected again. (Finance World)
Xiaohongshu App Enables English Name "rednote"
The Xiaohongshu App has enabled the English name "rednote" in the Apple iOS App Store. It is worth noting that the English name uses all lowercase letters, rather than the "RedNote" that is often translated by foreign networks. In addition, the Android version of the Xiaohongshu App in the Google Play Store has also been uniformly changed to "rednote", previously "REDnote". Previously, the Qichacha APP showed that Xiaohongshu Technology Co., Ltd. applied to register multiple "REDnote" trademarks in May 2024. Currently, two of them have been successfully registered. (Sina Technology)
Big Companies/Big Events
China's manufacturing industry has remained the largest in the world for 15 consecutive years in terms of overall scale.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released data on January 21 showing that in 2024, China's total industrial added value reached 40.5 trillion yuan. The overall scale of the manufacturing industry has remained the largest in the world for 15 consecutive years. The contribution of the industrial and information technology fields to economic growth exceeds 40%, effectively playing the role of a "stabilizer" and "ballast stone". (Xinhua News Agency)
The United States Withdraws from the Paris Agreement
On the 20th, US President Trump signed an executive order, announcing that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Agreement on addressing climate change. (CCTV News)
Trump Grants TikTok a 75-Day Grace Period for the "Sell or Ban" Law
Trump requires that the "sell or ban" law for the short-video social media platform TikTok not be enforced within the next 75 days. (Xinhua News Agency)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: TikTok is Well-Liked, Hoping the US Listens to Rational Voices
At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 21, a reporter asked questions about TikTok. In response, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said: TikTok has been operating in the US for many years and is deeply loved by American users. It has played a positive role in promoting employment and stimulating consumption in the US. We hope the US can earnestly listen to rational voices and provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for market entities from various countries to operate in the US. As for business operations and acquisitions, they should be determined by enterprises themselves according to market principles. If it involves Chinese enterprises, it should comply with Chinese laws and regulations. (CCTV News)
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher collectively, and most large technology stocks rose
36Kr learned that at the close of trading on January 21, the three major U.S. stock indexes rose collectively. The Nasdaq rose 0.64%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.88%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.24%. Most large technology stocks rose. Oracle rose more than 7%, Nvidia and Amazon rose more than 2%, Netflix and Google rose more than 1%, Meta rose slightly, Apple fell more than 3%, and Tesla and Microsoft fell slightly. Popular Chinese concept stocks had mixed performances. XPeng Motors rose more than 6%, Li Auto rose more than 5%, Futu Holdings rose more than 4%, and Tencent Music rose more than 2%; New Oriental fell more than 23%, Tal Education Group fell more than 6%, NIO fell more than 4%, Bilibili and Weibo fell more than 2%, and JD.com and Pinduoduo fell more than 1%.
Lei Jun: Xiaomi SU7's delivery volume exceeded Tesla Model 3 last month
36Kr learned that Lei Jun, the chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Group, reposted the Weibo of Li Xiaoshuang, vice president of Xiaomi Automobile, and said that the delivery volume of Xiaomi SU7 exceeded Model 3 last month. The pure electric car sales list posted by Li Xiaoshuang shows that in December 2024, the sales volume of Xiaomi SU7 was 25,815 units, ranking fifth; the sales volume of Tesla Model 3 was 21,046 units, ranking sixth.
WeChat Gift Sending to Launch Multiple New Features, and Short-video Product Promotion Capacity to be Enhanced Soon
Recently, Ma Huateng emphasized in his annual meeting speech the concept of WeChat in engaging in e-commerce, stating that WeChat requires a lengthy period to become an e-commerce ecological connector. Sina Technology has discovered that this year, WeChat will intensify its layout in e-commerce, particularly in January and February, and WeChat will enhance multiple functions. These encompass lowering the entry threshold for merchants, comprehensively "completing" the e-commerce functions, and iterating the alliance product promotion model in multiple scenarios. During the Spring Festival, WeChat will activate store coupon and other coupon capabilities to facilitate e-commerce product promotion. Subsequently, marketing gameplay such as talent coupons and agency coupons will be incorporated, and even the product promotion capacity of store live-streaming and short videos will be strengthened. (Sina Technology)
Zheng Shubao, Head of Honor's China Sales Department, Resigns
On January 20, Honor internally issued an appointment notice stating that Zheng Shubao, the head of Honor's China Sales Department, has left the company, and the handover of work was completed on the 20th. Chen Haoqian, the former supervisor of Honor in Jiangsu Province, will take over the position. In addition, Honor's CMO Guo Rui is also concurrently in charge of affairs in the China region, and the former Honor China CMO Jiang Hairong has confirmed his departure.
