36Kr Evening News | Tencent Licaitong Launches AI Image Recognition Function; AXERA Tech Releases M57 Chip; IMF Says Asia Can Ease the Economic Impact of Tariffs by Cutting Interest Rates
Large Companies:
36Kr learned that Tmall data shows that in the first quarter of 2025, the number of newly settled merchants on Tmall increased by 126% compared with the same period last year. Among them, tableware, snacks, trendy toys, mobile phone accessories, and spring-summer clothing became the top 5 categories with the largest number of new stores opened in the first quarter; Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Quanzhou, Jinhua, and Hangzhou became the top 5 cities with the largest number of new stores opened. To support new merchants to quickly settle on Taobao and Tmall and achieve steady growth, Tmall's "Blue Star Plan" was comprehensively upgraded in 2025, with increased efforts in merchant cultivation, focusing on helping new merchants create hit products. During the upcoming 618 promotion, Tmall will also provide exclusive traffic channels, special event venues and other resources for new merchants to fully support their sales explosion during the 618 period.
36Kr learned that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Business Promotion Conference of China Resources Recycling Group was held in Shenzhen. At the meeting, the Electronic and Electrical Appliance Company of China Resources Recycling Group was officially established and reached a strategic cooperation and signed a cooperation agreement with leading circular economy enterprises such as Zhuanzhuan Group. The two sides will establish a comprehensive strategic partnership, give full play to their respective advantages, and plan to carry out framework cooperation in various fields such as high-quality mobile phone recycling to jointly promote the high-quality development of the recycling field of waste electronic and electrical equipment in China.
UK retail sales rose 1.6% in Q1, the biggest increase in four years
The UK retail industry reported its best start to a year since 2021 on Friday, which could be a brief boost to the economy at a time when rising costs and trade wars are increasingly hitting consumer confidence. The UK's Office for National Statistics said on Friday that retail sales rose 0.4% in March, and the increase in February was revised down to 0.7%. Overall, for the first quarter, retail sales rose 1.6%, the strongest growth in four years, and provided a 0.08 percentage point boost to the overall economic output for the quarter. (Sina Finance)
Desay SV and Qualcomm deepen cooperation to launch a series of combined driving assistance solutions
During the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition, Desay SV and Qualcomm Technologies Inc. announced the deepening of their cooperation in the field of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to jointly create a series of combined driving assistance solutions. One of the important achievements of their cooperation is the in-vehicle and driving integrated solution ICPS01E based on the Snapdragon Ride™ Flex SoC (QAM8775P). This solution has been adopted by several automobile brands and is currently being developed for their key models.
Tencent's Licaitong launches AI image recognition function
36Kr learned that Tencent's Licaitong App officially launched the AI image recognition function for mining financial information. When users upload pictures such as screenshots of financial news, financial data charts, and lists of self-selected stocks and funds, Tencent's Licaitong uses the multi-modal understanding ability of Tencent's Hunyuan large model to identify the key financial information in the pictures. After the financial information is searched online through DeepSeek and undergoes financial analysis and reasoning, and then associated with dynamic financial data, the system will generate in-depth interpretations of the market and trend predictions, as well as suggestions on key indicators, investment performance, and risk warnings for fund and stock products.
36Kr learned that Axera, an artificial intelligence perception and edge computing chip company, made an appearance at the 2025 Shanghai International Automobile Exhibition and released its global strategy and a new generation of in-vehicle chip products, the M57 series. The first mass-produced vehicle model based on the M57 chip has been designated for development and is about to enter the European market.
Investment and Financing:
"Weizhi Aviation" completed nearly 100 million yuan in Pre-A round financing
36Kr learned that "Weizhi Aviation", a developer and manufacturer of large general unmanned transport aircraft, announced the completion of nearly 100 million yuan in Pre-A round financing, jointly led by Liangxi Science and Technology Innovation Industry Fund and China Merchants Capital, with follow-on investment from GSR Ventures. The funds raised will be used to strengthen the capabilities of the R & D headquarters and the final assembly production base, conduct various tests on the experimental prototypes, and supplement the team. Wave Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this round.
36Kr learned that recently, Anhui Lite Fire Protection Technology Service Co., Ltd. completed 16 million yuan in angel round financing. It is understood that Anhui Lite Fire Protection Technology Service Co., Ltd. is a company focusing on integrated services for fire protection engineering construction and design, fire protection technology consulting, system maintenance, and fire protection solutions for special places. The funds from this round of financing will be used for energy development, transmission and distribution, sales and services, as well as technology R & D and innovation.
