At 8:00, here are the latest news: A well-known chain store was exposed for large-scale sales of counterfeit cigarettes, and 1.3999 million illegal cigarettes have been seized; The complete list of exposures from the "March 15 Gala" was announced; Kimi's valuation has risen to $18 billion.
Today's Hotspot Guide
Yu Donglai's latest response to Fat Donglai's "4 billion asset distribution"
Zhou Hongyi donates 100 million yuan to his alma mater, Xi'an Jiaotong University
The first humanoid robot 4S store in Henan opens, and the rental business is booming
Meta is reported to plan to lay off 20% or more employees
BYD is evaluating entering Formula 1
Top 3 Big News
Meiyijia Headquarters Responds to Reports of Fake Cigarettes Sold in Stores Across Multiple Regions; Guangdong Tobacco Monopoly Administration Has Seized 1.3999 Million Illegal Cigarettes from Meiyijia Stores
On March 14th, a large number of netizens reported that they had bought "fake cigarettes" at Meiyijia convenience stores. A customer service representative from Meiyijia's headquarters told reporters that the headquarters has been actively following up on this matter. "Currently, we are conducting a 'comprehensive' inspection of all 40,000 stores nationwide. If any problematic stores are found, they will be shut down immediately." Regarding the stores reported for selling fake cigarettes, the customer service representative said, "Our company has zero tolerance for such counterfeiting behavior and will impose strict penalties. If the situation is confirmed, we will hold those responsible accountable severely, terminate the cooperation, and will further strengthen supervision in the future to strictly adhere to the bottom line of compliant operation."
According to exclusive information obtained by reporters from Nanfang Daily and Nansfang Plus from the Guangdong Tobacco Monopoly Administration, on the evening of March 14th, the provincial tobacco monopoly administration quickly organized tobacco monopoly administrations at all levels across the province and jointly carried out a special inspection with relevant functional departments on the exposed Meiyijia stores and related stores in the surrounding areas overnight. A full - coverage inspection of Meiyijia stores was also carried out across the province to resolutely and legally crack down on illegal acts that infringe on consumers' rights and interests. As of 15:00 on March 15th, a total of 2,328 law - enforcement personnel were dispatched across the province, 6,325 Meiyijia stores were inspected, 306 tobacco - related illegal cases were investigated, involving 306 stores, and a total of 1.3999 million illegal cigarettes were seized. As of the time of publication on March 15th, the relevant inspection actions across the province are still ongoing. (Jiemian News, Nanfang Daily)
Collection of Exposures from CCTV's 3·15 Gala in 2026
On March 15th, the "3·15" Gala of China Media Group in 2026 was live - broadcast on CCTV Financial Channel at 20:00 on the 15th. CCTV Financial, Yangshipin, CCTV.com, and Economic Voice will broadcast it simultaneously. The main issues exposed in the gala are as follows: Chicken feet are bleached with hydrogen peroxide, and the production workshop of internet - famous chicken feet is disgusting; The so - called internet - famous miracle drug, exosomes, are actually products without proper licenses; Height - increasing institutions use superstition to make crazy profits; Private - domain marketing experts hunt for the elderly with a five - fold profit margin; The rental electric bicycles of Hello and other brands have excessive speeds, violating the new national standards; AI large models "smuggle in private content", and poisoning AI has become an industrial chain; The "stock - recommendation and profit - sharing" scam, where stock - recommendation and profit - sharing institutions have become dens of swindlers. (IT Home)
Kimi is conducting a new round of $1 billion in financing, and its valuation has risen to $18 billion
On March 14th, a reporter from Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily exclusively learned that the latest valuation of Kimi has risen to $18 billion. The company's valuation has quadrupled in three months, and a new round of $1 billion in financing is underway. In less than three months, Kimi has successively completed three rounds of financing, setting a record for the most consecutive financings of domestic large models in recent years, and has become the unicorn company in China with the fastest valuation to exceed $10 billion. (Caixin)
Large Companies/ Major Events
