36Kr Evening News | Nokia Reaches Three-Year 5G Cooperation Agreement with Telecom Italia; Sweet Potato Robotics and Fourier Forge In-Depth Strategic Partnership; Alibaba.com Launches AI Mode for Global Markets
Large Companies:
According to media reports, recently, the pet fresh food brand “Pet Freshness” created by Hou Yi, the founder and former CEO of Hema, has witnessed large - scale store closures. After “Pet Freshness” faced large - scale store closures, it was learned from an insider of “Pet Freshness” that “Pet Freshness will launch a new online brand ‘Pet Every Day’ (through the mini - program + e - commerce platform), which is expected to launch at the end of the month and is still in the preliminary preparation stage.” When verifying this with the official of “Pet Freshness”, the other party said, “It's true. ‘Pet Every Day’ is indeed a brand under ‘Pet Freshness’.” However, the other party did not give an official response regarding the specific plan and details of the new brand “Pet Every Day”. (Sina Technology)
Nokia reaches a three - year 5G cooperation agreement with Telecom Italia
Nokia announced on November 17 that it has reached a new three - year agreement with Telecom Italia (TIM) to expand and upgrade the coverage and capacity of its 5G network. This strategic cooperation will cover TIM's customer base in new areas and extend Nokia's existing business territory. (Jiemian)
Morgan Stanley said that it expects the European Central Bank to further cut interest rates in the first half of next year. By the middle of next year, the policy interest rate will be cut from the current 2.00% to 1.50% and remain at that level. Strategists pointed out: “Weak economic growth, lower - than - expected inflation, and limited fiscal stimulus all drive the European Central Bank to further ease monetary policy.” Against this background, Morgan Stanley expects the yield of 10 - year German bonds to be approximately 2.45% by the end of 2026. According to LSEG data, the money market expects the European Central Bank to cut interest rates by nearly 10 basis points in June 2026. (Caixin)
Panasonic sells 80% of its residential division's equity to YKK
On November 17, Japanese manufacturing company YKK and Panasonic signed a share transfer agreement for Panasonic Housing Space Co., Ltd. (PHS). Currently, PHS is wholly - owned by Panasonic. According to the agreement, YKK AP, which is responsible for the building materials business of the YKK Group, and PHS, which is responsible for Panasonic's residential equipment and building materials business, will establish a strategic partnership. According to the agreement, an intermediate holding company to be established by YKK will acquire 80% of the shares of PHS currently held by Panasonic. After that, PHS will become a member of the YKK Group, but Panasonic will continue to hold 20% of the shares of PHS, and the two parties will jointly manage the business of PHS. (Jiemian)
Google promises to invest $2.25 million to support AI data construction in Africa
On November 17, Google promised to invest $2.25 million to help modernize the public data system on the African continent, make it accessible, and prepare it for the AI era. (Jiemian)
XPeng Motors: Expected delivery volume in the fourth quarter is between 125,000 and 132,000 vehicles
36Kr learned that XPeng Motors released its financial report for the third quarter of 2025. The report shows that XPeng Motors expects its revenue in the fourth quarter to be between 21.5 billion and 23 billion yuan, an increase of about 33.5% to 42.8% year - on - year; the expected delivery volume in the fourth quarter is between 125,000 and 132,000 vehicles, an increase of about 36.6% to 44.3% year - on - year.
Alibaba.com launches AI Mode for the global market
36Kr learned that Alibaba.com will launch AI Mode for the global market, using AI agents to help global SMEs automatically execute the cross - border e - commerce procurement process. AI Mode has a deeper understanding of the industry, which can help buyers make faster and more accurate decisions; it can use the capabilities of AI agents to handle trivial tasks with one click, allowing buyers to say goodbye to repetitive work; it can multi - modally mine hidden supply chain information, enabling buyers to make more comprehensive considerations and more accurate matches.
On November 14, Meituan Healthcare and SF Express reached a strategic cooperation in Ezhou, Hubei, and jointly announced the opening of the Meituan pharmaceutical e - commerce air logistics center. Located at Ezhou Huahu International Airport, this center is the first pharmaceutical warehouse in the industry that has “zero - distance” access to the express sorting of the freight airport. Orders on the same day can be sent without transfer and waiting. It has an independent route network and transportation capacity, no longer relying on passenger flights, and can achieve “next - morning delivery” in 35 cities and “next - day delivery” in 318 cities.
36Kr learned that on November 17, CHAGEE, a modern tea - drinking brand, celebrated its 8th anniversary. Data shows that as of June 30, 2025, the cumulative sales of Boya Juexian have exceeded 1.25 billion cups. Currently, CHAGEE has more than 7,000 stores globally, covering countries and regions such as Malaysia and the United States.
