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Unveiling Three Innovative Products Integrating Local Hong Kong Culture and Consumption Scenarios, Demonstrating Deep Synergy Between Chinese Baijiu and Modern Leisure Lifestyles

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 October 2026 – The “Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival 2026,” a premier global culinary extravaganza organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board, officially opened today, 29 October. Kweichow Zhen (also known as Zhenjiu), the flagship brand of ZJLD Group Inc. (6979.HK), a leading Chinese baijiu enterprise listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, makes a powerful return to the event. Against the backdrop of accelerating its global expansion and developing innovative products following its IPO, Kweichow Zhen centres its participation on the core theme of “Zhenjiu Encounters Hong Kong“. By seamlessly blending rich sauce-aroma baijiu with Hong Kong’s vibrant contemporary urban culture, the brand creates an immersive tasting experience that highlights its latest breakthroughs in product innovation and integration with lifestyle scenarios.

As a pioneer championing Chinese baijiu culture on the global stage, ZJLD Group is dedicated to breaking traditional stereotypes and continuously expanding the horizons of baijiu within modern casual living. Catering to the preferences of young urbanites and international consumers for versatile and rich flavor profiles, the Group presents three flagship innovative products. These offerings fully showcase an innovative interpretation of time-honoured craftsmanship and a profound resonance with modern Hong Kong aesthetics.

Three Highlighted Innovative Products: Local Flavors, Cross-Industry Collaboration, and Multi-Category Breakthroughs

Local Flavor Inspiration: ZESS（Zhenjiu Cocktail with Local Ginger and Lemon）

To broaden the daily appeal of traditional baijiu and capture younger demographics, Kweichow Zhen introduces an innovative low-ABV, light-sip concept. Crafted with Zhenjiu’s premium sauce-aroma baijiu as its base, the cocktail is specially infused with carefully selected local Hong Kong ginger and fresh lemon. Featuring a light 5% ABV sparkling profile, it harmoniously balances spicy nuances with crisp citrus notes, offering an approachable, low-alcohol alternative that revitalizes traditional sauce-aroma baijiu with a distinctly local Hong Kong touch.

Cross-Brand Innovation: Exclusive Launch of Chocolate Baijiu Ice Cream with The Ice Cream & Cookie Co.

Building on the enthusiastic response to past collaborations, Zhenjiu deepens its partnership with The Ice Cream & Cookie Co., an artisanal dessert brand from Singapore that has gained widespread popularity in Hong Kong. Making its exclusive debut at the festival, the “Chocolate-Flavored Baijiu Ice Cream” features a rich 60% dark chocolate base infused with premium apricots deeply soaked in Zhenjiu. The bright acidity and fermented complexity of the apricots blend perfectly with the smooth cocoa notes, delivering a luxurious triple-layered flavor experience of fruit, baijiu, and dark chocolate.

Major Category Expansion: “NEWS Oak-Aged Craft Beer” Makes Its Wine & Dine Debut

Marking a significant milestone in ZJLD’s multi-category beverage ecosystem, “NEWS Oak-Aged Craft Beer“, hailed as a “Super Beer”, makes its premiere at this year’s Wine & Dine. Developed over three years by Kweichow Zhen’s R&D team, it is crafted from imported Canadian and Australian two-row barley malt, top-grade German and Belgian yeast, Yakima Valley aroma hops from the US, and pristine water from Mount Mogan. Brewed using top-fermented Ale techniques with an ABV of 5.9%, it delivers elegant fruity, malty, and subtle woody notes. The brand incorporates the Eastern cultural ethos of “good fortune and prosperity” into its marketing narrative, accompanied by a sleek, modern, minimalist packaging design that embodies continuous progress and infinite possibilities.

Deepening the Baijiu Globalization Strategy: Partnering with Hong Kong to Enhance Its Charm as a Global Culinary Capital

Mr. Paul Ng, Vice President of International Operations at ZJLD Group Inc., stated:

“The Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival is a world-class event of immense global influence. Kweichow Zhen has participated for consecutive years, and this year, we are placing even greater emphasis on the deep integration and scenario innovation between baijiu and local Hong Kong culture. From ZESS, our local flavor-inspired cocktail, to our co-created baijiu ice cream with a renowned artisanal dessert brand, and the premiere of NEWS Oak-Aged Craft Beer, we aim to present a fresh international calling card for Chinese baijiu. We want to demonstrate that baijiu is not only a traditional cultural symbol, but a dynamic, stylish lifestyle choice that seamlessly fits into modern urban leisure and daily living.”

