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The US-Israel war continues, international oil prices soar, and US President Trump is also facing tremendous pressure at home. In order to stabilize oil prices, the United States will temporarily relax sanctions on some Russian oil. Ukrainian President Zelensky is dissatisfied with this.

According to a report by CNN on March 13, Ukrainian President Zelensky and French President Macron attended a press conference together on the 13th. Zelensky criticized the Trump administration for easing sanctions on Russian oil.

He claimed the move could provide Moscow with around $10 billion to fund its war in Ukraine, saying it would certainly not help peace.

Zelensky added: "We hear claims that this is an attempt to stabilize the situation, but in my opinion the logic is completely different. Russia is spending this money on weapons, mainly drones, which are attacking Ukrainians on a massive scale."

According to reports, his remarks reflected growing concerns in Europe that Moscow may profit from the war with Iran as the global economy looks away from Ukraine and towards oil markets outside the Middle East.

Macron sought to reassure Zelensky that "nothing will distract from our efforts in Ukraine" and reiterated France's support for Kyiv.

"Rising oil prices must not be a reason for us to review our sanctions policy against Russia," he said, adding that Moscow was mistaken if it thought a war with Iran would reduce any pressure it faces.

The United States and Israel suddenly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior officials. Iran struck back hard and blocked the Strait of Hormuz. The war reached a stalemate that continues to this day.

The continuation of the war has affected global crude oil supply, and rising oil prices have also put U.S. President Trump under tremendous pressure domestically. The Republican Party may be abandoned by voters in this year's midterm elections. Since March 9, Trump has been releasing news that the war is almost over.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced on March 12 that it would temporarily relax sanctions on some Russian oil amid recent tensions in the Middle East that have led to rising oil prices.

On March 12, the United States announced that it had issued 30-day licenses to various countries to purchase Russian oil and petroleum products currently stranded at sea. This measure is seen as a temporary policy adjustment to ease the pressure on global energy supply amid tensions in the Middle East and rapid rise in international oil prices.

According to the Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC), according to the license text published on the website of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, any Russian crude oil products that have been loaded on ships on or before 0:01 a.m. Eastern Time on March 12 can be delivered and sold within the scope of the license. The license is valid until 0:01 Washington time on April 11.

Reuters quoted Fox News as saying that as of March 12, approximately 124 million barrels of Russian oil were stranded at about 30 locations around the world and had not yet been delivered, enough to supply for five to six days.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent said on the social platform X that the measure is a "targeted short-term measure" that only applies to oil already in transit and will not bring "significant economic benefits" to the Russian government. He said that the temporary increase in oil prices is only a short-term disruption, but in the long run, it will still bring huge benefits to the United States.

The Chinese drama market was booming in May.

"Breaking Down" was launched with great force, far ahead of other new works with unparalleled statistics. Song Zuer's return may have given all the domestic entertainment fans a sense of crisis.

So far, the popularity of the show has successfully exceeded 30,000. Looking at this momentum, do you plan to continue to harvest the market?

Unfortunately, the schedule was not coincidental, and it encountered a strong enemy——

"The Legend of Tibetan Sea".

This Machiavellian drama starring Xiao Zhan is the TOP1 most anticipated drama in Mainland China in 2025. Being on CCTV shows its potential to be a hit.

Therefore, the show did not exceed the audience's expectations after it was launched. After only 2 hours of broadcasting, the peak ratings easily exceeded 2, which is quite impressive.

However, this report card is not only due to Xiao Zhan's top popularity, but also to the fact that the play itself has a level that exceeds that of works of the same type.

After watching 2 episodes in one go, I just want to say that this is the drama king of the year in 2025!

So what’s so good about this show?

01 Top quality, gripping plot, classic Machiavellian flavor

"The Legend of Zanghai" tells the story of Zhinu (played by Xiao Zhan), the son of Zheng Kuaiduo, the eunuch of Qintian Prison, who saw his family being exterminated with his own eyes, and a seed of hatred was planted in his heart.

After ten years of hard study, he changed his face and became "Zanghai". He rose to prominence in the court by virtue of his construction skills and manipulation skills, and finally revealed the truth about the family's annihilation.

To make a good Machiavellian drama, the director must not only be clear about what he is filming, but also make it understandable to the audience.

Although the story background of the play is complex, it has a clear structure and distinct characters. The highlights can be summarized in three words.

The first word: suspense.

Ten years ago, the hero's father, Kuai Duo, pretended to be a Buddhist monk, but secretly dug more than a thousand feet underground until he unearthed an ancient tomb.

Several workers died mysteriously, and all the soldiers in the tomb were dispatched.

Kuai Duo grabbed a "green rock" at the last moment, and the scene was completely dark. What happened?

As soon as the camera turned, news came from the capital that the Fengchan Tower collapsed and no one survived.

However, Kuai Duo hurried home late at night, and before he could speak, the whole family was surrounded and suppressed by Lu Yin of Pingjin Houzhuang.

It was obvious that he was here for the mysterious ancient jade.

For this thing, he did not hesitate to cover up people's eyes and let the Fengzen Tower, which was finally repaired, be destroyed. One can imagine the wide involvement behind it.