New Products:
Beijing Hyundai's new model ELEXIO made its debut
36Kr learned that recently, Beijing Hyundai held a brand strategy communication meeting in Shanghai and introduced its first SUV model under the new pure electric architecture - ELEXIO. In the future, Beijing Hyundai will launch 2 - 3 new energy vehicle models every year, covering pure electric, hybrid, and extended - range technology routes, including SUVs, MPVs, and sedans. By 2027, Beijing Hyundai will launch 6 new energy vehicle models optimized for the Chinese market.
BYDFi released its new Web3 product MoonX
36Kr learned that at the Paris Blockchain Week, BYDFi officially released its new Web3 product MoonX. It is reported that this is a chain - based intelligent trading tool specially designed for MemeCoin investors, integrating hot - spot discovery, risk screening, smart money following, and trading optimization. Currently, MoonX has been deeply integrated with the two major ecosystems of Solana and BNB Chain, covering mainstream liquidity pools such as Pump.fun, Raydium, and PancakeSwap.
PatSnap newly released the AI Agent platform Eureka
On April 25th, PatSnap, an AI - driven technology innovation and intellectual property information service provider, released the "AI Agent platform Eureka that understands technological innovation better". It is reported that Eureka focuses on providing a series of highly specialized AI Agents for technological innovation scenarios such as intellectual property, R & D, biomedicine, materials, and science and technology innovation. Nearly 20 were launched in the first batch, including novelty search, patent specification writing, technology solution exploration, technology Q&A, biomedicine encyclopedia Q&A, and material performance analysis. These "expert - type" AI intelligent agents can truly understand user needs, combine with the workflow of business scenarios, independently disassemble and accurately complete complex tasks, and are expected to liberate more than 70% of productivity.
Insta360 released its new flagship 8K panoramic camera X5
36Kr learned that on April 22nd, Insta360 released its new flagship 8K panoramic camera X5. Data released by Insta360 shows that on the first day of its launch, the X5 panoramic camera topped the single - product sales lists on multiple global platforms. In China, it ranked first in the single - product sales revenue rankings of cameras and action cameras on mainstream e - commerce platforms such as Tmall, JD.com, and Douyin, and also took the first place in single - product sales on 8 national sites of Amazon, including the United States, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
Today's Views:
The Politburo meeting held on April 25th pointed out that reserve requirement ratio cuts and interest rate cuts should be implemented in due course to maintain sufficient liquidity and increase support for the real economy. Ming Ming, the chief economist of CITIC Securities, believes that the monetary policy proposes "implementing reserve requirement ratio cuts and interest rate cuts in due course" to support consumption and technology, and there may be innovative increments in structural tools. "The Politburo meeting set the tone for macro - policies as 'more proactive and effective', and the monetary policy continued the tone of'moderate easing'," Ming Ming analyzed. Specifically at the level of the total amount tools of monetary policy, the meeting required "implementing reserve requirement ratio cuts and interest rate cuts in due course to maintain sufficient liquidity and increase support for the real economy". It is expected that on the premise of considering both domestic and foreign policy environments, reserve requirement ratio cuts and interest rate cut tools may be implemented in due course. (Shanghai Securities News)
On April 25th, at the FFAI Investor Community and FX Developer Co - creation Day, Faraday Future witnessed a major personnel change. Jia Yueting was officially appointed as the co - CEO of FF and will jointly manage the three most critical business management lines of FF, namely finance, legal affairs, and the supply chain, with FF's global CEO Matthias Aydt. At the same time, Jia Yueting promised at the event that after the equity incentive is realized, he will use half of the income to repay the debts under the Chinese legal framework. (National Business Daily)
The IMF says Asia can ease the economic impact of tariffs by cutting interest rates
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that Asian central banks generally have room to cut interest rates to support domestic demand and offset the continuing impact of the global trade war, and the regional situation is much better than before the Asian financial crisis. Krishna Srinivasan, the head of the IMF's Asia - Pacific Department, said on Friday that the regional inflation rate is comparable to or even lower than the central bank's target range, which should be conducive to further loosening of monetary policy. (Sina Finance)
Other Noteworthy News:
From April 16th to 23rd local time, Qin Weizhong, the mayor of Shenzhen, led a Shenzhen delegation to visit Liberia and Egypt, conducting exchanges and discussions with local governments, institutions, and enterprises. During the visit, the Shenzhen delegation investigated and inspected overseas branches of enterprises such as Huawei, ZTE, Honor, Skyworth, Transsion, and Mindray, and held discussions and exchanges with representatives of some Chinese - funded enterprises. An important signal was conveyed at the meeting that Shenzhen will accelerate the construction of a new system for a higher - level open - economy, improve the comprehensive service system for "going global", and fully support enterprises to cope with external challenges, explore diversified markets, and jointly enhance global economic influence and achieve higher - quality development. (Shenzhen Special Zone Daily)