Hashtag: #ZJLDGroup

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About ZJLD Group Inc.

Zhenjiu was established in 1975 in Zunyi, Guizhou, China’s primary production area for sauce-aroma baijiu. In 1988, it was honored with the National Quality Award at the 5th National Wine Appreciation Conference. In the same year, it was selected by the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Communication Department of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, and the Great Hall of the People Management Bureau to become one of the two sauce-aroma baijiu served at state banquets. It is also recognized as one of the “Three RepresentativeBaijiu Brands in Guizhou“.

ZJLD Group Inc. is a leading baijiu group in China devoted to offering premium baijiu products, including sauce-aroma, mixed-aroma, and strong-aroma varieties. The Company operates four renowned baijiu brands in China, including two national baijiu brands (Zhenjiu and Li Du) and two regional brands (Xiangjiao and Kaikouxiao). ZJLD prides itself on inheriting the time-honored baijiu-distilling techniques and reinvigorating them to develop iconic products, striving to create a diverse portfolio that meets modern consumer preferences, captures broader market opportunities, and promotes traditional Chinese baijiu culture worldwide.

Led by Blockchain Capital, the funding will accelerate the expansion of PhotonPay’s stablecoin-centric Financial OS, connecting stablecoin liquidity with global fiat networks to unlock digital assets for everyday corporate operations and cross-border settlement.

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 October 2026 – PhotonPay today announced the closing of a $40 million Series C funding round led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from new investor SBI Group and follow-on investments from existing investors IDG Capital, GL Ventures, and Lightspeed Faction. Blacksheep Technology acted as exclusive financial advisor to PhotonPay on the transaction.

The new capital will support the expansion of PhotonPay’s stablecoin-centric Financial Operating System (Financial OS), with investment focused on enhancing multi-asset wallet capabilities, expanding global card issuing, strengthening local clearing infrastructure in key markets, and developing an agent-ready financial execution layer.

As of August 2026, PhotonPay’s annualized transaction volume reached US$65 billion. The company has secured 34 payment and financial licenses and regulatory authorizations across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and serves over 200,000 business customers across more than 200 countries and territories.

As stablecoins move beyond crypto-native use cases into corporate treasury, settlement and commercial spending, PhotonPay sees the next phase of global finance not as a choice between stablecoins and fiat currencies, but as the convergence of both. Its Financial OS connects on-chain liquidity with the banking, clearing and card networks businesses rely on for everyday operations.

“Moving money across borders in seconds means little if it still takes days to put that capital to work,” said Lewison Chen, Founder and CEO of PhotonPay. “Stablecoins are accelerating global money movement, while local clearing and global card issuing connect that liquidity to local settlement and everyday business spending. Our Financial OS brings these capabilities together, making the underlying infrastructure far less visible to businesses, even as it becomes more essential than ever.”

“At the same time, business software is becoming increasingly autonomous,” Chen added. “AI is shifting financial workflows from people manually operating fragmented tools toward systems that understand business intent and coordinate execution across assets, accounts and financial rails. That creates the foundation for agentic commerce. Stablecoins change how money moves. AI changes how it gets put to work. But commerce is still what money is for.”

Moving Money Across Assets and Markets

PhotonPay’s Financial OS brings together multi-asset wallets, global money movement, foreign exchange, local clearing, and global card issuing through an integrated API-first architecture. This unified system gives businesses access to the financial capabilities they need to manage and deploy funds across markets.

Stablecoins sit at the core of this architecture. PhotonPay’s multi-asset wallet connects stablecoin liquidity with fiat balances, integrating asset conversion, foreign exchange, and local clearing into a single connected workflow. This enables businesses to move funds across supported on-chain and traditional financial networks, turning digital asset liquidity into purchasing power for local payments and everyday corporate spending.

Supporting this dual-rail infrastructure is PhotonPay’s established global financial network. Businesses can open local collection accounts in 17 key markets and receive funds in more than 60 currencies. On the payout side, the network supports over 100 payment routes across local clearing systems, bank transfers, and digital wallets, including payouts to 74 major local e-wallets. Approximately 97% of payout transactions reach recipients within hours or on the same day, with 68% arriving in real time.

