Krypton Evening News | A former Xiaomi startup employee secures tens of millions in financing; Air China: Passenger turnover in February decreased by 3% year-on-year; BMW Group's total revenue in 2024 was 142.4 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 8.4%.
Large Companies:
Air China: Passenger turnover decreased by 3% year-on-year in February
36Kr learned that Air China announced that in February 2025, the combined passenger turnover of the company and its subsidiaries (measured by revenue passenger kilometers) decreased year-on-year. The passenger transport capacity input (measured by available seat kilometers) decreased by 2.4% year-on-year, and the passenger turnover decreased by 3% year-on-year. In terms of freight, the freight transport capacity input (measured by available freight ton-kilometers) increased by 0.9% year-on-year, and the freight turnover (measured by revenue freight ton-kilometers) increased by 2.9% year-on-year. The freight load factor was 29.8%, an increase of 0.6 percentage points year-on-year.
BMW Group's total revenue in 2024 was 142.4 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 8.4%
On March 14, the BMW Group released its financial results for the 2024 fiscal year: The BMW Group delivered a total of 2.45 million BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce vehicles to customers worldwide, a year-on-year decrease of 4%; the group's total revenue reached 142.4 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 8.4%; the group's pre-tax profit reached 11 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 35.8%. (Jiemian)
36Kr learned that Li Auto released its financial reports for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2024. The financial reports showed that in the fourth quarter, Li Auto's net profit was 3.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 38.6%; the adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders was 4.03 billion yuan. In the whole year of 2024, Li Auto's net profit was 8 billion yuan, achieving profitability for nine consecutive quarters. In 2024, Li Auto's delivery volume reached 500,508 vehicles, ranking first in the sales of Chinese brand cars priced over 200,000 yuan. It is estimated that the vehicle delivery volume in the first quarter will be between 88,000 and 93,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 9.5 - 15.7%. As of press time, Li Auto's US stocks fell more than 4% in pre - market trading.
Juneyao Airlines: The passenger load factor in February was 85.53%, a year-on-year decrease of 1.87%
36Kr learned that Juneyao Airlines announced that in February 2025, the company's passenger transport capacity input decreased by 2.74% year-on-year, the passenger turnover decreased by 4.83% year-on-year, and the passenger load factor was 85.53%, a year-on-year decrease of 1.87%. Jiuyuan Airlines added round - trip routes between Guangzhou - Shuozhou - Harbin and Haikou - Chengdu Tianfu.
Indonesia's Ministry of Communications announced that it has issued telecommunications equipment licenses to five different models of the Apple iPhone 16 series, which marks substantial progress in lifting the ban on the local sales of Apple phones in the country. The issuance of this license came just one week after the Indonesian government issued local content certifications for 20 Apple products, including the iPhone 16. According to the Ministry of Industry, Apple still needs to obtain an import license from the Ministry of Trade to officially start local sales. (Sina Finance)
Shengjing Netlink and Shengjing Jiacheng jointly launch the "AI RaaS Joint Entrepreneurship Program"
36Kr learned that Shengjing Netlink and Shengjing Jiacheng jointly launched the "AI RaaS Joint Entrepreneurship Program". The program aims to find AI entrepreneurs who highly recognize the RaaS (Result as a Service) model, that is, the result - oriented model, for incubation investment and joint entrepreneurship. Shengjing said that in addition to providing financing support, the program will help AI entrepreneurs find application scenarios, bring the full - set know - how of the RaaS model and full - cycle empowerment of key success factors, and also provide shared AI CTOs and training architects, as well as shared computing power services.
Investment and Financing:
A former Xiaomi startup employee received tens of millions in financing
36Kr learned that Beijing Gewu Century Technology Co., Ltd. recently announced the completion of a Pre - A round of financing of tens of millions of RMB, led by Skyline Capital. This round of financing will help the company innovate in products and technologies in the field of AI intelligent health. It is understood that the company was founded in 2022 by Fan Dian, a former Xiaomi startup employee, and focuses on the field of AI intelligent hardware. The company received angel - round financing from Xiaomi in 2023 and became a Xiaomi ecological chain enterprise.
'Lanchi Energy' completed a 30 - million - yuan Series A financing
36Kr learned that "Lanchi Energy" announced the completion of a 30 - million - yuan Series A financing, led by Huashang Finance (Shandong) Investment Management Co., Ltd. This round of financing will be mainly used for equipment upgrading, increasing R & D budgets, and expanding the market.
