8:00, Yidianzixun Special Report | Lei Jun awarded a 1 million yuan scholarship at Wuhan University; Fat Donglai lost a total of 171 employees in 2024; The employer responded to the news of a doctoral student being offered a monthly salary of 1,500 yuan.

Going Public in Progress

Nanshan Aluminum International

36Kr learned that Nanshan Aluminum Co., Ltd. announced that its controlled subsidiary, Nanshan Aluminum International, is carrying out relevant work for the global offering of shares and listing on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. Approved by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, 88.2353 million shares issued by Nanshan Aluminum International this time (before the exercise of the over-allotment option) were listed and traded on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on March 25, 2025. The Chinese short-name of Nanshan Aluminum International's shares is “NANSHAN AL INTL” and the English short-name is “NANSHAN AL INTL”, with the stock code “2610”. After the listing of Nanshan Aluminum International this time, the company will still maintain control over Nanshan Aluminum International.

CHAGEE

36Kr learned that early on March 26th, Beijing time, CHAGEE publicly submitted a prospectus to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The prospectus shows that in 2024, CHAGEE's GMV was 29.5 billion yuan; its revenue was 12.405 billion yuan; the net profit was 2.515 billion yuan; and the net profit margin in 2024 was 20.3%. As of the end of 2024, CHAGEE had 6,440 stores globally. CHAGEE will list on the NASDAQ, and its stock code is set as CHA, which is the pinyin for "tea".

Top 3 Big News

Lei Jun Responds to Awarding 1 Million Yuan in Scholarships: Once Sheltered by Others

On March 24th, the award ceremony for the Lei Jun Scholarship, founded by Lei Jun, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Xiaomi Group, was held at Wuhan University. Ten students received the Lei Jun Outstanding Scholarship, with each getting 100,000 yuan. Lei Jun personally presented the awards to the winning students and took group photos with them.

Lei Jun said, "Actually, almost all my money in college came from scholarships, subsidies from the teacher's lab, and royalties from published articles. I made up my mind that if I ever made money one day, I would give it back a thousand or ten - thousand times over. From establishing the Tengfei Scholarship in 1997 to setting up the Lei Jun Scholarship in 2012, this act of giving back has lasted for 28 years. Once someone sheltered me under their umbrella, and now that I have the ability, I want to pass on this kindness. The era shapes people, and at the same time, people shape the era. Your talents will be magnified ten - fold, a hundred - fold, or even a thousand - fold by AI tools." (Daily Economic News)

Fat Donglai Discloses Staff Turnover Rate: A Total of 171 Employees Left Fat Donglai Group in 2024

Recently, the official website of Fat Donglai disclosed the staff turnover rates of the group's different business formats in Xuchang and Xinxiang. The data shows that from January to February 2025, 28 employees left the Fat Donglai Group, including 2 management staff and 26 ordinary employees, with a staff turnover rate of 0.33%. 

In 2024, a total of 171 employees left the Fat Donglai Group, including 3 management staff and 168 ordinary employees, with a staff turnover rate of 2.01%. Among them, the supermarket business department in Xuchang had the largest number of employees leaving, with a total of 99 people and a staff turnover rate of 2.78%; the pharmaceutical business department in Xuchang had the highest staff turnover rate, reaching 6.58%, with a total of 10 employees leaving. (Daxiang News) 

Employer responds to the news of a doctoral student's monthly salary of 1,500 yuan: It was a printing error

On March 24th, at the spring job fair for graduates of a certain university in Changchun, Jilin, a recruitment notice stating that the monthly salary for doctoral students was 1,500 yuan sparked a heated online discussion. On the 25th, a staff member of the employer told reporters that it was a printing error on the poster. The poster was not made by the employer, and the employer was unaware of it beforehand. The error has been corrected on-site. (Beijing News)

Large companies/Big events

Earthquakes of Magnitude 4.2 and 2.9 Hit Langfang, Hebei, with a Focal Depth of 20 Kilometers

At 1:21 a.m. today, an earthquake of magnitude 4.2 occurred in Yongqing County, Langfang City, Hebei Province (39.42°N, 116.60°E), with a focal depth of 20 kilometers. At 1:25 a.m. today, an earthquake of magnitude 2.9 occurred in Yongqing County, Langfang City, Hebei Province (39.42°N, 116.57°E), with a focal depth of 15 kilometers. (CCTV News) 

Zhang Songwen's company annual report shows that no one is insured, and many of his companies have been deregistered

