At 8 a.m., here are the latest news: Abbot Shi Yongxin of Shaolin Temple is suspected of criminal offenses; Peking University will completely cancel the GPA system; Police are investigating the incident of "millions of yuan worth of gold jewelry being washed away by floods".
Top 3 Big News
Shi Yongxin, the abbot of Shaolin Temple, is suspected of criminal offenses and is under a joint investigation by multiple departments
On July 27, according to the official website of Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin, the abbot of Shaolin Temple, is suspected of criminal offenses, misappropriating and embezzling project funds and temple assets; seriously violating Buddhist precepts, maintaining improper relationships with multiple women for a long time and having an illegitimate child. Currently, he is under a joint investigation by multiple departments. Relevant information will be promptly announced to the public.
Recently, some media found that Shi Yongxin's social media accounts suddenly stopped updating. The latest post was published at 6:58 a.m. on July 24. Shi Yongxin's personal Weibo account was opened on March 20, 2018. As of July 24 this year, his Weibo account had been open for 2,683 days, with a total of 4,005 posts, an average of about 1.5 posts per day. So far, Shi Yongxin's Weibo has 878,000 followers. Reporters searched his account and found that his Weibo account posted at least one dynamic every day in July.
Public information shows that Shi Yongxin, whose secular name is Liu Yingcheng, is male, Han ethnicity, born on September 6, 1965, in Ying Shang, Anhui. He is a deputy to the 9th - 12th National People's Congress, the current abbot of Shaolin Temple, the president of the Henan Buddhist Association, and the vice - president of the Chinese Buddhist Association. (Shangguan News, Hongxing News)
Peking University to Completely Eliminate GPA Starting from the Class of 2025
On July 25th, Peking University issued a "Notice on Further Improving Undergraduate Academic Evaluation" on its internal website. The content includes: starting from the class of 2025, GPA will no longer be used in all types of work involving academic evaluation; course assessment results can be evaluated and recorded using the 100 - point system or the grading system (grades in the grading system will not be converted into GPA); and there will be no more guiding indicators for the excellent - rate of course grades.
In order to encourage students to be brave in exploration, engage in interdisciplinary learning, and take more challenging courses, the notice also mentions that students can choose one course outside of the general basic courses (partially) and the professional course packages, and have their grades recorded in a "Pass/Fail (P/NP)" manner. Once the grade - recording method is determined, it cannot be changed. Students who pass the course can earn credits for it. (Guangming Net)
"Nearly 20 Kilograms of Gold and Silver Jewelry Washed Away by Floods", Shaanxi Police Have Intervened
On July 25th, Wuqi County in Shaanxi was suddenly hit by a torrential rain. The water level of the Beiluo River in the county town rose rapidly, and the flood rushed into the streets, causing water to enter many shops. Gold and silver jewelry in the Laofengxiang Gold Store at the entrance of the Country Garden Emerald Mansion Community beside the Beiluo River Binhe Road in the county was washed away.
It is understood that around 8 a.m. on the 25th, the employees arrived at the store to prepare for opening. Suddenly, they received a notice that the flood was coming and they had to evacuate urgently. After the flood receded, Mr. Ye found that the store's cabinets and the gold and silver jewelry inside had been washed away, and the safe was also missing. After reporting the case, the police set up a cordon at the store entrance and sent people to guard and control the scene. Several cabinets were found hundreds of meters away from the store entrance, but the safe has not been found yet. Preliminary statistics show that nearly 20 kilograms of gold and silver jewelry were washed away. According to the latest gold price, it is worth tens of millions of yuan. The police have made a record.
On the evening of the 26th, the son of the gold store owner told reporters that on the 25th and 26th, the whole family and the employees had been searching for the gold and silver jewelry in the mud. At present, the store has found about one kilogram of gold and silver jewelry on its own, and some were returned by residents who picked them up. (Daily Economic News)
Large Companies/ Major Events
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Mails "Non - admission Notices" to Unsuccessful Applicants
On July 27th, the news that The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen sent out "non - admission notices" hit the trending list. Many netizens said that they unexpectedly received "non - admission notices" mailed by The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, which included a letter from President Xu Yangsheng and a small gift with the school's logo printed on it.