Global card issuing extends these capabilities into programmable business spending. Through PhotonPay’s APIs, businesses and platforms can issue virtual and physical cards, configure granular spending controls, and embed card payments directly into their software and automated workflows. Over the past 12 months, PhotonPay issued 4.4 million cards, up 275% YoY.

Beyond its first-party payment solutions, PhotonPay makes its infrastructure available through embedded finance, enabling technology platforms to natively integrate global accounts, payments, and card issuing into their own products. The company now serves more than 100 enterprise and platform partners, extending the reach of its Financial OS into industry-specific workflows.

From Financial Intent to Agentic Commerce

As AI agents assume active operational roles, financial infrastructure must evolve beyond API access to enable programmable, policy-governed execution. It requires systems capable of translating high-level instructions into coordinated financial actions, with deterministic controls governing how those actions are executed.

In May 2026, PhotonPay and Mastercard completed a live agentic payment demonstration using a tokenized PhotonPay card, validating AI-initiated transactions across existing global card networks.

Building on this milestone, PhotonPay is developing standardized financial interfaces designed for developers and AI agents. With planned support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), PhotonPay aims to make account information, balances, card functions, and payments accessible as composable financial primitives, allowing AI agents to securely retrieve context and initiate financial workflows within defined authorization boundaries.

To govern this agent-ready layer, PhotonPay is developing a policy-based execution framework designed to enforce programmable authorization rules, spending limits, and transaction-level controls. The framework is intended to enable AI agents to coordinate financial tasks across supported accounts and assets, while ensuring that execution remains subject to explicit, enforceable policies set by businesses.

PhotonPay is also advancing its AI-assisted risk review capabilities, designed to identify complex cases for human assessment. Together, these initiatives reflect a foundational principle of autonomous finance: AI may interpret intent and coordinate tasks, but financial execution must remain governed by verifiable authorization, deterministic controls, and auditable records.

“Connecting financial networks is only the beginning. The real breakthrough is abstracting that complexity behind a unified, programmable financial layer, so businesses and AI agents can move from intent to execution within clearly defined boundaries,” said Chen.

Simple on the Surface, Deep by Design

The promise of a Financial OS is simplicity: enabling businesses to manage assets, route money, and execute payments through a unified financial operating layer. Yet delivering that simplicity requires deep financial infrastructure beneath the surface.

While stablecoins accelerate borderless value transfer, turning that liquidity into local settlement, supplier payments, and corporate spending still depends on established banking relationships, domestic clearing rails, foreign exchange infrastructure, and global card networks. Each market brings its own regulatory and operational requirements.

For PhotonPay, building a Financial OS means abstracting these fragmented global networks into a programmable, interconnected financial system. The objective is not to eliminate financial complexity, but to manage it within the underlying infrastructure, so businesses can operate without having to navigate these systems themselves.

“AI can simplify how businesses interact with financial services, but it cannot replace the infrastructure required to deliver them,” said JP Pi, Chief Compliance Officer at PhotonPay. “Establishing local financial capabilities takes years of investment, institutional partnerships, and regulatory engagement. Software or AI models alone cannot replicate that depth. The simplicity businesses experience is the result of that heavy lifting, not a substitute for it.”

PhotonPay has engineered a financial foundation spanning both stablecoin and fiat rails, connecting multi-asset conversion with local clearing networks. Institutional partnerships with J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered, and DBS, alongside connections to domestic payment systems such as Brazil’s Pix and Mexico’s SPEI, form the backbone of this network.

The new capital will enable PhotonPay to strengthen its local clearing and compliance infrastructure in existing markets while expanding into new jurisdictions, scaling the reach of its Financial OS across corporate spending, embedded finance, and agentic commerce.

