Krypton at 8 o'clock: MOFA Responds to US Imposing 245% Tariff on China, Hello Responds to Seven - Passenger Hitch - ride Case, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae

The Foreign Ministry responds to the US imposing a 245% tariff on Chinese goods: China does not want a trade war, but it is by no means afraid of one.

Going Public in Progress

Liuliu Orchard Group Co., Ltd.

36Kr learned that according to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Liuliu Orchard Group Co., Ltd. submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The joint sponsors are CITIC Securities and Guoyuan International Holdings.

Top 3 Big News

Foreign Ministry Responds to US Imposing 245% Tariffs on China: China Is Unwilling to Fight, but Will Never Be Afraid of Fighting

At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 16, a reporter asked that the latest statement on the official website of the White House said that due to China's retaliatory measures, the US has increased tariffs on China to 245%. In response, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said that you can ask the US side about the specific tariff rate. China has repeatedly stated its solemn position on the tariff issue. This tariff war was initiated by the US. China's necessary counter - measures are to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests as well as international fairness and justice, which are completely reasonable and legal. There are no winners in tariff wars and trade wars. China is unwilling to fight, but will never be afraid of fighting. (CCTV News)

Hello responds to the incident of a 1,400-yuan carpool ride with 7 passengers: The account of the involved driver has been permanently banned

Recently, according to a complaint on Hei Mao Complaint, Mr. Mo and his family of five took a Hello carpool ride from Luodian, Guizhou to Yulin, Guangxi. The total journey of over 600 kilometers cost more than 1,400 yuan. Although they clearly chose the "non-carpool" option, the driver picked up 2 more passengers along the way, resulting in 8 people being crammed into a seven-seater car. There was even a person squeezed into the gap between two seats. The driver also took a detour and chatted on the phone while driving, posing great safety hazards. Mr. Mo said that in the face of video evidence, the Hello platform refused to compensate. In the end, only 45 yuan of the 1,400-yuan fare was refunded, which he completely could not accept.

On April 16, a person from Hello responded to this incident, saying that the order had been verified and the driver did pick up additional passengers. "We apologize to the passengers and will provide compensation." Currently, the account of the involved driver has been permanently banned. The platform will never tolerate such behaviors that violate user experience and pose safety hazards and will impose the most severe penalties. As for the specific amount of compensation, the Hello person said that the 45 yuan was the automatic liability determination by the system at that time, and the subsequent compensation amount will satisfy the user. (Jiupai News)

Lee Jae-yong of Samsung's net worth shrinks to $7.8 billion, dropping out of South Korea's richest person

On April 15, according to the latest release from Forbes China, the wealth of 32 entrants on the 2025 Forbes Korea Rich List has shrunk, including private equity tycoon Michael Kim. Although his net worth slightly dropped to $9.5 billion, he reclaimed the top spot after a year.

The wealth of Jay Y. Lee, the chairman of Samsung Electronics, has also decreased by $3.7 billion to $7.8 billion, slipping from last year's top position to the second place. Samsung Electronics was slow to respond to the artificial intelligence boom and has become one of the laggards among technology stocks. (Xiaoxiang Morning Herald)

Big Companies/Big Events

California Sues Trump Administration Over Tariffs

On the 16th local time, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state would sue the Trump administration over tariffs. He criticized the Trump administration's abuse of tariff policies as "illegal," causing serious chaos and damage to the U.S. economy. California became the first state in the United States to sue the Trump administration over tariff issues.

Newsom said that U.S. President Donald Trump's "illegal tariffs" have disrupted the supply chain, increased costs for California and its residents, and caused billions of dollars in losses to the state's economy. According to a statement issued by the governor's office on the same day, the lawsuit will ask the court to declare the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration invalid and prohibit their implementation. The statement emphasized that Trump has no right to unilaterally impose tariffs on countries such as Mexico, China, and Canada, and that his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to formulate tariff policies is "illegal and unprecedented." (CCTV News)

JD.com Responds to "JD Food Delivery System Crashed": Traffic Was Four Times the Normal Level, and 100,000 Coupons Issued as an Apology

