Weilong Apologizes for Product Weight Issues and Initiates Self-Inspection

On May 23rd, Weilong's official account issued an apology to consumers, expressing deep regret over the recent issue of the 15g Konjac snack weighing less than advertised. Weilong emphasized that product quality is a core indicator of the brand's importance and has actively communicated with the complaining consumers, reaching a proper resolution in accordance with regulations. Meanwhile, the company immediately conducted a comprehensive internal self-inspection, focusing on checking every aspect of product production and quality control to prevent such incidents from happening again.

Japan's Lawson Announces Upcoming Delisting

According to reports, Japanese convenience store giant Lawson (LAWSON) plans to announce its delisting at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to be held in July, expecting to formally withdraw from the market on July 24th. Earlier in February of this year, Japanese telecommunications operator KDDI announced a plan to initiate a public acquisition of Lawson. With the completion of the acquisition, KDDI and Mitsubishi Corporation will each hold 50% of Lawson's shares.

Bilibili Responds to Playback Duration Indicator Issue and Apologizes

Bilibili's community and product leader Fang Fang responded to feedback from content creators and users and issued a formal apology on behalf of the team. Following discontent from content creator Ah test about Bilibili's product, Fang Fang stated that Bilibili has decided to cancel the update version of the externally shown playback duration indicator. This decision was made because the earlier plan was too idealistic and confident and did not sufficiently anticipate external feedback and comprehension. Nevertheless, he made it clear that playback duration is still an important consideration in the current recommendation algorithm.

Evergrande Auto Faces Huge Demand for Subsidy Repayment

On the evening of May 22nd, Evergrande Auto issued an announcement informing that its subsidiary Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Investment Holding Group Limited received a letter from local administrative departments. The letterContent indicated that as Evergrande had not fulfilled the terms of the cooperation agreement previously signed with the local government, the relevant departments plan to request Evergrande to terminate the agreement and return approximately 1.9 billion RMB in awards and subsidies, according to legal provisions. Evergrande Auto is planning to coordinate with the relevant local administrative departments on this matter and has clarified that if this requirement is ultimately implemented, it will have a severe adverse effect on the company's finances and operations.

Officials Respond to Widespread Scratching Ticket Shortages

In response to the heated discussions triggered by the "widespread scratch card shortages," customer service personnel from the China Welfare Lottery Center stated that solving this issue will take some time. Currently, the China Welfare Lottery Center is understanding the specifics of the situation and directing provincial and municipal lottery agencies to optimize the mechanism to ensure the supply of instant tickets.

During recent discussions among netizens, the issue of "instant lottery ticket shortages" has become a focal point. According to customer service personnel from the China Sports Lottery Center, this phenomenon may be due to some provincial and municipal sports lottery centers designing distribution rules in conjunction with local conditions, based on various factors, and the allocation and ordering of lottery tickets will be in accordance with the rules of the local sports lottery centers.

On the other hand, the sales performance of the internet celebrity Wang Hongquanxing has also attracted widespread attention. According to the latest reports, Wang Hongquanxing was banned from multiple social platforms due to the success of his live sales, which followed his display of a luxurious lifestyle on social media. Data shows that in the past three months, Wang Hongquanxing’s live sales exceeded 25 million yuan, with an average sales revenue of 2.5 to 5 million yuan per session. The high-priced items he sold include skincare products with a price tag of nearly 3000 yuan and premium shampoos, which clearly support his "rich" label.

For the semiconductor industry, the continuous rise in memory chip prices is an undeniable trend. Since the beginning of this year, their prices have risen by about 50% compared to last year. Some storage companies have already received notices about price increases from upstream suppliers, and market forecasts predict that memory chip prices will continue to rise in the second quarter of this year, with new contract prices for DRAM expected to increase by 13% to 18%.

Regarding financial markets, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon shared his views on the current Federal Reserve policy. He believes that due to the government's spending policies, the US economy has shown resilience, and he hasn't seen enough data to support the Fed cutting interest rates this year. "I currently expect zero rate cuts this year," he said at an event. Solomon pointed out that although the economy has shown resilience, consumers have started to feel the pressure of rising prices, as reflected in earnings reports from companies like McDonald's, showing restraint in consumer spending.