The reporter contacted the Admissions Office of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen for verification. The staff confirmed that the school's admissions office did send such a letter to each unsuccessful applicant. "What we sent is not a 'non - admission notice', but just a letter from the president, mainly to show the school's humanistic care."
It is reported that this is not the first time for such an initiative. According to media reports, as early as 2016, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen sent similar consolation letters to unsuccessful applicants and attached a notebook as an encouragement. (Jing Shi Live)
Illustration
Multiple Universities Announce Extension of Postgraduate Program Duration, Fully Implementing a Three - year Postgraduate System
Recently, multiple universities such as Ningbo University, Central China Normal University, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, and Minzu University of China have announced the extension of postgraduate program durations. Taking Central China Normal University as an example, on June 30th, Central China Normal University issued the "Announcement on the Change of the Duration of the Full - time Master of Social Work Program in the School of Sociology of Central China Normal University", which clearly stated that starting from 2026, the duration of the full - time Master of Social Work program (035200) is proposed to be changed from two years to three years.
Regarding the reasons for the extension of the program duration, many schools and teachers believe that practice has shown that the quality of two - year professional master's programs is not satisfactory. Extending the program duration is beneficial for strengthening classroom teaching. Meanwhile, with more time available, students can allocate their time more reasonably, have more time for practical training, and it is also conducive to enhancing classroom teaching and improving the quality of postgraduate training. In addition, it helps to improve the social recognition of professional master's degrees and increase the competitiveness in employment. (Yicai Global)
Over 4,000 Chikungunya Fever Cases Confirmed in Foshan, Zhang Wenhong Speaks Out for the First Time
Recently, an imported Chikungunya fever epidemic has occurred in Shunde District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province. According to the latest reports from various districts in Foshan, as of July 24, more than 4,000 confirmed Chikungunya fever cases have been reported in the five districts of Foshan. Among them, 3,627 confirmed cases have been reported in Shunde District, all of which are mild cases.
According to The Paper, currently, Chikungunya fever cases have been reported in Guangzhou, Yangjiang, Zhanjiang and other places. The World Health Organization warned on the 25th that the Chikungunya virus is spreading in many parts of the world. Cases have been reported in 119 countries, and about 5.5 million people are at risk of infection.
In response to the sudden increase and spill - over of Chikungunya fever cases in some southern regions of China recently, Professor Zhang Wenhong, the director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases and the director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, spoke out for the first time. According to a report by Yicai on July 26, when he was interviewed by reporters, he explained why the virus spread relatively quickly in some southern regions of China this time. "There has been no previous case of a large - scale epidemic caused by imported Chikungunya fever in China, and there is a lack of basic immunity to the disease. Therefore, the virus spreads faster than in other epidemic areas," Zhang Wenhong explained to reporters. (Yicai)
Chairman and General Manager of New Central State - owned Enterprise China Yajiang Group Make Their Debut
On July 19th, Liu Weiping, Chairman and Party Secretary of China Three Gorges Corporation, had a discussion with Yu Bing, Chairman and Party Secretary of China Yajiang Group, and Wang Wubin, General Manager and Deputy Party Secretary of China Yajiang Group in Nyingchi, Tibet. The two sides conducted in - depth exchanges on further deepening cooperation and better serving major national strategies. After the discussion, the two sides signed an agreement to deepen strategic cooperation. Wang Dianchang, Deputy General Manager and Member of the Party Leadership Group of China Three Gorges Corporation, and Deputy General Managers and Members of the Party Leadership Group of Yajiang Group attended and signed the agreement. The above information shows that Yu Bing has assumed the positions of Chairman and Party Secretary of China Yajiang Group, Wang Wubin has taken up the roles of General Manager and Deputy Party Secretary of China Yajiang Group, and Zhao Feng has become the Deputy General Manager and Member of the Party Leadership Group of China Yajiang Group. (Jiemian News)
