8:01 AM 36Kr | Nearly 40% of Laopu Gold's products are outsourced for production; The Supreme People's Court: The spouse has the right to reclaim the property privately given to a third party during the marriage; The 2024 Hurun China 500 Most Valuable Private Companies List is released.
TOP3 Big News
Nearly 40% of Laopu Gold's Products Are Outsourced for Production
Since 2019, ancient-method gold jewelry has entered a market boom period and has continued to grow in the past five years. The high gross profit margin of ancient-method gold reflects the scarcity and high added value of the product, providing greater profit space for investors. Taking Laopu Gold, known as the "First Share of Ancient-Method Gold," as an example, from 2021 to the first half of 2024, the gross profit margins of Laopu Gold were 41.2%, 41.9%, 41.9%, and 40.9% respectively; in contrast, the gross profit margins of brands such as Chow Tai Fook, Chow Sang Sang, and Luk Fook are between 20% and 30%.
According to Meng Qingguo, the inheritor of filigree inlaying craftsmanship, there are less than 200 filigree inlaying practitioners in the country, among whom only 50 are top artisans. Perhaps precisely because of this, Laopu Gold has chosen to outsource the production of some products to processors. According to the prospectus, in 2021, 2022, and 2023, the outsourcing processing fees were approximately RMB 17.2 million, RMB 15.2 million, and RMB 42.1 million respectively, accounting for 2.3%, 2.0%, and 2.3% of the total sales cost of the respective years. The output of outsourced production accounted for 36%, 32%, and 41% of the total output respectively. More than 40% of the products rely on outsourced production, leading to frequent consumer complaints such as scratches and diamond loss. (Blue Whale News)
The Supreme People's Court: The spouse has the right to reclaim the property privately given by one spouse to a third party during the marriage.
From this month, the "Judicial Interpretation of the Civil Code on Marriage and Family (Part II)" has been officially implemented. According to the latest judicial interpretation, during the existence of a marriage, if one spouse privately gives the common property during the marriage to a "third party", the other spouse has the right to request the return of the property. At the same time, within the marital relationship, the innocent party can request the division of this property without getting a divorce; if it leads to a divorce, when dividing the property, the party who violates the duty of marital fidelity can be given a smaller share or no share. "After the property is returned, the party who violates the duty of marital fidelity may not be allocated any at all. If there is bigamy, cohabitation with others, or other serious faults, they also need to bear the divorce damages." (CCTV News)
The 2024 Hurun China 500 Most Valuable Companies List Released, with the Total Value of Companies Increasing by 6.6 Trillion Yuan
The Hurun Research Institute released the "2024 Hurun China 500 Most Valuable Companies". The total value of the 500 most valuable companies increased by 6.6 trillion yuan (13%) compared to the previous year, reaching 56 trillion yuan. The average value increased by 11.5 billion yuan compared to the previous year, reaching 111.5 billion yuan. Among the listed companies, the value of 291 companies increased compared to the previous year, including 74 newly listed companies; the value of 34 companies remained the same as the previous year; and the value of 184 companies decreased. 57% are B2B companies, an increase of 2% compared to the previous year. 43% are directly facing consumers. 74% of the companies provide physical products, an increase of 3% compared to the previous year. 26% provide software or services. The average age of the 500 most valuable companies is 29 years, meaning they were established on average in 1995. (Sina Finance)
Big Companies / Major Events
DeepSeek Boosts AI Positions, "Six Little Dragons" Offer High Salaries Globally to Recruit Talents
In the first week of the spring recruitment, the job-hunting growth rate of artificial intelligence engineers ranked first among occupations, and many companies even offer high salaries for global recruitment. At the beginning of this year, six "new tech tycoons" that are at the forefront of the new technology field and have influence in the industry emerged in Hangzhou, making Hangzhou a desirable highland for many talents. One of the "Six Little Dragons", a company that focuses on humanoid robots and quadruped robots, regards technical R & D talents as the top priority in their spring recruitment plan. At the "2025 'Starting Spring' Hangzhou Youth Talent Exchange Conference" that is being prepared, more than 800 enterprises will release more than 20,000 recruitment positions. The demand for new occupations such as artificial intelligence algorithm engineers and robot control engineers has increased significantly, and they all offer high salaries. (CCTV Finance)
WeChat Windows 4.0.2 Beta Version Released, Supporting Receiving Red Envelopes on Computer
Recently, the WeChat official has released the WeChat Windows 4.0.2 beta version. Currently, this version of the product supports receiving red envelopes on the computer. It is found through actual measurement that the WeChat Windows 4.0.2 beta version has been launched on the WeChat official website. Users only need to download and install this version from the WeChat official website, and then they can receive red envelopes sent to them by others. However, this version still cannot directly send red envelopes to others through the PC terminal. (Sina Technology)
Tencent Yuanbao Update: Conversation Content Can Be Shared as a Long Screenshot with One Click
36Kr has learned that Tencent Yuanbao has been updated again. Users can share their conversation records with Yuanbao as a long screenshot with one click. In the latest version, Tencent Yuanbao provides three display forms: a complete conversation long screenshot, a selected conversation screenshot, and a WeChat sharing card. In Tencent Yuanbao, users can use the full-blooded version of DeepSeek-R1 and the reasoning model Hunyuan T1 for in-depth thinking, and can also quickly output answers through DeepSeek-V3 and Tencent Hunyuan Turbo. Currently, all models in Yuanbao support understanding images, parsing files, searching for official accounts online, and uploading files from WeChat.
