Krypton Evening News ｜ Zhipu: Completed the placement of new H shares, raising approximately HK$31.4 billion; Honor and Alibaba will carry out cooperation on AI agent terminals; Xiaomi's robot has for the first time realized long-term operation of flexible workpieces in automobile factories

Large Companies:

China Shenhua: H1 Net Profit Expected to Rise 6.9%-21.1% Year-on-Year

36Kr learned that China Shenhua announced that its net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company for the first half of 2026 is expected to range from 26.3 billion yuan to 29.8 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.9% to 21.1%. The performance change is mainly driven by the growth in the volume of coal chemical business, as well as the increased throughput of its owned railways, ports, and shipping operations, which has led to a year-on-year rise in profits from related businesses.

China Life: H1 Net Profit Expected to Rise About 215%-235% Year-on-Year

36Kr learned that China Life announced in its public notice that its 2026 interim net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company is projected to range from approximately 128.933 billion yuan to 137.119 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of roughly 215% to 235%. The performance change is mainly driven by the company's continuous deepening of asset-liability coordination, optimization of asset allocation, enhancement of professional investment capabilities, and delivery of strong investment returns.

Accelink Technologies: Q1-H1 Net Profit Expected to Rise 50%-65.15% YoY

36Kr learned that Accelink Technologies announced in its public notice that the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company for the first half of 2026 is projected to be between 559 million yuan and 615 million yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 50% to 65.15%. During the reporting period, driven by the global wave of AI computing power investment that fueled rapid growth in demand for data communication optical modules, combined with increased investment in data center construction by domestic cloud service providers, the company leveraged its comprehensive product portfolio covering all scenarios of data centers and communication networks to effectively support the sustained improvement of its operating performance. A substantial year-on-year increase in net profit is expected.

Meta, Facebook's Parent, Plans $500 Billion Mega Data Center Buildout in the U.S.

Meta announced on the 13th that it will significantly expand the scale of its "Hyperion" data center super cluster project in Richland Parish, Louisiana, USA. The planned capacity of the project will be increased to 5 gigawatts (GW), with a total estimated investment exceeding $500 billion. Industry analysts point out that driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom, tech giants including Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are accelerating their global deployment of computing power infrastructure. (Sina Finance)

Ganfeng Lithium: Expected H1 Net Profit of 3.65 Billion to 4.6 Billion Yuan, Turning Around from Loss Year-on-Year

36Kr learned that Ganfeng Lithium announced in a filing that it projects its net profit for the first half of 2026 to reach 3.65 billion to 4.6 billion yuan, compared to a loss of 531 million yuan in the same period last year. During the reporting period, benefiting from the rapid growth of the global new energy industry, downstream customers' demand for lithium salt increased, driving a significant year-on-year rise in the selling price of the company's lithium salt products. Meanwhile, as production capacity from lithium resource projects is gradually released, the company's cost structure has been effectively optimized. Coupled with the continuous growing demand in the energy storage market, the production and sales volume of the lithium battery segment have increased notably, collectively driving the year-on-year growth of the company's operating performance.

Tencent Cloud: Significant Price Reduction for Billing Items of Cloud Infinite MetaInsight Intelligent Retrieval Product

36Kr learned that Tencent Cloud has announced that it will implement naming standard adjustments and price optimizations for billing items related to Cloud Infinite MetaInsight intelligent retrieval on July 27, 2026. The price of scalar retrieval will be reduced from ¥2 per thousand requests to ¥0.04 per thousand requests, hybrid retrieval will be cut from ¥5 per thousand requests to ¥0.08 per thousand requests, and scalar storage will be lowered from ¥0.06 per thousand units per month to ¥0.04 per thousand units per month, among other adjustments.

De Beers to Suspend Production at South Africa's Largest Diamond Mine

International diamond giant De Beers Group announced on the 13th that it plans to suspend production at the Venetia Diamond Mine in South Africa's Limpopo Province for two years to reduce costs. De Beers stated in a statement on the same day that the company's other mining areas will maintain their current production levels, and the overall production guidance remains unchanged. De Beers Group CEO Al Cook said in the statement that the relevant adjustments are aimed at enhancing the company's operational resilience. This production suspension is part of De Beers' cost-cutting and global business restructuring plan. Since 2024, De Beers has cut annual administrative expenses by more than 100 million US dollars and sold or closed some non-core assets. The Venetia Diamond Mine is South Africa's highest-value diamond mine, accounting for approximately 40% of South Africa's annual diamond output. The mine is located near the borders of Botswana and Zimbabwe and has been in operation for more than 30 years. (Xinhua News Agency)

HONOR and Alibaba to Launch AI Agent Endpoint Partnership

HONOR will host the "From Digital Screens to Embodied Intelligence: A New Paradigm for the Physical World" sub-forum at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference on July 18. In addition to the previously announced world-renowned tech futurist Kevin Kelly, the participation of Xu Zhuhong, Vice President of Alibaba Group and Head of Token Foundry Multimodal Interaction at the ATH Business Group, has sparked industry speculation about future collaborations between the parties. Reporters learned from internal sources at HONOR and Alibaba that the two sides will announce a landmark partnership, with their joint efforts highly likely to focus on the practical implementation of the next-generation endpoint operating system, Agentic OS. According to previously public information, this forum will center on the intelligence level and perceived "living essence" of AI, exploring the evolutionary trend of Agentic OS shifting from a mere "tool" to a trusted "partner". (CLS)

Zhipu Completes Placing of New H Shares, Raising Approximately HK$31.4 Billion

36Kr learned that Zhipu announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the company previously disclosed its plan to place up to 19.78 million new H shares, and the placing has been completed on July 13, 2026. A total of 19.78 million new H shares have been allotted and issued to no less than 6 placees at the placing price of HK$1,588 per share, accounting for approximately 4.25% of the total enlarged issued H shares. The gross proceeds from the placing are approximately HK$31.411 billion, and the net proceeds are approximately HK$31.375 billion.

