At 9 a.m., here are the latest news: Douyin refutes the rumor of a brawl between an HR and an employee; Liang Jianzhang suggests a one-time subsidy of 100,000 yuan for each child; Tesla denies cooperating with Baidu on intelligent driving.
Top 3 Big News
Douyin Debunks Rumor of HR-Employee Brawl
On the 14th, the official Weibo account of Douyin's bulletin board posted a statement saying that recently, a large amount of false information such as "ByteDance laying off 10% of its staff", "no year - end bonuses given", and "HR and employees getting into a brawl and being sent to the hospital" has emerged on some social platforms. After verification, the relevant content is all false and is a variant of similar rumors in January 2023. The company has not carried out large - scale layoffs, and there has been no physical conflict between HR and employees over "layoffs" or "year - end bonuses". Descriptions such as "brawl" and "hair - pulling" are purely fabricated. Douyin stated that the company has initiated legal proceedings against multiple rumor - spreading users and has obtained a valid court judgment in its favor. The relevant users who spread or started the rumors have also publicly apologized. Users are advised to carefully distinguish online information. The company will safeguard its rights in accordance with the law against similar acts of spreading false information that affect the company's normal operations. (Caijing.com)
Liang Jianzhang Suggests a One-time Subsidy of 100,000 Yuan per Child
Liang Jianzhang, the Chairman of the Board of Ctrip Group and a population economist, wrote in an article that among the parenting subsidy policies introduced in various places, Hohhot has the most generous subsidy, which is worthy of praise. However, he also pointed out that increasing the fertility rate is a comprehensive systematic project that requires the joint efforts of the government and all sectors of society. In addition to cash subsidies, fertility subsidies also need comprehensive measures such as tax relief, mortgage subsidies, universal childcare services, providing equal parental leave for men and women, and promoting flexible work arrangements to reduce the time burden on parenting families. For example, from the perspective of cash and tax subsidies, it is recommended to provide a monthly subsidy of 1,000 yuan for each first child, 2,000 yuan for each second child, along with a 50% reduction in social security contributions and income tax. For each third child and above, a monthly subsidy of 3,000 yuan should be provided, along with full exemption from social security contributions and income tax. At the same time, the differences between different regions and different income groups need to be taken into account. Considering that China's economy urgently needs to expand domestic demand, a one-time cash subsidy of 100,000 yuan can also be given for each child. (Sina Finance)
Tesla Denies Cooperation with Baidu on Intelligent Driving
On March 14th, in response to the recent online rumor that "Tesla is cooperating with Baidu to improve the performance of its intelligent assisted driving system in the Chinese market", Tesla replied that its cooperation with Baidu is only limited to the map navigation level, and the online rumor is untrue. (Caijing.com)
Big Companies/Big Events
State Post Bureau: China's Express Delivery Development Index Reached 368.6 from January to February, Up 11.8% Year-on-Year
36Kr learned that the State Post Bureau released the report on China's Express Delivery Development Index for January - February 2025. According to calculations, China's Express Delivery Development Index from January to February 2025 was 368.6, up 11.8% year-on-year. Among them, the development scale index, service quality index, development capacity index, and development trend index were 519.3, 464.8, 221.4, and 70.1 respectively, up 27.6%, 1.2%, 5.4%, and 6.2% year-on-year. From January to February, the express delivery industry maintained efficient operation, the market scale expanded steadily, the service quality and efficiency continued to improve, and it provided strong support for holiday consumption, laying a good foundation for achieving the annual development goals.
Mixue Bingcheng Exposed for Reusing Fresh Fruit Slices Left at Room Temperature Overnight
Mixue Bingcheng is playfully nicknamed by netizens as "the light of affordable milk tea". Iced fresh lemonade and freshly squeezed orange juice are its signature drinks. Mixue's headquarters requires that fresh oranges and lemons used as ingredients must be freshly sliced and used immediately. Any leftovers should be discarded when the store closes. However, at the Mixue Bingcheng store in Ningju Xintiandi, Yichang, Hubei, reporters from Jing Shi Live found that some staff members hid the remaining lemon and orange slices of the day in the storage cabinet under the operating table, planning to use them the next day. The store manager put the leftover lemon and orange slices from the day into a stainless - steel bucket and left the bucket at room temperature in a corner of the store.
