8:01 AM | Mercedes-Benz China lays off staff with compensation of N + 9, and the company issues a statement in response; Hong Kong announces a salary freeze for all civil servants; Xiaomi SU7 Ultra is released with a price of 529,900 yuan.
TOP3 Big News
Mercedes-Benz China Announces Compensation of N + 9 for Layoffs and Releases a Statement in Response
On the 26th, Mercedes-Benz China had discussions with some employees and immediately initiated layoffs, with a layoff ratio of approximately 15%. This round of layoffs mainly involves the sales and automotive finance systems. The main companies involved are Mercedes-Benz (China) Auto Sales Co., Ltd. and Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance Co., Ltd., while the R & D system is not involved for the time being. According to IT Home reports, the laid-off employees can receive compensation of N + 9. If they do not join a new company in the next two months, they can also receive their salaries for March and April. A person close to Mercedes-Benz China revealed that this round of layoffs is a "general layoff", and almost every department of the sales and finance companies is involved. Among the laid-off employees, a large proportion are employees with "open-ended" labor contracts.
In response to rumors such as "a large-scale layoff in Mercedes-Benz China", on the 27th, Mercedes-Benz China released a statement saying that the integration or reduction of business will inevitably involve the work arrangements of some employees. Mercedes-Benz China will strictly abide by relevant laws and regulations, uphold a candid negotiation, friendly and responsible attitude, and provide relevant employees with a follow-up plan that is as reasonable, legitimate and compliant as possible. (Cailian Press, Sina Technology)
Hong Kong Announces Salary Freeze for All Civil Servants
On February 26, Paul Chan Mo-po, the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, announced several measures to strictly control the growth of government expenditure in the new budget, including a salary freeze for all civil servants and a reduction in the civil service establishment.
Paul Chan stated that the salaries of all personnel in the executive, legislative, judicial organs, and District Councils will be frozen unanimously for the 2025/2026 fiscal year. At the same time, in response to expenditure reduction and optimization of human resource utilization, the civil service establishment will be reduced by 2% annually in the 2026/2027 and 2027/2028 fiscal years. Paul Chan estimates that by April 1, 2027, about 10,000 civil service positions will be cut during the current term of the SAR government. (Nanfang Daily)
Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Released, Priced at 529,900 Yuan
On the evening of February 27th, Xiaomi held the "Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Xiaomi SU7 Ultra" new product launch at the National Convention Center. The products launched cover multiple fields such as mobile phones, automobiles, and smart home appliances.
Among them, according to Xiaomi, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra has been released, with a price of 529,900 Yuan, and it is now on sale on the Xiaomi Auto App. The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra aims to become the fastest four-door mass-produced vehicle on the planet. It is equipped with the Xiaomi Super Three-Motor System, comes standard with the Track Edition Cooling System and Brake System, and has a Nürburgring-tuned chassis system. The standard version can directly go on the track. Lei Jun also officially announced the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Nürburgring Limited Edition at the launch event, starting from 814,900 Yuan.
At the same time, products such as the Xiaomi 15 Ultra were also released at the launch event. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra starts at 6,499 Yuan, is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Extreme Edition chip, a 6,000mAh battery, and features a 6.73-inch 2K four-sided equal-depth micro-curved screen with a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz and a maximum peak brightness of 3,200 nits. It offers four color options including black, white, and patchwork colors. Among them, the classic black and silver, and the pine and cypress green color options use a patchwork design. In terms of colors, in addition to the classic silver and black patchwork color, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra also offers the innovative pine and cypress green color, as well as two classic black and white colors. (36Kr, Lei Technology)
Big Companies / Major Events
Alibaba's 2026 Spring Campus Recruitment Starts, with Nearly 50% of Positions Related to AI
36Kr learned that on February 27, Alibaba officially launched the 2026 Spring Internship Recruitment, opening more than 3,000 positions. On the same day, Alibaba Holding Group, Alibaba Cloud, AutoNavi, Tongyi Laboratory, Ele.me, and Lingxi Interactive Entertainment were the first to start the spring recruitment. Next, Taotian, Alibaba International, Cainiao, Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group, Intelligent Information, Hema, etc. will successively start the 2026 Spring Internship Recruitment. It is understood that nearly 50% of the positions in this Alibaba spring recruitment are related to AI, and the proportion is even higher in some AI business departments. The proportion of AI-related positions in AutoNavi is about 65%, and in Alibaba Cloud it exceeds 80%.