Due to mold in some products, South Korean confectionery company Orion recalls popular fish-shaped snacks
On the 24th of this month, South Korean confectionery company Orion issued a notice stating that due to mold in some products, it has decided to recall two types of fish-shaped snacks from the market, with a total value of approximately 1.5 billion won (about 7.81 million yuan). Orion said that it has received consumer complaints about the affected products this week. After inspecting the production line, it is speculated that there are problems with some packaging equipment, resulting in poor sealing of food packages. Coupled with the recent high temperature and humidity in South Korea, the products are prone to mold. Orion also stated that the affected products are only sold in the South Korean market, and production will be suspended until August 1. A reporter learned from the official customer service of Orion China that similar products sold in China are produced locally, and the two types of fish-shaped snacks from South Korean Orion are not imported. However, the reporter noticed that some individual e-commerce platforms in China are still selling the affected products. Consumers are reminded to confirm the production date and product status when making a purchase. (CCTV Financial)
Bezos Sells a Large Quantity of Amazon Stocks, Cashing Out Over 40 Billion Yuan
According to a report by Bloomberg on the 26th, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, recently completed a large - scale sale of Amazon stocks. It is reported that Bezos' sale was carried out according to a pre - set trading plan he formulated earlier this year. The plan allows him to sell up to 25 million shares of Amazon stock. Documents released by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on the 25th of this month show that he completed the sale of the remaining stocks on the 23rd and 24th, thus fulfilling the plan to sell all 25 million shares. Amazon's stock price has been rising recently, up 38% from its low in late April this year. In this sale, Bezos cashed out nearly $5.7 billion (approximately 40.8 billion yuan). As the chairman of Amazon, Bezos still holds approximately 884 million shares of Amazon stock, accounting for more than 8% of the total shares. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he ranks third on the global rich list with a net worth of approximately $252 billion, with most of his wealth coming from Amazon stocks. (CCTV Finance)
179 People Evacuated from a Faulty Boeing Airliner in the US, Currently Under Inspection by Maintenance Team
According to CCTV News, on July 26 local time, at Denver International Airport in Colorado, the United States, a Boeing 737 Max 8 airliner of American Airlines bound for Miami malfunctioned before takeoff due to a problem with the aircraft's tires. 173 passengers and 6 crew members on board evacuated urgently. Currently, the aircraft has been taken out of service and is being inspected by the maintenance team. American Airlines said that one passenger suffered minor injuries and has been sent to the hospital for further examination. The incident is still under further investigation.
According to a report from National Business Daily, on July 25, a passenger plane took off from Burbank Airport in California, the United States, and then made an emergency descent shortly afterward to avoid a mid - air collision with a fighter jet. The accident left two people injured. This is also the fourth accident of direct or near - collision between a passenger plane and a military aircraft in the United States this year. (Red Star News)
Elvis Presley Audio Founder Denies Being Bought by Huawei, Previously Stirred Controversy by Criticizing Lei Jun
On July 27th, recently, Zeng Dejun, the founder of Elvis Presley Audio, posted a video denying being bought by Huawei. In the video, Zeng Dejun said, "We are in the technology business. We have a sharp and perceptive eye. We know who is doing well and who is not. I truly believe that Huawei is a company that works steadily, cultivates talents for the whole society, and contributes its capabilities to society. Of course, in its early growth stage, Huawei seemed to have copied others. As I've also said, in the early stage of a company, it's inevitable to have such original sins. The key lies in what you do after going through this stage. When you reach a certain scale, in principle, you shouldn't do such things anymore. That's my view."