36Kr learned that the official Weibo account of JD Food Delivery apologized to users for the brief system glitch that occurred at noon on April 16. JD Food Delivery stated that at noon on the 16th, due to the overwhelming popularity of the 10-billion-yuan subsidy campaign, the traffic of JD Food Delivery reached four times the normal level, resulting in a brief system glitch lasting less than 20 minutes, which affected users' ability to place orders. The issue has now been urgently fixed, and the service has fully resumed. To express their apology, JD.com said that on the 16th, an additional 100,000 "10-yuan off for orders over 15 yuan" 10-billion-yuan subsidy coupons will be issued. Users can open the JD App and search for "Food Delivery Snack" to claim them.

India Considers Importing Gold and Silver from the US to Make Up for Trade Deficit

According to The Hindustan Times, two people familiar with the matter said that India is considering importing gold and other high-value items, including silver, platinum, and gemstones, from the United States to address Washington's concerns about India's trade deficit. (Sina Finance)

WeChat Pay Collaborates with International Payment Giant Stripe to Accelerate Internationalization

Stripe, a global payment services and financial infrastructure provider, announced on April 16 that it will further deepen its global cooperation with Tencent. WeChat Pay has been officially integrated into Stripe Terminal in 20 countries. In countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States, businesses supported by Stripe can not only seamlessly integrate WeChat Pay online but also accept offline payments through Stripe Terminal. (Cailian Press)

Global investors are selling U.S. stocks at a record pace. Some respondents believe the hottest trade in the market has shifted to going long on gold.

On Tuesday local time, the latest survey results released by Bank of America showed that global investors have significantly reduced their holdings of U.S. stocks recently, with the reduction hitting a record high. Meanwhile, according to the survey, 49% of respondents believe that the hottest trade in the current market has shifted from betting on U.S. tech giants to "going long on gold." This is the first time in two years that gold has surpassed the U.S. stock tech sector in the "hot trades." Against the backdrop of changing policies and an unclear outlook, some market participants currently say that for investors, international markets outside the United States are more attractive now. (CCTV Finance)

Gold jewelry prices of multiple gold and jewelry brands have soared above 1,000 yuan per gram

On the morning of April 16th, Beijing time, the gold price hit a new high again. According to Wind data, as of 11:30 a.m. that day, the intraday high of spot gold in London exceeded $3,275 per ounce. The prices of domestic pure gold jewelry announced by multiple gold and jewelry brands on the same day also rose accordingly, with the highest reaching 1,006 yuan per gram. Specifically, on the morning of that day, the domestic prices of Chow Tai Fook's pure gold (jewelry and ornaments), Luk Fook Jewellery's 999 pure gold/pure gold, and Chao Hongji's pure gold (jewelry and ornaments) were 1,006 yuan per gram; the domestic price of Chow Sang Sang's pure gold jewelry and the price of Laomiao Gold's pure gold ornaments in the Shanghai area were 1,003 yuan per gram. (Shanghai Securities News)

Ferrari CEO: The company will continue to develop fuel, hybrid, and pure electric vehicles

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna said at the annual general meeting on April 16 that the company will continue to develop gasoline, hybrid, and all-electric vehicles. Vigna said that the company will continue to invest in the three powertrain systems of internal combustion engines, hybrids, and all-electric vehicles to provide customers with the greatest freedom of choice. (Jiemian News)

Founder of Roborock Clears Social Media Accounts, Company Official Says Reason Unknown

Recently, Chang Jing, the founder of Roborock (688169.SH) and Jishi Auto, cleared the content of his Douyin and Weibo accounts. Red Star Capital Bureau noticed that as of now, Chang Jing has 412,000 followers on his Douyin account and 11,000 on his Weibo account. Regarding the reason why Chang Jing cleared the content of his social media accounts, according to Economic Information Daily, a public relations official of Jishi Auto said, "We don't know the reason why the founder cleared the content of his social media accounts. The company is currently operating smoothly, and product sales have increased." (Red Star News)

Blackstone Completes Largest-Ever European Real Estate Fund Raising, Reaching $10.6 Billion