Recently, netizens reported that Zhang Songwen threw fans' letters out of the car window, which attracted public attention. Qichacha APP shows that Zhang Songwen is associated with 4 enterprises, among which 3 have been deregistered. Currently, only Zhang Songwen Film and Television Culture Studio in Siming District, Xiamen City, remains in operation. The annual report shows that the number of insured employees in the studio was 0 in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023. (Yangtze Evening News)

Alibaba Cloud Launches the Largest AI Talent Campus Recruitment in Recent Years

36Kr learned that Alibaba Cloud has recently been recruiting AI technology reserve talents from top global universities, which is the largest AI talent campus recruitment in recent years. It is understood that this campus recruitment targets top global universities such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, Zhejiang University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University, aiming to recruit technical talents in fields such as large language models, multimodal understanding and generation, model applications, and AI infrastructure. At the same time, the project has set up the A Star Project and the Al Clouder Project, targeting top talents with high - level papers and influential open - source projects, providing better salaries and professional support for such graduates. This is another AI talent strategy launched by Alibaba after the previous T Project.

"Ne Zha 2" Co-branded Cards Speculated to "Sky-High Prices": Single Card Soars to a Maximum of 188,800 Yuan

While "Ne Zha: Reborn in the Demon Sea" has ranked fifth on the global movie box office list, its surrounding derivative market has also witnessed a commercial boom. Take the collectible cards of "Ne Zha 2" as an example, there has even been a popular situation of "one card being hard to find".

Reporters' investigations found that on second-hand e-commerce platforms, the co-branded cards of "Ne Zha 2" with rare card positions and high ratings can easily be sold for tens of thousands of yuan. Taking the SP series, which currently has the lowest online card-drawing probability (the rarest), as an example, merchants who follow the marked price for the actual price of a single card have sold it for a maximum of 188,800 yuan per card. As of now, the "Ne Zha 2" co-branded cards that have been speculated to "sky-high prices" are usually limited-numbered cards. Among them, those with autographs, consecutive numbers, and special numbers are sold at even higher prices. (Beijing Business Today)

The prices of second-hand luxury watches have plunged, and the price of the Rolex Submariner "Black Bay" has been halved

Recently, there have been many discussions on social platforms about the decline in the second-hand prices of Rolex watches. The second-hand prices of Rolex, which have always been regarded as "hard currency," are continuously falling. Reporters learned from several watch dealers that the second-hand prices of some popular models have almost been "halved" compared to their peak periods. It's not just Rolex; the second-hand market prices of watches from brands such as Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Omega, and Cartier are also showing a downward trend.

However, there are exceptions. Driven by the rising international gold price, the prices of watches made of precious metals such as gold and platinum have bucked the trend and risen. (Red Star News)

U.S. Stocks Experience Record Selling, with Funds Flowing to European and Chinese Markets

Recently, there has been a significant change in the global capital flow. On the one hand, U.S. stocks have experienced record - level selling. On the other hand, European and Chinese stock markets have been favored by institutional investors. Data shows that in March, institutional investors were withdrawing funds from the U.S. stock market at the fastest pace ever. Meanwhile, the allocation ratio of institutional investors to euro - zone stocks reached the highest level in more than three years. According to a recent survey report of Asian fund managers released by BofA Securities, in terms of asset allocation preferences, the Chinese market has jumped to the second place in Asia, and 50% of institutional investors have started to build positions in Chinese assets. (Shanghai Securities News)

The sales volume of the Forbidden City Museum's phoenix crown fridge magnets has exceeded 1 million pieces, with the prototype being a national - level cultural relic prohibited from being exhibited abroad in the first batch

On March 25th, the phenomenal cultural and creative product of the National Museum of China - the phoenix crown fridge magnets - has seen its cumulative sales volume exceed 1 million pieces. This has driven the sales revenue of the entire product series under the phoenix crown IP to exceed 100 million yuan, setting a sales record for single - item and series cultural and creative products at the National Museum in the past two decades. The prototype of this phoenix crown fridge magnet is the Nine - dragon and Nine - phoenix Crown of Empress Xiaoduan of the Ming Dynasty, which is a national - level cultural relic prohibited from being exhibited abroad in the first batch. In accordance with the etiquette system of the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, it is inlaid with more than a hundred rubies and sapphires and over four thousand pearls, demonstrating the aesthetic style of the Ming Dynasty royal family. (Guangming Net)