"Ne Zha: Devil Child Causes Havoc in the Sea" Surpasses 14 Billion Yuan at the Box Office
According to data from online platforms, the total box office of the global box office champion animated film "Ne Zha: Devil Child Causes Havoc in the Sea" has exceeded 14 billion yuan. (Xinhua News Agency)
Yonghui Supermarket Will Elect New Directors and Firmly Promote the Adjustment and Reform of the Pangdonglai Model
36Kr learned that on February 27, Yonghui Supermarket issued an announcement, planning to hold the first extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in 2025 on March 17. The core agenda is the new round of director elections for the board of directors. This election will involve changes in multiple director seats, which may mean that Miniso has completed the delivery of its acquisition of 29.4% of Yonghui Supermarket's equity for 6.27 billion yuan, becoming its largest shareholder. Yonghui Supermarket is firmly promoting the "Adjustment and Reform of the Pangdonglai Model" and recently released the list of the first batch of national stores for adjustment and reform in 2025, totaling 20 stores in 15 cities. Up to now, Yonghui Supermarket has completed the adjustment and upgrade of 41 stores in 18 cities across the country.
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower collectively, and large technology stocks declined collectively.
36Kr learned that as of the close on February 27, the three major U.S. stock indexes fell collectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 0.45%, the S&P 500 Index fell by 1.59%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped by 2.78%. NVIDIA fell by more than 8%, with its market value falling below $3 trillion. Tesla dropped by more than 3%, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Netflix dropped by more than 2%, and Microsoft and Apple dropped by more than 1%. Most popular Chinese concept stocks declined. Tiger Brokers dropped by more than 4%, Li Auto dropped by more than 3%, Weibo and Bilibili dropped by more than 2%, Alibaba, Tencent Music, and Baidu dropped by more than 1%; iQIYI rose by more than 2%, and NIO and XPeng Motors rose by more than 1%.
Lei Jun Denies Rumor of Becoming the New Richest Person in China
On February 27, the stock price of Xiaomi Group opened at a new high and then gradually declined. Currently, it is reported to have dropped by 6.04%. Regarding the news that Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi, surpassed Zhong Shanshan, the founder of Nongfu Spring, and became the "new richest person in China", Lei Jun responded in the Wuhan University alumni group, saying: It's fake news. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in real time, currently, Zhong Shanshan ranks 24th and Lei Jun ranks 31st. (China Business News)
The founder of Zongmu Technology responds to the rumor of "running away": Not out of contact, and is seeking overseas financing
Recently, the intelligent driving star startup Zongmu Technology has been deeply involved in a public opinion turmoil. Negative news such as "the founder running away and out of contact", "all employees being owed salaries", and "social insurance payments being discontinued" has spread within the industry. On February 26, Tang Rui, the founder and CEO of Zongmu Technology, responded to media that he was not out of contact and is currently actively seeking overseas financing. (21st Century Business Herald)
"Plants vs. Zombies 3" Chinese Version Officially Approved to Enter the Chinese Market
36Kr has learned that the Chinese version of "Plants vs. Zombies 3" has been officially approved to enter the Chinese market. Hainan Mengxing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mini Chuangxiang, has obtained the distribution rights of this product. According to the official release of Mini Chuangxiang, they will cooperate deeply with EA (Electronic Arts) in the United States to carry out the distribution of the Chinese version of "Plants vs. Zombies 3" in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions.
