At 8 a.m., Here's the Latest: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology announced the unconditional admission of a transfer student from Harvard; More than 10 provinces encourage the implementation of a 2.5-day workweek vacation model; Wang Jianlin sells 48 Wanda Plazas again.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology publicly invites international undergraduate and postgraduate students currently studying at Harvard University, as well as those who have been admitted to Harvard University's degree programs, to continue their studies at HKUST.
Compiled | Chi Yu
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Trump Threatens to Stop Funding Harvard University and Demands the School Provide a List of International Students
On the 25th local time, US President Donald Trump threatened that the federal government might stop providing new funding to Harvard University and demanded that the school provide the names and nationalities of all international students for further review. On the 22nd, the US government announced the cancellation of Harvard University's qualification for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, banning the school from enrolling international students. Harvard University sued the US government over this ban on the 23rd.
On the 23rd, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology issued a statement welcoming these international students to join HKUST and said it would unconditionally admit transfer students. The statement extended an open invitation to current international undergraduate and postgraduate students at Harvard University, as well as students who have received admission offers for Harvard's degree programs, welcoming them to join HKUST to continue their studies and pursue their academic goals. "This move aims to respond to the changes in the global academic environment and demonstrate HKUST's commitment to creating a diverse and world - class learning environment." (CCTV News)
More than 10 provinces encourage the implementation of the 2.5 - day vacation model by combining Friday afternoons with weekends
According to China Business Journal, recently, the Bureau of Commerce of Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, issued the "2025 Work List for Special Actions to Boost Consumption in Mianyang City". In the much - concerned implementation of the vacation policy, it was mentioned to pilot a 4.5 - day flexible work system and encourage regions with conditions to implement the 2.5 - day vacation model that combines Friday afternoons with weekends. On May 24, reporters contacted the Bureau of Commerce of Mianyang City. A staff member of the bureau introduced that the relevant document encourages regions with conditions to implement the 4.5 - day flexible work system, but it is not a mandatory requirement.
According to media reports, currently, more than 10 provinces have officially issued opinions on the 2.5 - day vacation. Some regions have introduced implementation details for the 2.5 - day vacation: It is implemented in several months of the year, ranging from at least 3 months to most of the year; The extra half - day off can be offset by annual leave or earned through overtime work to maintain the legal working hours; Units such as public security departments and hospitals should postpone or conditionally implement this policy on the premise of ensuring the public service needs of the masses. (China Business Journal)
Wang Jianlin Sells 48 Wanda Plazas Again, and Tencent and Other "Familiar Faces" Take Over
According to information recently disclosed by the State Administration for Market Regulation, PAG (Zhuhai) Management Consulting Partnership (Limited Partnership), Gaohe Fengde (Beijing) Enterprise Management Service Co., Ltd., Tencent Holdings Limited, Beijing Panda Commercial Management Co., Ltd., and Sunshine Life Insurance Co., Ltd. directly or through their respective affiliated parties jointly established a joint venture, and the joint venture acquired 100% of the equity interests in 48 target companies directly or indirectly held by Dalian Wanda Commercial Management Group Co., Ltd. According to the list, these 48 target companies are involved in Wanda Plaza projects in multiple first - and second - tier cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Wuhan. According to the latest information released by the State Administration for Market Regulation on May 21, the transaction has been unconditionally approved. The specific amount and other details of this transaction were not disclosed in the announcement. (Meijing.com)
Only 800,000 ATMs Remain Nationwide, a Nearly 30% Drop in Five Years
According to a report by Time Finance, in the wake of the mobile payment wave, ATMs are disappearing from the historical stage at a rate of about 300,000 units less every five years. Data from the "Overall Operation of the Payment System in 2024" released by the People's Bank of China in February this year shows that as of the end of 2024, the number of ATMs in China was 802,700. Comparing with the data five years ago, the number of ATMs in China reached a peak of 1,097,700 at the end of 2019. Now, nearly 300,000 ATMs in China have disappeared, a sharp decline of 26.87%. A post - 2000 college student said, "I've never used an ATM. I don't even know if there are any ATMs on campus." Many banks are adjusting their ATM services, and the cardless cash deposit and withdrawal service is gradually withdrawing from the banking business landscape. (Jiemian News)
The US dollar has fallen to its lowest level since December 2023
On May 24th, news emerged that the US dollar exchange rate has dropped to its lowest level since 2023. This is due to new tariff threats issued by US President Donald Trump, and the risk of an expanding fiscal deficit has weakened the appeal of the US dollar. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.7% on Friday to its lowest level since December 2023, extending its decline of 7% since the beginning of the year. (Jiemian News)
Luo Yonghao's Debut Live Stream on Baidu E-commerce: Over 10 Million Views, GMV Exceeds 50 Million Yuan
36Kr learned that on the evening of May 23rd, Luo Yonghao launched his live - streaming session on Baidu Youxuan, Baidu's e - commerce platform. During the 4 - hour debut live stream, the GMV exceeded 50 million yuan, and the number of viewers surpassed 10 million. It is understood that Baidu Youxuan is the emerging e - commerce platform he has cooperated with for the first time after Douyin and Taobao. The two parties will jointly cooperate in the field of intelligent e - commerce. Data shows that in 2024, the number of monthly live - streaming anchors on Baidu Youxuan increased by 281% year - on - year, the GMV doubled, and the GMV of digital human live - streaming increased by over 11 times.