Previously, Zeng Dejun sparked a heated discussion by posting a video saying that Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi, had a big image contrast and lacked respect. (Oriental Finance, Southern Metropolis Daily)
XPeng Executives Refute Rumors of G6 Cost - Reduction Plan
Recently, a vice - president of XPeng Motors responded on Weibo, stating that the online rumor "XPeng is formulating a cost - reduction plan for the G6" is false information. The company has coordinated with internal product, legal, and government departments to handle the matter. The executive also pointed out that the media involved has repeatedly spread malicious rumors, and if the information were true, it would be suspected of stealing trade secrets. Previously, on July 24th, the automotive media outlet "Auto Pixel" published an article claiming that since the starting price of the G7 is below 200,000 yuan, overlapping with the price range of the G6, XPeng is formulating a cost - reduction plan for the G6, which attracted public attention. In response, XPeng executives said that the legal department is actively dealing with the issue, and the process will take time. It is reported that the 2025 model of the XPeng G6 was launched in March this year. It is one of XPeng's best - selling models, with a price range of 176,800 - 198,800 yuan, a reduction of 23,100 - 78,100 yuan compared to the 2024 model. (Sina Finance)
Box Office of Summer Movie Season Exceeds 5 Billion Yuan
According to data from online platforms, as of July 27, the total box office (including pre - sales) of movies in the 2025 summer season has exceeded 5 billion yuan, with a total of 129 million admissions during the season. (Xinhua News Agency)
Tesla's Third - Generation Robot to Enter China's Consumer Market
People familiar with Tesla revealed that Tesla's third - generation robot is currently being tested at a U.S. factory. It is expected to be launched in China's consumer market in 2025 and will enter consumer scenarios such as households. Mass production is expected to start in 2026, with a plan to produce 1 million units annually within 5 years. (Sina Finance)
US Treasury Accepts Donations via Venmo and PayPal to Help Repay Massive National Debt
It is reported that if they wish, US citizens can now donate to the Treasury via Venmo and PayPal to help repay the national debt. Over the past 29 years, Americans have donated a total of $67.3 million, but it has had little substantial impact on the current national debt of up to $36.7 trillion. An NPR reporter posted a screenshot on X on Wednesday, showing the page on the Treasury's official website where people can donate to the national debt project via Venmo and PayPal. According to Axios, the single - donation limit on Venmo is $999,999.99. Even if donating at this amount, one would need to donate every 18 seconds to keep up with the growth of the national debt. It is unclear when the donation options for Venmo and PayPal were added to the website. (Sina Finance)
Microsoft to Spend Over $1 Billion on Organic Waste Treatment: Including Human Excreta, Animal Manure, etc.
Recently, biotech startup Vaulted Deep announced that it has won a contract from Microsoft to eliminate 4.9 million tons of carbon dioxide on behalf of the tech giant by 2038. It is reported that Vaulted Deep charges $350 per ton of carbon dioxide treated. Based on this, Microsoft may have to pay more than $1.7 billion. Although the two parties did not disclose the specific amount, reports suggest that the total value of the deal exceeds $1 billion. Vaulted Deep has full responsibility for helping Microsoft achieve its goal of removing 4.9 million tons of carbon. The company's "bio - slurry" treatment technology is quite unique in the field of carbon neutrality. The company collects organic waste, mainly including human excreta, farm animal manure, paper - making sludge, and other organic by - products, and converts these "raw materials" into bio - slurry. Subsequently, the company will inject the bio - slurry deep underground, at a depth of over 1,500 meters. (Red Star News)
Chocolate giants collectively announce price hikes, with some brands seeing double - digit increases
Affected by climate change, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, the world's major cocoa - producing regions, have experienced continuous poor harvests in recent years, causing the global cocoa futures price to surge for two consecutive years. Although the current cocoa price has dropped from its peak, it remains at a high level. The increase in cocoa prices has directly affected the production cost of chocolate, and recently, several major chocolate brands in the United States have announced price increases.