Yu Donglai's latest response to Fat Donglai's "4 billion yuan asset distribution"
On March 14th, Yu Donglai, the founder of Fat Donglai, posted on a social platform to explain the matter of Fat Donglai's "4 billion yuan asset distribution". The statement said that the "4 billion yuan asset distribution" actually follows the distribution system that Fat Donglai has been using for more than twenty years. Since the Dream City store is to be built in the near future, the assets are converted into equity, "to avoid future financial distribution problems and to ensure the clear, safe operation and development of the enterprise". Yu Donglai also mentioned that his share in the distribution is about 5% (approximately 200 million yuan). In addition, Yu Donglai said that there are often individuals on the Internet who deliberately distort the facts and insinuate to create social contradictions, and create false rumors such as looting for free. "In serious cases, we will take legal action to avoid more serious negative impacts on society." (Jiemian News)
Zhou Hongyi Donates 100 Million Yuan to His Alma Mater, Xi'an Jiaotong University
On March 14th, Xi'an Jiaotong University held a donation ceremony titled "130th Anniversary of Xi'an Jiaotong University: Walking Hand in Hand with Love" in Room 101 of the Science Building on the Xingqing Campus. At the ceremony, it was announced that Zhou Hongyi, the founder and chairman of 360 Group and an alumnus of Xi'an Jiaotong University, donated 100 million yuan to his alma mater. (Sina Finance)
9.41 billion person - trips: The Spring Festival travel rush in 2026 sets a new historical record
On March 14th, data from the Ministry of Transport showed that during the 40 - day Spring Festival travel rush in 2026 (from February 2nd to March 13th), the cross - regional population mobility across the society reached 9.41 billion person - trips, a 4.3% increase compared with the Spring Festival travel rush in 2025, setting a new historical record. The overall situation was safe, stable and orderly, and the mobile China was full of vitality. (Securities Times)
Multiple "Liu Wenxiang Malatang" Stores in Different Regions Raided for Substituting Inferior Ingredients
The topic of "Liu Wenxiang selling duck meat as pork and beef" has hit the hot search. After investigation by some media, it was found that many Liu Wenxiang stores had problems such as substituting inferior ingredients and chaotic labeling. It is understood that the fat - beef rolls in a Liu Wenxiang store in Xiamen, Fujian, were labeled as "fat - beef/beef" on the food delivery platform, and the clerk also claimed they were beef. In fact, the product packaging bag showed that they were duck meat. A store in Zhangzhou, Fujian, also had similar violations. On the evening of March 14th, market supervision departments in multiple regions of Fujian launched operations to conduct surprise inspections on Liu Wenxiang stores. Currently, some of the involved stores have been required to make immediate rectifications. The market supervision department stated that it will strictly investigate and punish the acts of passing off fakes as genuine and false advertising in accordance with the law, and conduct a comprehensive inspection of all chain stores in the jurisdiction. (CCTV News)
Hello Response to Being Named: The Platform Has Never Directly Operated Offline Stores
36Kr learned that on the evening of March 15th, the CCTV "3·15" Gala exposed the rental of electric bicycles, including Hello's electric bike rental service. In response, the Hello electric bike rental platform issued an "Apology Statement", stating that the Hello electric bike rental business adopts a platform model, providing information matching services for users and merchants. The Hello electric bike rental platform has never directly operated offline stores, and all the vehicles in the platform's stores are purchased and operated by the settled merchants themselves. The above statement indicates that Hello continuously reminds merchants through the merchant side and conducts store spot-checks, requiring each merchant to ensure that the rented vehicles comply with the current national laws, regulations and relevant standard requirements, not to carry out illegal modifications to the vehicles, and regularly requires merchants to conduct self-inspections and rectifications on the vehicles under their operation. The reports in the CCTV "3·15" Gala show that there are omissions in its review mechanism or management. They will take this incident as a warning, conduct in-depth self-reflection, resolutely carry out rectifications, and respond to users' trust with practical actions.