And although it is a plot drama, the plot involves tomb exploration adventures and feng shui manipulation, which adds to the suspenseful atmosphere of the plot and makes people more and more fascinated by it.

The second word: tragic.

On this night, more than ten members of Kuai's family were killed. Only Kuai Duo's son, Zhinu, escaped because he hid in a secret passage.

At a young age, he watched his relatives die tragically.

And the words "live on" that his father silently said before he died have become the only belief in Zhinu's life.

In this scene, the audience can truly feel the director's shooting skills.

Even if a young apprentice pretends to be a child slave in order to repay a favor, it is extremely touching.

A sense of tragedy hit the face, and the audience could truly feel the hero's heart-wrenching hatred.

The third word: revenge.

Since the previous part was quite heavy, the atmosphere of the plot eased as the male protagonist grew up.

At that time, the child slave had changed his name to Zanghai, and was learning skills from his masters. Finally, he came back to Beijing for revenge.

Of course, the feeling of satisfaction can only appear in the later stages. The so-called development of a male protagonist requires more experience and setbacks.

When Zanghai first entered the capital, he realized that people's hearts are sinister, crouching tigers, hidden dragons, but isn't he just a lurking dragon in the abyss?

Just waiting to accumulate a lot of strength and give the enemy a fatal blow.

It can be said that Zheng Xiaolong is the only one who can capture the machinations with such quality.

The level of "The Legend of Tibetan Sea" is definitely not inferior to those classic works, and the addition of actors also provides a lot of blessings to the drama.

02 All the actors are talented, Xiao Zhan is so amazing

This new work has a strong cast, and not a single actor is cast for free, making the characters flesh-and-blood and vivid.

First place, Xiao Zhan.

To be honest, I was worried that Xiao Zhan wouldn't be able to sustain such a heavy story at first, but I didn't expect that his acting skills would improve so much.

For example, under the test of the masked benefactor, he seemed to casually tell the details of the family's destruction, but in fact his eyes had an undercurrent, as if containing overwhelming hatred, which immediately created the tension of the character.

Moreover, Xiao Zhan's costume style is a major advantage in itself. It is rare to see such a good-looking and capable young man.

Just choose him.

The second place is Zhong Hanliang.

I didn't expect that Chung Han-liang would one day play the role of Xiao Zhan's father, but the Kuai Duo he played in the play was so upright, with a mustache, his mature, steady and gentle temperament was even more obvious.

At Chung Hanliang's age, he is actually suitable for playing some high-quality roles.

Before dying, the scene where Kuai Duo looks at his child can be regarded as the highlight of the whole play. The silent lines express his despair for fate and reluctance to let go of his son.

It seems that Zhong Hanliang has already entered the camp of the Mesozoic powerful faction without knowing it.

The third place is Chen Yanxi.

After the divorce, Michelle Chen seemed to be cheating. There was the tolerant and intelligent wealthy lady Kaisi Chen in "Dear Enemy" before, and later there was the gentle and powerful Zhao Shangxian in "The Legend of Hidden Sea". Every new role can be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

But I still prefer the latter role, because Chen Yanxi played the strongest side of an ancient woman. In order not to drag her husband down, she risked her life to resist. Her weak and tough figure made people's eyes red.

Although she is a supporting role in the play, I think Michelle Chen has become the heroine of her life.

The fourth place is Huang Jue.

Huang Jue is also recognized as a capable actor, but he has a wide range of roles, and he can be both good and bad.

In the new drama, he plays Zhuang Luyin, a villainous boss with a compelling aura. He doesn't need to put on a show, and his characteristics of being calm, self-confident, and vicious are all there.

From the perspective of the male protagonist, facing such a powerful enemy, one really needs to be careful every step of the way.

In addition, the performance of the young flower Zhang Jingyi was also good, performing the "white and black" attributes of Xiang An Tu.

There are also actors familiar to the audience such as Yu Nan, Zhang Guoqiang, Qiao Zhenyu, Bai Bing, etc. who will play important roles. The lineup looks like a masterpiece.

03 Conclusion

We do not deny that inviting a popular actor to serve as the male lead in "The Legend of the Hidden Sea" is a risky move.

But times have changed. If domestic costume dramas want to attract people, sometimes they have to bow to traffic.

And this is not a bad thing, it all depends on what kind of popular actors the director chooses.

A young man like Xiao Zhan who has his own popularity and can hold up the role is still worth betting on.

As long as the script can support the film and the actors can stand up to their roles, there will be no need to worry about no one watching.

Therefore, the popularity of this new work is actually within the expectations of the audience, but whether it can go further still depends on the subsequent plot and acting performance.

I believe this drama can inject new vitality into the Chinese drama market and add another benchmark for the Machiavellian theme.

So what do you think about this?

IT House reported on March 17 that at the 2026 GTC held early this morning, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang delivered a keynote speech, calling on global companies: they must seize the opportunity of the current explosion of AI agents and formulate their own "OpenClaw strategy."

Any company in the world today needs to have its own OpenClaw strategy, a strategy for an intelligent system, which is the new computer.

Jen-Hsun Huang highly praised OpenClaw, an open source AI agent project that has set off a craze around the world. Although its founder has been poached by OpenAI, OpenClaw will continue to exist and develop as an open source project.