“Businesses want one provider that can handle their payments across currencies and markets, whether they’re using bank transfers, stablecoins or cards. Lewison and his team have spent a decade building the banking relationships, licenses and local payment infrastructure to deliver that. We believe PhotonPay’s ability to bring these capabilities together gives it a strong advantage as businesses adopt stablecoins for everyday payments.” – BCAP，Yuanhan Li，Partner

“As stablecoins become increasingly integrated into global payment systems, bridging digital assets with traditional financial infrastructure will be essential to unlocking their real-world potential. PhotonPay’s established global payment network and its vision for a stablecoin-centric Financial OS align closely with SBI Group’s strategy to advance digital financial infrastructure and expand the practical adoption of digital assets. We look forward to supporting PhotonPay’s continued growth and exploring opportunities for strategic collaboration across the SBI Group ecosystem.” – Eiichiro So, CEO & Managing Director of SBI Ven Capital

Hashtag: #PhotonPay #SeriesC #Stablecoin

https://www.photonpay.com

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

About PhotonPay

Founded in Hong Kong in 2015, PhotonPay is a global fintech company building a next-generation, stablecoin-centric Financial Operating System (Financial OS). Its API-first architecture brings together multi-asset wallets supporting stablecoins and fiat currencies, global money movement, foreign exchange, global card issuing, embedded finance, and local clearing infrastructure, connecting digital and traditional financial rails within an integrated financial system.

PhotonPay operates 16 offices worldwide, employs nearly 600 people, and holds 34 payment and financial licenses and regulatory authorizations across the Americas, Europe and Asia. The company serves businesses across more than 200 countries and territories.

For more information, visit www.photonpay.com.

By Nilotpal Basu Faced with growing protests over the large-scale electoral malpractices initiated by the supposedly neutral umpire, the Election Commission of India, which clearly favours the BJP, the government and the ruling party have gone berserk. Like a drowning man clutching at straws, the ruling party and its army of social media foot soldiers […]

The article Regime Change Threat And Foreign Funding Are The Bogey Of Ruling Party To Curb Dissent appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).

• The innovation breakthroughs for pioneering new communications networks include RetinaMIMO, new materials, and OSCAR solution among other root technologies. By tackling coverage, energy consumption, and capacity challenges, the breakthroughs drive ubiquitous experience, simplified and green networks, and superior spectral efficiency. The breakthroughs have unlocked a wealth of new capabilities, including the world’s first commercial U6 GHz device VitaAAU, GigaGreen Plus series, and UBBPi series.
• Huawei promotes A2A-T standards and drives commercial open-source OpenAN through extensive partnerships to build an open telecom agent ecosystem.

SHANGHAI, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 October 2026 – At Huawei Decoding China 2026, Fang Xiang, Corporate Vice President and President of Wireless Network Solution of Huawei, unveiled a series of innovation breakthroughs to pioneer new communications networks. The innovation breakthroughs mark major leaps in root technologies focused on ubiquitous experience, simplified and green networks, and superior spectral efficiency. With the breakthroughs, Huawei has launched the world’s first commercial U6 GHz device VitaAAU, GigaGreen Plus series, and UBBPi series. Additionally featuring the new progress in open ecosystem for telecom agents, the breakthroughs will lay a solid foundation for new communications networks.

With booming intelligent devices and services, new devices, traffic, and applications are taking shape in the mobile industry. The new devices are expanding network connectivity from people to things and agents, increasing the number of connections by 100 times. Device-cloud synergy for intelligent services calls for stronger uplink capabilities to support training and inference, shifting network focus from downlink dominance to both uplink and downlink. With new applications, come a diversity of new interaction modes, calling for higher standards in experience and driving networks to support ubiquitous steady ultra-low latency with a high reliability.

As the world steps into an intelligent era, the value of connectivity is not only about quantity—it’s more about quality. This has been inspiring Huawei to convert cutting-edge breakthroughs into the commercial practices of new communications networks by focusing on root technologies for ubiquitous experience, simplified and green networks, and superior spectral efficiency.

Pioneering ubiquitous experience

RetinaMIMO is a new pioneering technology designed to solve the challenge of concurrent ultra-high bandwidth and ubiquitous coverage. It features the industry’s first Retina scanning system that allows RF link topologies to be reconstructed to eliminate coverage collapse in the vertical direction. It also adopts a reconstructed antenna array architecture to address the diminishing marginal gains as array elements (AEs) increase.

Based on RetinaMIMO, Huawei has launched the world’s first commercial U6 GHz device VitaAAU. Compared with similar products with 1024 AEs, VitaAAU widens coverage by about 30%, enabling U6 GHz to match C-band in both horizontal and vertical directions. This enables operators to deliver U6 GHz coverage for new communications networks on their C-band sites, minimizing overall TCO. To date, VitaAAU has seen commercial adoption in the UAE and other markets, with peak downlink speeds exceeding 10 Gbps, making ubiquitous premium experience a reality.