Tim Cook Says Apple Will Expand Its Presence in China

On March 24, Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce, met with Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc. Cook said, "Apple has been in China for more than three decades. We believe that Apple and China have achieved unprecedented win - win cooperation results. We will continue to expand our business in China and create more job opportunities." Wang Wentao emphasized that there are no winners in a trade war and protectionism leads nowhere. As the world's two largest economies, it is in line with economic laws for China and the United States to strengthen economic and trade cooperation. Decoupling and severing supply chains will harm the interests of all parties. (CCTV Finance)

"Ark Invest's Cathie Wood Praises Apollo Go, China and the U.S. Leading the Development Trend of Autonomous Driving"

36Kr learned that recently, ARK Invest under "Ark Invest's" Cathie Wood released its annual outlook report "Big Ideas 2025", emphasizing that China and the U.S. are leading the development trend of autonomous taxis. Subsequently, "Ark Invest's" Cathie Wood said in a related program that among the companies expected to achieve autonomous driving 10 years ago, only three have successfully launched commercial operations, namely Waymo and Tesla in the U.S. and Baidu in China. As of January this year, Baidu's autonomous driving service Apollo Go has provided over 9 million rides to the public in total. Ark, "Ark Invest's" company, bought a total of 129,451 shares of Baidu on March 24 through two ETFs, ARKQ and ARKW, with a total value of approximately $12.24 million. 

Gree Electric Appliances Clarifies Rumors: No Electric Vehicle Product Priced at 999 Yuan Launched

36Kr learned that Gree Electric Appliances issued a statement via its WeChat official account "Gree Wenchuan" stating that recently, it has noticed that some self - media accounts on the Internet have published false product information such as "Gree's 'Mingzhu Mobility' electric vehicles are priced at 999 yuan", which has caused public misunderstanding. Gree Electric Appliances said that the company has never produced or sold the above - mentioned products, and there is currently no relevant product business plan.

The business of the startup AR glasses company Singularity Nearby can no longer operate normally

36Kr has exclusively learned that after the startup AR glasses company Singularity Nearby encountered operational difficulties at the end of 2024, its business can no longer operate normally at present. Several people close to the company said that at its peak, the company had nearly a hundred employees, but now only a few employees, including the founder, are left to assist with the aftermath.

Nezha Auto Confirms Departure of Two Technical Executives

Nezha Auto confirmed on March 24 that former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Dai Dali and the person in charge of the intelligent driving business, Wang Junping, have currently left the company. Industry insiders revealed that Wang Junping has indeed joined a domestic intelligent driving startup; Dai Dali may have joined Chery Automobile, but this has not been confirmed by Chery. (Caixin)

Boeing Seeks to Withdraw Guilty Plea Agreement Related to Plane Crashes, Hopes New U.S. Administration Will Reduce Penalties

According to U.S. media reports, people familiar with the matter revealed that U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing is seeking to withdraw the guilty plea agreement it reached earlier regarding two crashes involving its 737 MAX aircraft. Boeing hopes that the U.S. Department of Justice will reduce the penalties under the new administration. (CCTV News) 

Mercedes-Benz A-Class Confirmed to Be Discontinued, Current A-Class Hatchback Is the Last Model

On March 24th, automotive media Drive published a blog post reporting that Mercedes-Benz has confirmed the discontinuation of the A-Class to streamline its global product line. The current A-Class hatchback is the last model, and no replacement models will be launched in the future. The Mercedes-Benz A-Class was first introduced in 1997 and is now in its fourth generation. The latest generation was launched in 2018 and updated in 2023. Mercedes' Chief Technology Officer, Markus Schafer, said that the brand needs models with greater global appeal. Hatchbacks are popular in Europe but perform poorly in the Chinese and American markets.

It is reported that Mercedes is streamlining its global product line, reducing the number of compact models from seven to four, namely the CLA sedan, CLA Shooting Brake, GLA, and GLB SUV. After the discontinuation of the A-Class, the CLA will become Mercedes' cheapest entry-level model. Mercedes plans to launch the next-generation CLA model in 2026, based on the new electric platform MMA, offering both hybrid and pure-electric versions. In addition, Mercedes has cancelled the MB.EA platform originally planned for subsequent models of the EQE and EQS and will instead use the existing platform. (China National Radio)

India Demands Samsung and Its Executives Pay $601 Million in Back Taxes and Fines