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed with mixed results, and Tesla dropped by more than 8%.
36Kr learned that as of the close on February 25, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed with mixed results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.37%, the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped by 1.35%, and the S&P 500 Index dropped by 0.47%. Large technology stocks generally declined. Tesla dropped by more than 8%, and its market value fell below $1 trillion. NVIDIA and Google dropped by more than 2%, Microsoft, Meta, and Netflix dropped by more than 1%. Most popular Chinese concept stocks rose. Li Auto rose by more than 13%, Xpeng Motors rose by more than 5%, Alibaba and Bilibili rose by nearly 4%, JD.com and Baidu rose by more than 1%, and NIO dropped by more than 2%.
Baidu Plans to Acquire YY Live Broadcasting Business with $2.1 Billion
On February 25, Baidu announced that it has reached an agreement with JOYY Inc. to acquire the latter's video entertainment live broadcasting business (i.e., YY Live) previously owned in mainland China. The total acquisition price is approximately $2.1 billion. As part of the transaction, approximately $1.6 billion that Baidu previously deposited into an escrow account according to the equity acquisition agreement has been fully released to Baidu. The released funds will be invested in cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure. (Jiemian News)
Bytedance's Jimeng is considering integrating DeepSeek, and the new head of the mobile end, Cao Dapeng, has taken office
Bytedance's AI video generation product, Jimeng, recently has a new head of the mobile end, who is Cao Dapeng, the former head of the PopAI product of 01 Wanwu. After joining, Cao Dapeng reports to Zhang Nan, the person in charge of Jianying. At the same time, Jimeng is also considering using DeepSeek. Previously, Feishu within the Bytedance system has used DeepSeek. The explosion of DeepSeek has brought about demand overflow and linkage gameplay: For example, first use DeepSeek to generate a more detailed video script, and then generate a video in Jimeng. Around the Spring Festival, the number of Jimeng users has grown rapidly. According to the third-party monitoring platform QuestMobile, the weekly active users of Jimeng at the end of December last year were around 760,000, and as of mid-February, it was close to 2 million, an increase of nearly three times in one and a half months. (LatePost)
Zhihu Cancels the Restriction of Unable to View the Full Text Without Logging In
The PC web page of the Q&A platform Zhihu had a situation in May last year where non-logged-in users could not view the full text. When non-logged-in PC web users visited the answer page of Zhihu and clicked "Expand to read the full text", the platform would automatically pop up a login window.
According to user feedback, Zhihu has quietly lifted this restriction. Currently, by clicking "Expand to read the full text", it can be directly opened for viewing, and the login prompt no longer pops up. (Sina Technology)
JAC Responds to Rumors of Official Violent Testing of Zunjie
In response to the news that Maybach owners claimed that their vehicles were tested, JAC Group stated that the relevant test vehicles were obtained through a regular third-party leasing channel, and the purpose was clearly stated to the leasing channel in advance. JAC regrets the troubles caused to the relevant parties and is actively communicating and negotiating to resolve the issue. (Jiemian News)
Unitree Technology is negotiating with Boton Technology on the application and implementation of robots in industrial scenarios.