In 2024, China's mobile phone export volume increased for the first time after eight years
36Kr learned that according to the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, as statistics from the General Administration of Customs show, in 2024, China exported 814 million mobile phones, with a year-on-year growth of 1.5%. This is the first increase after a consecutive eight-year decline since the peak of 1.343 billion units exported in 2015, and it has remained above 800 million units for the third consecutive year. The export value of mobile phones decreased by 3.1% year-on-year to 134.36 billion US dollars, accounting for 3.8% of the total export value of goods, which has significantly declined from the highest value of 5.7% in 2018.
The World's First International Standard for Elderly Care Robots Released
Recently, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) officially released the international standard for elderly care robots led by China (IEC 63310 "Performance Criteria for Active Assisted Living Robots Used in the Connected Home Environment").
This standard is based on the physiological, psychological and behavioral characteristics of the elderly, providing a benchmark for the product design, manufacturing, testing and certification of various elderly care robots, and will lead the healthy development of the global elderly care robot industry.
This standard focuses on the needs and characteristics of the elderly in various aspects such as daily life and health care in the connected home environment, and proposes the functional and performance classification of elderly care robots. In addition to general requirements such as reliability, accessibility, energy consumption and noise, specific technical requirements are also proposed. (CCTV News)
Ministry of Commerce: Promoting the Introduction of a Series of Policies to Support Domestic Service Consumption, Digital Consumption, Sports Consumption, etc.
On February 27, the Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference. He Yadong, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced that the executive meeting of the State Council on February 21 proposed to attract domestic and foreign investment in the field of service consumption through the methods of "opening up to the outside world" and "liberalizing internally", fully stimulate market forces, and better meet the quality consumption needs of the people.
He Yadong stated that a negative list for cross-border trade in services will be fully implemented, and the gradient opening will be steadily advanced. Actively align with international high-standard economic and trade rules, and in conjunction with relevant departments, study and launch a number of new opening measures in the fields of telecommunications, education, culture, healthcare, finance, etc. A "package of policies" will be implemented to accelerate the improvement of the "1 + N" policy and measure system for service consumption, promote the introduction of a series of policies to support domestic service consumption, digital consumption, sports consumption, etc., and expand the high-quality supply in the service field. The cultivation of new business forms and models will be strengthened, innovative service consumption scenarios will be created, and the "sense of gain" of the people will be enhanced. (Jiemian News)
Huang Renxun's Bet on the AI Infrastructure Boom Remains Unshaken, and Some Agents Claim to Be Boosted by DeepSeek
It is learned from an NVIDIA agent that the sales of NVIDIA GPU chips are indeed boosted by the high exposure of DeepSeek, and at the same time, the price of graphics cards "has been soaring sharply". One of the practitioners said that they will mainly promote the use of the RTX 4090 graphics card to deploy the DeepSeek model. Although the video memory and computing power are not as good as H20, for small model inference training, the cost performance will be higher. The server manufacturer where he is located has not yet experienced a tight supply situation. "In fact, it is only a wait-and-see stage now, and the actual demand for procurement is still quite small." However, the specific main push product model may also be related to the inventory of each company. Some practitioners said that they are currently selling H20. (BlueWhale News)
The iPhone 16e is about to be sold, and enterprises in Apple's industrial chain are expected to have a non-slow season.