ByteDance Responds to Lay - off Rumors at Wuhan R & D Center: It's False
On March 14th, recently, there were online rumors that ByteDance's Wuhan R & D center would officially close in mid - June. ByteDance responded that based on recent business adjustments, 50 employees will change their workplaces. The so - called "all employees in ByteDance's Wuhan office have been laid off" online is false. Currently, ByteDance has more than 2,000 employees in Wuhan, covering multiple businesses such as local services, Dongchedi, Feishu, OceanEngine, and Volcengine. It will continue to increase its investment in Hubei. (Caixin)
Fat Donglai Responds to "Canthaxanthin Detected in Eggs": Purchase Procedures Are Complete, and It Is Undergoing Third - Party Re - inspection and Investigation by Market Supervision Department
36Kr learned that on March 15th, Fat Donglai issued a statement regarding the situation that "Wang Hai's Evaluation" reported that canthaxanthin was detected in the fresh eggs sold by Fat Donglai. It mentioned that canthaxanthin is a natural or synthetic carotenoid, widely present in animals and plants such as algae, mushrooms, and fish, and can be used as a feed additive. Currently, there are no relevant national regulations and requirements for the limit of canthaxanthin in fresh egg products. All the fresh eggs sold in the store are legally purchased through regular channels with complete purchase procedures and qualified test reports. Moreover, Fat Donglai's testing center conducts regular spot - checks on fresh eggs once a week, and the test results are all publicized in the store. The product quality is qualified and meets national standards. To ensure product quality and safety and protect consumers' rights and interests, we have sent the brands of fresh eggs sold in the store to Merieux NutriSciences (Qingdao) Co., Ltd., SGS - CSTC Standards Technical Services (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., and Henan Huace Testing Technology Co., Ltd. for comprehensive re - inspection of the fresh eggs. The market supervision department has visited the store to check the compliance of product purchases and conduct sampling tests on fresh eggs of various brands. At the same time, the manufacturers of fresh eggs of each brand are cooperating with the local market supervision department to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the breeding factories.
Sharp Fluctuations in Oil Prices Amplify Sector Rotation in A-shares, and Related Thematic Funds "Rise and Fall Alternately"
Recently, the sharp fluctuations in international oil prices have become the core variable stirring up the A-share market. They have not only significantly accelerated the pace of sector rotation but also given rise to a "polar opposite" market situation between the previously popular technology growth track and energy-related sectors. This, in turn, has led to a sharp differentiation in the performance of thematic funds. Data shows that since March, the highest return rate of energy-themed funds has exceeded 34%, while the maximum drawdown of some funds in the technology growth track has exceeded 14%, and the performance gap between the best and the worst has exceeded 49 percentage points. Behind this "scissors gap" is the rapid migration of funds between sectors, reflecting a deep-seated switch in the market pricing logic. Understanding the internal logic of sector rotation and grasping potential risks and opportunities have become the keys to current investment decisions. (Securities Times)
The "Thousand-Person Lobster Conference" in Longgang, Shenzhen, is a huge hit, with people lining up to get lobsters at the scene
On March 14, reporters visited the Shenzhen Robot Theater and found that the "Thousand-Person Lobster Conference" jointly created by Longgang District of Shenzhen and Kimi was extremely popular. Nearly an hour after the event started, there were still many citizens on the waiting list at the entrance waiting for available spots to enter. It is understood that the forum will answer questions such as what the use of lobster farming is, how to farm lobsters safely, how high the token cost is, and how to get started quickly. There are also lobster installation stalls and network service points of China Telecom and China Unicom outside the venue. A volunteer informed the citizens in the long queue in advance, saying, "Those who don't bring a computer don't need to queue. Those with 360 or Tencent PC Manager in their computers should uninstall them first." The "World's First AI 6S Store" on one side of the robot theater provides free lobster installation services from March 11 - 17. The staff introduced, "We can't handle all the installations now. You need to make an appointment first. We've already released 300 numbers, and we're not sure when we'll release more numbers later." (Caixin)
Tang Jing of Li Auto: The completion rate of the MEGA battery recall has exceeded 97.5%