Tariff Negotiation Deadline between the US and the EU Extended to July 9
According to CCTV News, on the 25th local time, US President Donald Trump said that the EU had requested to extend the tariff negotiation deadline to July 9, and he had agreed to this request. Trump said that the talks with the EU on tariff issues this time were "very pleasant." On the 23rd, Trump posted on social media that he proposed to impose a 50% tariff on goods from the EU starting from June 1. He said that the main purpose of the EU's establishment was to "take advantage of the US in trade," and the negotiations between the US and the EU had "made no progress." Therefore, he proposed to impose a 50% tariff on goods from the EU starting from June 1, 2025. Goods manufactured or produced in the US would be exempt from tariffs. (Yicai Global)
HanChuan Intelligent, a battery swapping equipment supplier, claims nearly 60.88 million yuan from CATL
On May 23, HanChuan Intelligent said it had filed a total of four lawsuits against CATL and its subsidiaries, Times Electric Service and Times Qiji, and recently received case acceptance notices from the court and the arbitration institution. HanChuan Intelligent said that since November 2021, it has successively signed multiple contracts and orders with CATL and its subsidiaries, Times Electric Service and Times Qiji, regarding the battery swapping station business. HanChuan Intelligent has fulfilled its obligations such as delivery, installation and commissioning as agreed, but CATL and its subsidiaries failed to fulfill their corresponding payment obligations after the equipment was put into operation. As a result, HanChuan Intelligent has filed a claim of nearly 60.88 million yuan. (Jiemian News)
Xiaomi Responds to Whether the Door Handles of YU7 Will Freeze in Winter: The Surface May Freeze in Extreme Cold Weather
On May 24th, Xiaomi Auto released answers to netizens' questions, responding to issues such as whether the door handles of Xiaomi YU7 will freeze in winter. Xiaomi Auto officially stated that the electric inward - flipping door handles of Xiaomi YU7 have undergone rigorous design. While meeting aesthetic requirements, their reliability and ergonomics have been fully verified, and the functional experience is also excellent. In extreme cold weather, if the surface of the door handle freezes, the flip cover can move towards the inside of the car, and the ice can be broken by pressing, tapping, etc.; if the broken ice falls into the door handle recess, you can remove the broken ice by yourself; if there is less broken ice, it can also be pushed out when the flip cover returns to its original position. Of course, we still recommend that you try to park your vehicle in an indoor place such as a basement during extreme weather. (Phoenix Tech)
Dong Mingzhu and Meng Yutong Appear Together Again, Jointly Generating 5 Million Yuan in Sales
On the evening of May 23rd, Dong Mingzhu, the chairperson of Gree, and Meng Yutong, her former secretary, appeared together in the live - streaming room of "Gree Mingzhu Selection" for a live - streaming sales event. This was the first time the two appeared together after Meng Yutong left Gree Electric Appliances, marking a "thaw" in their relationship. On the night when Dong Mingzhu and Meng Yutong appeared together, the traffic in Gree's live - streaming room witnessed an explosive increase. According to Feigua Data, the number of viewers in the "Gree Mingzhu Selection" live - streaming room reached 2.92 million that night, with the peak number of online viewers exceeding 30,000, and the sales volume from the live - streaming sales event reached as high as 5 million yuan. The sales performance even ranked first on the "Household Appliances List". In contrast, the daily number of online viewers in this live - streaming room is only about 40, and the daily sales volume is generally around 500,000 yuan. (Caixin)
Elon Musk Returns to 724 Work Mode, Says He'll Sleep in the Factory or Server Room
According to CCTV News, on May 24 local time, Elon Musk posted on the social media platform X that as X, xAI, and Tesla are in a crucial period of technological release and there will be a Starship launch next week, he has now returned to a round - the - clock work mode. Earlier, Musk's social platform X experienced a large - scale outage on the morning of the 24th, and the service has now basically returned to normal.
