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• Launched in H1 2026, Heavy Weight Express service saw a 16% increase in Weight per Day growth for the region (excluding China)
• High-value, technology-related cargo, engineering & manufacturing, and automotive are the biggest drivers, making up two-thirds of the total weight of heavyweight segment

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 16 September 2026 – Following DHL Express’s introduction of Heavy Weight Express (HWX) this year, DHL Express recorded a 16% growth in its Time Definite International Weight per Day in Asia Pacific (excluding China) between January and July2026. This reflects how DHL’s Smart Industrial Growth Strategy is yielding positive outcomes as businesses are moving heavier, critical components, machinery, and industrial equipment across borders.

The heavyweight market has been gaining traction in recent years. Industry research shows that an estimated 10.2 million tons of heavyweight shipments¹ are being moved in Asia Pacific (excluding China) each year. Many companies have spent years reducing inventory and improving efficiency across their supply chains. However, companies today operate in a far less predictable environment marked by trade disruptions, manufacturing bottlenecks, and fluctuating demand. The rise in heavyweight shipment volumes mirrors a shift in how businesses are managing supply chain risks, as they increasingly turn to express logistics not only to handle sudden shifts in demand but also to have greater agility, certainty and control over timelines.

“Behind the numbers is a simple reality: Businesses are shipping heavy when timing matters and when it’s critical,” said Ken Lee, CEO for Asia Pacific, DHL Express. “As companies continue to navigate a complex landscape where uncertainty has become the norm, speed and reliability have also become part of the business decision. Customers are making deliberate decisions on what they ship through our network. Our Heavy Weight Express solution helps companies avoid downtime, protect working capital and keep operations moving when supply chains don’t go exactly as planned.”

Technology, Engineering & Manufacturing, and Automotive top Asia Pacific’s heavyweight contributors

Across the region, high-value, technology-related cargo, such as computer chips and semiconductors, accounts for the largest share of DHL Express’s heavyweight segment at over 34%, driven by rapid investment in data centers to support the growing demandfor computing capacity, data storage, cloud services, as well as artificial intelligence. This has fueled demand for technology-related shipments, from semiconductors and servers to cooling systems and electrical infrastructure. However, a data center crunch is creating supply chain bottlenecks as demand for semiconductor manufacturing outpaces infrastructure supply. As a result, express logistics services are urgently activated to move critical components quickly and efficiently, helping to keep projects on schedule.

The other main contributors to the heavyweight segment are businesses in engineering & manufacturing as well as the automotive industry.

Automotive is the fastest growing sector

HWX service is also gaining strong momentum in the automotive sector, with its shipment weight increasing at a rate of nearly 20%. As the leading export region for this sector, Asia Pacific is also seeing a surge in Asian automotive brands, particularly Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturers from China and Southeast Asia. As these brands expand into new markets, they are also moving vehicle parts sourced from different suppliers and manufacturers across borders. This has created the appetite for expedited shipments to keep production running. In this sector, a single late or failed shipment could instantly cost automotive manufacturers millions of dollars.

Asia affirms role as a vital trading hub

In Asia Pacific (excluding China), the fastest growth in heavyweight shipments for the first seven months of the year came from India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan and Hong Kong. These markets reflect two of the region’s strongest trade corridors – Southeast Asia’s firm role as a manufacturing and sourcing base, and North Asia’s strategic position as a hub for high-value technology, industrial and automotive supply chains. Additionally, India, the Philippines, and Vietnam are also recognized as key markets of the geographic tailwinds initiative.

“As companies continue to manufacture out of Asia, balancing project timelines and building more resilient and agile supply chains become a priority. To maintain production continuity and ensure certainty, they are consolidating goods into heavier shipments. These non-negotiable conditions are also “urgency drivers” that put us at an advantage to help deliver our customers’ shipments at a definite time,” said Ken Lee, CEO for Asia Pacific, DHL Express.

In recent years, DHL Express has added several new infrastructures across the region, including an expanded global hub in Hong Kong, facilities near Cebu and Manila airports, gateway at Christchurch airport, Hanoi gateway near Noi Bai airport, as well as Delhi gateway, culminating in approximately 1,000 facilities in the Asia Pacific region. This is further supported by a robust aviation network of around 810 flights per day.

¹McKinsey/IHS Markit (2024)
Hashtag: #DHLExpress #GlobalTrade #HeavyWeightExpress

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

DHL – The logistics company for the world

DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL divisions offer an unrivaled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With approximately 389,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global sustainable trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare, engineering, manufacturing & energy, auto-mobility and retail, DHL is decisively positioned as “The logistics company for the world”.