At the level of national policy, the National Development and Reform Commission and the central bank, among four departments, jointly issued a notice that clearly states they will promote a stable reduction in loan interest rates. The notice mentions continued use of the loan market quotation rate (LPR) and deposit rate market adjustment mechanism in order to help reduce the relative cost of social financing while maintaining a basically stable net interest margin for commercial banks. It also emphasizes the importance of implementing supporting policies for technological innovation and manufacturing development, including appropriately reducing import tariffs and other measures.

Finally, looking at the latest stock market dynamics, the three major US indices showed a downward trend at the close on May 23. Specifically, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 1.53%, the Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.39%, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell by 0.74%.

In recent stock market movements, large tech stocks have been observed to fall. Notably, among these tech giants, Nvidia's performance has been stellar, with its stock price climbing more than 9%. In stark contrast, Tesla's stock fell more than 3%, and Apple's stock also slipped more than 2%. Google and Amazon's fell more than 1%, while Microsoft, Netflix, and Meta also saw varying degrees of decline.

In the realm of Chinese concept stocks, most shares experienced setbacks. Among them, Bilibili's stock price fell by over 12%, NIO's fell by more than 8%, and both Xpeng Motors and Li Auto saw their shares drop over 7% and 5% respectively. At the same time, stocks of both Jidu Automotive and Alibaba fell by more than 2%. On the other hand, the share prices of Dingdong Maicai and Pinduoduo rose by over 5% and 4% respectively, while the shares of Miniso also increased by nearly 1%.

In the global supply chain sector, Lenovo Group's achievements have garnered much attention. In the recently announced Gartner Top 25 supply chain rankings for 2024, Lenovo not only made it into the top 10 for the third consecutive year but also continued to maintain its position as number one in the Asia-Pacific region, becoming the only high-tech manufacturing company on the list from China and the entire Asia-Pacific region. This marks Lenovo's 10th appearance on the list, further cementing its record as the Chinese company with the most appearances.

Discussing financing for real estate companies, Vanke achieved a significant funding breakthrough. Vanke reached an agreement with China Merchants Bank and other leading financial institutions, successfully securing a syndicated loan facility of up to 20 billion, with the collateral being Vanke's Wanwei Logistics shares. To date, 10 billion has been received. Vanke stated, the funds will help further strengthen liquidity and also demonstrate the strong support of financial institutions for Vanke.

At the national level, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, this year central enterprises will contribute over 10 billion yuan in support of purchasing and aiding the sale of agricultural products. This will be achieved through multiple online and offline channels, with plans to invest no less than 4 billion yuan in various support efforts for rural revitalization, such as industry cultivation, talent training, and key areas including healthcare and education.

In the field of artificial intelligence, OpenAI has established a content partnership with News Corp. This agreement allows OpenAI to use News Corp's content resources to enrich its products and better answer user questions.

Lastly, in response to speculation that new regulations from U.S. authorities might affect Wall Street employees' weekly work patterns, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) addressed such reports. Officials stated that current regulations do not require registered personnel to work five days a week in the office; instead, the intent is to give companies greater work flexibility while allowing employees to work from home.

Global AI leader NVIDIA recently announced its financial report for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2025, ending April 28. In addition to releasing the financial report, the company also announced a stock split plan. The shares will be distributed at a 1-for-10 ratio, meaning each shareholder holding shares by the close of business on June 7 (Friday) will receive an additional 9 shares of NVIDIA common stock. Subsequently, on June 10 (Monday), NVIDIA's stock will begin trading at the post-split price. In the span of the last six months, NVIDIA's stock made a leap from a hundred-dollar level to nearly 1000 dollars. The split could make NVIDIA's shares more accessible to investors and is often regarded as a positive signal in the stock market. Additionally, NVIDIA has announced that its cash dividend will increase from 0.04 dollars per share to 0.10 dollars, which, after adjusting for the stock split, equates to 0.01 dollars per share. In the first quarter, NVIDIA repurchased shares worth a total of 7.7 billion dollars and paid dividends of 98 million dollars.