When the reporter asked, "Shouldn't the slices be put in the fridge if they're going to be used tomorrow? Are you leaving them at room temperature overnight?" A staff member replied, "So I won't dare to drink here anymore. I'm a bit scared." The next day, the reporter saw that the staff member moved the stainless - steel bucket back to the front area, then placed the leftover fruit slices from the previous day on the operating table. The staff also asked the reporter to re - weigh and repackage them, emphasizing that the operation should be done in the blind spot of the video. During the investigation, the reporter repeatedly found flies and insects crawling around in the plastic cup lids in the store, and these lids were washed and reused the next day. (Jing Shi Live)
National Administration of Financial Regulation: Encourage Banking Financial Institutions to Increase the Provision of Personal Consumption Loans on the Premise of Controllable Risks
36Kr learned that when answering reporters' questions on the work of developing consumer finance to boost consumption, the person in charge of relevant departments of the National Administration of Financial Regulation stated that banking financial institutions are encouraged to increase the provision of personal consumption loans on the premise of controllable risks, reasonably set the amount, term, and interest rate of consumption loans, and optimize resource allocation. Improve the requirements for due diligence exemption in personal consumption loans. On the premise of effectively verifying identities and controllable risks, explore the online opening and activation of credit card services.
Zhengzhou City Signs Agreement to Deepen Strategic Cooperation with Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
36Kr learned from Zhengzhou Release that on March 13th, Zhengzhou City signed an agreement to deepen strategic cooperation with Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. An Wei, a member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee and Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, had a discussion with Wang Tao, an executive director of Huawei and the director of the ICT Infrastructure Business Management Committee, and witnessed the signing ceremony.
Hohhot Health Commission Receives 50 Calls Regarding Subsidies in One Hour
On March 13th, the Health Commission of Hohhot City issued a child - birth subsidy policy, offering a 10,000 - yuan subsidy for the first child, a 50,000 - yuan subsidy for the second child, and a 100,000 - yuan subsidy for the third child, which has attracted wide attention. On March 14th, a reporter from Dawan News contacted the Health Commission of Hohhot City. Staff member Ms. Han said that after the policy was announced, the consultation hotline was extremely busy. "Since I took over at 9 a.m. today, I've received about 50 calls from parents within an hour. Most of the callers are parents who are pregnant or have just had a baby." (Dawan News)
China National Coal Group Invests 840 Million Yuan to Establish a New Energy Company in Xinjiang
36Kr learned that Tianyancha App shows that recently, Zhongmei Yutian New Energy Co., Ltd. was established. The legal representative is Yu Jianmin, and the registered capital is approximately 840 million RMB. Its business scope includes solar power generation technology services, research and development of emerging energy technologies, energy storage technology services, etc. It is wholly owned by Zhongmei Electric Power Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China National Coal Group. It is worth mentioning that since the beginning of this year, Zhongmei Electric Power Co., Ltd. has established Zhongmei Electric Power (Hami) New Energy Investment Co., Ltd. and Zhongmei (Nanjing) Electric Power Technology Co., Ltd.
iQiyi Announces the Construction of Its First "iQiyi Park" in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, Expected to Open This Year
36Kr learned that iQiyi's first global offline park project has landed in Yangzhou, Jiangsu. According to the plan, iQiyi Park will consist of seven major sections: full - sensory theater, holographic light and shadow space, immersive performing arts theater, film set interaction, NPC interactive experience, party - time MR games, and theme activities. At the same time, it will also be equipped with business forms such as theme catering and IP derivatives, which will help attract young customers and international tourists and promote the coordinated development of local cultural tourism and consumption. iQiyi Park is expected to open within this year.
International precious metal futures generally closed higher, and the gold price hit a new record high
The prices of international precious metals performed remarkably. The COMEX gold futures once soared through the $3,000 per ounce mark, reaching a record high. The spot gold price also hit a new record high above $2,989. Among them, the COMEX gold futures rose 1.85% to $3,001.3 per ounce, reaching a maximum of $3,001.5 per ounce during the session, setting a record high; the London spot gold was reported at $2,988.26 per ounce, up 1.88%, reaching a maximum of $2,989.3 per ounce, also setting a record high. The COMEX silver futures rose 2.21% to $34.49 per ounce. (Securities Times)
IEA: US Tariff Policy Leads to Lowered Expectations for Oil Demand Growth
On the 13th local time, the International Energy Agency (IEA), headquartered in Paris, said in a report that due to the downward risks to the macro - economy brought about by the US threat to impose tariffs on its trading partners, the agency has lowered its forecast for the daily growth of global oil demand in 2025 to just over 1 million barrels. This is 70,000 barrels less than last month's forecast, and the adjusted daily demand is 103.9 million barrels. (CCTV News)
The seven major technology giants in the United States have suffered heavy losses
According to an article published on the website of German weekly magazine Der Spiegel cited by Xinhua News Agency, US President Donald Trump used to talk about the stock market with great enthusiasm. In January this year, one day before his inauguration, Trump said, "I'm not bragging, but everyone says it's the 'Trump effect'. The stock market has risen significantly since the US presidential election." But now, Trump has lowered his voice when talking about Wall Street. Punitive tariffs, rising inflation and a gloomy economic outlook have panicked shareholders. The stock prices of some companies have plummeted, and large technology companies have borne the brunt. (Xinhua News Agency)