Recently, Apple released the iPhone 16e, which will be on sale on February 28, with a starting price of 4,499 yuan. Institutional analysis said that the listing of Apple's new low-cost model at this time is expected to reduce the pressure on Apple iPhone shipments during the off-season. Currently, enterprises in Apple's industrial chain have been actively preparing goods. Driven by the new iPhone model, the core companies in the industrial chain are expected to have a non-slow season in the first quarter. (China Securities Journal)
Meta Increases Executive Bonuses to Twice Their Salaries, Just After Laying Off 3,600 Employees
It is reported that while carrying out large-scale layoffs, the US tech giant Meta is increasing the compensation of its executives. The company recently approved a plan to raise executive bonuses from 75% of the base salary to a maximum of 200%. According to a recent document that Meta submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company's goal is to better align executive compensation with the company's priorities and industry standards. However, the timing is surprising because just one week before announcing this decision, Meta laid off 3,600 employees, accounting for approximately 5% of its total workforce. (Sina Finance)
Amazon Fined $39 Million by Indian Court for Trademark Infringement
An Indian court on February 26 ordered Amazon to pay $39 million in damages because the company sold clothing of the same brand with the trademark "Beverly Hills Polo Club" on the Amazon India website, constituting trademark infringement. Indian lawyers said the ruling is a landmark. Previously, an antitrust investigation in India found that Amazon gave preferential treatment to specific sellers on its Indian website, violating competition laws, but Amazon denied the accusation. (Sina Finance)
Toyota's Global Production Recovers for the First Time in a Year
Toyota announced on Thursday that its global production in January this year reached 781,729 vehicles, an increase of 6% year-on-year, achieving the first growth in 12 months. This is mainly due to the recovery of domestic production capacity. The domestic production in the same month soared by 22%, successfully offsetting the decline in overseas production. From a regional perspective, the North American market shows a differentiated performance. The production of the Mexican factory increased by nearly 3.5 times year-on-year to 26,500 vehicles, driving the overall production in the region to increase by 3%. However, in the two traditional main markets of the United States and Canada, production still declined. The company explained that the surge in production capacity in Mexico is due to the base effect brought about by the adjustment of the production base last year. (Sina Finance)
In Japan, the price of 1 kilogram of rice is approximately 40 yuan, with a year-on-year increase of over 90%.
The latest data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan shows that the retail price of rice in Japanese supermarkets has been rising for seven consecutive weeks. The data shows that as of the week ending February 16, the average retail price of rice in Japanese supermarkets has risen to 3,892 yen per 5 kilograms (approximately 190 yuan in RMB), with a year-on-year increase of more than 90%. As the rice price continues to climb, low-income groups, especially those living on basic pensions, have found it difficult to bear. In response, the Japanese government announced this month that it will release 210,000 tons of reserve rice to ease the pressure caused by the high rice price. (CCTV Finance)
Eni and Petronas to Merge Upstream Assets in Indonesia and Malaysia
A statement shows that Italian Eni and Malaysia's Petronas have announced the signing of an exclusive memorandum of understanding to conduct detailed discussions on establishing a joint venture holding company to manage some upstream assets in Indonesia and Malaysia. The joint venture will combine reserves of approximately 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with an additional 10 billion barrels of potential exploration potential. (Jiemian News)
The Forefront of AI
DeepSeek Open Source Fourth Release: "Teaching" Optimization, with Liang Wenfeng Involved in Research and Development
DeepSeek Open Source Week (OpenSourceWeek) has released its fourth installment. On February 27, DeepSeek announced on X that this open source involves three concurrent optimization strategies. On Github, the parallel computing optimization techniques behind the DeepSeek-V3 and R1 models have been elaborated in detail. Through these explanations, it is clearly understood how the team finely optimizes computing and communication to maximize the utilization of GPU capabilities. Among these three concurrent optimization strategies is DualPipe, a bidirectional pipeline parallel algorithm used for overlapping computing and communication in the training of V3/R1 models. This algorithm can completely overlap the forward and backward computing and communication stages, reducing the "pipeline bubble" (idle waiting of the device at certain moments) compared to traditional methods. Among the developers of DualPipe is the founder, Liang Wenfeng. (Yicai)
Baidu Wenxin Yiyan large model will release a new version in mid-March
36Kr learned that, according to foreign media reports, Baidu Wenxin Yiyan large model will release a new version in mid-March. It is understood that Wenxin Yiyan is the earliest domestic company to benchmark against OpenAI. This year, both sides will release the most powerful large model 5.0 in history.