Blackstone recently announced that its latest European real estate fund, "BREP Europe VII," has completed its final fundraising. BREP Europe VII has received a total capital commitment of €9.8 billion ($10.6 billion), becoming the European real estate fund with the largest third - party capital commitment ever. James Seppala, Head of Blackstone Real Estate in Europe, said: "There are early signs of recovery in the real estate market. We sincerely thank our limited partners for their high level of trust in us and for entrusting us with a large amount of capital to capture market opportunities through Blackstone's time - tested and highly regarded investment process." (Caixin Press)

XPENG IRON has been put into practical training at XPENG's Guangzhou factory

36Kr learned that XPENG Motors stated that in the field of AI robots, the IRON robot, which XPENG Motors spent five years developing, is built in a 1:1 scale to mimic a real - person. It has 22 active degrees of freedom in its hands, is equipped with a Turing AI chip, and shares the same origin as the intelligent driving system. By combining end - to - end large models and reinforcement learning, it can walk more freely. Currently, XPENG IRON has been put into practical training at XPENG's Guangzhou factory. In the future, it will be applied in areas such as factory automated production lines and store services to improve production efficiency and service quality.

Taobao Ranks Second on the US App Download List

36Kr learned that the tariff storm triggered by Trump's new tariff policy has driven a large number of overseas netizens to Taobao. In the App download markets of many overseas countries and regions, Taobao has seen a soaring popularity and a sharp increase in downloads. Public data shows that as of April 16th, Taobao has ranked second on the US App download list. Meanwhile, it has also risen to the second place in countries such as Canada and the UK, and even ranked first in the French market, with the download volume increasing significantly compared to before the tariff storm.

Harvard Defies Trump and Immediately Loses Funding; Lab Monkeys May Be Forced to Be Euthanized

The "confrontation" between American universities and the government is intensifying. While Harvard University rejected the "rectification" requirements put forward by the Trump administration, other universities have also joined the resistance. How these defiant American universities will deal with the freezing of federal funds has become an urgent issue.

On the 15th, Sarah Fortune, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, woke up to find that a $60 million, seven - year contract had been suspended. This contract supported the cooperation between Harvard and multiple research institutions across the United States, involving experiments on non - human primates (such as rhesus monkeys). Now, the project team is facing a tricky problem: if the vaccine trials cannot be completed by December, will they have to euthanize these animals? (The Paper)

DHgate Becomes Popular in the United States, and Multiple Listed Companies Respond: No Cooperation

After the United States imposed new tariffs, the Chinese cross - border e - commerce app DHgate has become popular in the United States. Multiple listed companies responded to investors' relevant questions on the interactive platform. ① Suntop Holdings: In June 2019, during the external promotion period of DHgate, there was a friendly reciprocal link with the official website of Suntop Express. As of now, the company and its subsidiaries such as Suntop Express have no cooperation with DHgate. ② GS Tools: The company currently has no cooperation with DHgate. Tumaowang is an e - commerce website mainly targeting the domestic market built by the company, which mainly promotes various tool products. Since its launch, the website's sales have continued to grow. In the future, the company will continue to focus on Tumaowang to develop domestic e - commerce sales, enhance the company's brand awareness in the domestic market, and gain market share. ③ Some investors asked SDIC Zhonglu: Does the company have any plans to expand customers on the DHgate platform? SDIC Zhonglu replied: The company currently has no relevant plans. (Securities Times)

Apple imports nearly $2 billion worth of iPhones from India, hitting a record high

Customs data shows that in March, Foxconn and Tata Electronics, the main suppliers of Apple in India, shipped nearly $2 billion worth of iPhones to the United States, hitting a record high. Apple airlifted these phones to avoid the tariffs that then-US President Donald Trump was about to impose.