According to publicly available information, Zheng Shubao once served as the Vice President of Huawei Terminal Co., Ltd. in the China region. He made his first public appearance at the 2016 China Telecom event, and later served as the Minister of the Telecom Channel Department of Huawei Consumer BG in Greater China. In 2021, he joined Honor with the team transfer. An Honor employee told Leiphone that Zheng Shubao is the "soul figure" of Honor and once managed Honor's first product after its independence, Honor V40. (Leiphone)
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) Claims Normal Operations in All Factories After the Earthquake
According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, at 00:17 on January 21, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurred in Tainan City, Taiwan, with a focal depth of 14 kilometers. The earthquake caused a strong tremor throughout Taiwan. At noon on January 21, TSMC stated that all factories have completed the post-earthquake damage inspection of the buildings, confirming that the structural safety is ensured and the production lines are gradually resuming. At the same time, the company's construction sites were not affected, and construction resumed as usual on the 21st after the environmental safety inspection after the earthquake. Currently, the water supply, power, industrial safety systems, and operations in all factories are normal. (Jiemian News)
Nissan is reportedly going to lay off 6,700 employees in the production department
It is reported that due to the deterioration of its performance, Nissan Motor Company is considering laying off 9,000 people globally, and more than 70% (about 6,700) of the adjustment measures involve factory workers and other production department staff. (Jiemian News)
Elon Musk Admits to Hiring a Game Booster
According to IT Home news, on January 7, Elon Musk's performance while live-streaming playing "Path of Exile 2" raised doubts among many netizens about his true level. Simply put, although Musk was playing with a top-level account, he did not demonstrate the corresponding game proficiency and even lacked an understanding of the basic game mechanics.
In a video posted by Nikowrex with Musk's permission, Musk admitted that the level 97 account he previously used was not the result of his playing alone. During the conversation, Musk claimed that account sharing/boosting is a common phenomenon among top-ranked players in "Path of Exile 2" and "Diablo 4", and he does not think he needs to apologize to other "Path of Exile 2" players for this. "What should I apologize for?" Musk also joked, "If it weren't for those pesky 'Path of Exile' fans, I could have gotten away with it." (IT Home)
Passenger cars are exempt from tolls on expressways during the Spring Festival holiday.
During the Spring Festival holiday in 2025, passenger cars are exempt from tolls on expressways. The free passage period starts from 00:00 on January 28 (New Year's Eve) and ends at 24:00 on February 4 (the seventh day of the first lunar month), totaling 8 days. A relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Transport reminds that the free passage of expressways is based on the time when the vehicle leaves the exit toll lane. When the holiday is coming to an end, if the driving time is close to the end of the free period but the destination has not been reached, you can choose to exit the expressway at the nearest toll station in advance. In this way, the previous journey can enjoy the free passage policy. After that, you can get back on the expressway and head to the destination, and only a small part of the remaining journey will be charged. (Xinhua News Agency)
Pan Jian, Co-Chairman of CATL: New European Joint Venture Factory Project Expected to be Announced This Year
Pan Jian, Co-Chairman of CATL, said at the Davos Forum that CATL announced in December 2024 to establish a joint venture power battery factory with Stellantis in Spain. In 2025, CATL is also expected to announce a new joint venture factory project with other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in Europe. Including the joint venture factory in Spain, CATL has currently deployed three battery factories in Europe. (Jiemian News)
Wisesoft: The company's stock may be subject to delisting risk warning