On March 15, Tang Jing, the person in charge of Li Auto's product line, announced the latest progress of the MEGA battery recall. As of now, the recall completion rate has exceeded 97.5% (a total of 11,411 units, with 11,128 units already replaced). Currently, there are still 283 owners who haven't completed the replacement. "Although there was an early warning from the cloud - based safety system, there are still potential safety hazards. It is still recommended to replace the components as soon as possible," said Tang Jing. On October 31, 2025, Li Auto announced the voluntary recall of some 2024 - model Li MEGA electric vehicles, a total of 11,411 units. In the vehicles within the scope of this recall, due to the insufficient anti - corrosion performance of the coolant in this batch, under specific conditions, it will cause corrosion and leakage of the cooling aluminum plates of the power battery and the front motor controller in the cooling circuit, resulting in the vehicle's fault light being illuminated, power limitation, and the inability to power on. In extreme cases, it may cause thermal runaway of the power battery, posing a safety hazard. The company will replace the coolant, power battery, and front motor controller for free in the vehicles within the recall scope. (Jiemian News)
The National Internet Finance Association of China Issues "Risk Warning on the Application Security of OpenClaw in the Internet Finance Industry"
36Kr learned that the National Internet Finance Association of China has warned that although the OpenClaw intelligent agent can improve work efficiency, its default high system privileges and weak security configuration can easily be exploited by attackers, becoming a breakthrough point for stealing sensitive data or illegally manipulating transactions, posing severe risk challenges to the industry. The National Internet Finance Association of China suggests that financial consumers should be extremely cautious when installing OpenClaw on terminals used for personal financial services such as online banking, securities trading, and payments. If installation is necessary, it is recommended not to grant operation permissions to financial service systems, keep track of OpenClaw vulnerability fixes in a timely manner, strictly control the installation of functional plugins, and avoid entering sensitive information such as ID card numbers, bank card numbers, and payment passwords when using it. In addition, since such applications continuously call large - model interfaces during operation, they may incur high Token fees. Users are advised to pay close attention to this.
The pass rate of sampling inspections for bulk food has exceeded 99% for four consecutive years, and the overall level of food safety continues to improve
On March 14th, according to the Food Safety Office of the State Council, in 2025, the pass rate of supervision and sampling inspections for bulk foods such as rice, flour, oil, meat, eggs, and milk in the country was 99.37%, remaining stable above 99% for four consecutive years. The overall level of food safety continues to improve. A total of 1.155 million food safety directors and 9.492 million food safety officers have been assigned to food production and operation enterprises across the country, with a coverage rate of 100% for food enterprises above a certain scale, achieving clear responsibilities for individuals and positions and precise risk prevention and control. The Food Safety Office of the State Council has continuously promoted the construction of the "Internet + Transparent Kitchen" in schools. Currently, the coverage rate of the "Internet + Transparent Kitchen" in self - operated canteens of primary and secondary schools across the country has reached 99%, and the coverage rate of off - campus food suppliers has reached 100%, effectively improving the efficiency of campus food safety governance. (CCTV News)
The first humanoid robot 4S store in Henan opens, and the rental business is booming
The first humanoid robot 4S store in Henan officially opened in Zhengzhou on the 15th. On that day, reporters saw at this robot 4S store that it gathered a variety of mainstream products from leading Chinese robot companies such as Unitree, Zhipu AI, and Leju. It not only displays, rents, and sells humanoid robot products, but also provides supporting services such as data collection, scenario training, model iteration, and after - sales operation and maintenance. "Customers can compare multiple mainstream models like choosing a car, test the performance in real - world scenarios, and obtain customized training programs, which greatly reduces the usage threshold and risks," said Chen Yang, the business manager of Henan Embodied Intelligence Industry Development Co., Ltd., which is responsible for operating the robot 4S store, in an interview. Since the store started its trial operation at the end of January this year, the rental business has been booming. (Securities Times)
State Administration for Market Regulation: A total of 44,500 advertising violation cases were investigated and dealt with in 2025, with fines and confiscations amounting to 252 million yuan
