Krypton Evening News | Alibaba 1688 to Launch Open Standards for Interconnected B2B Transactions in the AI Era; Intel and Google Cloud Announce Deepened Strategic Cooperation; Railway Departments Pilot 60-Day Advance Ticket Reservation Service
Big Companies:
Chengda Biotech: High-Dose Split Influenza Vaccine Enters Phase I Clinical Trial
36Kr learned that Chengda Biotech announced that the high-dose split influenza vaccine developed by its wholly-owned subsidiary Chengda Biotech (Benxi) has obtained clinical trial approval from the National Medical Products Administration, completed all preparatory work for Phase I trials, and officially entered the Phase I clinical research stage. With an antigen content four times that of conventional-dose vaccines, this product targets elderly people aged 60 and above and high-risk groups. No similar product has been approved for marketing in China so far, and it is expected to fill the market gap.
Suning.com Partners with AI Players to Deploy Household Service Robots
36Kr learned that Biying Technology, a subsidiary of Suning.com, has been selected for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's AI "Listed Tasks" project, and will cooperate with industrial ecosystem partners to develop smart home care robots. Targeting home care demands amid population aging, this project integrates embodied intelligence technology to explore commercialization paths for household robots.
Alibaba 1688 to Launch Interoperable Open Standards for B2B Transactions in the AI Era
On July 17, at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Alibaba 1688 announced that it will release the Universal Transaction Protocol (UTP) by the end of this month. As AI becomes increasingly capable of handling business operations, B2B transactions are evolving into A2A models, where buyers' AI systems directly connect with factory AI to complete transactions automatically. However, there is a lack of a universally recognized industry transaction protocol for different AI systems. UTP essentially establishes a unified transaction infrastructure for global trade in the A2A era. After its launch, B2B transactions in the A2A era will have a set of interoperable open standards.
Ant Group Demonstrates Three-Tier AI Layout for Agent-Driven Business at WAIC
On July 17, Ant Group showcased its three-tier AI layout for the agent-driven business era at WAIC 2026: the AI application layer, the agent business ecosystem layer, and the underlying technology foundation layer. In the application layer, the health AI "Afu" has exceeded 100 million users, handling over 10 million health consultation requests daily; the AI-powered Alipay version "Abao" has been launched for public beta testing. For the agent business ecosystem, AI payment has supported 300 million agent-based transactions, compatible with 95% of general agent frameworks. At the technology foundation layer, Ant Group displayed progress including the Bailian large model, embodied intelligence products from Lingbo Technology, the OceanBase AI database, and secure and trusted capabilities.
Intel and Google Cloud Announce Deepened Strategic Cooperation
Intel and Google Cloud announced the deepening of their long-term strategic partnership, which will accelerate Intel's company-wide digital transformation through the deployment of Gemini Enterprise and Google Cloud. Intel plans to apply advanced Gemini-powered generative AI to the daily work of its global employees, helping them expand their capabilities and optimize workflows in engineering, supply chain, and enterprise operations. Google Cloud's highly scalable infrastructure will also enhance Intel's semiconductor development environment, introduce customized agent workflows, shorten chip design cycles, and improve cross-departmental collaboration efficiency. (via Jiemian)
SpaceX's 13th Starship Test Flight Aborted Due to Engine Ignition Failure
At 17:45 Central Daylight Time on July 16, during the 13th test launch of SpaceX's heavy-lift rocket Starship at the Boca Chica test site in Texas, the launch was forced to abort when some engines failed to ignite successfully, triggering the automatic abort sequence as the countdown reached zero. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk later confirmed on social media that the system automatically activated the abort command after several Raptor engines failed to start. Musk stated that to ensure the reliability of subsequent flights, the technical team will remove and replace two Raptor engines, with the next launch attempt expected as early as the beginning of next week. (via Sina Finance)
New Products:
WeRide Releases Physical AI Foundation Model WITT
36Kr learned that on July 17, autonomous driving technology company WeRide officially launched its self-developed physical AI cognitive foundation model WeRide WITT. Built on the capabilities of vision-language large models (VLM), WITT introduces the concept of "minimum physical fact unit" for the first time, connects multi-modal information including videos, images, and texts, decomposes continuously changing real scenarios into recognizable and verifiable fact units, and constructs a new-generation AI understanding framework centered on physical facts.
