Krypton at 8 o'clock: 90 - day Suspension of 24% Tariffs between China and US, Geely's Response to Chery Executive's "Lousy Cars" Remarks, Apple's Plan to Raise New iPhone Prices in Fall

The Chinese and US sides issued the Joint Statement of the China-US Economic and Trade Talks in Geneva, significantly reducing the bilateral tariff levels.

Going Public in Progress

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL)

On May 12th, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it plans to issue 117.9 million H-shares in Hong Kong (subject to the exercise of the offer size adjustment right and the over-allotment option). The maximum issue price is HK$263 per share. Pricing is expected to take place between May 13th and May 16th, and trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will commence on May 20th. (Yicai Global)

Mirxes Passed the Listing Hearing at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

36Kr learned that according to documents from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, on May 12th, Mirxes Holding Company Limited passed the listing hearing at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. China International Capital Corporation and CCB International are its joint sponsors.

Top 3 Big News

Implementation of 24% tariffs between China and the US suspended for 90 days

According to the CCTV News client, on May 12 local time, China and the US issued the "Joint Statement of the China-US Geneva Economic and Trade Talks". The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce said in a talk that both sides recognized the importance of bilateral economic and trade relations to the two countries and the global economy, and the importance of a sustainable, long-term and mutually beneficial bilateral economic and trade relationship. They agreed to jointly take the following measures: The US side promised to cancel a total of 91% of the tariffs imposed on Chinese goods on April 8 and 9, and revise the 34% reciprocal tariffs imposed on Chinese goods on April 2. Among them, the implementation of 24% of the tariffs will be suspended for 90 days, and the remaining 10% of the tariffs will be retained. Correspondingly, China will also cancel a total of 91% of the counter - tariffs imposed on US goods; regarding the 34% counter - tariffs against the US reciprocal tariffs, the implementation of 24% of them will be suspended for 90 days, and the remaining 10% of the tariffs will be retained. China will also correspondingly suspend or cancel non - tariff counter - measures against the US. (CCTV News)

Geely Responds to Chery Executive's "Junk Car" Remarks

Recently, Yao Fei (Yao Yuanfang), the deputy general manager of Chery Automobile's marketing company, attracted attention by belittling Geely's new car, the Geely Galaxy Xingyao 8, on social media. Reports said that when Yao Fei evaluated the Geely Galaxy Xingyao 8 in the "A9 Founder's Edition Car Owners' Group" on Douyin, he used adjectives such as "junk car", "very cramped in the second row", and "poor - quality audio", which triggered complaints from netizens and owners of the Geely Galaxy Xingyao 8. In response to the Chery executive's belittling of Geely's new car on social media, Yang Xueliang, the senior vice - president of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, posted a response on the social platform on the afternoon of May 12, saying, "We have communicated with Chery's senior management about the controversy caused by the remarks of an individual employee. Chery has shown a spirit of integrity and responsibility, and this matter has been properly resolved and is now over. Let's unite and look forward, and jointly promote Chinese automobile brands to grow stronger and go global!" (Jiemian News)

Apple Considers Raising Prices of iPhone Products Released in Autumn

According to the latest report from Cailian Press, Apple is considering raising the prices of its iPhone product line released in autumn. As market rumors spread that "Apple is considering raising the prices of new iPhone models in autumn", Apple's stock price soared by more than 7% in pre - market trading, and its market value increased by approximately $200 billion. People familiar with the matter also revealed that Apple will try its best to avoid blaming the price increase on "Trump's tariffs" and instead attempt to link this change with "new features and design changes".

Large Companies/ Major Events

Avita Sends Lawyer's Letter to Blogger: Demands Immediate Post Deletion and 30 - Day Continuous Top - Pinning of Apology Statement

After publicly demonstrating the drag coefficient through a wind tunnel test during a live broadcast last week, on May 12th, the legal department of Avita Technology posted a lawyer's letter on social media demanding that blogger "Zurich Baylor Lord" immediately delete false remarks and publicly apologize.