DHL is part of DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of approximately 82.9 billion euros in 2025. With sustainable business practices and a commitment to society and the environment, the Group makes a positive contribution to the world. DHL Group aims to achieve net-zero emissions logistics by 2050.

Rahul Chari, PhonePe’s founder and chief product and technology officer, said the company is concentrating on AI deployments that produce measurable gains in operating, product or revenue metrics rather than adding the technology indiscriminately across its platform.

Chari told the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai that the company’s approach starts with identifying operational bottlenecks where artificial intelligence can change outcomes. “Not everything that is an experience today gets genuinely better using AI,” he said. The emphasis, he added, is on a baseline shift in performance rather than the number of AI-labelled features. That approach is shaping investment across customer interactions, back-office workflows and engineering, while preserving conventional systems where automation offers little advantage.

The fintech processes close to 12 billion transactions a month and operates customer support with roughly 500 agents. Automation has increased the share of support cases handled without human intervention from about 90 per cent to 94 per cent, and PhonePe is targeting 96 per cent.

Chari said the remaining cases are harder because they often involve unusual circumstances, scattered information and the need for rapid responses. Large language models are being used to address those complex interactions, while human staff remain focused on cases that require judgement or escalation.

Fraud investigation is another area where automation has advanced. About 80 per cent of investigations can now be handled through automated systems, allowing specialist teams to concentrate on complicated incidents and new fraud patterns, according to the company’s account of its AI programme.

PhonePe is also extending artificial intelligence into consumer-facing services. It has been developing natural-language search that allows users to navigate the app, initiate tasks and reach relevant services using voice or text commands. The company is exploring broader conversational capabilities for personal finance, insurance and investment products.

Its search system, launched earlier this year using Microsoft Foundry, can interpret requests such as making a payment, recharging a FASTag or locating transaction information. PhonePe has said the interface is designed to reduce dependence on conventional menu navigation by directing users according to their stated intent.

Merchant products are another focus. PhonePe launched an AI-powered integration layer in May aimed at helping online businesses connect to its payment gateway through conversational instructions, reducing a process that can otherwise require developers to work through documentation and technical configuration.

The company followed in June with SmartPages, an AI-powered payment-page creator embedded in its payment gateway dashboard. Merchants can describe what they are selling in ordinary language, including vernacular languages, and the system generates product copy, selects relevant customer information fields and structures a mobile-oriented payment page.

PhonePe is considering further agentic functions for its business app, including answering merchant and customer queries and helping businesses create and distribute offers or coupons. The company has also examined tools that could connect commerce activity with services such as WhatsApp and Instagram.

Artificial intelligence is being incorporated throughout PhonePe’s software development process, including solution design, coding, code reviews, testing, deployment, troubleshooting and debugging. Internal tools include TraceMine for crash analysis, Lens for initial root-cause analysis using logs and deployment data, and KadAI for code orchestration and agent-based development.

Corporate functions are being brought into the same framework through an internal Agent Hub designed to let non-technology teams automate workflows. Legal, compliance, finance and human resources teams are among those using the platform.

PhonePe says the system was built for a regulated financial-services environment, with controls covering data access, leakage and localisation. Its architecture includes an in-house large language model router, open-source models hosted on company premises, and internal data and tools.

One target is the company’s new-product introduction process, where reviews involving compliance, privacy, legal, trust and safety can take about 30 days. PhonePe is exploring whether AI-enabled workflows can compress that process to less than a day.

The BG-5 Golden Dragon Fish was demonstrated at the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services, held at Shougang Park from September 9 to 13. Developed by Boyagongdao Marine Technology Group, the robot is designed to resemble a golden arowana and propel itself through water with a flexible, multi-joint tail rather than a conventional propeller.

The machine can detect obstacles and adjust its route autonomously instead of following only a fixed, pre-programmed path, according to information released by the developer and statements made at the exhibition. Its fish-like movement is intended to improve manoeuvrability while giving the platform a less conspicuous profile than many conventional underwater vehicles.

Boyagongdao lists the BG-5 as a 640-millimetre-long robot weighing about 3 kilograms. The published specifications give it a maximum operating depth of 5 metres and a top speed of 0.6 metres per second. The company says infrared recognition supports autonomous obstacle avoidance, while wireless communications allow online debugging and control.