According to publicly available customs data reviewed by the media, Foxconn, Apple's largest supplier in India, exported smartphones worth $1.31 billion to the United States in March, setting a new monthly record, equivalent to the total export value of January and February. These smartphones include the iPhone 13, iPhone 14, iPhone 16, and iPhone 16e models. (Caixin)

Google Faces £5 Billion Lawsuit in the UK for Abusing “Near-Monopoly” in Search Market

Google is facing a potential compensation lawsuit of over £5 billion (approximately $6.6 billion) in the UK, accusing the US tech giant of abusing its “near-monopoly” in the online search market to drive up advertising prices. The class-action lawsuit filed at the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal on Wednesday (April 17) claims that Google has strengthened its market dominance by restricting competing search engines, making itself the only viable option for online search advertising. The lawsuit is brought by competition law scholar Ao Brook on behalf of hundreds of thousands of UK institutions that used Google's search advertising services between January 1, 2011, and the time of the lawsuit. (Sina Finance)

Significant Decline in Cargo Throughput at US Ports, Potential Unemployment Wave Among US Port Workers

Recently, the US government's extensive and capricious tariff policies have triggered turmoil in the shipping market, impacting port freight volumes. At the Port of Long Beach in southern California, port authorities said that since early April, 17 container ships have canceled their port calls for unloading. If the tariff policies are implemented as planned, the port's cargo throughput will decrease by 20% in the second half of this year. More and more workers are starting to worry about their livelihoods. They closely follow the news every day, fearing that they will be negatively affected by the US government's tariff policies and lose their jobs. (CCTV Finance)

Well - known open - source large - model platform Hugging Face enters the robotics field

On April 15th local time, Hugging Face, one of the world's well - known open - source large - model platforms, announced the acquisition of Pollen Robotics, entering the field of physical robotics. The terms of this acquisition were not disclosed, but approximately 20 employees of Pollen will join Hugging Face. Thomas Wolf, co - founder and chief science officer of Hugging Face, said that the open - source model is the core of the company's large AI model library and will also be the key to the robotics strategy. This acquisition brings about 20 employees of Pollen Robotics to Hugging Face, making it the largest acquisition in terms of personnel scale so far. (Cailian Press)

The forefront of AI

Zhang Di of Kuaishou: KeLing 2.0 Master Edition Officially Launched with Multimodal Video Editing Function

36Kr learned that on April 15th, KeLing AI announced another upgrade of its base model and officially launched the KeLing 2.0 video generation model and the KeTu 2.0 image generation model. Zhang Di, the vice president of Kuaishou and the person in charge of KeLing AI, released the brand - new KeLing 2.0 Master Edition, which significantly improves the generation effect in terms of semantic response, dynamic quality, and visual aesthetics. The KeLing 2.0 Master Edition comprehensively upgrades the controllable generation and editing capabilities of video and image creation, and launches a brand - new multimodal video editing function. It can flexibly understand users' intentions and support adding, deleting, and modifying video content.

OpenAI Acquires the Team of Context.ai

On April 15th local time, Context.ai, an AI startup headquartered in London, announced that its team would join OpenAI. The company was founded in 2023 by former Google employees Henry Scott - Green (CEO) and Alex Gamble (CTO). In an open letter, the two said, "Over the past two years, we've been building an evaluation and analysis system for large language models on the Context.ai platform - during which we've undergone several strategic adjustments. Now, as we embark on a new chapter at OpenAI, we're filled with unprecedented anticipation and grateful to everyone who has been part of this journey." (Jiemian News)

Financial Reports of Large Companies

Huanrui Century: Net loss of 4.0702 million yuan in the first quarter

36Kr learned that Huanrui Century announced that in the first quarter of 2025, the company achieved an operating income of 85.548 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.07%; the net loss was 4.0702 million yuan, while it had a profit of 14.8818 million yuan in the same period of the previous year. This is mainly because the new businesses such as short dramas are in the rapid expansion period during this reporting period, resulting in an increase in investment in personnel, content, R & D, etc.

Zongshen Power: Net profit in the first quarter is expected to increase by 70%-100% year-on-year

36Kr learned that Zongshen Power announced that it expects the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company in the first quarter of 2025 to be between 204 million yuan and 240 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 70%-100%. The growth in performance is mainly due to the expansion of the general machinery business and motorcycle engine business, as well as the improvement in the company's investment income from associated enterprises.