Jen-Hsun Huang said: "OpenClaw allows us to create personal intelligence, and the significance of this is incredible." He further pointed out that OpenClaw "provides what the industry needs most when it needs it most."

To illustrate the potential of OpenClaw more vividly, Huang compared it with milestones in the history of PC development. He believes that OpenClaw is to artificial intelligence what the Windows operating system is to personal computing.

In addition, he compared it to influential technologies such as the Linux operating system, Kubernetes cloud projects, and HTML. Huang Renxun explained: "It allows the entire industry to seize this open source software stack and do various innovations based on it."

While praising OpenClaw, Huang Renxun also pointed out a major challenge in its application: security. To this end, NVIDIA announced the launch of its own version based on OpenClaw – NemoClaw. The product allows users to add privacy and security controls to their AI agents.

"It has a network guardrail and a privacy router, so we can protect these 'claws' and prevent them from executing instructions at will within the company, so as to achieve safe operation," Huang explained.

In order to promote NemoClaw, NVIDIA held a special "Claw Making" event during the conference, allowing participants to develop their own customized AI agents.

OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberg said: "OpenClaw brings people closer to AI and helps create a world where everyone has their own intelligent agent."

In addition to releasing strategies related to OpenClaw, Huang also announced a number of major news on the first day of GTC, including the launch of a new inference system integrated with Groq technology. Previously, Nvidia had reached a $20 billion deal with the AI ​​chip startup. At the same time, Huang Renxun predicts that the market demand for its Blackwell and Rubin AI chips will reach US$1 trillion by 2027.

【Look! Our cutting-edge technology]

Your skin will sound the alarm!

The secret of the 'immune alarm' revealed

Guangming Daily, Beijing, March 16 (Reporter Deng Hui) How does local infection trigger systemic immune response throughout the body? A joint team composed of Professor Liu Wanli from the School of Life Sciences of Tsinghua University, Professor Zhang Yonghui from the School of Pharmacy, and domestic experts from many fields have recently solved this immunological problem after more than ten years of scientific research. Research has found that the metabolic intermediate in skin fibroblasts, farnesyl pyrophosphate (hereinafter referred to as "FPP"), can transform into an "immune alarm" at critical moments, activating two signaling pathways to enhance systemic immune responses. Relevant research results provide new targets for the development of new vaccine adjuvants and the prevention and treatment of autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus.

The skin is the first barrier against pathogen invasion and environmental stimulation. Local infection or injury lesions are like "beacons" in the immune system, accurately transmitting danger signals to the entire body and mobilizing systemic immune responses. The mechanism behind this process has always been an unsolved mystery in the field of immunology. The answer to this question will not only deepen the understanding of the regulation of the immune system, but also be related to the analysis of the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and the optimization of clinical intervention strategies.

In order to solve this problem, the joint team focused on the key metabolic network of the mevalonate pathway and gathered multidisciplinary forces such as immunology, metabolomics and systems biology. After more than ten years of systematic research, they finally identified and confirmed the "key messenger" in this pathway that transmits immune signals from local lesions to the whole body – FPP.

Research shows that FPP can serve as a key messenger linking local inflammation and systemic immunity, regulating biochemical center reactions and amplifying systemic humoral immune responses. Simply put, when the skin is infected by bacteria or exposed to strong ultraviolet rays, the skin's keratinocytes will initiate an emergency response, causing FPP to rapidly accumulate in the cells.

"This substance is an 'immune alarmin' emitted by cells. It will precisely bind to the intracellular domain of TRPV3 on the cell, just like a key opening a lock, allowing calcium ions to enter the cell, thereby activating two signaling pathways and prompting the cells to secrete two key substances, IL-6 and CCL20." According to team members, the two substances have a clear division of labor: the former can promote the differentiation of immune cells, and the latter recruits and promotes the movement of dendritic cells to lymph nodes. The combination of the two can significantly enhance the immune response of lymph nodes, not only allowing the body to produce more antibodies that can fight pathogens, but also forming immune memory, allowing the body to respond quickly the next time it encounters the same type of pathogen.

The team also found that aromatic substances in plants such as carvacrol and camphor can also enhance immunity through the same signaling pathway, which also provides scientific basis for the traditional saying that "aromatics ward off dirt".

"In the future, we will continue to delve into the details of this signaling pathway and explore its role in other immune diseases." Team members said that they will accelerate the clinical research of related adjuvants and targeted drugs, and explore more natural immune regulatory substances in combination with traditional aromatic Chinese medicine, so that the results of basic research can be truly transformed into clinical diagnosis and treatment solutions.

【Knowing is by my side】

Why basking in the sun is good for your health

Many people know that "more sun exposure is good for good health", but few people know the reason behind it – in fact, the essence of sun exposure is to "recharge" our immune system and enhance resistance.

The skin is the body’s largest “protective wall” and an “early warning station” for the immune system. When the skin is exposed to sunlight, it will produce an "alarm molecule" called farnesyl pyrophosphate, which sends an "alarm" to the body like lighting a beacon. Subsequently, a "channel" (TRPV3 channel) on the skin cells will open, and extracellular calcium ions will penetrate into the cells in large quantities, allowing the body to release substances that can speed up and strengthen the immune system, and the resistance will naturally increase.