Recently, chocolate giants such as Nestle and Ferrero have announced price hikes. On the 22nd, Hershey, an American chocolate producer, said that it had informed retailers that it would raise the average price of its chocolate products, with the increase potentially reaching double - digits. Hershey stated that this price increase has nothing to do with the US government's tariffs or trade policies. (CCTV Finance)
Approximately 3,870 NASA employees to resign, with a 47% budget cut next year
Recently, NASA issued an internal letter stating that about 3,000 employees had participated in the second extended resignation program. Adding the 870 employees from the first program and normal attrition, NASA's workforce will shrink from more than 18,000 to about 14,000.
A NASA spokesman responded on Friday local time, saying that due to concerns about mission safety, about 20% of the employees will leave the agency as part of an overall effort to "streamline and improve efficiency." He said that approximately 3,870 people are expected to leave, but this number may change in the next few days or weeks.
In May this year, the US government released a "streamlined budget" proposal for fiscal year 2026, proposing to cut NASA's budget from $24.8 billion to $18.8 billion, a decrease of nearly 25%. Among them, the budget for scientific projects will see the largest reduction. This will be the largest single-year budget cut in NASA's history. After adjusting for inflation, the appropriation in fiscal year 2026 will reach the lowest level since 1961. In particular, NASA's scientific project budget will be cut by 47% next year, dropping to $3.9 billion, resulting in the cancellation of many important missions. (IT Home)
Volkswagen's operating profit plummets by over 30%, US tariffs cause the company losses exceeding tens of billions
On the 25th local time, Germany's Volkswagen Group released its financial report for the first half of 2025. The data shows that in the first half of 2025, Volkswagen Group's sales revenue reached 158.4 billion euros, compared with 158.8 billion euros in the same period last year. In the first half of the year, Volkswagen Group's operating profit was 6.7 billion euros, a significant drop of about 33% compared with 10 billion euros in the same period last year. The net profit after tax even decreased by more than 38% year - on - year, to 4.477 billion euros.
Volkswagen said in the report that the increase in US import tariffs has caused the company a loss of 1.3 billion euros (approximately 10.9 billion yuan). Meanwhile, Volkswagen also lowered its full - year performance outlook for 2025, expecting the full - year sales revenue in 2025 to be on par with the previous year, lower than the previously predicted maximum increase of 5%. (CCTV Finance)
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher collectively, and large technology stocks showed mixed performances
36Kr learned that at the close on July 25, the three major U.S. stock indexes rose collectively. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.47%, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.24%, and the S&P 500 Index rose 0.4%. Large technology stocks showed mixed performances. Tesla rose more than 3%, while Microsoft, Google, and Apple had small increases. Intel fell more than 8%, and Amazon, Meta, Nvidia, and Netflix had small declines. Most popular Chinese concept stocks fell. Tiger Brokers and Bilibili fell more than 2%, iQiyi, Futu Holdings, and Weibo fell more than 1%, and Alibaba, JD.com, XPeng Motors, and Li Auto had small declines. 36Kr rose more than 5%, and NIO and Miniso rose more than 1%.
Bloomage Biotechnology Responds to Allegations of Financial Fraud by Former Executive: Content Is Seriously Inaccurate and a Police Report Has Been Filed
Recently, a person claiming to be "David" posted an article on a website with a domain related to "bnsqueen (Queen of Hyaluronic Acid)", stating that Bloomage Biotechnology (688363.SH) has illegal and irregularities, such as financial fraud.
David claimed on the website that he was formerly the special assistant to the CEO and the head of global investor relations at Bloomage Biotechnology. David said he had written a 450,000-word, 58-chapter book titled "Stories of the Queen of Hyaluronic Acid", but only the table of contents and chapter summaries are currently available on the website, and the specific content has not been released.