The manufacturer also offers a BG-5V configuration that combines the robotic fish with a software platform for more advanced experiments. The listed capabilities include global and local path planning, task allocation, formation control, cooperative transport and coordinated operations involving multiple robots.

Those functions broaden the possible uses beyond a single demonstration unit. Groups of small robotic fish could, in principle, divide an underwater area for inspection or monitoring, maintain formations and coordinate tasks in locations where larger vehicles would be harder to deploy. The company presents the platform for research and teaching as well as operational fields including search and salvage, hydropower, safety and rescue and national defence.

Claims that the robot has been formally deployed as an underwater surveillance system have not been substantiated by publicly available official information. The specifications and the developer’s stated defence-related work show that reconnaissance or monitoring applications are technically plausible, but the model displayed at CIFTIS was presented as a biomimetic robotic platform rather than as an announced military deployment.

Boyagongdao says its bionic robot series draws on more than a decade of research associated with Peking University’s College of Engineering. The systems use high-speed biomimetic drive mechanisms and central pattern generator control algorithms intended to reproduce the smooth, rhythmic movement of aquatic animals.

The company has also disclosed work on defence-oriented underwater technology. Its website says technologies developed for military-related directions have been adapted for higher education products, and company material from earlier exhibitions describes unmanned and intelligent underwater equipment as an area of military development. It has separately publicised the ROBO-SHARK, a larger shark-inspired underwater robot developed with a military unit.

The BG-5 itself is not a newly created model. Boyagongdao had displayed the robotic fish before this month’s services trade fair and promoted it earlier this year at Beijing technology events. The latest CIFTIS appearance nevertheless drew renewed attention because of the machine’s autonomous obstacle avoidance and increasingly realistic biomimetic movement.

China’s work on underwater robotics extends well beyond fish-shaped machines. Universities, research institutes and commercial groups are developing autonomous systems for coral monitoring, infrastructure inspection, marine ranching, emergency rescue and deep-sea research. Some platforms are designed to carry cameras, sonar or environmental sensors, while others use robotic arms for intervention tasks.

A separate ecological-monitoring deployment in Hangzhou has used biomimetic robotic fish to patrol West Lake, measuring indicators including water temperature and pH, detecting invasive species and transmitting data to monitoring centres. Other Chinese underwater robots have been used for reef observation and for identifying and removing crown-of-thorns starfish.

The BG-5 demonstration at CIFTIS focused on embodied intelligence underwater, where navigation software, sensing and propulsion are integrated into a machine that moves more like a living animal than a standard remotely operated vehicle.

Addressing the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi, Goyal said greater connectivity between national payment networks, including systems modelled on India’s Unified Payments Interface, could lower friction in cross-border commerce while supporting wider use of members’ own currencies.

His proposals were aligned with the economic agenda carried into the BRICS summit, where leaders backed further work on facilitating trade and investment settlements in local currencies and improving interoperability between payment systems. The approach stops short of creating a common BRICS currency and instead focuses on practical links between existing financial infrastructures.

BRICS leaders encouraged the New Development Bank to expand local-currency financing and diversify its funding base, complementing efforts to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper and safer. Officials have stressed that the objective is not a single currency, but greater use of national currencies where commercially practical and mutually agreed.

Goyal said UPI now handles more than 250 billion transactions annually and is accepted in 11 countries. He urged BRICS economies to explore linking their payment networks, promote trade in each other’s currencies and expand digital commerce alongside cooperation in emerging technologies.

The minister coupled the payments proposal with a call for easier market access. He said BRICS economies should open their markets to one another’s products, including raw materials and critical minerals, while simplifying regulatory procedures and accelerating the clearance of consignments.

Goyal argued that resilient supply chains required two-way trade rather than dependence on one-sided flows. He said non-tariff measures impose higher export costs than tariffs in 88 per cent of countries, making regulatory obstacles and customs delays a central concern for companies seeking to trade across BRICS markets.

The push comes as intra-BRICS commerce has expanded sharply. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said trade among BRICS countries rose from $84 billion in 2003 to nearly $1.2 trillion in 2024, underscoring both the scale of the bloc’s market and the potential gains from reducing transaction and financing costs.

Agrawal also highlighted the global trade-finance gap, estimated at about $2.5 trillion, and said BRICS should improve access to affordable working capital for exporters. The Jaipur Consensus, agreed by BRICS trade ministers in August, provides a basis for examining a common mechanism to help smaller businesses obtain finance against confirmed orders and reliable payment records.