According to media reports citing a government order, India has ordered Samsung and seven of its executives in the country to pay $601 million in back taxes and fines to make up for its evasion of import duties on key telecommunications equipment. Customs Commissioner Sonal Bajaj said in an order on January 8 that Samsung "violated" Indian laws and "knowingly and intentionally submitted false documents to customs authorities to obtain clearance." The company was ordered to pay 44.6 billion rupees ($520 million), including unpaid taxes and a 100% fine. The executives face fines of $81 million. (Sina Finance) 

Shell Considers Partial or Full Closure of Its Chemicals Division in Europe

Energy giant Shell will evaluate all its chemical divisions globally in the coming period. Its chemical branches in Europe may face partial or full closure. It is understood that currently in Europe, Shell operates large chemical complexes in Rhineland, Germany, Moerdijk, the Netherlands, and Mossmorran, the UK. Shell said that the "market conditions in Europe are very challenging," with high energy costs, carbon dioxide emissions, and network costs. (CCTV News) 

Sources say India plans to cancel digital tax in an attempt to ease trade relations with the US

India plans to cancel a controversial 6% digital tax that mainly affects US tech giants such as Google, Meta, and Amazon. US President Trump announced that "reciprocal tariffs" would be imposed on trading partners including India starting from April 2nd, which caused panic among Indian exporters. A government source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday that as part of the amendment to the 2025 fiscal bill, the Indian government proposed to cancel the 6% equalization levy on online services including advertising. The source added that the bill is expected to be approved by parliament this week, making the decision on the tax effective from April 1st. (Sina Finance) 

The domestic box office of "Ne Zha 2" has exceeded 15 billion yuan

36Kr learned that according to data from online platforms, as of 20:16 on March 25th, the comprehensive domestic box office (including pre - sales) of "Ne Zha: Rebirth of the Demon Child" has exceeded 15 billion RMB, making it the world's first film to achieve a box office of over 15 billion in a single market.

Xiaomi Automobile Accelerates European Layout, a 15 - year BMW Veteran Leads Electric Vehicle R & D

On March 25, the automotive media carscoops published a blog post stating that Xiaomi Automobile is poaching at least five executives from European automakers such as BMW to establish a European R & D center and accelerate the globalization process. Rudolf Dittrich, the former head of BMW's chassis technology, has been appointed as the head of Xiaomi's European R & D center. He has 15 - year experience at BMW and management experience at two F1 teams, Williams and Sauber.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi has also recruited Dusan Sarac with a background at BMW/Rolls - Royce and Jannis Hellwig, a senior engineer in charge of performance development. The news also indicates that Xiaomi has opened positions for senior automotive designers, dynamic engineers, etc. in Munich, Germany. Xiaomi plans to sell 350,000 electric vehicles in China in 2025. If this goal is achieved, it will exceed the total sales of electric vehicle models of Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes - Benz, and Porsche in 2024. (IT Home)

The Forefront of AI

Ant Group Achieves Major AI Breakthrough: Training AI Models with Domestic Chips Cuts Costs by 20%

The domestic AI models have once again witnessed a breakthrough. On March 24, it was reported that Ant Group has developed a technology for training artificial intelligence models using domestic chips, which can reduce costs by 20%. People familiar with the matter said that Ant Group has adopted domestic chips and trained the models based on the so - called "Mixture of Experts" machine - learning method. The results achieved by the company are comparable to those of chips such as NVIDIA H800. Some analysts said that these models mark Ant Group's entry into the AI field competition. Since DeepSeek demonstrated the ability to train powerful models at a cost far lower than the billions of dollars invested by OpenAI and Google under Alphabet, this competition has accelerated. (Planet Finance) 

OpenAI Launches Image Generation Function for GPT-4o

On March 25th local time, OpenAI, the American artificial intelligence research center, announced the launch of the image generation function for GPT-4o, stating that "the most advanced image generator to date has been integrated into GPT-4o." Starting from now, all Plus, Pro, Team, and free users will gradually be able to experience this function in ChatGPT and Sora. The enterprise and education versions will be connected soon, and the Sora platform will be activated simultaneously. Developers will soon be able to call the GPT-4o image generation function through the API, and the interface permissions will be opened in the coming weeks. It is reported that the GPT-4o image generation function can perform precise text rendering, strictly follow instruction prompts, and deeply utilize the 4o knowledge base and conversation context - including re - creating uploaded images or transforming them into visual inspiration. (Jiemian News)

Financial Reports of Large Companies

China Telecom: Profit attributable to shareholders in 2024 was 33 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%

36Kr learned that China Telecom released its 2024 annual results on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The full-year operating revenue in 2024 was 529.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%. The service revenue was 482 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%. EBITDA was 140.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.9%. The net profit was 33.01 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%. The basic net profit per share was 0.36 yuan. The board of directors decided to propose to the annual general meeting of shareholders that the profit distributed in cash by the company in 2024 should be 72% of the profit attributable to the company's shareholders for the current year, and a final dividend of 0.0927 yuan per share (including tax) will be distributed.