Milk tea brand "Grandpa Doesn't Make Tea" responds to the issue of underweight 17-yuan milk tea: A dedicated staff member is verifying, following up, and handling the matter
Recently, some netizens complained that they spent 17 yuan on a milk tea at Grandpa Doesn't Make Tea, and the unopened milk tea was only half a cup. The upper part of the cup's packaging had an opaque pattern that just covered the empty part of the cup. Many netizens also reported that Grandpa Doesn't Make Tea gave less quantity than it should. When they shined a flashlight on the opaque packaging, they found that nearly one-third of the cup was empty. In response, a staff member of Grandpa Doesn't Make Tea said that a dedicated staff member is verifying, following up, and handling the issue. Not all milk teas are like this, and this is just an isolated case. (Shaanxi Radio and Television Station)
Asia's First Professional Cargo Airport Welcomes Its First International "Coffee Bean Flight"
An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 777 full - cargo aircraft carrying 66 tons of coffee beans and flying from Addis Ababa arrived at Ezhou Huahu International Airport in Hubei on the 24th, becoming the airport's first international "coffee bean flight". It is reported that after the high - quality Ethiopian coffee beans land, relying on the distribution system of Ezhou Huahu International Airport, they can reach Chinese consumers the next day. Previously, it took 25 to 30 days for such products to reach China by traditional sea transportation. (China News Service)
US experts: Manufacturing iPhones in the US is as unrealistic as a fairy tale
US President Donald Trump said on May 23 (local time) that if Apple's mobile phones sold in the US are manufactured overseas, they should face a tariff of at least 25%. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an interview on the same day that President Trump's intention was to bring precision manufacturing back to the US by having Apple relocate its industrial chain. In response, some US experts said that relocating the production of Apple phones to the US is "as unrealistic as a fairy tale." Apple would have to bear extremely high costs, and the prices of its products would also soar. An iPhone produced in the US would be sold for $3,500, equivalent to about 25,100 yuan. Compared with spending huge sums of money to relocate production lines back to the US, Apple would rather increase its investment in the field of artificial intelligence. (CCTV News)
NIO Reports Fires of Multiple Vehicles at Charging Station: Two NIO Vehicles Ignited by Another Brand's Vehicle, No One Injured
According to Hunan Daily, on the evening of May 24, NIO's official account "NIO Megaphone" issued a statement: Around 17:40 on May 24, a NIO ES6 and a NIO ET7 parked at a third - party charging station in Suzhou Industrial Park were ignited by a vehicle of another brand that suffered thermal damage. No injuries were reported at the scene. After the NIO vehicles were ignited, they immediately sent a warning to the backend, and NIO staff rushed to the scene for handling at the first time. Subsequently, NIO will assist users with insurance claims and communicate about vehicle repurchase matters. (The Paper)
Woman Denied Flight Ticket Refund for Funeral Arrangements, Tongcheng Travel Says Death Certificate Lacks Police Seal
On May 24th, Ms. Guan (a pseudonym) from Guangzhou told reporters that she planned to take her family on a trip on May 25th. She placed an order on the "Tongcheng" travel platform in early April to buy flight tickets and book a hotel. However, her elder sister suddenly passed away recently, and Ms. Guan had to stay in Guangzhou to handle the funeral arrangements, so she cancelled the trip.