LVMH Plans to Raise CEO Age Limit to 85, Paving the Way for Arnault to Continue at the Helm
The board of directors of French luxury giant LVMH has proposed raising the age limit for its chairman and CEO to 85, and a vote on this will be held at the annual general meeting on April 17. If approved, it would mean that 76-year-old Bernard Arnault can continue to lead the company for nearly a decade. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Arnault currently has a net worth of $179 billion. He has served as LVMH's CEO since 1989. The group manages 75 brands, ranging from Givenchy to TAG Heuer, across six divisions. (Jiemian News)
Samsung SDI to Issue 11.8 Million New Shares
According to documents submitted to regulatory authorities, Samsung SDI will issue 11.8 million new shares. The proceeds will be used for mergers and acquisitions and capital expenditures. The price of the new shares is expected to be 169,200 won per share. (Sina Finance)
UAE state-owned capital invests $2 billion in Binance, the largest single investment in the crypto circle
On March 12, Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it had received an investment of up to $2 billion from UAE artificial intelligence investment firm MGX, and MGX acquired a minority stake in Binance. According to the press release, this investment will be paid in the form of stablecoin (a type of cryptocurrency with an anchoring property, often pegged to fiat currency). This is Binance's first institutional investment to date and also the largest single investment in a cryptocurrency company in history. (Cailian Press)
The forefront of AI
Tsinghua Team Opens Sources Large Model Inference Engine "Chitu"
36Kr learned that on March 14th, the team led by Professor Zhai Jidong from the Institute of High Performance Computing at Tsinghua University jointly announced with Qingcheng Jizhi, a science and technology innovation enterprise affiliated with Tsinghua, the open - sourcing of the large model inference engine "Chitu". This engine for the first time enables the native operation of FP8 precision models on non - NVIDIA Hopper architecture GPUs and various domestic chips, bringing new breakthroughs to the widespread application and ecological construction of domestic AI chips. Tang Xiongchao, CEO of Qingcheng Jizhi, said that currently, there is still a lack of production - level open - source products in the core area of inference engines in China. Open - sourcing the "Chitu" engine is an important step in promoting the construction of the domestic AI ecosystem.
Giants Network Releases the Industry's First DeepSeek Native Gameplay
36Kr learned that the social reasoning game "Among Us" under Giants Network has integrated DeepSeek. The first - ever native gameplay "Imposter Challenge" built on DeepSeek has now entered the gray - scale testing phase and will be open to all users later. This is the first time in the industry that the capabilities of the DeepSeek large - language model have been deeply applied to game gameplay innovation.
Shengjing NetLink and Shengjing Jiacheng jointly launch the "AI RaaS Joint Entrepreneurship Program"
36Kr learned that Shengjing NetLink and Shengjing Jiacheng have 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 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.
SoftBank and OpenAI Plan to Transform a Former Sharp Factory into a Data Center for Operating AI Agents
SoftBank plans to transform a former Sharp liquid crystal panel factory in Japan into a data center for operating artificial intelligence (AI) agents jointly developed with OpenAI. An agreement to acquire the factory and the land is expected to be signed as early as Friday, with the acquisition price estimated at around 100 billion yen. (Caixin)
Financial Reports of Large Companies
Fangzheng Securities: Net profit of 2.207 billion yuan in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 2.55%
36Kr learned that Fangzheng Securities released its 2024 annual performance report. The report shows that in 2024, it achieved an operating income of 7.718 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.42%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 2.207 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.55%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 2.638 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41.58%; the basic earnings per share was 0.27 yuan per share, a year-on-year increase of 3.85%; the weighted average return on net assets was 4.72%, a decrease of 0.16 percentage points.
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 fiscal year 2024: 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 News)
Li Auto Releases Fourth - Quarter and Full - Year Financial Reports for 2024
36Kr learned that Li Auto released its fourth - quarter and full - year financial reports for 2024. The financial reports show that in the fourth quarter, Li Auto's revenue was 44.3 billion yuan, compared with 41.73 billion yuan in the same period of the previous year, and the market expectation was 44.21 billion yuan.
Hon Hai's Q4 net profit reaches NT$46.33 billion, falling short of expectations
Hon Hai's net profit in the fourth quarter was NT$46.33 billion, compared with an estimated NT$54.38 billion. The full - year net profit in 2024 was NT$152.71 billion, against an estimated NT$159.39 billion. (Jiemian News)
Shanxi Coal Industry: Net profit of 22.196 billion yuan in 2024, a year-on-year decrease of 3.97%
36Kr learned that Shanxi Coal Industry released its 2024 performance bulletin. The report shows that in 2024, the company's raw coal output was 170 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.13%; coal sales volume was 260 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 9.91%. The operating income was 184.145 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.47%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 22.196 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.97%. The change in performance was mainly due to the company's acquisition of the equity of Shaanxi Coal Power Group Co., Ltd., as well as the year-on-year decrease in coal prices and the year-on-year reduction in losses from the change in the fair value of trust assets.
Compiled | Dingding Fried Noodles