Honeycomb Energy Launches Full-Scenario New Products Including Bee-Short Blade 3.0
36Kr learned that on July 16, Honeycomb Energy held its global partner summit. At the event, the company released a series of full-scenario new products covering power, energy storage, and emerging markets, including the Bee-Short Blade 3.0, hybrid solid-liquid 6C ultra-fast charging cell, and a new high-capacity lithium iron phosphate HEV battery pack. It also announced that its Folding 4.0 technology will achieve mass production and delivery within this year, doubling the lamination efficiency with the technology of stacking 16 sheets simultaneously.
Tongyi's First AI Agent Headset Debuts at WAIC
36Kr learned that on the first day of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Tongyi's first AI agent headset made its official debut. Reportedly, this headset adopts an ear-clip design suitable for all-day wear, integrates the capabilities of the Tongyi AI assistant, supports functions such as simultaneous interpretation, meeting minutes, and health records, delivering a more natural AI interaction experience.
Other Notable News:
36Kr learned that the National Development and Reform Commission has issued the Artificial Intelligence Cooperation and Development Action Plan, which includes eight key initiatives: 1. High-Quality Data Supply Initiative; 2. Intelligent Computing Power Universal Access Initiative; 3. Open-Source Ecosystem Sharing Initiative; 4. Deep AI Empowerment Initiative; 5. Joint Cultivation of Digital-Intelligent Talents Initiative; 6. Co-Construction of Rules and Standards Initiative; 7. Collaborative Security Governance Initiative; 8. AI for Good Initiative.
Xi Jinping Announces Major China Initiatives to Support Global AI Development
Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance at the Shanghai World Expo Center and delivered a keynote speech. Xi Jinping pointed out that with the joint efforts of all parties, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization has been established in Shanghai. This is a major initiative by China in response to the calls of the Global South and uniting the international community to actively promote AI development and governance, which will become an important milestone in the history of AI development. Xi Jinping announced that to further support global AI development and advance global AI capacity building, China will provide 5,000 special AI training slots for developing countries over the next five years; build international AI application cooperation centers for the ASEAN, Arab League, African Union, CELAC, SCO, and BRICS countries; and promote the implementation of the "Mazu" intelligent meteorological early warning solution in 30 countries, to safeguard the well-being of people worldwide and ensure global security. (via Xinhua News Agency)
Railway Authorities Pilot 60-Day Advance Ticket Reservation Service
The Passenger Transport Center of China State Railway Group announced on July 17 that starting from July 20, the railway authorities will launch a new train ticket reservation service on more than 200 trains operating on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway and the conventional Beijing-Shanghai Railway. Passengers can submit reservation demands through the "Reservation for Tickets" section on the 12306 mobile app between the 60th day and the 17th day before train departure, and the 12306 system will fulfill the reservation orders between the 20th day and the 16th day before departure. The transition period runs from July 20 to August 29, during which passengers can reserve tickets for services starting from September 15 and later. From August 30, the 60-day to 17-day advance reservation service will be available on a regular basis. (via Xinhua News Agency)
National Supercomputing Internet Launches Scientific Agent Co-Creation Program
36Kr learned that at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) on July 17, the "Scientific Computing Agent Ecosystem Co-Creation and Developer Recruitment Cooperation Program" launched by the National Supercomputing Internet has drawn widespread industry attention. This six-month program widely collects innovative achievements including agents, scientific research models, MCP tools, and Skills from universities, research institutes, individual developers, and enterprise R&D teams, to build an open and collaborative scientific intelligent ecosystem.