The lawyer's letter states that the blogger "Zurich Baylor Lord" should, on the day of receiving this letter, immediately delete all articles, videos and other content related to false remarks about the aerodynamic drag coefficient test of the Avita 12 car, which were posted between May 2nd, 2025 and May 10th, 2025, across the entire network (including but not limited to Sina Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Douyin, etc.). In addition, the blogger should sincerely apologize for the act of infringing upon Avita's reputation rights and continuously top - pin the apology statement on the blogger's accounts across the entire network (including but not limited to Sina Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Douyin, etc.) for 30 days to eliminate the negative impact caused to Avita. (Jiemian News)

LYFEN Responds to Allegation of Finding Blood-Stained Band-Aid in Zongzi

According to media reports, recently, a consumer posted a video complaining about finding a foreign object suspected to be a blood-stained band-aid in a zongzi purchased from LYFEN. LYFEN officially responded early on May 12. LYFEN stated that it launched a full - chain investigation procedure as soon as it noticed the public opinion and actively communicated with the relevant consumer to ensure the consumer's health and rights were protected. Meanwhile, the company has completely removed this batch of jujube zongzi products from the shelves. Consumers can choose to return or exchange the products at the nearest store and will receive additional compensation equal to the purchase amount. (China Newsweek)

Nissan to Cut Another 10,000 Jobs, Report Says

On May 12th, it was reported that Nissan has decided to cut another 10,000 jobs. Combined with previous plans, this will result in approximately 20,000 job cuts, accounting for about 15% of the group's total employees. (Jiemian News)

Mixue Signs a Large Procurement Deal Worth 4 Billion RMB for Coffee Beans and Other Products with Brazil and Will Open Its First Store in Brazil This Year

36Kr learned that on May 12th, Sun Jiantao, the vice president of Mixue Group and the CEO of the Americas region, and Jorge Viana, the president of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" in Beijing. As one of the outcomes of the "China-Brazil Business Seminar", this memorandum marks the further deepening of the economic and trade cooperation between Mixue and Brazil. According to the relevant person in charge of Mixue, it is planned to invest and purchase supplies worth no less than 4 billion RMB, including agricultural products such as coffee beans, in Brazil in the next 3 - 5 years. It is expected to provide 25,000 job opportunities in the future. Mixue will open its first store in Brazil this year. Next, the construction of a supply - chain factory will also be launched in Brazil.

iReader Technology: Short dramas have become the company's largest business segment in the first quarter of this year

iReader Technology said in an investor survey that the company started developing the short drama business in the first half of 2023. The revenue from short dramas reached 776 million yuan last year. In the first quarter of this year, the short drama business continued to grow at a high - speed and has become the company's largest business segment, and has entered the first echelon of the industry. At present, the company's short drama revenue mainly comes from mini - program short dramas. Based on the company's rich content reserves and continuously expanding production capacity, it will gradually promote its own short drama App platforms this year, including the free short drama app "Quick View Short Dramas" and the paid short drama app "Now Screening", to achieve a positive interaction between mini - program short dramas and the company's own short drama apps. (Securities Times)

Zhang Haochuan Resigns as Vice President of China Merchants Securities Due to Personal Reasons

There is a recent adjustment in the senior management of China Merchants Securities. Due to personal reasons, Zhang Haochuan has resigned as the vice president of China Merchants Securities. His departure date was May 12th, and his original term on the board was supposed to end on January 18th, 2027. China Merchants Securities stated that Zhang Haochuan has completed the work handover in accordance with the company's relevant regulations, and the board of directors expressed sincere gratitude for his positive contributions. His resume shows that Zhang Haochuan has many years of management experience in asset management companies, including serving in asset management companies such as China Life Franklin. He has served as the vice president of China Merchants Securities and been in charge of the asset management business since May 2022, for a total of three years to date. (Cailian Press)

Trump: Get a Boeing 747 as a presidential plane for free

On the evening of May 11 local time, US President Trump posted on his social platform "Truth Social" that "the US Department of Defense has obtained a Boeing 747 aircraft for free to temporarily replace the old 'Air Force One' presidential plane that has been in service for 40 years. The deal is open and transparent." Trump said that US Democrats were very annoyed by this deal and insisted that the Republican side pay a high price for this plane.