Investment and Financing:
TotalEnergies will spend 5.1 billion euros to acquire the equity of EPH's power assets
On November 17, TotalEnergies announced an agreement with the Czech energy group EPH to acquire a 50% stake in its flexible power generation platforms (gas and biomass power plants, batteries) in Western Europe (Italy, the UK and Ireland, the Netherlands, France). According to the agreement, EPH will receive TotalEnergies shares worth 5.1 billion euros, accounting for approximately 4.1% of TotalEnergies' equity. After the completion of the transaction, EPH will become one of the largest shareholders of TotalEnergies. This transaction will establish a joint venture with TotalEnergies and EPH each holding 50% of the equity, which will be responsible for the industrial operation and business development of the assets. At the same time, the two parties will sell their respective shares of the output through tolling agreements. (Jiemian)
On November 17, Momenta and BMW Group jointly announced that the new - generation intelligent driving assistance solution jointly developed by the two parties for the Chinese market will be first installed in the domestic new - generation BMW iX3 and is planned to be mass - produced and launched in 2026. Currently, Momenta and BMW's R & D teams are conducting on - site development and testing collaboratively at four bases in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Nanjing. (Jiemian)
“Good Friend Technology” receives a strategic investment of 100 million yuan from Plum Ventures
36Kr learned that according to Plum Ventures, recently, “Good Friend Technology”, a global intelligent photoelectric sorting enterprise for ores, announced the completion of a strategic financing of 100 million yuan invested by Plum Ventures. The funds will be mainly used to accelerate the large - scale application and iterative upgrading of its “photon technology” in the mineral processing field.
New Products:
Digua Robot reaches in - depth strategic cooperation with Fourier
36Kr learned that according to the official WeChat account of Digua Robot, Digua Robot has reached in - depth strategic cooperation with Fourier. Based on the new domestic high - computing - power platform RDK S600, they will jointly promote the innovation of embodied intelligent interaction. Fourier's first full - size humanoid robot Care - bot GR - 3, which focuses on interactive companionship, will be equipped with RDK S600. Fourier will also become one of the first global strategic partners of Digua Robot's S600.
LG Energy Solution, South Korea's largest battery manufacturer, said on Monday that it plans to start producing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for energy storage systems (ESS) in South Korea in 2027. The company said that it will start building LFP production facilities at its Ochang factory in Chungju, 147 kilometers south of Seoul, this year. The initial production capacity of the new LFP battery production line is 1 gigawatt - hour (GWh), and the production is planned to be gradually increased according to market demand. (Sina Finance)
Today's Views:
Ola Källenius, the CEO of Mercedes - Benz Group, said in a recent interview that considering the infrastructure bottlenecks and the low acceptance of electric vehicles by consumers, the strict deadline for completely phasing out new fuel - powered vehicles in Europe after 2035 is “no longer feasible”. He believes that more flexibility is needed to protect employment and competitiveness, give consumers more choices, and ensure that manufacturers can fund the transformation in a profitable way. “This is not a retreat,” he defended the proposal to relax the 2035 deadline. “It is an upgrade to a smarter strategy - matching Europe's ambitions with a feasible success plan.” (Sina Finance)
Qiu Heng, the CMO of ZHIYUAN ROBOTICS, introduced that currently, ZHIYUAN ROBOTICS has created three major product series for diverse scenarios, with the core support being the “One - body, Three - intelligences” technology system: the in - depth integration of motion intelligence, interaction intelligence, and operation intelligence. In addition, he also emphasized that the company has independently developed the robot operating system “Lingqu OS”, which has encapsulated a large number of core capabilities and is planned to be officially open - sourced by the end of this year. (Sina Finance)
Other Noteworthy News:
36Kr learned that according to the statistical data of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, in October 2025, banks settled foreign exchange worth 1,519.4 billion yuan and sold foreign exchange worth 1,394 billion yuan. From January to October 2025, banks cumulatively settled foreign exchange worth 14,794.1 billion yuan and sold foreign exchange worth 14,220.1 billion yuan. In terms of US dollars, in October 2025, banks settled foreign exchange worth 214.2 billion US dollars and sold foreign exchange worth 196.5 billion US dollars. From January to October 2025, banks cumulatively settled foreign exchange worth 2,067.5 billion US dollars and sold foreign exchange worth 1,986.6 billion US dollars.
The Indonesian government plans to start levying export taxes on gold products next year
A senior official from the Indonesian Ministry of Finance said on Monday that the country is finalizing a plan to levy an export tax of 7.5% to 15% on gold products, which will be implemented sometime next year. Febrio Kacaribu, the Director of Fiscal Strategy at the Indonesian Ministry of Finance, said at a parliamentary hearing that this tax policy aims to levy a higher tax rate on upstream products and a lower tax rate on processed products to encourage domestic processing. He said that the global gold price will also be a factor in determining the export tax. He also said that the government's plan to levy a tax on coal exports is still under discussion. (Sina Finance)