Investment and financing

"Risechip" Announces Completion of Series B Financing

36Kr learned that "Risechip", a developer of fused vision sensors, announced the completion of Series B financing. The investors in this round include several institutions such as the Smart Interconnection Industry Fund, Puyao Xinyie, CRRC Times Investment, Zhichen Investment, and Yiling Capital. The funds raised in this round will be mainly used for the research and development, mass production promotion, and market expansion of the new generation of fused vision sensors.

Yuantian Biology Completes Nearly 100 Million Yuan in Pre-A+ Round Financing

36Kr learned that Yuantian Biology recently announced the completion of nearly 100 million yuan in pre-A+ round financing. The investors include Beiyang Haitang Fund, Shangshi Capital, Daotong Investment, Liaonon Group, Renai Group, etc. The funds from this round of financing will be used for the construction of a kiloton-scale production line, product technology improvement, and market expansion. Yuantian Biology was established in October 2022 and is located in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area. Relying on the full-industry-chain biomanufacturing platform and the ton-scale pilot incubation base of Tianjin University, it develops the enzymatic recycling technology for waste PET, achieving the enzymatic production of recycled rPTA and the industrialization of Rb-PET.

GrubMarket Announces $50 Million Series G Financing

36Kr learned that GrubMarket, the largest private food technology company in the United States, announced that it has secured $50 million in Series G financing. This round of financing was participated by Liberty Street Funds, 3Spoke Capital, ROC Venture Group, Portfolia, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Joseph Stone Capital, and other unnamed investors. Since its establishment, GrubMarket has completed multiple rounds of financing, with a total financing amount of $550 million, and its current valuation exceeds $3.5 billion.

"Shanhai Innovation" Secures Nearly 100 Million Yuan in Series C Financing

36Kr learned that "Shanhai Innovation" recently secured nearly 100 million yuan in Series C financing, led by Yuansheng Venture Capital. Previously, Shanhai Innovation had received strategic investments from L'Oréal, Bloomage Biotechnology, etc. The Series C funds will be mainly used for the upgrade and construction of the AI R & D platform for supramolecular new materials, to promote the industrial application of new materials in fields such as health food, medicine, agriculture, and environmental protection, and to expand new energy business, including the development of safe electrolytes, recycling of waste batteries, and recovery of silver powder from photovoltaic silicon panels.

Cool Products

Huawei Releases New Smart Glasses, Priced at 2,299 Yuan

Huawei has launched a new model of the Smart Glasses 2 - the Titanium Round - Frame Optical Glasses. It is equipped with features such as Xiaoyi Translation and head control, and supports face - to - face translation, simultaneous interpretation, all - day intelligent announcements, etc. The price is 2,299 yuan. (Caixin Press)

Red Magic Launches the First Product of the New AIR Series - Red Magic 10 Air

36Kr learned that Red Magic, an e-sports mobile phone brand, officially launched the first product of the new AIR series - Red Magic 10 Air at its seventh-anniversary brand event. It is priced from 2,999 yuan. It is understood that this product features an ultra-thin 7.85mm body and a lightweight design of 205g. It is equipped with the third-generation Snapdragon 8 and the Red Core R3, forming an e-sports dual-core system.

Cybernetic Cockroaches Participate in Earthquake Rescue for the First Time

After the earthquake hit Myanmar on March 28, reporters learned from the Home Team Science & Technology Agency (HTX) in Singapore that the rescue team sent by Singapore brought 10 modified "cybernetic cockroaches" to participate in the humanitarian rescue mission. This is the world's first time to deploy insect - hybrid robots in actual disaster - relief operations.

These "cybernetic cockroaches" are specially modified Madagascar hissing cockroaches. Engineers can send signals to their nerves and muscles through electrodes to control their movement. Each cockroach is about 6 centimeters long and carries a miniature "backpack" on its back, which integrates a thermal imaging camera, a navigation sensor, and a wireless communication device. After search - and - rescue dogs completed the initial search, the cybernetic cockroaches were sent into deeper crevices in the rubble to help detect survivors trapped under the ruins. The mission took about 45 minutes. The engineers said that the cockroaches deployed in the disaster - stricken areas of Myanmar could survive on carrots and water and were in good condition. (Red Star News)

Compiled | Guo Zihe

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