However, don’t be greedy for too much sun exposure: Moderate exposure to the sun can gently activate the immune system and improve protection; however, exposure to too much sun for too long or too hard will cause the immune system to “overload” and cause inflammation, which may actually aggravate some autoimmune diseases (such as lupus erythematosus). The immune system itself of such patients is too “active” and will mistakenly attack their own body organs. This also just confirms what our ancestors said about the "golden mean". Too much is never enough, and immunity also needs to be balanced.

Produced by iQiyi, Yuewen Film and Television, Xinli TV, and Reverse Mapping, and produced by Carnival Culture Media, it is adapted from Remy's novel "Oldboy". Teng Huatao is the director, Wang Xiaohui is the director producer, Yang Bei is the producer, and Wang Xiaoyan, Liu Wenyang, Ma Hao is the chief producer, Zhang Xinyuan, Wang Shujun, Gao Yuan, and Ji Shi are the new producers, and Nie Chengshuai is the chief screenwriter. The 16-episode human crime drama "Evil" was officially announced today and will be broadcast exclusively on iQiyi Mist Theater on February 23.

The play stars Ren Suxi and Wang Xiao, Cai Wenjing is the guest star, Li Zefeng is the star, Wang Youjun and Dong Qing star, Ye Zuxin, Jie Bing, Lan Xiya, Li Mincheng are guest stars, Yue Yang, Wei Zixin, Yao Yiqi, Wang Daqi, Gao Shuguang starred in the film, as did Zhang Shulun, Zhu Jiaqi, Wang Runze, Ji Xiaofei, Xue Yubin, Gu Yufeng and Xu Guodong, bringing together many powerful actors. The official release trailer and group portrait posters have been simultaneously released recently. The series will be narrated with a small town mystery case, showing the perseverance of law enforcement and the struggles of ordinary people in human crimes, and deeply exploring the topic of the boundary between good and evil to the audience, which is thought-provoking.

The suspicions in the small town reflect complex human nature, and the diverse group portraits present the confrontation between good and evil.

"Eliminate Evil" tells the story of the intricate acquaintance society in the coastal town of Nuanhai Town, which was broken by a bag of drugs that disappeared inexplicably, and a "suicide crime" officially kicked off. Hu Wenjing (played by Ren Suxi), a female detective who is accidentally involved in a drug deal; Cheng Ken (played by Wang Xiao), an ordinary father who wants to save his daughter at any cost; Li Xiaoya (played by Cai Wenjing), an ambitious careerist who wants to escape from small town life; Wang Ping (played by Dong Qing), who is swallowed by drugs and has gone astray; how will the three best friends stage the ultimate tug of friendship and destiny? What kind of storm will the secretive Cheng Xiaodong (played by Li Zefeng) and the ruthless Ding Lai (played by Ye Zuxin) stir up? When the cocoon woven by desire and greed tightly traps everyone, who can truly escape from this battle between justice and humanity?

The trailer for this time starts with the sentence "Do you believe in fate" and asks the soul. The late night corpse burial, ceiling secrets and corridor fights culminate in silent climaxes, allowing the audience to glimpse the evil undercurrent hidden deep in the town. The mirror image confrontation between righteousness and evil between Hu Wenjing, who is searching for the truth, and Cheng Kencheng, who is gradually falling into the abyss, indicates that a game of human nature is quietly going on. As new hallucinogens flow into the town in the form of drinks and candies that are common in daily life, various complex criminal groups emerge one by one. Lucky graduate students, those who preach success, and speculators who want to take shortcuts. A series of immersive documentary shots interweave and capture the shadow of human nature. In the anti-drug war that is advancing at every level, how does every little person survive and make choices? The process from being eroded by drugs to going to murder is horrifying to think about, and the line "Who said drugs must be sold to drug addicts" at the end also leaves room for imagination that is horrifying to think about.

The eight portrait posters released simultaneously show the characters in a striking micro composition, with a shocking style. The poster uses a drug bag as the background and contains characters with different expressions. The intricate positioning clearly reveals the network of acquaintances in the small town where anti-drug and drug trafficking overlap. In the center of the picture, Hu Wenjing's cold, gun-holding gaze reveals determination to get to the bottom of the investigation; Cheng Ken holds pills in his mouth with a calm demeanor, and his simple appearance reveals the madness and helplessness heading towards the abyss; the other characters either stare at temptation, eyes full of desire, or have firm eyes, scrutinizing and contemplating, making this diverse group portrait of the confrontation between good and evil full of story suspense. A drug network is secretly woven in the border town. Although everyone who falls into the abyss of crime has a heart crushed by life, there are complicated motives behind it.

Behind the confrontation between good and evil is a shocking human crime, and the vivid and three-dimensional demeanor of the characters also clearly reveals the network of acquaintances in the small town where anti-drug and drug trafficking are intertwined. What kind of ups and downs will unfold in this small town human crime with "the devil around" is exciting.

