At 8 a.m., Here's the Latest News | 12306 Responds to the Query about Whether Smoking Cars Can Be Added to High - speed Trains; Official Releases a Statement on the Incident of a 50 - liter Gas Tank Being Filled with 67.96 Liters of Gasoline; All Works on Simba's Kuaishou Account Have Been Deleted.
Today's Hotspot Guide
Yonghui Superstores Suffered a Loss of 241 Million Yuan in the First Half of the Year
TikTok Shop Kicks off Preparation for the "Global Black Friday" Promotion Season
Official Report on 67.96 Liters of Gasoline Filled into a 50 - Liter Fuel Tank
Li Yifeng Has 49.9 Million Yuan Enforced for Execution
DeepSeek Raises Prices Again and Will Soon Cancel Nighttime Discounts
South Korean Stockholders Continue to Buy Chinese Stocks with a Sharp Increase in Holdings of Over 5 Billion Yuan
Deng Taihua, CEO of Zhiyuan Robotics: Plans to Complete Series C Financing Before the End of the Year
Top 3 Big News
12306 Responds to Whether Smoking Cars Can Be Added to High - speed Trains: Currently Impossible
The discussion about "whether smoking can be banned on semi - enclosed high - speed train platforms" is still fresh in people's minds. Some netizens pointed out that currently, a full smoking ban on trains has not been achieved. Although green - skinned trains also have a relatively enclosed environment, they are equipped with special smoking areas. 12306 responded that it is allowed to smoke at the connections of green - skinned trains without disturbing others.
In response to this, some netizens proposed whether a "smoking car" could be added to each train for smokers, which could also serve a social function. On August 21st, 12306 responded that for high - speed trains and bullet trains, it is currently impossible to add "smoking cars" for safety reasons. As for green - skinned trains, the customer service said that the suggestion could be reported. Reporters learned from inquiries about foreign train smoking - ban measures that on the high - speed train from Tokyo to Osaka in Japan, there are special smoking areas with complete internal facilities and high - end ventilation equipment. However, the high cost of the equipment was ultimately added to the ticket price. (Daxiang News)
Official Report on 67.96 Liters of Gasoline Filled into a 50-Liter Fuel Tank: The Fuel Nozzle Has Been Sealed, and a Comprehensive Investigation Is Underway
On August 21, the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Chengdu High-tech Zone issued a situation report regarding the online concern about "a car owner reporting that 67.96 liters of gasoline were filled into a 50-liter fuel tank." The report stated that the involved fuel nozzle was No. 06. On August 9, 2025, the day when the incident occurred, the staff sealed the fuel nozzle, and it has remained out of use ever since. Currently, a comprehensive investigation into the relevant situation is underway. Next, actions will be taken in accordance with laws and regulations based on the investigation results.
Previously, Mr. Yang, a car owner, drove a car with a total fuel tank capacity of 50 liters to refuel at the PetroChina Jinhua Tianshan Station in Chengdu. However, the fuel tank showed that 67.96 liters of gasoline had been filled. After Mr. Yang questioned this, the gas station said it only recognized the data from the fuel nozzle and insisted on charging for 67.96 liters. Mr. Yang waited at the gas station for a long time, but no one came forward to solve the problem. Eventually, he had to pay the bill and leave. (According to The Paper)
All works on Xinba's Kuaishou account have been cleared, only live replay remains
On August 21st, reporters found through searches that the short videos on Xinba's Kuaishou account had been cleared, and only the live replay of last year's carnival remained. His number of followers was still over 99.99 million.
On August 18th, Xinba announced at the annual "818" Fan Exclusive Promotion Festival that he would officially leave the live - streaming industry and no longer participate in live - streaming work. Reporters previously confirmed from relevant person - in - charge of Xinxuan that Xinba's body can no longer bear any stress at present, and his lungs have reached the limit. This withdrawal of Xinba is a balanced choice between personal health and the long - term development of the company. The above - mentioned person - in - charge said that regarding the transfer of management rights, Xinba has transferred his personal account with 100 million followers as company assets and officially appointed Ms. Chu Ruixue to take over Xinxuan Group comprehensively. (Red Star News)
Large Companies/ Major Events
Yonghui Superstores Suffers a Loss of 241 Million Yuan in the First Half of the Year, and Store Renovations Fail to Make Up for Revenue Decline
On the evening of August 20th, Yonghui Superstores Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yonghui Superstores") released its performance for the first half of 2025. In the first half of this year, the company achieved a total operating revenue of 29.948 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 20.73%. The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was -241 million yuan. The net profit in the same period last year was 275 million yuan, a decrease of 516 million yuan.
