8点1氪丨Hainan will become China's first province banning the sale of fuel-powered vehicles; the share-acquisition cost for some employees of Changxin Technology is as low as 0.1 yuan; SK Hynix plummets by 15%

Today's Hotspot Guide

• South Korean court bans two former Samsung employees from working at SK Hynix
• ByteDance explores autonomous driving, led by the Seed World Model team
• Juli Sling issues late-night clarification on unsubstantiated commercial aerospace business rumors, warns of investment risks
• Tech journalist Gurman: Apple to skip M6 Pro/Max chips and go all-in on AI-focused M7 series
• US House of Representatives to vote this week on bill to make daylight saving time permanent

TOP 3 Major News

Hainan to Become China's First Province to Ban Gasoline Vehicle Sales, With Car-to-Charger Ratio Maintained Below 2.5:1

Recently, the Hainan Provincial People's Government released the "15th Five-Year Plan" for Hainan National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone (the "15th Five-Year Plan" for Beautiful Hainan Construction), proposing to steadily advance the ban on the sale of fuel-powered vehicles by 2030. It is expected that the proportion of new energy vehicles in Hainan's total vehicle stock will rise from 23.75% in 2025 to 45% by then. This means Hainan will become China's first province to completely phase out the sale of fuel-powered cars.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Hainan deepened and upgraded its clean energy island initiative, with new energy sources emerging as the province's primary power supply. Hainan ranked first among all provincial-level regions in China in terms of new energy vehicle market penetration, and second in the proportion of new energy vehicles in its total vehicle stock. In the transportation sector, by 2030, 100% of newly added and replaced vehicles in public services and social operation sectors (excluding special-purpose vehicles) will be powered by clean energy, and 100% of newly added and replaced private vehicles will be new energy vehicles. The overall car-to-charger ratio will be kept below 2.5:1. (China News Service)

CXMT Unveils Employee Stock Ownership Plan: Some Staff Get Shares At Just 0.014 USD Per Share

Changxin Technology, a leading domestic memory chip manufacturer, is advancing its IPO on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board. Its prospectus reveals that the company has implemented an employee stock ownership plan in two phases, with total granted shares covering 6,760 person-times. Thousands of core technical, production, and management employees are set to share in the enterprise's growth dividends. The full incentive program has been steadily rolled out in two installments. The first phase, launched in September 2021, spanned nine rounds of grants and benefited 3,596 employees, with a corresponding registered capital valuation of 1.05 yuan per share. The second phase, implemented in June 2023, completed seven rounds of share grants covering 3,164 person-times, with the entry cost as low as 0.108 yuan per share.

The incentive scope is not limited to the management layer. Core R&D personnel, key technical workers on production lines, and core business staff are all included, with a particular focus on the chip R&D team. By the end of 2025, the company had nearly 20,000 employees, with R&D personnel accounting for over 30% of the total. The scale of highly educated talents with master's degrees or above is notable, and equity incentives have become a crucial measure to retain high-end chip professionals.

This employee stock ownership initiative adopts a long-term binding mechanism with multi-layer lock-up periods, guiding employees to achieve long-term synchronized development with the enterprise. In addition, Zhu Yiming, the company's chairman, has made a significant profit-concession commitment, voluntarily contributing 768 million shares from his personal holdings for all-employee incentives. The plan is to distribute these shares to all current employees in batches over ten years. The corresponding market value of these shares is expected to exceed 20 billion yuan, setting a new record for the scale of individual share transfers on the A-share market to incentivize employees. (The Economic Observer)

SK Hynix Plunges 15% as Korean Brokerage Flags Q2 Earnings 'Below Expectations'

On July 13, shares of South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix tumbled more than 15%, dragging the Korean stock market into another circuit breaker and pulling down Asian memory-related stocks. A recent report from local Korean brokerage Korea Investment & Securities (KIS) was regarded as the trigger for SK Hynix's sharp price drop.

In its latest report, KIS forecast that SK Hynix's Q2 operating profit this year will come in slightly below market expectations. However, the firm stated that this is merely a normalization adjustment to earnings forecasts after factoring in long-term supply agreements (LTAs) for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), and does not signify a slowdown in the industry's growth rate.