The gold medal team builds a solid foundation of quality, and multi-line narrative depicts the overall picture of anti-drugs

An excellent work is inseparable from the ingenuity of the behind-the-scenes team. Liu Wenyang, who has created phenomenal hit dramas such as "The Son-in-law" and "Everyday Life", is the chief producer, and the famous director Teng Huatao, who has directed "Snail House" and "City Within the City", is in charge. A number of masterpieces of realism, which are extremely good at describing the complexity of human nature and observing social expressions; written by Nie Chengshuai, a new generation of powerful screenwriter of "The Basics of Genius", his strong plot and strong logical expression techniques will bring the ultimate immersive experience to the multi-line narrative in the story. The cast adds to the dramatic tension of the characters. Hu Wenjing, played by Ren Suxi, is both a low-level criminal police officer and a single mother. How she balances the challenges from family, workplace and social rules during the anti-drug process has become a major attraction. Cheng Ken, played by Wang Xiao, is curious about how she delicately interprets the character's inner hesitation and struggle and shows the gray areas of human nature when her daughter falls into the abyss of crime. In addition, the addition of acting actors such as Cai Wenjing, Li Zefeng, Wang Youjun, Dong Qing, and Ye Zuxin has given each character a distinctive symbol that is flesh-and-blood and non-facial. I believe that this "strong alliance" behind the scenes team will jointly enhance the quality of the story of "Extermination of Evil".

"When greed arises in a moment, thousands of sins arise." "Eliminating Evil" will take the investigation of the case as the creative theme, and use multi-line narrative techniques to show the police pursuit of the case represented by Hu Wenjing and Jin Longzheng (played by Wang Youjun), and the ordinary people represented by Cheng Ken, Li Xiaoya, and Wang Ping who were pushed into the abyss by fate. Multiple group images are intertwined to form a full picture of human crimes, revealing the struggle of human nature under the dilemma of desire. The play abandons suspended criminal narratives and uses calm, objective yet warm daily expressions to show the damage that drug networks have done to ordinary families and interpersonal relationships. The creative team uses a perspective close to public life to polish the anti-drug story into a crime story that directly touches human nature, with both realistic concerns and social significance. The different choices of each character in the play on the edge of good and evil also let people see behind this small town ecological picture, the lofty spirit of grassroots police officers who adhere to their duties and missions and are not afraid of sacrifice. They break through the single perspective of traditional criminal investigation dramas and use diverse expressions to explore the new value of crime themes.

When the battle between good and evil in a small town quietly begins, how will people on the edge of good and evil find a way out? How will this anti-drug game about human crimes unfold? The human crime drama "Extermination of Evil" will be launched at the iQiyi Mist Theater on February 23. We look forward to seeing you in Nuanhai Town.

According to the Financial Associated Press on March 16 (Editor Shi Zhengcheng), xAI, which is in the state of "tear down and rebuild", seems to have regarded financial intelligence as one of the focuses of development in the next stage, trying to grab a piece of the pie from competing products such as Anthropic and OpenAI.

As of press time, xAI has posted at least 20 expert recruitment positions in the financial field on its official website, covering positions in securities research, macro research, corporate finance, quantitative trading, cryptocurrency, etc. These experts are expected to "teach" Grok artificial intelligence how to perform financial modeling by providing a series of data, as well as engage in specific work in various financial segments.

Taking "Equity Research Specialist" as an example, the job description states, "You will leverage your deep expertise in capital markets, fundamental analysis, financial modeling, valuation and investment research to create a training environment that simulates the real world and provide high-quality model evaluation, accurate data annotation and detailed input to train and optimize our AI models."

To put it simply, this position mainly provides learning materials for AI, aiming to improve AI’s ability to write stock research reports. xAI requires applicants to have at least 2 years of buy-side or sell-side equity research experience with clear industry coverage responsibilities.

Similarly, “crypto market experts” are required to provide annotations, annotations, evaluations, and expert reasoning across text, voice, and video multimodalities to support model training and benchmarking.

According to a report from the Financial Associated Press last week, as 9 of the "11 Arhats" who co-founded xAI with Musk have left, the world's richest man admitted that xAI is in a state of reconstruction. He also hired two senior employees from the well-known AI programming company Cursor last week to initially show the company's next direction.

As worries about an AI investment bubble are rampant, top developers are increasingly focusing on exploring business opportunities in professional fields. Among them, the financial field with both willingness to pay and ability has become a "must battleground" for military strategists. Both Anthropic and OpenAI have released tools designed to simplify financial work such as market analysis and research reporting, and have even triggered panic selling by traditional software vendors.

For xAI, there is an urgent need to establish revenue growth points. Although the company was valued at $250 billion when it merged with SpaceX last month, most of xAI's revenue so far has come from related transactions in Musk's other ventures, including Tesla and SpaceX.

Returning to the topic of this article, industry elites who are about to apply for xAI’s “financial expert position” will face the leadership of a high school graduate.

It is reported that the person in charge of xAI’s training data is Diego Pasini. Information shows that Pasini received his high school diploma in 2023 and then entered the University of Pennsylvania to study computer science and economics. He entered the company after winning the "hackathon" organized by xAI in January 2025.

At a staff meeting last month, Pasini said that one of the current bottlenecks in developing Grok is training data. Currently Grok relies heavily on data from social network X.