On March 14, 2025, the State Administration for Market Regulation effectively strengthened law - enforcement in advertising supervision, refined and improved advertising supervision rules, and carried out solid actions to assist enterprises in advertising compliance. Throughout the year, a total of 44,500 advertising violation cases were investigated and dealt with, and fines and confiscations reached 252 million yuan, effectively safeguarding the order of the advertising market and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. To safeguard consumer safety, supervision never stops. Market supervision departments at all levels will continue to adhere to the principle of balancing supervision and standardization with promotion of development, and continue to make efforts in rectifying the advertising market order, improving supervision rules, and strictly investigating illegal advertisements. With tangible supervision results, they will safeguard the public's "wallets" and social credibility, and provide strong support for worry - free consumption, fair competition, and high - quality development. (Securities Times)
BYD is evaluating entering Formula 1
Reporters confirmed from an informed source close to BYD that Li Ke, the company's executive vice president, said recently that BYD is studying the possibility of entering the top - level competitive racing field, including Formula 1 (the FIA Formula One World Championship), but no final decision has been made yet. Li Ke said that participating in the world's highest - level racing events is in line with BYD's long - standing technology - first strategy. According to Li Ke, BYD is still evaluating the feasibility of entering Formula 1 and endurance races. More sources said that BYD is considering two ways to enter Formula 1: acquiring an existing team or building a brand - new team from scratch, and the company prefers the former. (Yicai Global)
Gold leasing turns into usury with an annual interest rate over 10 times
Recently, some platforms have disguisedly carried out "usury" by "leasing" or installment-purchasing physical items such as mobile phones and gold. A service provider of a gold leasing platform told reporters that by investing 30,000 - 50,000 yuan in franchise fees, one can obtain an annual return of over 1000%. Its target customers are mainly individual merchants with stable cash flows, food delivery riders, and even those who "use loans to repay loans". The service provider revealed that the platform can connect with notary offices. After paying a 20% commission to the notary department, it can handle "notarization with enforceable force" for contracts related to mobile phones, gold, cars, etc. The so-called "notarization with enforceable force" refers to legal documents that are given the force of compulsory execution. Once such notarization is made, it has legal effect. The service provider said that with the notarization certificate, there is no need to sue in court in case of default, and an enforcement order can be directly issued. (Sina Finance)
A large number of intelligent robots are showcased at the China Household Appliances and Consumer Electronics Expo
At the 2026 China Household Appliances and Consumer Electronics Expo being held in Shanghai, a large number of intelligent robots are on display, fully demonstrating China's strength in AI manufacturing. Data shows that in 2025, the global shipments of humanoid robots were close to 18,000 units. Among them, as the main application market for humanoid robots, China is expected to expand its application scenarios to more than three times the current level in 2026, with the market scale approaching 9 billion RMB. Data shows that since February, the number of users searching for "robots" has increased by 25 times. Humanoid robots are widely favored by users, with the user attention increasing by more than a hundred times, and the page views of quadruped and exoskeleton robots have increased by nearly ten times. (Caixin Press)
Survey: The probability that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged this week is 99.2%
According to the CME "FedWatch": The probability that the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points this week is 0.8%, and the probability of keeping interest rates unchanged is 99.2%. The probability that the Fed will cut interest rates by a cumulative 25 basis points by April is 6.9%, the probability of keeping interest rates unchanged is 93%, and the probability of a cumulative 50 - basis - point interest rate cut is 0%. The probability of a cumulative 25 - basis - point interest rate cut by June is 24.7%. (Jiemian News)
Meta Reportedly Plans to Lay Off 20% or More Employees