In a significant move to expedite the building of a European version of SpaceX, the European Space Agency (ESA) took a crucial step on May 22 local time, selecting two companies to collaborate on the development of commercial cargo services to the International Space Station. The two selected companies are the Franco-German start-up Exploration Company and the Franco-Italian space systems provider Thales Alenia Space. This indicates that ESA is adopting a new commercial strategy, similar to the tactic NASA used 20 years ago: purchasing commercial flight services instead of directly developing rockets and spacecraft.

UBS Group recently surveyed 320 independent family offices around the world and concluded that the future investment focus of family offices will be concentrated in North America and the Asia Pacific region (excluding Greater China), with more than a third of respondents indicating plans to increase asset allocation in these regions over the next five years. In contrast, 16% of respondents expressed an intention to increase investment in Greater China. The survey also found that family offices in North Asia held a higher proportion of cash and had the most asset allocation to Greater China. Regarding future investment intentions in the field of artificial intelligence, North Asian family offices showed a high level of enthusiasm, with the expectation that this would become a focus of investment in the region over the next 2 to 3 years.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang recently stated that he expects the company's Blackwell architecture chips to bring substantial revenue this year. The chips are scheduled to start shipping in the second quarter and are expected to ramp up production in the third quarter. Additionally, the company predicts that demand for the Hopper architecture chips will continue to increase in this quarter.

The South Korean government has announced a chip industry support plan worth 26 trillion won (approximately 19 billion U.S. dollars), including 17 trillion won in fiscal funding and tax breaks to promote the development of the country's semiconductor industry, according to a statement from the president's office on May 23.

Petrobras, the Brazilian national oil company, announced that based on a thorough analysis by the Board of Directors' personnel committee, Magda Chambriard, former director of the National Petroleum Agency, satisfies the company's governance regulations and corresponding legal conditions, thus qualifying to serve as a member of the Board of Directors and CEO. The company's Board plans to hold a related meeting on May 24.

At the European Tech Innovation Exhibition in Paris, Robin Li, the founder and CEO of Baidu, pointed out that the main difference between Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) and that of Western countries lies in practical application scenarios, which have driven the rapid progress of China's AI. He also shared that since its launch, Baidu's AI product "Wenxin Yiyan" has reached 200 million users, including tens of millions using Baidu's search and Baidu Wenku's AI features daily. With the increase in user numbers, new forms of AI applications will gradually develop, eventually becoming a super app with over 100 million active daily users.

Recently, OpenAI's artificial intelligence program ChatGPT has shown problems with its internet search function, and according to OpenAI, the team is conducting a detailed investigation.

It is understood that social media giant Meta Platforms is in talks with media publishers to explore the use of their content to train artificial intelligence models. These discussions are still in the early stages and may include partnership building, product development, and legal affairs in the future.

The large model application product WAI under Weimob Group announced the launch of intelligent business operation functions, expanding the application scope of "SaaS+AI". Specifically, the product has added three capabilities based on the large-scale artificial intelligence model: intelligent strategy, proactive recommendation, and multi-agent. It is dedicated to assisting merchants in achieving intelligence across the entire operational chain. This update highlights WAI's capability to cover the entire process in AI smart business operations and takes a significant step forward in the practical application of AI large models in the SaaS domain.

The British government recently announced an investment of £8.5 million (approximately $10.81 million) to support artificial intelligence research, aimed at enhancing society's ability to respond to potential risks posed by emerging AI technologies. The Artificial Intelligence Safety Research Institute, established in 2023, will lead this research funding program in collaboration with UK Research and Innovation and the Alan Turing Institute.

The latest artificial intelligence personal computer product launched by Microsoft has received widespread attention in the industry. Companies in the A-share market have responded quickly to help expand related niche markets, vying for an early advantage in technological innovation.

Recently, well-known enterprises such as Microsoft, Huawei, Dell, and others have launched their latest artificial intelligence personal computers, seizing opportunities with new technology developments. Notably, many listed companies in China's A-share market are actively laying out in this emerging field of AI personal computers, hoping to gain a competitive edge by seizing the initiative. Enterprises such as Lanqi Technology, Runhe Software, Carnation Technology, Danghong Technology, BYTE Storage, Shenghong Technology, Audiowell, and Wentai Technology have deeply participated in multiple niches of this industrial chain.