【Observation and thinking】

Authors: Jian Xinhua and Nie Changfei (respectively special researchers of Jiangxi Provincial Research Center for Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, special professors of the School of Economics and Management of Nanchang University, and associate professors of the School of Economics and Management of Nanchang University)

Insufficient effective demand is one of the main reasons for the increasing downward pressure on the economy. To maintain the necessary economic growth rate, we must effectively expand effective demand and reduce the downward pressure on the economy. The "Outline of the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China" emphasizes "adhering to the strategic basis of expanding domestic demand and adhering to the close integration of benefiting people's livelihood and promoting consumption, investing in things and investing in people." Proposing that "investing in things and investing in people are closely integrated" is an important innovation and development in the investment theory and practice of the socialist market economy. It is of great significance for expanding effective domestic demand, enhancing development momentum, stabilizing economic growth, promoting high-quality development and Chinese-style modernization, and promoting common prosperity and comprehensive development of people.

To engage in production and business activities and develop the economy under market economy conditions, investment is necessary, because only through investment can we obtain the human and material elements needed for production and business and economic development. The main entities of investment include enterprises, individuals and governments. The investment purposes and roles of different investment entities are not exactly the same. Enterprises and individuals invest mainly to obtain maximum returns, and government investments also need to obtain returns, but mainly to provide public goods and services to society. In general, all reasonable investments can increase market demand, expand production, and promote economic development. However, judging from the types of production factors obtained through investment and the roles they can play, investment can be divided into two categories: investment in things and investment in people. The functions of these two types of investments are not exactly the same, and the relationship between these two types of investments will also affect the overall effect of investment.

The so-called investment in things refers to the type of investment that obtains all production factors except people through investment, including the purchase of production materials, technology, information and other material conditions for production, operation and research and development. Investing in materials can not only provide necessary material and technical conditions for enterprise production and operation and social and economic development, but also expand investment demand, enhance economic growth momentum, promote the development of related industries, and promote economic growth.

The so-called investment in people refers to the type of investment that obtains human elements through investment, such as investment in hiring various types of labor, developing various types of education including vocational training, and improving medical and health care levels. Investing in people can not only provide decisive human elements for enterprise production and operation and economic and social development, but more importantly, it can improve the quality and ability of the labor force, promote high-quality full employment, increase labor income, thereby increase consumer demand with purchasing power, boost consumption, better promote the development of related industries, and promote economic growth. Investing in people is more reflected in investing in people's livelihood, which can better implement the people-centered development concept, promote common prosperity and the all-round development of people, and is also conducive to maintaining social stability and creating a better social environment for further economic development.

Investment in things and investment in people are indispensable, closely related, and interdependent, and have certain quantitative proportions and structural characteristics. Under different economic conditions, the quantitative proportions and structural conditions of the two may be different. If the relationship between the two is properly handled, they can complement each other and complement each other; otherwise, they may be out of proportion and structurally unbalanced.

The close integration of investment in things and investment in people emphasizes the overall planning, coordination, appropriate quantity and proportion, and reasonable structure of these two types of investments. Only by continuing to invest in things and people at the same time can production and business activities be sustained, and the economy and society can continue to develop; only when investment in things and investment in people meet actual needs, have a coordinated quantity and proportion, and have a reasonable structure will there be no waste of resources, the investment effect can be improved, and the economy and society can develop with high quality.

Comparatively speaking, investing in things brings results quickly and is more direct and obvious. For example, investing in cutting-edge new machinery and technology, cheap and high-quality new energy, better raw materials, high-quality seeds, important data and information, etc., often results immediately; investing in people brings results relatively slowly, and is not particularly direct and obvious. For example, investing in education and training to improve people's scientific and cultural quality, investing in improving medical care to improve people's health quality are difficult to achieve immediately. Even investing in hiring elite talents in science and technology and management will take a period of time and process before their outstanding role in production, operation and economic development can be played and revealed. From an enterprise's perspective, the internal positive effect of investing in things is greater and the external positive effect is relatively small; the internal positive effect of investing in people is not necessarily small, but the external positive effect is definitely greater, because the improvement of people's quality and ability is beneficial to society and enterprises. In addition, enterprises invest in robots and automated equipment to replace labor and use more "things" instead of more people, which can greatly reduce labor costs and improve labor productivity, making the individual labor time of the enterprise lower than the socially necessary labor time, thereby obtaining excess returns. This results in people tending to place more emphasis on investing in things. In fact, investing in people is more fundamental and important than investing in things, because things are created, invented, produced, and used by people. From a long-term and fundamental perspective, more attention should be paid to investing in people.

Our country is currently facing increasing downward pressure on the economy and insufficient effective demand. The reasons are multifaceted. In addition to insufficient growth momentum in the world economy, severe challenges to the international economic and trade order, and more complex and fierce international competition and the game of great powers, traditional industries need to be further transformed and upgraded, some key core technologies are controlled by others or have shortcomings, and modern industrial systems need to be further constructed. These are also important factors. To overcome these difficulties and challenges, we must "promote the formation of more economic development models that are dominated by domestic demand, driven by consumption, and endogenously grown." This also means that investment in materials and investment in people must be closely integrated, the direction and field of investment should be optimized, the investment structure should be improved, the quality and efficiency of investment should be improved, and high-quality development should be promoted. New means of production (labor materials and labor objects) and high-tech are important components of new productivity. It is necessary to increase material capital investment to obtain corresponding machinery and equipment, infrastructure, raw materials and technology. High-quality labor is also an important component of new productivity. The creation, production and use of high-tech and new means of production also require higher-quality and capable labor. Therefore, we must neither "emphasize things over people" nor "emphasis on people over things." We must closely integrate investment in things and investment in people. This will not only help better develop new productive forces, but also effectively expand investment demand and consumer demand, and enhance the driving force for economic growth.