Yonghui Superstores' announcement shows that the revenue decline is mainly due to factors such as the company's in - depth transformation of overall strategy and operations initiated in the second half of 2024, the closure of long - term loss - making stores, and the suspension of business during store renovation periods. Although the revenue of renovated stores has increased significantly compared with the same period, it cannot make up for the revenue decline caused by store closures. (CNR.com)
Wing of a Boeing Airliner of Delta Air Lines Damaged During Flight
On August 20, a part of the left wing of a Boeing 737 airliner of Delta Air Lines detached during flight. According to US media reports, the plane took off from Orlando and carried 62 passengers and 6 crew members. Passengers said they noticed a part detaching from the wing during the flight. The plane finally landed safely at its original destination, Austin, Texas. There are currently no reports of casualties. Delta Air Lines apologized to passengers in a statement, confirming that there was a problem with the flaps of the plane and stating that the aircraft has been taken out of service for maintenance. (Xinhua News Agency)
Luoyonghao earned six hundred million yuan in three years through live - streaming e - commerce and will announce the TBT project
One day after the launch of the first - phase podcast, Luoyonghao announced that he would announce the TBT project. "TBT is finally coming! Nine years have passed. What has changed is the industry, but what remains unchanged is the strong desire to bring some different innovations to this industry. Reimagine instant noodles. See you tomorrow!" Luoyonghao said. Previously, a suspected private recording of Luoyonghao was exposed, in which he first admitted that he had secretly promoted an innovative project codenamed "TBT" during his tenure at Smartisan Technology.
In 2012, Lao Luo founded Smartisan Technology, vowing to make "the best mobile phones in the Eastern Hemisphere" and claiming to acquire Apple. However, radical design and poor supply - chain management led to frequent mass - production problems. By 2018, the cumulative sales volume of Smartisan Technology was less than 5 million units, the capital chain broke, and Luoyonghao was burdened with a debt of 600 million yuan. To pay off the debt, Lao Luo switched to live - streaming e - commerce in 2020.
In 2021, in an exclusive interview, Luoyonghao said that the 600 - million - yuan debt, which was originally planned to be paid off in five years, could be paid off within three years without any accidents. This means that Luoyonghao earned 600 million yuan in three years, an average of 200 million yuan per year. It is reported that the annual earnings of Luoyonghao's team exceeded the net profits of 60% (2,659 companies) of all A - share listed companies in 2020. (Phoenix Finance)
TikTok Shop Kicks Off Preparation for the "Global Black Friday" Promotion Season
On August 22nd, TikTok Shop's cross - border e - commerce announced the official start of preparations for the 2025 "Global Black Friday" promotion season. The event will cover multiple markets including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and Mexico, spanning from late October to early December. The platform will provide the most significant annual resources and multiple upgraded gameplay features to help cross - border merchants win big in their annual business. With over tens of billions of in - app and off - app exposures, it will support self - operated (POP) merchants and fully - managed merchants. There will be a variety of promotion forms, rich brand gameplay, and increased resources for the content field.
McDonald's Cuts Prices and Launches $5 and $8 Special Meals Amid Economic Pressure
McDonald's and its franchisees have agreed to cut the prices of eight popular meal sets by 15% and launch special meals priced at $5 and $8 to attract customers who are saving money due to economic difficulties. According to people familiar with the matter, this move was reached after weeks of discussions between McDonald's and restaurant operators, including the company providing financial support if franchisees agree to cut prices. Later this year, McDonald's will launch a $5 breakfast and an $8 special meal set featuring Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets, which will be marketed under the name of "Value Meal Sets". (Sina Finance)
Li Yifeng Has Been Enforced to Pay 49.9 Million Yuan
Recently, Li Yifeng, Shanghai Fengyan Culture Media Center, Beijing Bozhong Xinghe Film and Television Co., Ltd., etc. have been enforced by the People's Court of Chaoyang District, Beijing to pay approximately 49.9 million yuan. Among them, Shanghai Fengyan Culture Media Center was established in July 2018. The investor is Li Yifeng, with a registered capital of 1 million yuan. Its business scope includes organizing cultural and artistic exchange activities, conference and exhibition services, photography and video production services, etc.
According to previous reports, in 2022, the Beijing police solved a criminal case and arrested an actor surnamed Li (male, 35 years old). The person confessed to the illegal fact of multiple prostitution and has been administratively detained in accordance with the law. Later, it was confirmed to be Li Yifeng through the authoritative channel of CCTV. (Bailu Video)
Gold prices fall to the lowest level in nearly half a month
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will give a public speech later this week. The market generally expects that Powell will continue to maintain a cautious stance on monetary policy regarding interest rate cuts in this speech. Affected by this expectation, coupled with a slight increase in the yield of the 10-year US Treasury bond and a stronger US dollar index, international gold prices are under downward pressure. On Tuesday, international gold prices fell to the lowest point in more than two weeks.