According to reports from Reuters and other media on the 14th, US tech giant Meta is planning a large-scale layoff, with the layoff ratio possibly reaching 20% or even higher. The purpose is to cut costs, offset the huge investment in AI infrastructure, and prepare for the efficiency improvement brought by AI-assisted work. The company announced a plan to invest $600 billion in data center construction by 2028 and spent at least billions of dollars on multiple acquisitions. To assemble a team, Meta also offered top AI researchers a four-year compensation package worth hundreds of millions of dollars. At the same time, the company's demand for efficiency improvement has also accelerated the layoff to some extent. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in January this year that he found that projects that used to require a large team can now be completed by a very talented individual. These remarks seem to have foreshadowed the layoff. (e Company)
SpaceX is reported to plan to assign IPO - related work to multiple banks
It is reported that SpaceX is adopting an unconventional initial public offering (IPO) strategy by allocating responsibilities to a larger group of investment banks. SpaceX has discussed having Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs handle the placement of shares to institutional investors, while Bank of America and Citibank will be responsible for selling shares to individual investors. SpaceX has also hired JPMorgan Chase as an advisor for this IPO. This structure reflects the expected scale of this IPO, which is anticipated to raise tens of billions of dollars, far exceeding most IPOs. It is reported that SpaceX plans to raise funds from individual investors globally. In the currently discussed structure, Bank of America may mainly be responsible for investors in the United States, while Citibank will coordinate international banks to sell shares to overseas individual investors. (Caixin)
The forefront of AI
DingTalk May Release Multiple AI Hardware Products
36Kr learned that DingTalk is expected to launch multiple new products at the press conference on March 17, covering more than one hardware category. If the news is true, this will be DingTalk's largest move in the hardware field since it launched the AI recording card DingTalk A1 last year.
Yuewen Writer Assistant Claw Launches Closed Beta
36Kr learned that on March 15th, "Writer Assistant", a professional online literature writing tool under Yuewen Group, announced that Writer Assistant Claw has launched a closed beta. Writer users can complete the installation and deployment with one click, adopt an exclusive AI agent, and use various exclusive skills that are deeply tailored to the online literature writing scenarios.
The 2026 GDC will be held in the United States, with over 100 sessions sharing AI-related topics
36Kr learned that the 2026 Game Developers Conference (abbreviated as "GDC") will be held in San Francisco, the United States. Official data shows that during the five-day conference, more than 30,000 industry practitioners participated on-site, and there were over 700 topic sharing sessions and activities held. Among them, there were over 100 sessions sharing AI-related topics, a growth of over 110% compared to 2025. This year's conference attracted more than 400 technology and game companies from around the world to participate, including Tencent, Google, Apple, NVIDIA, Meta, Sony, Microsoft, etc. This year, nine Chinese companies brought a total of 27 sessions sharing AI-related topics, among which Tencent Games accounted for 21 sessions.
Financial reports of large companies
Dongyangguang Medicine: Expected net profit attributable to the parent company to reach 270 million yuan in 2025, turning losses into profits year-on-year
On March 13th, Guangdong Dongyangguang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. issued an announcement stating that based on the Group's unaudited management accounts and preliminary estimates by the management, it is expected that the net profit attributable to the parent company for the year ended December 31, 2025, will be approximately 270 million yuan. Compared with the net loss attributable to the parent company of approximately 210 million yuan in the same period of the previous year, the company will turn losses into profits, with the net profit increasing significantly by approximately 228.57% year-on-year. (China Securities Journal)
Questionnaire Collection for the "Cyber Incinerator"
It's time to "burn" some things. This Tomb-Sweeping Festival, we've built a cyber incinerator to help everyone "burn" those things that you want to get rid of in reality but can't: it could be an unforgettable ex, a demanding and difficult boss, the stubborn fat on your body, insomnia at 3 a.m., the voice in your head saying "What will others think of me", or the monthly rent reminder on WeChat...
In short, as long as it causes you trouble, you can throw it in to be "burned". This is a farewell ceremony and also an emotional unload. If you also have people, things, or objects you want to say goodbye to, welcome to scan the QR code below or click Read the Original Article at the end of the article. Let's throw it into the incinerator together and embrace the self in spring who doesn't have to carry too much.
Questionnaire Collection for the "Cyber Incinerator"
Compiled | Baby Chinese Cabbage