The sell-off in chip stocks led by SK Hynix has intensified market concerns over whether the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven rally can sustain. After the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8% during the session, the Korea Exchange triggered a circuit breaker, halting trading for 20 minutes — marking the seventh such trigger this year. (CLS, Sina Finance)

Cutting-Edge AI Developments

Meta Announces Additional $40 Billion Investment in Louisiana Data Center

On July 13, Meta announced that it will make an additional $40 billion investment in its Louisiana data center, which is Meta's largest project. (JIEMIAN NEWS)

ByteDance Explores Autonomous Driving, Led by Seed World Model Team

36Kr has learned from multiple industry insiders that ByteDance is exploring entry into the autonomous driving sector. This project is currently overseen by Zhou Chang's world model team under the Seed business unit. It is understood that Seed not only houses teams focused on Zhou Chang's multimodal models and world models, but also conducts research in large language models. The technical paths of autonomous driving and world models share overlapping elements. Other sources told 36Kr that in terms of business direction, ByteDance intends to develop autonomous driving scenarios for unmanned logistics, a service that will fall under the automotive industry line of ByteDance's Volcano Engine division.

Some individuals close to ByteDance indicated that the company's teams have previously held business discussions and exchanges with several leading autonomous driving teams, and the autonomous driving project has now entered an early preparation phase. ByteDance has extended offers to numerous top talents in assisted driving or autonomous driving fields, and some technical professionals who are optimistic about this strategic move plan to join the initiative. In response to the above reports, 36Kr reached out to ByteDance for confirmation, receiving the official reply: "ByteDance's large model frontier exploration areas, including the physical AI domain, involve many early-stage researches and explorations, but there are no plans to launch an intelligent driving business."

Major Companies / Key Events

Juli Sling Late-Night Statement Clarifies Unsubstantiated Commercial Aerospace Business Rumors, Warns of Investment Risks

On July 12, Juli Sling announced that unsubstantiated rumors regarding the company's commercial aerospace business have recently emerged on online platforms, such as claims that it is "the only domestic supplier for net-recovery slings" and that it "signed an order exceeding 2 billion yuan with the Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation." The company clarified that it has never given interviews or made statements on such matters, and it is not the sole supplier for "net-recovery systems" or "aerospace-grade special slings." The announcement states that from the start of 2026 to the date of the disclosure, the company's revenue from commercial aerospace accounts for less than 0.30% of its total revenue, having negligible impact on its operating performance. The company reminds investors to pay attention to investment risks and rely on information released through designated media outlets. (Red Star News)

International crude oil settlement prices surge over 9%, closing at $83.30 per barrel

As of the close on the 13th, the light crude oil futures for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $6.73, closing at $78.14 per barrel, representing a 9.42% increase; the London Brent crude oil futures for September delivery rose by $7.29, closing at $83.30 per barrel, marking a 9.59% gain. (Jin10 Data App)

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower collectively, with most large-cap tech stocks declining

According to 36Kr, at the close on July 13, the three major U.S. stock indexes all fell: the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.26%, the Nasdaq fell 1.55%, and the S&P 500 declined 0.79%. Most large-cap technology stocks posted losses: Arm fell more than 7%, Intel dropped over 6%, SpaceX declined more than 4%, while Nvidia and Tesla fell over 3%, and Meta and Google lost more than 1%. Meanwhile, Microsoft rose over 1%, and Amazon, Apple, and Netflix saw modest gains. Popular Chinese concept stocks traded mixed: Dingdong Maicai and NIO climbed more than 3%, NetEase and JD.com gained over 2%, and Li Auto and Alibaba posted slight increases. In contrast, Baidu and Miniso fell more than 3%, while Bilibili, XPeng, and Tiger Securities saw minor declines.

South Korean Court Bans Two Former Samsung Employees from Working at SK Hynix

According to reports, a South Korean court has partially ruled in favor of Samsung Electronics, prohibiting two former NAND flash design employees from taking positions at SK Hynix. The Suwon District Court ordered that the two ex-Samsung staff members are barred from working for SK Hynix and its affiliated companies until April 30, 2027. Samsung Electronics originally sought enforcement of a two-year non-compete agreement, but the court reduced the restriction period to 18 months. The court stated that the involved NAND flash design technology qualifies as a national core technology, and the two employees previously worked in Samsung's storage division for approximately 10 to 11 years before moving to SK Hynix in February. (Jiemian News)

Shenghong Technology: Related statements circulating online are untrue, and the company's production and shipments are fully normal

36Kr learned from the announcement of Shenghong Technology that the company recently noticed negative rumors about its products, market share, project progress and other aspects circulating on online platforms, which are seriously untrue and have caused considerable adverse impacts on the company.