Trade ministers have also advanced a 2026-2030 action plan on global value chains, including BRICS Connect, business-to-business partnerships, digital trade documentation and possible platforms for strategic supply chains and investment promotion. These measures form part of a broader effort to make trade flows more diversified and less vulnerable to disruption.

Goyal identified agriculture, pharmaceuticals, engineering, electronics, automobiles, auto components and services as sectors with scope for deeper cooperation. He called for closer links between startup ecosystems and urged agri-tech companies to work jointly on solutions for farmers and food security.

Services trade was another priority. Goyal said BRICS members should make it easier for professionals to move across borders and work towards greater recognition of professional qualifications, arguing that services markets needed to become more genuinely accessible.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, speaking at the same forum, said supply-chain connectivity, trade facilitation and innovation had become central to BRICS cooperation. He also pointed to digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence, financial technology and advanced manufacturing as areas offering opportunities alongside questions of standards, security and trust.

Russia’s Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov separately supported stronger alternative payment arrangements, saying the share of Russia’s export settlements conducted in dollars and euros had fallen sharply over the past three years. He also promoted work on a proposed BRICS grain exchange and closer cooperation among special economic zones.

Enflame’s shares closed 179 per cent above their initial public offering price on the STAR Market, lifting the company’s market value to about 171 billion yuan from 61.2 billion yuan at the offer price. The Tencent-backed company raised 6.12 billion yuan by selling 43.04 million new shares at 142.18 yuan each.

The surge came despite Enflame having never reported an annual profit since its establishment in 2018. Its 2025 revenue reached 990.2 million yuan while its net loss narrowed to about 1.2 billion yuan. The company has forecast revenue of 2.3 billion yuan to 3 billion yuan for the first nine months of 2026, alongside a net loss of 700 million yuan to 860 million yuan.

Revenue has expanded quickly from 301 million yuan in 2023 and about 722 million yuan in 2024, but losses have remained substantial as the company spends heavily on research and product development. Enflame recorded net losses of about 1.67 billion yuan in 2023 and 1.51 billion yuan in 2024 before narrowing the deficit last year, underscoring how far commercial growth has run ahead of earnings for the company.

Enflame said in its prospectus that it expects to reach break-even or profitability in 2026 or 2027. It plans to direct much of the IPO proceeds towards development and industrialisation of fifth- and sixth-generation artificial-intelligence chips, software and large-scale computing systems.

The company’s rapid revaluation also highlights the unusual economics of China’s artificial-intelligence chip boom. Investors have rewarded several young semiconductor groups whose sales are expanding quickly but whose research spending remains heavy and earnings records are limited or negative.

Moore Threads Technology, another Shanghai-listed graphics processor developer, created several billionaires after its market debut in December 2025, when its shares rose more than fourfold. Founder and chairman Zhang Jianzhong, a former head of Nvidia’s China operations, was valued at several billion dollars after the listing, while co-founders Zhang Yubo and Wang Dong also crossed the billionaire threshold based on their holdings.

MetaX Integrated Circuits produced a similar outcome after its Shanghai flotation. Chairman and chief executive Chen Weiliang, who previously worked at Advanced Micro Devices, became a billionaire as investors pushed the company’s valuation sharply higher despite continuing operating losses. Early investor Ge Weidong also joined the billionaire ranks through his stake.

The valuations reflect expectations that domestic chipmakers will capture a larger share of China’s fast-growing demand for artificial-intelligence computing as access to the most advanced US-designed processors remains constrained. Domestic producers are competing to supply cloud companies, data centres and developers running large language models, recommendation engines and other computing-intensive services.

Enflame’s commercial position, however, remains unusually concentrated. Tencent is its largest shareholder, with a 17.95 per cent stake after the offering, and sales linked to the technology group accounted for 83.79 per cent of Enflame’s 2025 revenue. The concentration gives Enflame a major anchor customer but also leaves its growth closely tied to purchasing decisions by one group.

The company employed about 860 people as of September 2025, according to disclosures compiled from its listing materials. Founded by former AMD executives Zhao Lidong and Zhang Yalin, Enflame develops accelerator chips, add-on cards, computing systems and software for artificial-intelligence training and inference in data centres.

Only 17.9 million shares, equivalent to 4.16 per cent of Enflame’s enlarged share capital, were freely tradable at the start of trading, limiting the initial public float and potentially amplifying price swings. The retail portion of the offering attracted thousands of times more demand than the shares available.