Hualing Cable: Plans to acquire the controlling stake of Xingxin Aerospace in cash
36Kr learned that Hualing Cable announced that the company plans to acquire the controlling stake of Hunan Xingxin Aerospace New Materials Co., Ltd. in cash. At that time, Hunan Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd. (the ultimate controlling shareholder of the company) and other enterprises it controls may jointly participate in the acquisition according to the actual situation, subject to the formal transaction agreement signed. The target company has many years of experience in the aerospace and integrated equipment fields and has obvious synergies in terms of customer resources and marketing channels. By jointly exploring market share, it is expected to expand the company's industrial chain in the aerospace and integrated equipment fields and improve the company's overall profitability.
'Meinan High - Tech' completed a Series A financing of tens of millions of yuan
36Kr learned that according to the official WeChat account of Tongchuang Weiye, recently, "Meinan High - Tech", which focuses on the R & D and production of new materials for desert governance water - retention and new self - waterproofing materials for building structures, successfully completed a Series A financing of tens of millions of yuan, exclusively invested by Tongchuang Weiye. Meinan High - Tech plans to use the financing funds in the following three directions: First, continuously increase investment in core technology R & D to further optimize the performance of waterproofing and water - retention materials; Second, expand the production base to increase production capacity to meet the needs of domestic and international markets; Third, deepen the international market layout, focus on promoting R & D and project implementation in the Middle East, and further enhance global influence.
New Products:
36Kr learned that Jianfan Bio announced that its product, the Future F20 blood purification device, obtained the EU Medical Devices Regulation (EU) 2017/745 (MDR) certification and can be sold in EU countries and other countries that recognize the EU CE certification. The certificate was approved on March 12, 2025, and will expire on March 11, 2030.
Xiaomi to introduce the "smart home" business model to Japan, plans to open 5 - 10 stores in 2025
Zheng Yan, the deputy president of Xiaomi Japan, revealed that Xiaomi plans to introduce the "smart home" business model that combines smartphones and home appliances launched in China to Japan. It will open physical stores for smartphones and home appliances in Japan, planning to open 5 - 10 stores in 2025, and is also considering selling large - scale home appliances such as air conditioners. (Sina Finance)
Tsinghua team open - sources the large - model inference engine 'Chitu'
36Kr learned that on March 14, the team led by Professor Zhai Jidong from the High - Performance Computing Institute of Tsinghua University and Qingcheng Jizhi, a science and technology innovation enterprise affiliated with Tsinghua University, jointly announced the open - sourcing of the large - model inference engine 'Chitu'. This engine is the first to natively run FP8 - precision models on non - NVIDIA Hopper - architecture GPUs and various domestic chips, bringing new breakthroughs to the wide application and ecological construction of domestic AI chips. Tang Xiongchao, the CEO of Qingcheng Jizhi, said that currently, there is still a lack of production - level open - source products in the core link of the inference engine in China. Open - sourcing the 'Chitu' engine is an important step in promoting the construction of the domestic AI ecosystem.
Today's Views:
Fashion luxury group Capri announced on March 13 (local time) that Donatella Versace, the creative director of its brand Versace, will become the chief brand ambassador starting from April 1, and the successor will be Dario Vitale, the former design director of Miu Miu. (Jiemian)
It is reported that Goldman Sachs pointed out that China's infrastructure construction activities have begun to recover, which may drive the growth of demand for commodities such as steel, cement, and copper. It pointed out that the recent inspection "initially confirms our optimistic expectations for China's construction demand in 2025". Goldman Sachs still prefers cement, copper, and bauxite and is gradually bullish on steel and aluminum. (Jiemian)
Other Notable News:
36Kr learned that according to the data of the central bank, at the end of February, the balance of broad money (M2) was 320.52 trillion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 7%. The balance of narrow money (M1) was 109.44 trillion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 0.1%. The balance of currency in circulation (M0) was 13.28 trillion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 9.7%. In the first two months, 456.2 billion yuan of cash was net - injected.
The central bank: RMB deposits increased by 8.74 trillion yuan in the first two months
36Kr learned that according to the data of the central bank, at the end of February, the balance of domestic and foreign currency deposits was 317.66 trillion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 7.1%. The balance of RMB deposits at the end of the month was 310.97 trillion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 7%. In the first two months, RMB deposits increased by 8.74 trillion yuan. Among them, household deposits increased by 6.13 trillion yuan, non - financial enterprise deposits decreased by 1.1 trillion yuan, fiscal deposits increased by 1.59 trillion yuan, and non - banking financial institution deposits increased by 1.72 trillion yuan.