After verification, the company hereby clarifies and issues a statement on the matters circulating on online platforms as follows: 1. The relevant statements circulating online are untrue. The company is a long-term strategic partner of leading major AI clients at home and abroad. Shenghong Technology has always regarded "quality" and "safety" as the lifeline of the enterprise, and the company manages operations in strict accordance with client standards. 2. At present, the demand for AI-related PCB products is robust, and the company's on-hand orders continue to grow. The company's production and shipments are fully normal, and orders from leading clients keep increasing. 3. The company maintains close communication with core clients, and the R&D iterative products jointly developed with clients are progressing smoothly. Some clients have released their long-term demand plans for 2027 to 2028, and the company is fully confident in its subsequent production, operation and benefit realization.

Sun Dongxu, Mingming, and Tianquan Establish a New Technology Company in Beijing

36Kr has learned from Tianyancha App that Meili Mingtian (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. was recently founded. Its legal representative is Sun Dongxu, with a registered capital of 10 million RMB. The business scope covers technology services, technology development, technology consultation, technology exchange, technology transfer, technology promotion, fresh meat wholesale, aquatic product wholesale, and more. Shareholder information shows that the company is jointly held by Sun Dongxu, Shi Ming, and Guo Tianquan. Sun Dongxu owns 34% of the shares, while Shi Ming and Guo Tianquan each hold 33%.

SpaceX's Starship conducts its 13th test flight on Thursday, marking the first deployment of 20 V3 satellites

SpaceX has announced that Starship will carry out its 13th test flight, with launch opening as early as 18:45 on Thursday and a 90-minute launch window. The primary objectives of this test flight are to verify stage separation, engine performance, and controlled re-entry capabilities, while also deploying 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites equipped with advanced laser links for the first time. Elon Musk previously stated that this test flight will accumulate critical data to support the ocean recovery of the rocket during the 14th test flight. (CLSA)

Commercial Spaceflight Reaches Large-Scale Commercialization Inflection Point, Fund Managers Favor Long-Term Allocation Value of the Sector

At 12:15 on July 10, the Long March 10B carrier rocket lifted off for its maiden flight at Hainan Commercial Spaceport, successfully sending satellites into the predetermined orbit. Approximately 6 minutes after the separation of the first and second stages, the first stage made a vertical return and was successfully recovered via a net-capturing method on the maritime recovery platform "Pioneer", marking China's first controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage, as well as the world's first maritime net-based recovery of a carrier rocket. Boosted by this major breakthrough, the commercial space sector on the A-share market saw a collective rally in the afternoon of July 10. Multiple fund managers stated that the implementation of reusable technology is expected to reduce the unit launch cost by over 40%, effectively alleviating the launch bottleneck for satellite internet constellation deployment. The commercial space industry is now at a critical inflection point transitioning from "technology validation" to "large-scale commercial application", endowing the sector with long-term allocation value. (Securities Times)

Samsung Electronics Plans to Sell 323 Billion Won in Treasury Shares

Samsung Electronics plans to sell 323 billion won worth of its own treasury shares. (CLSA)

Mitsubishi UFJ's Market Cap Surpasses Toyota to Become the Largest in Japan

During trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on July 13, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) saw its market capitalization temporarily reach 42 trillion yen, claiming the top spot among Japanese listed companies by market value for the first time. On that day, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's market cap hit 42.1 trillion yen, surpassing both Toyota Motor Corporation and semiconductor memory maker Kioxia Holdings. (Jiemian News)

US House of Representatives to Vote on Permanent Daylight Saving Time Bill This Week

According to US sources, the United States House of Representatives will vote on a bill to implement permanent daylight saving time this week. However, there remains considerable controversy over this issue within the United States. In May this year, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the Sunshine Protection Act by a vote of 48 to 1. The bill aims to permanently eliminate the twice-annual time adjustment practice in the United States and make daylight saving time year-round permanent. Meanwhile, some members of the United States Senate have threatened that even if the bill passes the House vote, they will veto it in the Senate. (CCTV News)

Mastercard Considers Stake Sale in UK Payments Subsidiary Vocalink

Citing two anonymous sources familiar with the matter, media reports state that Mastercard is exploring the sale of a majority stake in its payment entity Vocalink. Internal discussions at Mastercard remain in the preliminary stage, and no firm acquisition offers have been received to date. A sale of a 51% controlling stake would value the transaction at approximately 400 million British pounds. Mastercard has declined to comment on the matter. (Sina Finance)