On May 23rd, Ms. Guan tried to apply for order cancellation and ticket refund on the platform. She successively provided multiple documents such as her own and her sister's household registration books, marriage certificates, and old household registration books to indirectly prove their immediate family relationship. However, the customer service said that the death certificate lacked a police seal. The platform rejected her application, stating that the documents were insufficient for a full refund. In the afternoon of the 24th, Tongcheng Travel responded that they had contacted Ms. Guan and promised to refund the flight ticket amount to the original payment method within 24 hours. (Sohu Finance)
TikTok Standardizes the Management of "Street Photography and Interviews" Content, Conducting Key Investigations and Disposals of 11 Types of Illegal and Violation Behaviors
TikTok released an announcement on standardizing the management of "street photography and interviews" content. The announcement states that a very small number of accounts, under the guise of "chatting up", "flirting with girls", and "street photography", harass others verbally and physically without their consent, and publish and spread content that may infringe on others' portrait rights and privacy. At the same time, the above - mentioned behaviors attempt to spread bad value orientations and disrupt public order. Regarding relevant illegal and violation behaviors, the platform implements the requirements of the special work of "Cleaning up the Malicious Marketing Chaos in the Short - video Field" and continuously cracks down on and strictly manages them. Specific disposal methods include but are not limited to banning accounts, taking down videos, revoking live - streaming and profit - making permissions, removing inappropriately acquired followers of accounts, and removing the MCN agencies to which the violating accounts belong. In cases of serious violations, the platform will report to the public security organs. (Jiemian News)
Shanghai Legoland Completes Completion Acceptance and Enters the Countdown to Opening
On May 24th, according to the WeChat official account "Shanghai Release", the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban - Rural Development introduced that Shanghai Legoland officially completed its completion acceptance on May 16th. This highly anticipated international - level theme park took nearly four years from planning to completion, adding another world - class cultural and tourism landmark to Shanghai. Meanwhile, due to its geographical location, it is also an important attempt at a large - scale cultural and tourism project for the integration of the Yangtze River Delta. The successful completion of the acceptance inspection marks that the park has officially entered the countdown to its opening. Previously, Merlin Entertainments Group announced that Shanghai Legoland Resort, the largest Legoland park globally upon opening, will officially open on July 5th. (Jiemian News)
Study: Decline in Tourists to the US May Cost the US Economy $23 Billion
Jennifer Thorvaldson, the chief economist at Implan, estimates that if international tourism drops by 10% this year (based on the decline in the number of foreign air travelers to the US in March), the US gross domestic product (GDP) will lose $23 billion, which is equivalent to a loss of about 230,000 jobs. (Sina Finance)
Japanese New Agriculture Minister Promises to Release Low - price Reserve Rice as Rice Prices Remain High
Koizumi Shinjiro, Japan's newly - appointed Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said on May 24 that the government plans to sell reserve rice directly to retailers instead of auctioning it to middlemen as before, hoping to stabilize rice prices in this way. When delivering a speech in Sapporo on the same day, Koizumi Shinjiro said that the government will bypass the auction mechanism that hinders the government's price control and "sign direct contracts" with retailers. At the same time, the rice price will be lowered, and a 5 - kilogram bag of rice will be sold at 2,000 yen (about 101 yuan). (Xinhua News Agency)
Affected by the Memorial Day holiday, U.S. stocks will be closed next Monday
Affected by the Memorial Day holiday, U.S. stocks will be closed for one day on May 26th (next Monday). On the same day, the UK stock market will be closed for one day due to the Spring Bank Holiday. Trading of precious metals and U.S. crude oil futures contracts under CME will end at 02:30 Beijing time on the 27th, and trading of stock index futures contracts will end at 01:00 Beijing time on the 27th; trading of Brent crude oil futures contracts under ICE will end at 01:30 Beijing time on the 27th. (Jiemian News)
Elon Musk Praises Google's New-Generation AI Video Generation Model Veo 3
At this week's annual developer conference, Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, unveiled Veo 3. Demis Hassabis, the co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, said on Friday, "Veo 3's outstanding performance in intuitive physical modeling is amazing." Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, responded, "It's great. Nice work." Musk also expressed admiration for Google's Veo 2 last year. (Sina Finance)
ZhiYuan Robotics is about to complete a new round of financing, with investors including JD.com and Shanghai Embodied Intelligence Fund
36Kr has exclusively learned from multiple sources that ZhiYuan Robotics is about to complete a new round of financing. The investors in this round include JD.com and Shanghai Embodied Intelligence Fund, and some of ZhiYuan Robotics' old shareholders are also participating in the follow - on investment. Among them, Shanghai Embodied Intelligence Fund is a state - owned fund established in April 2025, jointly initiated by Shanghai State - owned Capital Investment Co., Ltd. and Pudong New Area. It mainly conducts investments around the upstream and downstream of the embodied intelligence industry chain. This investment in ZhiYuan Robotics is also the fund's first external investment.
Yunding Technology Collaborates with Ascend to Release Industrial Visual Intelligent All-in-One Machine
Yunding Technology, in collaboration with Ascend, has grandly launched the Yunding Industrial Visual Intelligent All-in-One Machine. This intelligent visual platform, specifically tailored for industrial scenarios, achieves collaborative innovation between industrial large models and edge computing through its deeply integrated architecture of "hardware + model + platform + scenario". It is equipped with 2 Kunpeng 920 processors and 7 Ascend Atlas 300I Pro acceleration cards, providing an ultra-high computing power of 980 TOPS@INT8 and supporting millisecond-level concurrent analysis of over 100 channels of 1080P high-definition videos. (Caixin Press)
This article is from the WeChat official account "36Kr", and 36Kr has published it with authorization.