Earlier that day, according to reports from media such as ABC, citing sources familiar with the matter, the Trump administration was preparing to accept a Boeing 747 - 8 aircraft worth $400 million donated by the Qatari royal family to temporarily serve as 'Air Force One'. The report said that this plane would later be donated to Trump's presidential library foundation so that he could still use it after leaving office. In response to this report, Qatar said that "the Qatari Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense are currently considering the possibility of transferring an aircraft to temporarily serve as 'Air Force One'. However, this matter is still under review by their respective legal departments, and no decision has been made yet." (CCTV International News)

Litchi prices plunge 40%, expected to return to the era of "3 catties for 10 yuan"

On May 12th, the domestic litchi market witnessed sharp fluctuations, with the wholesale prices in major producing areas plummeting by about 40% compared to the same period last month. At a fruit store on Tongyun Street in Hangzhou, the retail price of Hainan Osmanthus - scented litchis dropped from 70 yuan per catty to 48 yuan per catty. At the Ningbo Fruit Wholesale Market, the wholesale price of "Feizixiao" litchis fell from 120 yuan per kilogram to 70 yuan per kilogram, and the daily sales volume in the wholesale market also increased from more than 100 boxes to over 300 boxes. Industry insiders expect that in late May and early June, a large quantity of Guangdong litchis, mainly "Feizixiao", will be on the market, and the wholesale price is expected to drop to around 15 yuan per kilogram. (Jiemian News)

Trump Speaks with Apple CEO Cook; Report Says iPhone Prices May Rise Later This Year

As reports emerged that Apple is considering raising the prices of iPhones later this year, US President Donald Trump said he spoke with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday. People familiar with the matter said that Apple is weighing whether to increase the prices of new iPhones to be launched this fall. Reports said the company is exploring a strategy of "bundling" price increases with new features and designs, while trying to avoid associating the price hikes with US tariff increases. Apple did not respond to a request for comment. (Sina Finance)

Zero Ships from China Arrive at Some Major US Ports

Affected by the US government's tariff policies, the freight volume at multiple US ports has sharply declined. According to US media reports, at the major ports on the US West Coast, the number of ships arriving from China has dropped to zero, and the livelihoods of freight truck drivers have also been affected. The director of the Port of Seattle pointed out that no country in the world has benefited more from an open and free market than the United States, but now the trade dispute actively initiated by the United States is hitting its own economy. (CCTV World News)

Manus Opens Registration, Users Can Perform One Task for Free Daily

36Kr learned that the AI agent platform Manus announced the opening of registration. In the announcement, Manus stated that it is open to everyone without the need for a waiting list. All users can perform one task for free (300 points) every day, and all users will receive a one - time reward of 1000 points.

Xiaomi SU7 Wins the Sales Championship in the Price Range Above 100,000 Yuan in the Chinese Automobile Market in April

36Kr learned that according to the data from the publicly available "National Passenger Car Retail Sales Ranking in April 2025", Xiaomi SU7 won the sales championship in the price range above 100,000 yuan in the Chinese automobile market in April (regardless of vehicle models and energy forms). The top three best - selling models in the price range above 100,000 yuan in the Chinese automobile market in April are as follows: Xiaomi SU7 (with a sales volume of 28,585 units), Nissan Sylphy (with a sales volume of 24,458 units), and Geely Xingyue L (with a sales volume of 23,658 units).