Australia to Fully Roll Out Digital Incoming Passenger Card

The Australian Government announced on the 13th that it will fully roll out the digital Incoming Passenger Card to replace the paper-based Incoming Passenger Card, in a bid to improve passenger clearance efficiency. In an official statement, the Australian Government said it will invest 56.1 million Australian dollars over the next four years to advance the modernization of passenger clearance at airports nationwide. The digital Incoming Passenger Card system will be phased in across all international airports and seaports within the next 12 to 18 months. The full implementation of the digital Incoming Passenger Card will streamline the international passenger clearance process, reduce manual operations, enable advance digital collection of passenger information, and improve the quality of risk assessment data, so as to more effectively address potential risks such as biosecurity threats. (Chinanews.com)

Seres Responds to Swing from Profit to Loss, Citing Rising Prices of Materials Including Storage Components as Major Cause

Seres Group recently released an announcement stating that, according to preliminary calculations by its finance department, the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company for the 2026 half-year period is projected to range from -1.8 billion yuan to -1.5 billion yuan, marking a loss compared to the same period of the previous year. In the announcement, Seres Group explained that the performance change is mainly driven by factors including rising prices of key raw materials such as memory chips, industrial metals, and lithium carbonate, which have led to a corresponding increase in the company's production costs. Adhering to the principle of prudence and to further consolidate the overall asset quality, and in light of the expected future returns of the assets, the company has adjusted the book value of some existing assets with limited adaptability due to technological iteration and vehicle model upgrades. Affected by the above factors, the performance of the company's core subsidiary AITO Automobile has fluctuated, shifting from profitability to loss.

Amid this unexpected negative performance news, Seres Group's A-share price dropped sharply shortly after the market opened on the 13th, hitting the 10% daily limit down at 53.91 yuan. Its current market capitalization stands at 91.937 billion yuan, having fallen below the 100 billion yuan threshold. (Sina Tech)

NVIDIA's Quarterly Revenue Nears $100 Billion, Rubin Ultra Architecture Not Delayed

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang recently appeared at a non-deal roadshow hosted by Morgan Stanley in California, USA. Together with CFO Colette Kress and other executives, he sent a clear signal to institutional investors: although the company's quarterly revenue is about to approach 100 billion U.S. dollars, the growth rate has not peaked at all, but is still accelerating continuously. Morgan Stanley believes that NVIDIA's biggest current challenge is no longer "whether there is still demand for AI", but how to convert the huge backlog of orders into actual deliveries and revenue as soon as possible under the constraints of multiple physical resources such as memory, networking, power supply and data center space. (IT Home)

Market Concerns Over Delayed 1.6T Demand, Zhongji Xuchuang Responds

Addressing questions such as "The market is worried that 1.6T demand will be delayed, what is the current demand situation observed by the company?", Zhongji Xuchuang stated on July 12 that the overall industry's 1.6T demand in 2027 remains strong, showing no change compared to the previously expected volume range, and the number of customers has also increased. The industry-wide demand growth for 800G in 2027 is more significant than previously anticipated. From the perspective of overall customer demand, no decline in demand has been observed. The 1.6T demand volume for next year is largely in line with prior expectations, with major changes manifested in the demand structure. While some customers have indeed adjusted their demand downward, new cloud service providers and AI large model customers have simultaneously raised their 1.6T demand. Overall, 1.6T demand has not declined and only presents structural adjustments. (Securities Times)

Middle East Conflict Drives Up Energy Costs, EU Plans Faster Electrification Transition to Cut Oil and Gas Dependence

Since the start of this year, the U.S. and Israeli military strikes against Iran have caused a sharp surge in oil and gas prices across Europe, a region that heavily relies on energy imports. A draft proposal from the European Commission reveals that the EU is planning to roll out a set of policies and funding schemes to reduce the bloc's dependence on oil and natural gas and accelerate the electrification of its economy. The draft is scheduled to be officially released by the European Commission on July 17. Under the proposal, the EU aims to set a target that by 2040, electricity will account for a specified minimum share of the total energy consumption across its entire economy. The draft is still being finalized, and the exact percentage has not been specified. Accelerating the electrification transition means the EU will push for a shift from gasoline and diesel vehicles to electric cars, promote households to replace gas boilers with electric heat pumps, and advance the electrification of industrial processes — for example, replacing fossil fuel-powered furnaces with electricity-driven ones. (CCTV News)

Indonesia to Mandate Ethanol Blending in Gasoline Starting Next Year

The Indonesian government plans to enforce ethanol blending in gasoline starting next year, and will gradually increase the blending ratio. Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia stated that this policy will be implemented following the phased rollout path of biodiesel (B50). (CLS)

Large Corporate Earnings Reports

TSMC: June Revenue Up 67.9% Year-over-Year and 6.2% Month-over-Month

36Kr has learned that TSMC's revenue in June reached NT$442.68 billion, marking a 67.9% year-over-year increase and a 6.2% month-over-month growth. Its total revenue from January to June 2026 stood at NT$2,404.48 billion, representing a 35.6% year-over-year rise.