According to information from multiple independent sources, Unitree Technology is negotiating with Boton Technology on the application and implementation of robots in industrial scenarios. (Jiemian News)
Starbucks China Responds to Global Layoff of Thousands: It Does Not Involve the China Region, Firmly Optimistic About the Prospects of the Chinese Market
On February 25, in response to the news that the coffee chain brand Starbucks announced layoffs, the relevant person in charge of Starbucks responded that the partners of Starbucks China are not within the scope of this global communication. "Starbucks firmly believes in the broad prospects of the Chinese market. We will continue to adhere to a high-quality, profitable, and sustainable development strategy to provide customers with high-quality coffee and a unique Starbucks experience." (The Paper)
Bosch plans to stop charging services in the first quarter of this year. Official response: Will ensure a smooth transition in business adjustment
Recently, it is reported that Bosch will terminate its electric vehicle charging services at the end of the first quarter of this year. In response, a Bosch staff member said the news is true. "Due to the fierce competition in the electric mobility service market, the growth is lower than expected, while facing high cost pressure and investment needs. After in-depth evaluation, Bosch has decided to end the relevant business in the field of electric mobility services on June 30, 2025, and the 'Charge My EV' application will be offline on March 31, 2025," the staff member said. "This adjustment involves related services such as global charging network access and charging station management systems. Bosch has started communication with relevant partners, customers, and suppliers to ensure a smooth transition in business adjustment and continue to promote the development of electric drive technology," the staff member said. (National Business Daily)
Tesla Updates Software for Chinese Customers in Batches, Launches Urban Road Autopilot Assisted Driving
36Kr learned that on February 25, Tesla announced that it will update the software for Chinese customers in batches. This includes the launch of Urban Road Autopilot Assisted Driving (optimizing the existing NOA Autopilot Navigation on Autopilot function). When using Autopilot Assisted Driving on controlled-access roads (main roads where road users enter and exit through ramp entrances and ramp exits) and urban roads, it will guide the vehicle to exit ramps and intersections according to the navigation route, and perform actions such as going straight, turning left, turning right, and making U-turns at intersections by recognizing traffic lights. It will also automatically change lanes according to the speed and route. When the navigation route is not set, it will choose the optimal road to drive according to the actual road conditions.
Illustrative Picture
Photovoltaic manufacturers raise component prices by 2 to 5 cents, and leading component factories say: Production scheduling has increased recently
It has been learned from multiple distribution channels that recently, the per-watt price of the main brands of photovoltaic modules has increased by 2 to 5 cents. A person from a leading component factory told the Cai Lian News Agency reporter that the company has indeed adjusted the price recently; under the influence of the new policy to rush to install machines, the company's recent component production scheduling has increased. At the same time, industry self-discipline is gradually playing a role, and the market adjustment mechanism is gradually returning to rationality. Another person from a component factory said that the recent small price increase is mainly due to a phased supply shortage, and the long-term price trend is still under observation. (Cai Lian News Agency)
The Channel Server of Travel Frog Announces Termination of Operations
Recently, the official website of the mobile game "Travel Frog" released a notice of service suspension: Due to adjustments in the operational strategy, the VIVO server of "Travel Frog: Chinese Journey" will terminate its operations on April 19, and players can apply for a refund. The VIVO channel server has announced its upcoming shutdown, and players of the channel server can choose to "move". On March 31, 2024, the mini-program version of "Travel Frog: Chinese Journey" was temporarily removed from the shelves, and the operation will resume later. On June 4, 2024, the official account of the game replied to a player's comment, saying, "Basically, it has been a state of working for nothing, relying only on the love for Guagua..." On June 5, the game's official announcement stated that the in-game manual customer service has stopped serving, and players speculate that the project team members of the game are being reduced. (Sichuan Observation)
The WTO Sets Up an Expert Group to Review Turkey's Restrictions on Electric Vehicles Imported from China
It is learned from authoritative sources that on the 24th local time, the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed to China's request to establish a dispute expert group to review the restrictive measures taken by Turkey against the import of electric vehicles from China. The bill number is "DS629". This time, China has submitted a second request for the establishment of a dispute expert group to adjudicate the various measures taken by Turkey on electric vehicles and certain other types of vehicles originating from China. (China Business News)
Apple Announces Over $500 Billion Investment Plan