On August 20, reporters visited the market and found that the prices of gold jewelry of some domestic brands had been lowered, with the price per gram dropping to a starting point of 979 yuan. (CCTV.com)
Elon Musk's Starlink Wins Favor of More Luxury Airlines and Enters the In-flight Wi-Fi Market
Over the past three years, Elon Musk has steadily entered the booming in-flight Wi-Fi market. His Starlink service has signed contracts with many well-known airlines such as Air France, Qatar Airways, and United Airlines. Alaska Airlines Group said on Wednesday that it will install the Starlink system starting next year to provide in-flight internet services. Virgin Atlantic reached an agreement in early July to use this satellite network owned by SpaceX. According to people familiar with the matter, British Airways may also follow suit and use this service. (Sina Finance)
South Korea Introduces Measures to Restrict Foreigners from Buying Homes to Curb Speculative Demand
The South Korean government said on Thursday that to curb the real estate speculative demand triggered by the inflow of overseas funds, it will restrict foreigners from buying homes in major areas of Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of South Korea said that it held a meeting of the central city planning committee that morning and passed a plan to include foreign homebuyers as applicable objects under the "Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act." The measure will take effect next Tuesday (August 26) and will be valid for one year, and may be extended depending on market conditions. (Sina Finance)
Positions Soar by Over 5 Billion Yuan as South Korean Investors Keep Buying Chinese Stocks
The accelerated rise of A-shares since August is attracting more foreign capital into the market. According to statistics from Orient Fortune Choice, as of August 18 this year, the positions of South Korean investors in Chinese stocks (including A-shares and H-shares) have increased from 19.083 billion yuan at the end of 2024 to 24.475 billion yuan, a nearly 30% increase. Looking at the individual stocks held, South Korean investors are particularly keen on buying Hong Kong stocks. Choice data shows that leading companies in the technology and emerging industries represented by Xiaomi Group, Tencent Holdings, BYD Co., Ltd., and Alibaba have become the main targets for additional positions. (Shanghai Securities News)
Nikon to Close Yokohama Factory at the End of September
Nikon will close its Yokohama factory on September 30 and transfer its operations to other locations in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, as well as its Tokyo headquarters. The factory manufactures microscopes and serves as a research and development base for flat-panel display manufacturing equipment. The impact on the annual profit is expected to be minimal. (Sina Finance)
The Cutting - Edge of AI
DeepSeek Raises Prices Again, Nighttime Discounts to Be Cancelled Soon
On August 21st, according to an official announcement on DeepSeek's WeChat official account, DeepSeek-V3.1 was officially launched. This upgrade includes the following major changes: Hybrid inference architecture: One model supports both the thinking mode and the non-thinking mode; Higher thinking efficiency: Compared with DeepSeek-R1-0528, DeepSeek-V3.1-Think can provide answers in a shorter time; Stronger Agent capabilities: Through post-training optimization, the new model shows significant improvements in tool usage and agent tasks. The official app and web-based models have been synchronously upgraded to DeepSeek-V3.1. Users can freely switch between the thinking mode and the non-thinking mode via the "Deep Thinking" button.
Starting from the early morning of September 6, 2025, Beijing time, DeepSeek will adjust the API call prices on its open platform as follows: Implement a new price list and cancel the nighttime discount. (China Economic Net)
The AI toy market is booming, with sales on some platforms soaring by 600%
AI toys are a new generation of toys that integrate large language model technology. Since the beginning of this year, the AI toy market has been booming, and sales have increased significantly. A search on online platforms reveals that the prices of AI toys range from a few hundred yuan to several thousand yuan. Among them, categories such as AI plush toys, AI early education machines, AI learning cameras, and AI pets are more popular in the market. Data from some platforms show that in the first half of 2025, the sales volume of AI toy products increased by six times compared with the previous period, and the year-on-year growth rate of AI toy sales exceeded 200%. Currently, in addition to being used by children, the consumer group of AI toys is expanding to all age groups. (CCTV Finance)
Meta Spokesperson Says the Company Has Halted Some AI Department Hiring for Planning
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone posted on social platform X that Meta has paused some hiring while conducting "planning and forecasting" and building new arrangements for super intelligence matters. Stone said that the hiring was paused after bringing in some new people. Stone was responding to a report stating that Meta had frozen hiring in its artificial intelligence department. (Sina Finance)
Financial Reports of Large Companies
Miaokelando: Net Profit in the First Half of the Year Reaches 133 Million Yuan, Surges 86.27% YoY
36Kr learned that Miaokelando disclosed its financial results, reporting operating income of 2.567 billion yuan during the first half of the year, reflecting a 7.98% year-on-year growth. The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company amounted to 133 million yuan, marking an 86.27% year-on-year increase. Basic earnings per share stood at 0.265 yuan.