Meta Plans to Release Standalone AI Application to Compete with ChatGPT
Meta AI will soon become one of the standalone applications of this social media company, joining the ranks of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. According to informed sources, the company intends to launch a Meta AI standalone application in the second quarter to compete with rivals such as OpenAI and Alphabet. (Sina Finance)
Tencent Launches a New Generation of Quick Thinking Model Hunyuan Turbo S, Which Will Be Gradually Rolled Out on Tencent Yuanbao in Gray Scale
36Kr learned that on February 27, the quick thinking model Turbo S independently developed by Tencent Hunyuan was officially released. It is understood that Hunyuan Turbo S can achieve "instant responses", double the speed of speech, reduce the latency of the first word by 44%, and also has outstanding performances in knowledge, mathematics, and creation. Through model architecture innovation, the deployment cost of Turbo S has also been significantly reduced, continuously promoting the lowering of the application threshold of large models. This model has been launched on Tencent Yuanbao, and users can choose the Deepseek R1 or Tencent Hunyuan T1 model for answers. Tencent Hunyuan stated that the official version of the Tencent Hunyuan T1 model API will also be launched soon to provide access services externally.
Big Company Financial Reports
Kingsoft Office: Net profit of 1.645 billion yuan in 2024, with a year-on-year growth of 24.84%
36Kr learned that Kingsoft Office announced that it achieved an operating income of 5.121 billion yuan in 2024, with a year-on-year growth of 12.40%; the net profit attributable to the parent company's owners was 1.645 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 24.84%. The company, centering on the core strategic directions of "Multi-screen, Cloud, Content, Collaboration, and AI", continues to increase R & D investment in the fields of collaboration and AI, promoting product iteration and upgrading, and enhancing market competitiveness and industry influence.
Investment and Financing
Overseas short drama platform "StoReel" completes a strategic financing of several million US dollars
36Kr has learned that the overseas short drama platform StoReel has recently completed a strategic financing of several million US dollars. The investor is a well-known overseas game company. This round of financing will mainly be used for platform content development, and the investor will also provide continuous strategic support and capital injection in the follow-up.
"Qujing Technology" Completes Angel Round Financing of Several Ten Million Yuan
36Kr has learned that recently, "Qujing Technology" has completed an angel round financing of several ten million yuan. This round of financing is led by Hillhouse Ventures and Z Fund, with the participation of Shuimu Alumni Seed Fund, and the existing shareholder True Insight Ventures continues to follow the investment. After this round of financing, Qujing Technology will further increase R & D investment, accelerate the iteration of products such as the integrated reasoning workstation for large-scale models with both software and hardware, and simultaneously promote the research and development and implementation of a more high-performance reasoning engine for large-scale models, helping more enterprises to implement and use large-scale models.
"Yuansheng Intelligence" Completes Angel Round Financing of Several Ten Million Yuan
36Kr learned that "Yuansheng Intelligence", a startup company focusing on the research and development of robot dexterous hands, announced the completion of an angel round financing of several ten million yuan. This round of financing is led by Shenzhen Capital Group, with Kunzhong Capital and CAS Star following the investment, and Langchao Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor for this round of financing. The financing will be mainly used to accelerate the research and development of core products, including the development and optimization of a new generation of robot dexterous hands and high-performance tactile sensor systems.
"GETRONICS Dongzhi" Completes Several Hundred Million Yuan RMB Series C Financing
36Kr has learned that recently, "GETRONICS Dongzhi", an industrial intelligent solution provider, announced the completion of several hundred million yuan RMB Series C financing. This round of financing is jointly participated by multiple investment institutions such as Optics Valley Financial Holdings, Optics Valley Industrial Investment, and Jiaxing Nanhu Xinchuang. The financing funds are mainly used for the company's main business expansion and to accelerate the acquisition of domestic and foreign industrial intelligent ecological enterprises.
Arranged｜Yu Yaoming