On January 20, 2025, Cailian Press. Wisesoft estimates a net loss of 49 million yuan to 63 million yuan for the 2024 fiscal year, a reduction of 63.30% to 74.46% compared to the same period of the previous year; the operating income is 180 million yuan to 230 million yuan, an increase compared to the same period of the previous year. The company's traditional businesses such as military aviation, civil aviation, and flight simulator training for pilots are developing steadily, and the newly signed contracts and main business income have increased compared to the 2023 fiscal year. Due to the fact that fixed expenses such as intangible asset amortization and fixed asset depreciation remain at a relatively high level, the company's losses have decreased significantly compared to the same period of the previous year, and the operational quality and efficiency show an improving trend. According to the regulations of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the company's stock trading may be subject to a delisting risk warning (with the prefix "*ST" before the stock abbreviation) after the disclosure of the 2024 annual report. The specific financial data is subject to the company's disclosed 2024 annual report. (Cailian Press)
Renault Group Appoints Duncan Minto as Chief Financial Officer
On January 21, Renault Group announced that Duncan Minto will succeed Thierry Piéton and serve as the company's new Chief Financial Officer starting from March 1. (Jiemian News)
For the First Time, Beijing Implements Flexible Supply of Commercial Residential Land
On January 20, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources, in conjunction with the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, officially issued the "Beijing Municipal Construction Land Supply Plan for 2025". According to this plan, the total supply of construction land in Beijing in 2025 is expected to be 3165 - 3665 hectares, which is basically the same as in previous years. Among them, 955 - 1015 hectares are arranged for residential land, including 240 - 300 hectares for commercial residential land and 475 hectares for indemnificatory housing land. It is worth noting that this is the first time that Beijing has adopted a flexible supply method for commercial residential land. In 2024, the planned supply of commercial residential land in Beijing was not less than 300 hectares, while the lower limit of the supply of commercial residential land in 2025 has been reduced by 60 hectares. (Securities Times)
Nvidia's Vice President of Robotics Business Visits the National and Local Co-built Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Center
Recently, Deepu Talla, Nvidia's Vice President of Robotics Business, and his team visited the National and Local Co-built Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Center. Deepu Talla stated that they will promote further deepening of cooperation between the two sides in 2025. During the two-hour in-depth discussion, the Innovation Center and Nvidia conducted in-depth discussions on directions such as the world model, data generation, high-precision advanced simulators, and full-body control of robots, and planned related cooperation matters. (Cailian Press)
DAMO Academy Wins the National Solver Competition for Two Consecutive Years
36Kr has learned that recently, the "Mindie" solver independently developed by DAMO Academy won the championship of the "Domestic Solver Technology Special Competition" in the second Energy Electronics Industry Innovation Competition organized by the Industrial Development and Promotion Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This is another honor after being recently selected as a typical application case of the "Artificial Intelligence Empowering New Industrialization" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It is introduced that the "Mindie" solver is an all-capability solver that DAMO Academy has insisted on independently researching and developing for four years. It can efficiently solve complex problems in industrial scenarios from minutes to milliseconds, and has been applied on a large scale in key fields such as power dispatching, flight scheduling, high-end manufacturing, and computing resource management.
WeChat's "Send Gifts" Feature Gets a Super Entrance, and the Oriental Selection Store Achieves Daily Sales of Over One Million Yuan
36Kr has learned that recently, WeChat officially added the "gift" feature to the WeChat personal chat interface, which can be said to have obtained the "super entrance" position. According to third-party data, the sales of WeChat mini-program stores of various major brands have been on the rise recently. Oriental Selection disclosed that on January 20 alone, the sales of the Oriental Selection WeChat store exceeded one million yuan, and 80% of the sales were brought by the gift-sending feature. The relevant person in charge of Oriental Selection said that currently, the total number of Oriental Selection's self-operated products exceeds 500. The self-operated products such as Oriental Selection's Rosa roxburghii Tratt juice, cherries, strawberries, etc. are the products that are frequently given as gifts. At the same time, sending gifts via WeChat can also enjoy the member prices of the Oriental Selection App.