Bilibili: Total revenue in Q2 increased by 20% year-on-year, and the adjusted net profit was 560 million yuan
36Kr learned that Bilibili released its financial report for the second quarter of 2025. The report shows that Bilibili's revenue in the second quarter was 7.34 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20%. Among them, the advertising business revenue was 2.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20%; the game business revenue was 1.61 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 60%. Both the net profit and the adjusted net profit reached record highs, at 220 million yuan and 560 million yuan respectively. In terms of users, in the second quarter, Bilibili's average daily active users reached 109 million, a year-on-year increase of 7%, hitting a record high; the average monthly active users reached 363 million, a year-on-year increase of 8%; the average monthly paying users reached 31 million, a year-on-year increase of 9%.
Sinopec: Net profit in the first half of the year was 21.483 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 39.8%
36Kr learned that Sinopec announced that the company's operating income in the first half of the year was 1.41 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.6%; the net profit was 21.483 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 39.8%.
Mingchuang Youpin: Adjusted net profit in the second quarter reached 690 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.6%
36Kr learned that Mingchuang Youpin released its financial reports for the second quarter and the first half of 2025. The reports show that Mingchuang Youpin's total revenue in the second quarter was 4.97 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%; the adjusted net profit was 690 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.6%. As of June 30, 2025, Mingchuang Youpin had 4,305 domestic stores, with a net increase of 30 in this quarter, and 3,307 overseas stores, with a net increase of 94 in this quarter. Meanwhile, Mingchuang Youpin announced the distribution of an interim dividend of $0.29 per ADS. The total amount of share repurchases and dividend distributions in the first half of the year was approximately 1.07 billion yuan, accounting for 84% of the adjusted net profit. The amount of share repurchases in the first half of the year has exceeded that of the whole year of 2024.
Going public
WEIQ
36Kr learned that WEIQ announced that in order to further promote its global strategic layout, build an international capital operation platform, and enhance the company's international brand image and comprehensive competitiveness, the company is currently planning to issue shares overseas (H shares) and list on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. The company is discussing the specific implementation work of this H-share listing with relevant intermediaries, and the relevant details have not been finalized.
Investment and Financing
Deng Taihua, CEO of Zhiyuan Robotics: It is expected to complete Series C financing before the end of the year
According to Shell Finance, on August 21st, at the first partner conference of Zhiyuan Robotics, Deng Taihua, the chairman and CEO of Zhiyuan Robotics, revealed that it is expected to complete Series C financing by the end of the year and hopes to attract more international industrial investors. He proposed that the world is on the verge of a "major explosion of embodied intelligence." Artificial intelligence is accelerating towards AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). In 2025, embodied intelligent robots will reach an inflection point in commercial development and ultimately become the "next-generation mass intelligent terminal" after mobile phones and cars. (Sina Finance)
"Dream Chaser Aerospace Technology" Secures Over 100 Million Yuan in Additional Financing
36Kr has learned that recently, "Dream Chaser Aerospace Technology" successfully completed two consecutive rounds of financing, totaling over 100 million yuan, including the Pre - A++ round and the strategic round. The Pre - A++ round was led by Chaoxi Capital, with follow - on investments from institutions such as Junshan Capital, Moganshan Fund, and Haibang Fenghua, and continued participation from existing shareholder Xiaochi Capital. The strategic round was exclusively invested by Aviation Investment Fund. This is the second round of financing in the hundreds of millions for Dream Chaser Aerospace Technology in 2025. The funds from this round will be mainly used for airworthiness certification and mass production of the first product, DF600, the development of the manned product DF3000, and team expansion.
Self-driving vehicle company "White Rhino" completes nearly 500 million yuan in Series B financing
36Kr learned that the L4-level autonomous driving company "White Rhino" recently completed its Series B+ financing. So far, the total amount of White Rhino's Series B financing has accumulated to nearly 500 million RMB. In this round of financing, existing shareholders SF Express and Linear Capital continued to participate, and institutions such as Yijun Capital, 360 Fund, and Huatai Zijin also joined as new shareholders. The funds from this round will be mainly invested in three major areas: the R & D of vehicle-grade self-driving vehicles, the continuous iteration of AI technology, and the expansion of commercial scenarios. It is worth noting that after this round of financing, the total Series B financing amount of White Rhino has reached nearly 500 million yuan. Moreover, this is SF Express' third investment within one year since its first capital injection in August 2024.
Compiled | He Yuting