On July 26, Bloomage Biotechnology issued a statement on its official Weibo, saying that it had noticed that some users on online platforms had posted seriously inaccurate information about the company. After verification, the information was posted on an overseas website and was completely fabricated. Some of the content involved political rumors, which was extremely malicious. After investigation, the information was posted by Li, who was formerly the director of the marketing department at Bloomage Xinyu Investment Co., Ltd. and had worked at Bloomage for 18 months before the incident. At the end of the statement, Bloomage Biotechnology attached a case-filing notice and an apology letter. (Red Star News)
The Cutting-Edge of AI
ZhiYuan Releases the World's First Open-Source Platform for World Models
On July 27th, the "Intelligent Embodied Forum" of WAIC2025, hosted by ZhiYuan Robotics, was held at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center. Yao Maoqing, a partner of ZhiYuan Robotics and the president of the Embodied Business Department, released the industry's first open - source platform for world models, "Genie Envisioner" (abbreviated as GE), which is designed for real - world dual - arm robots. This platform integrates three core capabilities: prediction, control, and evaluation, providing an end - to - end, integrated solution for robots to transition from "seeing" to "acting". It enables robots to rehearse in the digital space before going into operation. (Jiemian News)
SenseTime Launches "Wuneng" Embodied AI Platform
36Kr learned that on July 27th, at the WAIC 2025 Large Model Forum, SenseTime launched the "Wuneng" Embodied AI Platform. The "Wuneng" Embodied AI Platform uses SenseTime's Embodied World Model as its core engine and relies on SenseTime's large-scale computing infrastructure to provide computing power support on the edge and in the cloud. It can provide powerful perception, visual navigation, and multi-modal interaction capabilities for robots and intelligent devices. SenseTime's Embodied World Model can also generate multi-view videos and ensure good temporal and spatial consistency, enabling machines to understand, generate, and edit the real world, interact with the world at the spatial level, and construct a 4D real world oriented towards people, objects, and scenarios.
Wang Xingxing of Unitree Technology: The success rate of AI large language models in writing code is already very high, exceeding 90% for most software
On July 27th, at the AI Women's Elite Forum, one of the series of forums at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Wang Xingxing, the founder of Unitree Technology, stated that the success rate of AI large language models in writing code is already very high, reaching over 90% for most software. He said, "I'm extremely lazy myself. I'm too lazy to write a lot of code. I just tell the AI large language model what kind of function or algorithm I need, and it can automatically write it for me." According to his observation, the success rate of AI large models in writing code was not high last year, with many errors. However, the success rate in the first half of this year when generating code once was already very high. (Securities Times)
Cool Products
Tsinghua University Develops Ideal Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Photoresist Material
On July 26th, as the integrated circuit process continues to advance towards the 7nm and below nodes, EUV lithography with a wavelength of 13.5nm has become the core technology for advanced chip manufacturing. However, the characteristics of EUV light sources, such as high reflection loss and low brightness, pose higher challenges to photoresists in terms of absorption efficiency, reaction mechanism, and defect control. Tsinghua University announced that the research team led by Professor Xu Huaping from the Department of Chemistry at the university has made important progress in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography materials - they have developed a new type of photoresist based on Polytelluoxane (PTeO), providing a new design strategy for key materials in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. This research offers a photoresist design path that combines the high - absorbing element Te, the main - chain scission mechanism, and material uniformity, which is expected to promote the development of next - generation EUV lithography materials and contribute to the innovation of advanced semiconductor process technologies. (IT Home)
AI Glasses with Prescribable Lenses: Halliday Launches Pre - sale in China
36Kr learned that at the WAIC Conference, the smart glasses brand Halliday officially launched its first smart glasses with invisible display technology and announced the pre - sale in mainland China. Halliday Glasses are the first display glasses that support prescribable lenses, weighing 28.5g and offering a 12 - hour battery life. These glasses adopt invisible display technology, completely hiding the optical module inside the frame. Users can see a 3.5 - inch virtual screen in the upper right corner of their field of vision by simply raising their eyes. They look no different from ordinary glasses in appearance. The initial price of the product in China is 2,499 yuan, and it is expected to be shipped starting from March 2026.
Compiled | Chi Yu