Investment and Financing:

Qis Plastic Technology Secures Nearly RMB 100 Million in Angel Round Financing

36Kr has learned that Qis Plastic Technology, a manufacturer of desktop-level CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines, has recently completed its angel round financing with nearly 100 million RMB. This round of financing was jointly invested by SenseTime Guoxiang, Shouxing Technology, Holocene, and MiraclePlus. The funds from this round will be primarily used for the R&D, mass production, and subsequent marketing of desktop-level CNC software and hardware products.

"Xinqi Robotics" Completes Series A+ Financing

36Kr has learned that "Xinqi Robotics" recently announced the completion of its Series A+ financing. This marks the third round of financing that Xinqi Robotics has secured within half a year since launching its first market-oriented financing round at the end of 2025. Following the completion of this financing round, Xinqi Robotics' investor roster now includes market-oriented investment institutions such as Matrix Partners China, Woofoo Capital, Yunhui Capital, Houxue Capital, and Synstellation Capital, industrial investors including Agibot and Furende, as well as state-backed capital entities such as Jianfa Emerging Investment, Wuzhong Financial Holding, Zhihui Investment, and Ningbo Angel Investment.

"Dayan Technology" Completes Tens of Millions of Yuan Angel Round Financing

36Kr learned that spatial intelligence company "Dayan Technology" has recently completed an angel round of financing worth tens of millions of yuan, led by Songhe Capital, with participation from state-owned background institutions including Zhejiang Provincial Financial Holdings and Guangzhou Panyu Innovation Fund. The funds will be mainly used for the research and development of tactile large models, the construction of robot data production lines, and team expansion.

New Products:

Xiaomi's Robot Achieves First Long-duration Operation with Flexible Workpieces in Automotive Factory

36Kr learned that on July 14, Xiaomi unveiled the latest progress of its humanoid robot during its "internship" at an automotive manufacturing plant. After four months of continuous iteration, the success rate of Xiaomi's robot in bilateral operations at the self-tapping nut loading station has increased from 90.2% to 98%, just 1 percentage point below the pass rate of manual operations. At the same time, the robot has unlocked two new job tasks - sorting center console side panels and folding and recycling material boxes, with the success rate of both tasks reaching 90%. Among these achievements, the center console side panel sorting station scenario demonstrated by Xiaomi marks the first realization of long-duration continuous operation with flexible workpieces in an automotive factory.

Bilibili AI Creation Open Contest Coin Voting Leaderboard Launched

36Kr has learned that on July 14, Bilibili (Bilibili) officially released the shortlist for the "build in bilibili · AI Creation Open Contest" work coin voting stage. Data shows that just one month after the contest launched, the number of creators submitting entries has reached nearly 5,000, and the average daily search volume of the keyword "vibe coding" on the platform has surged six times. It is worth noting that among the top 10 entries on the current coin voting leaderboard, about half are UP hosts with less than 10,000 followers and no professional development experience, and 2 to 3 seats are occupied by startup teams.

Miniature Brain Implant Uses Temperature to Bidirectionally Modulate Neural Activity

A team from the Korea University College of Medicine has developed a novel brain implant that can bidirectionally regulate neural activity using temperature, opening up new possibilities for next-generation brain-computer interfaces and neurological disease treatments. The related paper was published in the latest issue of Science Advances. (Science and Technology Daily)

Today's Viewpoint:

Leading Quant Firms Respond to "Korea Factor" Rumors: Korean Data Rarely Used in the Industry

After market close on the 13th, a market rumor claiming that "A-share quant strategies have long incorporated South Korean tech stock trends into factor models, triggering chain reactions across different tech sectors in the A-share market" spread widely within the industry. In response, the founder of a quant private equity firm with over 20 billion yuan under management stated: "From an industry perspective, leading domestic quant firms rarely use South Korean data to mine factors. This so-called rumor is nothing more than an amateur 'online gossip piece'. The entire quant industry suffered heavy losses today. I learned after market close that most peers recorded negative excess returns today." Regarding the cause of today's market decline, the aforementioned private equity professional argued: "Markets fall after rising too much and rise after falling too much. There should be no room for conspiracy theories." The general manager of another 10-billion-yuan-level quant private equity firm responded that the rumor is unfair, saying: "If quant firms traded entirely based on the rise and fall of overseas tech stocks, they would inevitably generate negative excess returns over the long term, and most quant firms do not operate this way. The quant industry generally earns excess returns by identifying and holding high-quality companies." Additionally, the founder of a renowned quant private equity firm specializing in quant-neutral strategies also stated that "this claim is completely unfounded". The recent correction in the A-share market over the past few days is largely a reflection of global market correlation and the result of excessively high crowding in tech assets in the earlier period. The private equity professional further emphasized that current valuations of major A-share benchmark indices are reasonable, leaving limited room for further market corrections. (China Securities Journal)

Other Noteworthy News:

Federal EV Tax Credits Axed, California Fires Back With Local Subsidy Policy

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 168 on the 13th, officially launching the state's new zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) instant rebate program. Under SB 168, the California government will allocate $135.5 million in public funds, and require participating automakers to match the amount dollar-for-dollar, creating a total $270 million "first-time electric vehicle buyer" subsidy fund. The new rules allow California households purchasing their first electric car to receive instant cash discounts at the point of sale, no post-purchase tax rebate wait required. (Sina Finance)