In terms of financial situations of other technology companies, Xiaomi Group has released its financial report for the first quarter of 2024. The report shows that Xiaomi has achieved a revenue of 75.51 billion RMB in this quarter, a year-on-year increase of 27%. Specifically, Xiaomi’s smartphone business achieved a revenue of 46.5 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 32.9%, and the global smartphone shipment volume reached 40.6 million units, a significant increase of 33.7%. In addition, the revenue from IoT and consumer lifestyle products reached 20.4 billion RMB, an increase of 21%, while the revenue from internet services was 8 billion RMB, achieving a 14.5% growth.

NetEase also announced its financial report for the first quarter of 2024. According to the announcement, NetEase achieved a revenue of 26.9 billion RMB during this period, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%. Its gaming and value-added services revenue was 21.5 billion RMB, a 7% increase compared to the same period last year, while Youdao and the innovation sectors realized a year-on-year growth of 19.7% and 6.1% respectively. Moreover, NetEase’s net profit under non-GAAP reached 8.5 billion RMB, exceeding the 7.6 billion RMB of the same period last year. In terms of research and development, NetEase invested 4.2 billion RMB, maintaining research intensity above 15% for the seventh consecutive quarter.

Lenovo Group's financial report also attracted attention. The report shows that Lenovo Group achieved a revenue of $13.83 billion in the fourth fiscal quarter, an increase of 9% year-on-year, and a net profit of $248 million, a surge of 118% compared to the same period last year. Despite a decline in annual revenue by 8% to $56.86 billion and a decrease in net profit by 37% to $1.01 billion, the strong performance in the fourth quarter cannot be overlooked.

Bilibili (B Site) also released its first-quarter financial report. The report reveals that B Site's revenue for the quarter was 5.665 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12%. Advertising business and value-added services contributed 1.669 billion yuan and 2.529 billion yuan in revenue, respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 31% and 17%. B Site also performed well in terms of user activity, with a 9% year-on-year increase in daily active users to 102 million, and monthly active users exceeding 341 million, with daily usage time reaching a record high of 105 minutes.

Lastly, the first-quarter financial report of 2024 for Weibo is also worth mentioning. Although its revenue for the quarter fell by 4% year-on-year to $395.5 million, by the end of the quarter, Weibo's monthly active users had reached 588 million, and daily active users had reached 255 million. TOPSPORT announced in its annual report for the fiscal year 2023/24 that the company achieved double growth in revenue and net profit, though specific figures have not been disclosed yet.

In a recent financial announcement, TOPSPORT revealed that it achieved revenue of 28.93 billion yuan from March 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%. The company's net profit growth was particularly notable during this period, with a year-on-year increase of 20.4%, and the net profit margin increased by 0.8 percentage points to 7.6%, indicating that profit growth outpaced revenue growth.

In the capital market, a company called "Cloud Mountain Power" announced that it has successively completed Angel and Pre-A round financings, totaling nearly 100 million yuan. In the Angel round, the financing was led by Sequoia Capital with Windforest Capital following; in the Pre-A round, the financing was led by LGV Capital with Ningbo Haishu District Industrial Investment and Langrun Capital following, and including previous shareholders such as Sequoia Capital continuing to increase their stakes. This funding is mainly used to build the country's first mass production line for large cylindrical ultra-fast charging batteries of the 46 series.

Meanwhile, "White Dove Online," a company focused on digital risk management, recently completed a B round of financing worth tens of millions of yuan. Passlink Payment and Huazhi Capital acted as leading investors in this round. It's worth noting that "White Dove Online" had previously completed A-round and A+ round financings in May 2021 and August 2022, including investors like New Hope and the Masson Pine Fund under China Investment Corporation's National Investment and Intelligence.

In other news, Weilong apologized to the public for issues with products being underweight and announced that it would carry out a thorough self-inspection to ensure product quality.