Kuaishou: Total revenue in 2024 reached 126.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%

36Kr learned that Kuaishou released its financial report for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2024. The financial report shows that Kuaishou's total annual revenue increased by 11.8% year-on-year to 126.9 billion yuan, and the annual adjusted net profit increased by 72.5% year-on-year to 17.7 billion yuan. The annual year-on-year growth rates of online marketing services and other services revenues both exceeded 20%, contributing 57.1% and 13.7% to the annual revenue respectively, while the live streaming revenue accounted for 29.2%. In the past year, Kuaishou continued to deepen the implementation of its AI strategy and achieved phased results. The announcement shows that as of February 2025 since its commercialization, the cumulative operating revenue of Keling AI has exceeded 100 million yuan.

China Merchants Bank: Net profit in 2024 increased by 1.22% year-on-year, plans to distribute 20 yuan per 10 shares

36Kr learned that China Merchants Bank released its annual report for 2024. In 2024, it achieved an operating income of 337.488 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.48%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the Bank was 148.391 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.22%; the basic earnings per share attributable to common shareholders of the Bank was 5.66 yuan. As of the end of the reporting period, the balance of non-performing loans of the Group was 65.610 billion yuan, an increase of 4.031 billion yuan compared with the end of the previous year; the non-performing loan ratio was 0.95%, the same as at the end of the previous year; the provision coverage ratio was 411.98%, a decrease of 25.72 percentage points compared with the end of the previous year; the loan provision ratio was 3.92%, a decrease of 0.22 percentage points compared with the end of the previous year. It plans to distribute a cash dividend of 2 yuan per share (including tax).

Shuanghui Development: Net profit in 2024 decreased by 1.26% year-on-year, plans to distribute 7.5 yuan per 10 shares

36Kr learned that Shuanghui Development announced that in 2024, it achieved an operating income of 59.561 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.55%; the net profit was 4.989 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.26%; the basic earnings per share were 1.44 yuan. The company plans to distribute a cash dividend of 7.5 yuan (tax included) for every 10 shares. During the reporting period, in accordance with the strategic plan of "industrialization, diversification, internationalization, and digitalization", the company focused on the diversified, personalized, and high - quality consumption demands, continuously strengthened the R & D of new products, actively promoted the diversification of product forms, consumption functions, consumer groups, and consumption scenarios, promoted the transformation of the product structure towards the combination of meat, eggs, milk, vegetables, and grains, towards a meal or a table of dishes, and promoted the products to enter families and be served on the dining table.

Haidilao: Revenue Reached 42.75 Billion Yuan in 2024, a Year-on-Year Increase of 3.1%

36Kr learned that Haidilao released its annual performance report as of December 31, 2024. The report shows that in 2024, Haidilao achieved an operating revenue of 42.755 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%; the net profit was 4.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%. The core operating profit was 6.23 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.7%. Both revenue and net profit have increased for two consecutive years. As of the end of 2024, the Haidilao brand operated a total of 1,368 restaurants, including 1,332 self - operated restaurants in the Chinese mainland, 23 in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and 13 franchised restaurants.

Investment and Financing

"ELU.AI" Completes Pre-Series A Round of Financing Worth Hundreds of Millions of RMB

36Kr learned that recently, "ELU.AI" announced the completion of a Pre-Series A round of financing worth hundreds of millions of RMB. The investors include Liding Capital, Hangshi Industrial Investment, Xingtai Capital, etc., and the angel-round investor, CGV, continued to follow-on invest. ELU.AI focuses on three core areas: AI intelligent robots, industry AI Agents, and brain-like intelligence. The financing funds will be mainly used to strengthen the AI decision-making system, promote the R & D of the next-generation intelligent robots, and accelerate the global market layout.

Cool Products

Apple to Bring Lossless Audio and Low-Latency Audio Features to AirPods Max

Apple announced on Monday that the AirPods Max headphones will support lossless audio and ultra-low-latency audio features when using the included USB-C cable. Users will be able to listen to over 100 million songs in lossless audio format through Apple Music. (Sina Finance) 

Compiled by | Guo Zihe