Alipay Now Supports Voice Calls, and the Real Name of the Caller Will Be Displayed

On May 12th, Alipay launched a new voice call feature. After users upgrade to the latest version of Alipay, they can find the voice call entry by clicking the "+" button in the chat box with friends on the message interface. If it's the first time to use this feature, the page will prompt its characteristics: the account is verified through Alipay's real - name authentication, ensuring security; there is no voice - changing during the call, guaranteeing authenticity; Alipay does not store call content, protecting user privacy. (Jiemian News)

IDC: "National Subsidy" Has a Significant Stimulating Effect, with China's Tablet Market Shipments Growing 19.5% Year-on-Year in Q1 2025

36Kr learned that recently, the International Data Corporation (IDC) released its quarterly tracking report on China's tablet market for the first quarter of 2025. The data shows that in the first quarter of 2025, the shipments of China's tablet market reached 8.52 million units, a year-on-year increase of 19.5%. Among them, stimulated by the "national subsidy" policy, the shipments in the consumer market increased by 21.5% year-on-year, exceeding 8 million units; the demand in the commercial market still needs to recover, with shipments in the first quarter of 2025 reaching 510,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 5.3%.

Indian IT exporter LTIMindtree secures a record - breaking $450 million deal

Indian software services exporter LTIMindtree said on Monday that it had won a multi - year deal worth $450 million, the largest deal in the company's history. LTIMindtree said the customer was a global agribusiness but did not disclose its name. (Sina Finance)

Investment and financing

North Power (Shandong) Group Co., Ltd. Completes 100 Million Yuan Series A Financing

36Kr learned that recently, North Power (Shandong) Group Co., Ltd. completed a Series A financing of 100 million yuan. The funds from this round of financing will be used for the research and development of high - efficiency energy - saving technologies in the power industry, information construction, as well as the research, development and promotion of photovoltaic technology. It is understood that North Power mainly engages in businesses such as new energy development, resource recycling and environmental protection.

Auburn Sports Completes Pre-A Round of Tens of Millions of Yuan in Financing

36Kr learned that recently, Auburn Sports (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. announced the completion of a Pre-A round of financing, receiving tens of millions of yuan in strategic investment from Suzhou BBK Investment and Development Co., Ltd. The funds from this round of financing will be mainly used for platform technology upgrades, the expansion of the teaching and training system, and the layout of national market channels. In the future, Auburn will rely on its self-developed SaaS platform and AI middle-office capabilities to continuously promote the strategic direction of "AI + Shared Yoga + New Health and Beauty", and promote the digital integration and implementation of smart stores, coach training, and user services.

Embodied intelligence company "Independent Variable Robotics" completes hundreds of millions of yuan in Series A financing

36Kr learned that the embodied intelligence company "Independent Variable Robotics" recently completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Series A financing, led by Meituan Strategic Investment and followed by Meituan Longzhu. This round of financing will be used to continuously accelerate the synchronous iteration of the fully self-developed end-to-end general embodied intelligence large model and the robot body, as well as the cooperation and implementation of intelligent solutions for multiple future application scenarios.

The forefront of AI

Japanese Media: Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen Has Become the Foundation for AI Development in Japan

36Kr learned that the Nikkei (NIKKEI) recently reported publicly that Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen large - language model has become the foundation for AI development in Japan. In the comprehensive ranking of AI models evaluated by the Nikkei, Tongyi Qianwen Qwen2.5 - Max ranked sixth, surpassing well - known large models at home and abroad such as DeepSeek - V3 and OpenAI o3 - mini. The media mentioned that a large number of emerging Japanese enterprises are developing enterprise large - language models based on Qianwen. As of now, Alibaba's Tongyi has open - sourced more than 200 models, with a global download volume of over 300 million times. The number of derivative models of Qianwen exceeds 100,000, making it the world's number one open - source model.

Cool Products

Tencent's WeChat and QQ Platforms Implement National Earthquake Early Warning

36Kr learned that May 12th this year marks the 17th anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake and the 17th National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Day. Following the launch of the national official earthquake early warning platform on WeChat and the earthquake early warning function for Sichuan Province on QQ last year, QQ has officially launched the national earthquake early warning function today. Users of WeChat and QQ across the country can now activate the earthquake early warning. The earthquake early warning on both WeChat and QQ now covers the entire country. With Tencent's product and technological capabilities, it will further help earthquake early warning achieve practical results in disaster reduction.

Compiled | Chi Yu