Promoting the close integration of investment in things and investment in people not only involves a comprehensive balance in the investment field, but also involves a reasonable division of labor between government investment and corporate investment, which requires scientific judgment based on different situations.

Enterprise investment and government investment should have their own emphasis on investing in things and investing in people, and improve the overall effect of investment through scientific division of labor and cooperation. Enterprises engaged in production, operation and research and development require investment in both materials and people. In particular, they should not blindly pursue replacing people with materials. The government mainly invests in materials such as public infrastructure construction, basic scientific research, and major scientific and technological research. It also invests in people to improve various education levels, improve medical and health care, and improve social security.

The main tasks of investing in goods should be to optimize and upgrade traditional industries, cultivate and expand emerging industries and future industries, and consolidate and strengthen the real economy. The focus should be on reducing ineffective investment (to solve the problem of excessive ineffective supply), expanding effective investment (to solve the problem of insufficient effective supply), and overcoming key core technical difficulties, and realizing the renewal, transformation, optimization and upgrading of fixed capital in traditional industries. On the basis of consolidating and expanding existing advantages, new advantages can be formed by complementing the strengths and weaknesses of shortcomings.

Investing in people must focus on ensuring and improving people's livelihood, adhere to the strategic basis of expanding domestic demand, insist on benefiting people's livelihood and promoting consumption, promote high-quality and full employment, provide people with satisfactory education, improve the social security system, accelerate the construction of a healthy China, and steadily promote the equalization of basic public services Equalization, promote high-quality development of the population, while promoting more workers, more skilled workers, and more innovators, increase the proportion of residents' income in national income distribution, increase the proportion of labor remuneration in primary distribution, continue to effectively expand consumer demand, and enhance economic growth momentum.

"Guangming Daily" (page 11, March 17, 2026)

Guangming Daily, Beijing, March 16 (Reporter Qiu Yue) The "2025 Medical Security Development Statistical Express" released by the National Medical Insurance Administration on the 16th showed that as of the end of 2025, the number of people insured by my country's basic medical insurance reached 1,330.6814 million people, an increase of 4.06 million people year-on-year. The insurance participation rate was consolidated at 95%, and the insurance participation structure was more optimized.

According to the Statistical Express, in 2025, the total revenue and total expenditure of the basic medical insurance fund (including maternity insurance) will be 3,587.311 billion yuan and 3,000.938 billion yuan respectively. The basic medical insurance fund for urban and rural residents had revenue of 1.12264 billion yuan and expenditure of 1.065707 billion yuan.

The statistical report shows that in 2025, 7.215 billion people will enjoy outpatient benefits, a year-on-year increase of 25.51%, of which employees will enjoy outpatient benefits 3.849 billion times, a year-on-year increase of 30.28%; residents will enjoy 3.366 billion outpatient benefits, a year-on-year increase of 20.47%. 278 million people enjoyed hospitalization benefits, a year-on-year decrease of 3.40%, of which 85 million employees enjoyed hospitalization benefits, a year-on-year increase of 3.77%; residents enjoyed 193 million hospitalizations, a year-on-year decrease of 6.27%. The average hospitalization cost per time is 8,509.28 yuan, including 11,152.69 yuan for employees and 7,338.49 yuan for residents.

The Statistical Express shows that as of the end of 2025, there were 655,800 designated medical institutions with inter-provincial connections, including 241,800 designated medical institutions with inter-provincial connections and 414,000 designated retail pharmacies with inter-provincial connections. In 2025, 15.823 million hospitalization expenses will be directly settled across provinces across the country, and fund payments will be 162.005 billion yuan. The number of settlements will increase by 10.38% year-on-year, and fund payments will increase by 2.10% year-on-year; national outpatient clinics ( Including general outpatient clinics, outpatient chronic disease outpatients, and drug purchases in pharmacies), 292 million people were directly settled across provinces, and fund payments were 45.501 billion yuan. The number of settlements increased by 30.17% year-on-year, and fund payments increased by 26.21% year-on-year.

"Guangming Daily" (page 10, March 17, 2026)

Guangming Daily reporter Li Xiaodong and Zhou Hongshuang

A few days ago, the satellite communication training room of Chengdu Industrial Vocational and Technical College was busy. Under the guidance of industry instructors, students gathered around high-performance computers to focus on processing multispectral remote sensing images transmitted back from satellites in real time.

This is the first aerospace industry college jointly built by the school and Chengdu Guoxing Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd. among higher vocational colleges in the province. It also added satellite communications and navigation technology majors at the same time. Smart production lines have moved into campuses, and industrial instructors have entered classrooms—this is the epitome of Chengdu’s precise leadership of the “education supply-side” reform with the “industrial demand side.”