China State Shipbuilding: H1 Net Profit Forecasted to Surge 212.29% - 273.39% Year-over-Year

36Kr learned that China State Shipbuilding released its performance forecast, estimating the net profit attributable to owners of the parent company in the first half of 2026 to be between 9.2 billion yuan and 11 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 212.29% to 273.39%.

FAW Jiefang: H1 Net Profit Forecasted to Surge 1273.64% - 1528.02% Year-over-Year

36Kr learned that FAW Jiefang released its performance forecast, estimating the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company for the 2026 half-year period to be between 270 million yuan and 320 million yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 1273.64% to 1528.02%.

Western Gold: H1 Net Profit Forecast to Rise 214.87%–258.95% Year-on-Year

36Kr learned that Western Gold released its performance forecast, expecting its net profit attributable to owners of the parent company in the first half of 2026 to reach 500 million yuan to 570 million yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 214.87% to 258.95%.

Financing and Investment

Drug Farm Secures $55 Million in Series D First Tranche Financing

36Kr learned that Drug Farm announced on the 13th the completion of the first tranche of its Series D financing, totaling $55 million. This round was co-led by Shanghai Pudong Leading Zone Investment Center and Shanghai Puxing Coordination Private Equity Fund Partnership. Additional participants included Zhikai Capital Fuzhou Xinhe Fund, Shenzhen Luohu Donghai Ruizhi Pharmaceutical Industry Investment Partnership, and Keyuan Pharmaceutical. Existing investors including BioVeda China Fund, YD Capital, Jiashan State-owned Investment, DT Capital, ReDo Capital, and Biometas also continued to participate. Harmony Link Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor for the transaction. The proceeds from the financing will be used to continuously advance the company's clinical and pre-clinical development pipelines, accelerate global clinical development programs, strengthen regulatory registration efforts in key markets, and further expand the company's R&D capabilities.

"Haiyi AI" Completes Over 100 Million Yuan Series B Financing

36Kr has learned that SeaArt, a global AI full-modality interactive content entertainment platform, recently announced the completion of its Series B financing round with proceeds exceeding 100 million RMB. This round was co-led by Visual China, Huagai Chuangying, and Vertex China, with joint participation from GF Xinde, Tian Tou Capital, Sichuan Venture Capital, and Guangzhou Hewei Yongsheng. The funds raised in this round will be allocated to multi-modal underlying technology R&D, global market expansion, and the incubation of vertical AI applications.

"Mojing Technology" Completes Series A and A+ Round Integrated Financing of 600 Million Yuan

36Kr learned that "Mojing Technology" has announced the completion of its Series A and A+ round integrated financing, with a total funding size of 600 million yuan. Investors include venture capital institutions such as Lenovo Capital, Yida Capital, DT Capital, China Merchants Bank International, and Changshi Capital, as well as state-owned industrial platforms from Wuhu and Zhuhai. As a core optical technology provider for AI+AR glasses, Mojing has completed a total of 13 generations of lightweight AI+AR glasses iterations, covering "9 generations of monochrome models + 4 generations of color models".

Cool Products

World's First: Nankai University Team Successfully Develops Artificial Auditory Nerve

36Kr learned from the announcement of Nankai University that the team led by Professor Xu Wentao from the College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering of Nankai University has recently successfully developed the world's first bionic auditory nerve interface, which provides a brand-new electronic alternative and repair technology path for auditory reconstruction beyond traditional cochlear implants.

Tech Journalist Gurman: Apple to Skip M6 Pro/Max Chips and Go All-In on AI-Focused M7 Series

Technology journalist Mark Gurman revealed that Apple will release the standard M6 chip, but will not launch the higher-tier M6 Pro and M6 Max variants. He stated that this decision, which breaks the company's usual product release rhythm, is driven by artificial intelligence. Apple originally planned to deliver a major upgrade to neural network processing capabilities for the M7 series, but ultimately determined that these improvements are significant enough to accelerate the launch of the next-generation product, rather than completing the full M6 product lineup. (The Paper)

Compiled｜Wang Haoyang