On February 24, Apple announced that it will invest more than $500 billion in the United States over the next four years, making it the largest investment commitment in history. As part of a package of investment plans in the United States, Apple and its partners will open a new advanced manufacturing plant in Houston to produce servers that support Apple Intelligence. Apple will also double its Advanced Manufacturing Fund in the United States to establish an academy in Michigan to train the next generation of American manufacturers and increase R & D investment in the United States to support cutting-edge fields. Apple said it plans to hire approximately 20,000 employees in the next four years, the vast majority of whom will focus on R & D, silicon engineering, software development, as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning. (National Business Daily)
Samsung SDI to Jointly Develop Special Batteries for Robots with Hyundai Kia
Korean battery manufacturer Samsung SDI issued a statement on February 25, stating that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hyundai Kia to jointly develop high-performance batteries specifically for robots, aiming to significantly improve energy density, output power, and usage time. According to the agreement, Samsung SDI will improve high-capacity materials to increase energy density and optimize the design to improve battery efficiency; Hyundai Kia will evaluate the application of special batteries for robots in terms of performance improvement. (Caixin)
Nippon Steel says it will negotiate with the US government to seek to restart the acquisition plan of US Steel
According to Reuters, Nippon Steel President Imai Tadashi said on February 25 that the company will negotiate with the US Department of Commerce to restart the plan to acquire US Steel. Previously, Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru said on the 17th of this month that after Trump took office, Nippon Steel has greatly changed its thinking on US steel. "Now the consideration of the transaction intention is investment rather than acquisition... We need to take necessary countermeasures to ensure that it is beneficial to both sides." (Jiemian News)
New car registrations in the EU dropped in January, while electric vehicle sales increased by 34%
Passenger car registrations in the EU declined in January as drops in new car registrations in France, Italy, and Germany offset an increase in Spain. The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association announced that new car registrations (an indicator reflecting sales) in January decreased by 2.6% year-on-year to 831,201 units. This data shows that the largest declines in new car registrations were in France and Italy, followed by Germany. New car registrations in France dropped by 6.2% in January, and in Italy they dropped by 5.8%. New car registrations in Germany decreased by 2.8% in January. The association said that new car registrations in Spain increased by 5.3% in January. (Sina Finance)
The "Egg Shortage" Continues with Skyrocketing Egg Prices, and the US Expects Turkey to Increase Supply
The US is experiencing an "egg shortage" due to the rampant avian influenza epidemic, and egg prices have been rising. According to CNN on February 24, US egg wholesalers have recently turned their attention to Turkey, hoping to import more eggs from Turkey to fill the supply gap. According to the Central Union of Turkish Egg Producers, Turkey plans to export 420 million eggs to the US this year, and this export volume will set a new record high. The figure was 71 million in 2024. Ibrahim Afyon, the chairman of the union, said that the overseas avian influenza epidemic is the "main reason" for the sharp increase in Turkey's egg exports. (Xinhua News Agency)
The Forefront of AI
DeepSeek Open Source Week Day 2: Open Source EP Communication Library
36Kr has learned that DeepSeek officially announced that DeepEP is open sourced today. It is the first open source EP communication library for MoE model training and inference. Its features include: Efficient and optimized full-member communication; NVLink and RDMA are supported both within and between nodes; High-throughput kernels for training and inference pre-filling; Low-latency kernels for inference decoding; Native FP8 scheduling support; Flexible GPU resource control to achieve computing-communication overlap.
DeepSeek Reopens API Recharge
It is noted on the DeepSeek API open platform that DeepSeek has reopened API recharge. The preferential period for the deepseek-chat model has ended, and the calling price has been changed to 2 yuan per million input tokens and 8 yuan per million output tokens. Previously, due to resource constraints, DeepSeek once stopped recharge. (Caixin News Agency)
Doubao is conducting a small-scale test of a deep thinking model, but the integrated model is not DeepSeek
Doubao, the AI assistant of ByteDance, is conducting a small-scale test of a deep thinking model, but the integrated model is not the DeepSeek model. According to the relevant person in charge of Doubao, the current test involves different experimental versions of its own deep thinking model. The reporter's actual test found that the entry for the "Deep Thinking" function is temporarily not displayed on the Doubao conversation page. However, for users who are gray-listed, the thought chain will be displayed in Doubao's generated responses after asking different questions. (Cailian Press)
Lenovo AI Server Standalone Fully Compatible with DeepSeek-R1 Full-Blooded Version Large Model
36Kr has learned that Lenovo officially announced the new upgrade of its large model training and inference integrated AI computing power platform Lenovo Weten WA7780 G3 and the large model inference AI computing power platform Lenovo Weten WA7785a G3. A standalone machine can deploy the DeepSeek-R1 full-blooded version large model (with 671B parameters). This upgrade will significantly reduce the difficulty and cost of customer deployment, while improving the performance of model training and inference. It is understood that Lenovo is carrying out more comprehensive and in-depth cooperation with DeepSeek in the two major fields of personal intelligence and enterprise intelligence. Among them, focusing on enterprise intelligence, the deep integration of Lenovo China's infrastructure business with DeepSeek is rapidly achieving full-chain product adaptation from training to inference.
