Krstar Evening News | CEO of Qianli Zhijia refutes rumors of leaving the company; Samsung initiates production cuts on the eve of a planned strike
Large Companies:
Suzhou High - tech: Chairman Wang Ping Resigns Due to Personal Reasons
36Kr learned that Suzhou High - tech announced that the company's board of directors recently received a written resignation report from Chairman Wang Ping. Wang Ping applied to resign from his positions as the company's chairman and director due to personal reasons and will not hold any position in the company after resignation. According to the "Company Law", the "Articles of Association" and relevant regulations, the departure of Chairman Wang Ping did not cause the number of the company's board of directors to fall below the legal minimum, which does not affect the normal operation of the company's board of directors and will not have an impact on the company's operations. The company will complete the election of the new chairman and the change of the legal representative as soon as possible in accordance with legal procedures. To ensure the normal operation of the company, Mr. Shen Ming, the vice - chairman and general manager, will act as the chairman and legal representative.
CEO of Qianli Zhijia Refutes Resignation Rumors
On the afternoon of May 14th, in response to the resignation rumors, Chen Qi, the co - CEO of Qianli Zhijia, refuted the rumors, saying, "I'm still in the company, working hard for Qianli Zhijia. Thank you all for your concern." Recently, many media reported that Chen Qi was about to leave and would engage in embodied intelligence entrepreneurship.
UK's ITV Advances Negotiations on Media Business Sale
The UK's Independent Television (ITV) confirmed on May 14th that it is still in "active discussions" with Sky, a subsidiary of Comcast in the United States, regarding the sale of its media and entertainment business unit.
Samsung Initiates Production Cut on the Eve of Planned Strike
It is reported that Samsung Electronics started to cut production on the 14th to prevent any possible quality problems. Different from other industries, chip manufacturers must adjust production and quality control measures before a strike begins to minimize losses. To ensure product quality, production must be reduced in advance.
OpenAI Responds to TanStack Supply - Chain Attack: No User Data Leak Found
On May 14th, OpenAI issued a statement regarding the recent "Mini Shai - Hulud" supply - chain attack on the popular open - source library TanStack. After detecting this malicious attack on multiple commonly used npm packages, the security team quickly checked the internal system, and so far, no evidence of user data leakage or unauthorized access has been found. OpenAI pointed out that although its core services were not directly damaged, to ensure the security of the local environment, all macOS users using its official application must complete software updates by June 12, 2026.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Conducts Mass Layoffs
On May 13th, Takeda Pharmaceutical released its financial report. The company plans to lay off about 4,500 employees in the fiscal year 2026 as part of its corporate restructuring to centralize functions and reduce costs. This layoff accounts for nearly 10% of the total number of employees. Takeda Pharmaceutical said that there will be about 2,200 vacant positions after the layoff, and it will continue to recruit.
On May 14th, Sue Lee, the head of Citi's South Asian markets, said that Citi Group plans to increase the number of employees in its Asia - Pacific prime brokerage business by about 10% this year as one of its important strategies to actively seize the hedge fund business in the region. The expansion focuses on Singapore and India. Citi is recruiting front - office and technical talents in these two countries to strengthen its global platform. This regional layout also echoes Citi's global strategic goal of increasing the asset scale of its prime brokerage business from $450 billion in 2025 to over $700 billion by 2028.
New Products:
Meta to Launch "Stealth Chat" Feature on WhatsApp
Meta Platforms said on Wednesday that it is launching a new "Stealth Chat" feature in the artificial intelligence assistant of its WhatsApp instant messaging service to address users' concerns about data privacy. Meta said that Stealth Chat will rely on private processing technology to ensure that conversations are invisible to anyone, including the company itself. Meta said in a blog post, "Your conversations will not be saved, and messages will automatically disappear by default - this provides you with a space to think and explore ideas without anyone's surveillance."
Investment and Financing:
"Huitte Information" Completes Pre - A Round of Financing Worth Tens of Millions
36Kr learned that recently, "Huitte Information", an intelligent hardware service provider, announced the completion of a Pre - A round of financing worth tens of millions of RMB. The investor in this round of financing is Tengxin Investment. The financing funds will be mainly used for the R & D of wearable vital sign monitoring - related product solutions, the commercial promotion of the B2B supply - chain optimization system, as well as the compliance research of overseas markets, channel expansion, and team building.
Today's Views:
36Kr learned that on May 14th, the latest report from Sensor Tower showed that from Q2 2025 to Q1 2026, the generative AI track became the absolute growth engine in the non - game application market with a year - on - year growth rate of 232% and an income increment of over $4.4 billion. Both the growth rate and scale far exceeded those of all other tracks. The in - app purchase revenue of generative AI mobile applications has entered an exponential growth channel. From less than $60 million in Q1 2023 to $1.9 billion in Q1 2026, the market scale has increased by more than 32 times in three years. From Q2 2025 to Q1 2026, the annual in - app purchase revenue soared by 232% to $6.1 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of over 200%.
Other Noteworthy News:
Ministry of Commerce: China is Willing to Work with the US to Expand the Cooperation List
He Yongqian, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, said at a regular press conference on May 14th that on May 13th local time, He Lifeng, the Chinese leader in China - US economic and trade affairs and the vice - premier of the State Council, held economic and trade consultations with Janet Yellen, the US leader and the US Treasury Secretary, in South Korea. Guided by the important consensus of the two heads of state and adhering to the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win - win cooperation, the two sides had frank, in - depth, and constructive exchanges on resolving economic and trade issues of mutual concern and further expanding practical cooperation. Next, China is willing to work with the US, based on the principles of equality, respect, and reciprocity, to continuously expand the cooperation list, reduce the problem list, and promote the healthy, stable, and sustainable development of China - US economic and trade relations.
China's Commercial Liquid Oxygen Methane Rockets Enter the Stage of Large - scale Application
At 11:00 am today, the improved Zhuque - 2 Y5 carrier rocket was launched from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Experimental Area. The carrier rocket flew normally throughout the process, and the second stage entered the predetermined orbit, successfully completing the flight test mission. This mission is the 7th flight of the Zhuque - 2 carrier rocket. The rocket launched successfully today is the first flight of the extended version of the improved Zhuque - 2 rocket. It has achieved multiple technological upgrades and also marks that China's commercial liquid oxygen methane rockets have entered the stage of large - scale application.
Xi Jinping Meets with US Entrepreneurs Accompanying US President Trump on His Visit to China
On the morning of May 14th, during the talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, who came to China for a state visit, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi Jinping met with US entrepreneurs accompanying Trump. Trump said that he brought outstanding representatives of the US business community on this visit, and they all respect and attach importance to China. He encouraged them to expand cooperation with China. Trump introduced the entrepreneurs one by one to Xi Jinping. The US entrepreneurs said that they attach great importance to the Chinese market, hope to deepen their business in China, and strengthen cooperation with China. Xi Jinping said that US companies are deeply involved in China's reform and opening - up, and both sides have benefited from it. China's door to the outside world will only open wider. China welcomes the US to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation with China and believes that US companies will have a broader prospect in China.