In recent years, Chengdu has carried out the actions of "optimizing and improving quality, establishing characteristic parks, empowering and increasing efficiency, and filling the parks with enterprises" in the city's national-level, provincial-level development zones and municipal-level industrial parks, striving to promote the industry to "build circles and strong chains." In order to meet the needs of industrial development, Chengdu promotes the optimization and adjustment of majors in municipal higher vocational colleges and promotes the precise adaptation of majors and industries.

The Education Working Committee of the Chengdu Municipal Party Committee commissioned a third-party organization to conduct professional evaluations and conduct a panoramic diagnosis of all 162 enrollment majors in 4 municipal higher vocational colleges. This "diagnosis" is different from previous assessments. Instead, it links the government, industry, parks, enterprises, and colleges, aiming at Chengdu's key industrial chains of "building a strong chain" and creating the first "region-industry-professional" closed-loop indicator system. Among them, the dimension indicators of docking industries and docking parks account for 36%, the dimension indicators of school-enterprise cooperation account for 38%, the dimension indicators of service contribution account for 16%, and the dimension indicators of characteristic innovation account for 10%.

After multiple rounds of demonstrations, Chengdu's four municipal higher vocational colleges closed and merged 25 majors such as business English, upgraded 27 majors such as mechanical manufacturing and automation, and added 13 urgently needed majors such as drone surveying and mapping technology. The actual adjustment rate reached 40%, and more than 800 new students were enrolled in the urgently needed majors.

At present, the connection rate of majors in Chengdu's higher vocational colleges with the city's 17 key industrial chains has increased from 53% to 66%, and the connection rate with 35 industrial parks has increased from 59% to 67%. The four colleges and universities have jointly built 38 craftsman colleges and characteristic industrial colleges, 31 industry-education integration practice centers, and 51 order-based classes with enterprises such as H3C and Canop. It is estimated that by 2027, the major optimization and adjustment rate of Chengdu's higher vocational colleges will reach 88%, and the matching with key industries in the park will reach 100%.

Professional adjustment is not only an increase or decrease in quantity, but also a structural change. The reform is not limited to higher vocational colleges. Nowadays, the practice of integrating industry and education in colleges and universities is blossoming in Chengdu. Five companies including COFCO Biochemical (Chengdu) Co., Ltd. signed contracts with 5 universities including Chengdu University and Sichuan Agricultural University respectively, and appointed university professors as the company's "vice presidents of science and technology"; Chengdu University and Chengdu Economic Development Zone jointly built a "park-full" project for the automotive industry Station, a working group of 8 young doctors was established at the station, a total of more than 150 technical managers were trained, and 268 enterprises were founded by teachers and students. Chengdu Gongnong Electric Company jointly tackled key problems with professional teachers at the workstation and technical backbones of the enterprise, and the new process has begun to show results in reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

Chengdu supports municipal universities to focus on key industries such as new displays and intelligent manufacturing, and cooperates with 10 undergraduate universities such as Sichuan University and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and 12 high-quality enterprises in Chengdu to jointly build 4 industry-education integration practice centers. So far, these practice centers have provided vocational skills training for more than 30,000 cooperative enterprises, and provided enterprises with more than 60 services such as pilot maturation and technical consulting.

"Guangming Daily" (Page 8, March 17, 2026)

Guangming Daily, Beijing, March 16 (Reporter Chen Chen) All parts of the country have recently entered the critical period of spring irrigation preparation. The reporter learned from the Ministry of Water Resources on the 16th that as of March 15, 16 provinces across the country had started spring irrigation, with a total water supply of 4.9 billion cubic meters and an irrigated area of ​​57 million acres. Among them, 1,040 large and medium-sized irrigation areas have started irrigation, with a total water supply of 3.9 billion cubic meters and an irrigated area of ​​29 million acres.

At present, the total water storage capacity of key reservoirs across the country is 497.3 billion cubic meters, nearly 10% more than the same period in normal years. The water inflow from rivers is basically the same as the same period in normal years. Spring agricultural irrigation water is generally guaranteed. At present, the overall moisture situation across the country is good, the start time of spring irrigation in various places is generally later than last year, and the average irrigation amount per mu has decreased.

The Ministry of Water Resources has issued a notice to comprehensively deploy and guide detailed measures in various localities, coordinate water storage and conservation, water source dispatching, facility maintenance, water management, scientific irrigation and other tasks to effectively maintain the order of water supply; keep a close eye on potential risks, strengthen analysis and judgment, comprehensively study and judge crop structure, soil moisture, water demand, water resources allocation and water inflow forecast, etc., coordinate emergency response plans for drought relief, and consolidate the basis for ensuring water supply for agricultural production.

According to reports, since the beginning of February, spring irrigation work has been progressing in an orderly manner in various places. Winter wheat areas such as Hebei, Shanxi, and Shaanxi have successively opened gates to divert water and start spring irrigation operations to help winter wheat return to green and grow. The Yellow River Water Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources will increase the discharge volume of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir to 1,350 cubic meters per second starting from March 1. The Yellow River irrigation areas in Shandong and Henan will store water in advance to prepare for the upcoming spring irrigation water peak. The southern rice region is accelerating farmland water conservancy maintenance in winter and spring, dredging and clearing obstacles, and repairing water damage projects to provide favorable conditions for ensuring the safe and smooth flow of spring irrigation water.

"Guangming Daily" (page 10, March 17, 2026)