Baidu Education integrates the fully-powered DeepSeek-R1 model, supporting multi-modal reasoning
36Kr has learned that on February 25, Baidu Education's product "Photo Search for Questions" officially integrated the fully-powered DeepSeek-R1 model. Users can use the photo-taking function in Baidu App to enter "Photo Search for Questions". Not only can it provide standard answers through the database, but also it can exert the powerful reasoning ability of DeepSeek R1 to show the derivation process step by step. In addition, Baidu Education's "AI Essay Writing" has also simultaneously integrated the DeepSeek model. Just search for "Composition" in Baidu App, use the "One-click Composition" function, and check the fully-powered DeepSeek-R1 to experience it.
Anthropic Launches Its First Hybrid Inference Model Claude 3.7 Sonnet
The artificial intelligence startup Anthropic announced the launch of Claude 3.7 Sonnet, claiming that it is the smartest model to date and the first hybrid inference model in the market. The company introduced that Claude 3.7 Sonnet can not only provide nearly instant responses but also demonstrate a detailed step-by-step thinking process. API users can also finely control the thinking duration of the model. In addition, the simultaneously launched Claude Code command-line tool (Research Preview) enables developers to directly entrust important engineering tasks to Claude through the terminal. (Jiemian News)
Investment and Financing
"Jiazhao Electronics" Secures Over 100 Million Yuan in Series B+ Financing
36Kr has learned that "Jiazhao Electronics" has announced the completion of a Series B+ financing of over 100 million yuan. This round of financing was jointly completed by Chengdu Kechuangtou Group, in conjunction with Chengdu Major Industrialization Project Phase I Equity Investment Fund Co., Ltd., Chengdu Tianfu Innovation Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd., and Saize Capital. This financing will be mainly used for the research and development of high-end testing solutions such as high-end memory, computing power chips, optoelectronic chips, radio frequency chips, etc., as well as the investment in high-end testing production lines. Jiazhao Electronics is a professional independent third-party semiconductor testing service provider that focuses on the entire process services including the development of integrated circuit testing solutions, the development of testing hardware, wafer testing (CP), chip finished product testing (FT), mass production aging, and SLT testing.
"Tian Lin" Secures Multi-Million-Level Financing
36Kr has learned that recently, "Tian Lin", a robot intelligent construction service provider, has completed an angel round of financing of tens of millions of yuan, exclusively led by Qifu Capital. The funds from this round of financing will be mainly used for market expansion, capacity expansion, and technological iteration of the AISSGF system.
"Jirui Technology" Completes Multi-round Series B Financing of Hundreds of Millions of Yuan
36Kr learned that "Jirui Technology" announced the successive completion of multi-round Series B financing of hundreds of millions of yuan. The investors include Yonyou Industrial Investment, Baidu, Red Dragonfly, and Zhuoyuan Asia. Index Capital serves as the exclusive financial advisor. The financing funds will be mainly used for the marketing coverage of the domestic market, the research and development of new products, and the continuous iteration of the e-commerce large model.
Big Company Financial Reports
Ctrip Releases 2024 Q4 and Full-Year Financial Results: Inbound Tourism Grows by More Than 100% Year-on-Year
36Kr learned that on February 25, Ctrip Group announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter of 2024 and the full year. In the fourth quarter, Ctrip Group's net operating revenue was 12.7 billion yuan, and the full-year net operating revenue was 53.3 billion yuan. In the fourth quarter, Ctrip's outbound hotel and flight reservations increased by more than 20% compared to the same period in 2019; Ctrip's international OTA platform's hotel and flight reservations increased by more than 70% year-on-year. In the fourth quarter and the full year, Ctrip's inbound tourism reservation volume increased by more than 100% year-on-year. Among them, the full-year reservation volume from visa-free countries increased by more than 150% year-on-year.
Cool Products
Xingji Meizu AR Smart Glasses: Support the teleprompter function and have been mass-produced
36Kr learned that Xingji Meizu StarV Air2 supports the teleprompter function and has been mass-produced. Recently, its sales have increased by 5 times. It is understood that the StarV Air2 AR smart glasses released by Xingji Meizu in September last year already support the teleprompter function. Users can transfer the speech manuscript to the glasses, set automatic page turning, or pair it with the finger ring StarV Ring2 to achieve a relaxed and smooth speech.
AI Map
With the support of DeepEP, it no longer relies on Transformer.
Arranged｜Yu Yaoming