The Forefront of AI
OpenAI, SoftBank, etc. announce to join the joint venture project Stargate, investing 500 billion US dollars in building AI infrastructure in the next four years
OpenAI and SoftBank announced on January 21 local time that they will join the Stargate project. This new company will invest 500 billion US dollars in the next four years to build a new artificial intelligence infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States. OpenAI and SoftBank respectively stated that they will immediately deploy 100 billion US dollars. The initial equity investors of Stargate include SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX. SoftBank and OpenAI are the main partners of Stargate, with SoftBank responsible for finance and OpenAI responsible for operations. Masayoshi Son will serve as the chairman. Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI are the main initial technical partners. The statement said that the construction work starting from Texas in the United States is underway, "We are also evaluating the potential locations of more parks across the United States." (Jiemian News)
Meta Plans to Launch "Oakley" Smart Glasses and Explore the Development of Smart Watches and Earphones
According to foreign media reports, Meta is committed to upgrading its popular smart glasses and is exploring new wearable devices, such as watches and headphones with cameras, aiming to embed its artificial intelligence functions into more products. According to people familiar with the matter, this effort includes developing Oakley-branded smart glasses for athletes this year. The people said that Meta's device division, Reality Labs, also plans to release a new high-end glasses with a built-in display in 2025. The people also said that other products under development will compete with Apple's smart watches and AirPods. In addition, the company is developing its first true augmented reality product, which is planned to be released around 2027. (Sina Finance)
Tencent Hunyuan 3D AI Creation Engine Officially Launched
36Kr has learned that, according to Tencent, the Tencent Hunyuan 3D AI Creation Engine has been officially launched. This creation engine can directly generate 3D models through prompt words or images. In addition, it also has multiple functions such as a 3D function matrix, 3D editing, 3D generation workflow, and a creation material library.
Baidu Wenku AI Function Has Over 90 Million Monthly Active Users, and "Free Canvas" Starts Public Beta
36Kr has learned that at the Baidu AI DAY event, Wang Ying, Baidu's vice president and the head of the Wenku Business Division and the Netdisk Business Division, disclosed that the monthly active users (MAU) of Baidu Wenku's AI function have exceeded 90 million, with the daily active users (DAU) increasing by 230% year-on-year; the number of paying users exceeds 40 million, ranking second globally and first in China. Meanwhile, the "Free Canvas," a new AI creation species jointly created by Baidu Wenku and Baidu Netdisk, has started public beta, and users can make an appointment for the experience on the official website of Baidu Wenku.
Big Company Financial Reports
Oriental Select: Net loss from continuing operations for the six months ended November 30, 2024 is 96.503 million yuan
36Kr learned that Oriental Select released its interim results for the six months ended November 30, 2024. During the reporting period, the company's net loss from continuing operations was 96.503 million yuan, while in the same period last year, it was a net profit of 16.0699 million yuan. Excluding the financial impact of the sale of traveling with Hui, the net profit from continuing operations during the reporting period was 32.7 million yuan.
Three Squirrels: Net Profit in 2024 Expected to Increase by 81.99% - 91.09% Year-on-Year
36Kr has learned that Three Squirrels has released a performance forecast, expecting to achieve operating income of 10.2 billion - 10.8 billion yuan in 2024, with a year-on-year growth of 43.37 - 51.80%; net profit of 400 million - 420 million yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 81.99 - 91.09%. Among them, the operating income in the fourth quarter is 3.031 billion - 3.631 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 19.68 - 43.37%; the net profit is 59 million - 79 million yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 17.21 - 57.08%.
New Oriental: Net profit in the second fiscal quarter ending November 30, 2024, increased by 6.2% year-on-year to 31.9 million US dollars
36Kr learned that New Oriental released the summary of its second fiscal quarter results ending November 30, 2024. Net revenue increased by 19.4% year-on-year to 1.0386 billion US dollars, and net revenue (excluding the revenue generated by the self-operated products and live-streaming e-commerce business of Oriental Select) increased by 31.3% year-on-year to 894.2 million US dollars. Operating profit decreased by 9.8% year-on-year to 19.3 million US dollars, while operating profit (excluding the operating loss generated by the self-operated products and live-streaming e-commerce business of Oriental Select) increased by 102.5% year-on-year to 25 million US dollars. Net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 6.2% year-on-year to 31.9 million US dollars.
Investment and Financing
"Weiwo Technology" Announces Completion of Several Hundred Thousand Yuan Seed Round Financing
36Kr learned that "Weiwo Technology" recently announced the completion of a seed round financing of several hundred thousand yuan. This round of financing is led by MiraclePlus and followed by Turing AI Research Institute. This round of financing will be mainly used for technology research and development and commercialization.
Cool Products
The next-generation iPad Air is said to be equipped with the M3 chip
According to well-known leaker Evan Blass, the next-generation iPad Air will be equipped with the M3 chip. Previously, there were speculations that Apple might use the M4 chip of the iPad Pro on the next-generation iPad Air model. (Jiemian News)
Sorting｜Wang Xinyi