Pioneering simplified, green networks

Huawei’s pioneering EP power amplifier (PA) architecture capitalizes on new materials and technologies to solve the problem of energy efficiency decline on higher frequency bands, maximizing energy conversion efficiency. The industry’s first-ever multimode dielectric filters allow antennas to have small dimensions and low power consumption on multi-channel networks with high frequency bands. Powered by new materials, technologies, and architectures, VitaAAU antenna is reduced to 1.5 m in diameter while supporting “0 Bit 0 Watt 0 Loss”, delivering superior energy saving efficiency. These innovations enable Huawei’s GigaGreen Plus series products to achieve significant reductions in dimensions, weight, and power consumption, better positioned to power simplified and green networks.

Pioneering superior spectral efficiency

Multi-band, multi-cell, and multi-user interference is a major restrictive factor of capacity. The time scaling of the Tau (τ) law is introduced to base stations for the first time to realize optimal dynamic resource scheduling across all domains based on the OSCAR solution. With low-latency bus and high-speed interconnect technology, a high-speed architecture is built to enable the real-time exchange of massive data. Thanks to software and hardware synergy, new UBBPi series products improve average user experience by 1.3 times while reducing power consumption by approximately 40%, further improving spectral and energy efficiency.

Pioneering open-source autonomous networks

Autonomous networks have emerged as an inevitable choice to deal with the growing AI services and increasing network complexity. RANSpirit is another industry first from Huawei, implementing single-domain network autonomy based on the telecom foundation model and digital twins. To date, RANSpirit is serving more than 1.2 million cells across 25 networks around the world, providing assistance to more than 2,000 engineers.

Extensive agent collaboration relies on an open, win-win ecosystem. This galvanizes Huawei to join industry partners to develop ecosystem standards, communities, and industry alliances. In terms of standards, Huawei adapts to the TM Forum, building a cross-agent foundation on the A2A-T standard and framework agreed upon by the industry. In terms of communities, Huawei jointly promotes neutral open-source communities and donates open-source agent components to the Linux Foundation, driving global collaboration and innovation. With regard to industry alliances, Huawei has taken the initiative to pool ecosystem strengths to accelerate business implementation based on the GSMA industry platform.

Fang concluded with the reiteration of Huawei’s unswerving pursuit of dual-drive innovation to promote new breakthroughs in mobile networks and work with partners from around the world to deepen the OpenAN ecosystem, advancing new communications networks through technological innovation and open collaboration.

FAQs

Q1: Why is it challenging to balance ultra-high bandwidth and ubiquitous coverage?

Ultra-high bandwidth depends on higher frequency bands. As we know, a higher frequency leads to a greater propagation loss of electromagnetic waves and a weaker ability for them to penetrate obstacles, because high-frequency signals attenuate fast and have short coverage distances, while ubiquitous coverage requires signals to travel a long distance in complex environments. Inherently, the two priorities pull in sharply opposite directions.

Hashtag: #Huawei

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

Founders are pressing ahead with US expansion despite immigration uncertainty, according to new research from Beyond Border. Its Founder Mobility Pulse survey found that 82% have not changed their plans to expand to the US, while an analysis of 1,140 immigration inquiries from Asia offers insights into the region’s role in US market entry.

SINGAPORE & HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 October 2026 – Despite continued uncertainty surrounding US immigration policies, founders remain committed to expanding into the American market, according to new research from US immigration platform Beyond Border.

Beyond Border’s Founder Mobility Pulse survey, conducted in August 2026 among 307 respondents worldwide, found that 82% had not changed their US expansion plans despite immigration uncertainty. A further 11% reported either accelerating their timelines or exploring alternative visa pathways.

The findings form part of Beyond Border’s October 2026 market commentary, which also draws on proprietary analysis of 1,140 US immigration enquiries from Asia-based individuals between August 2025 and September 2026, alongside US government immigration statistics and regional talent mobility data.

The research suggests that while immigration uncertainty is influencing how founders approach US market entry, access to the American market remains an important commercial priority.

“For founders, the question is no longer simply whether to expand into the US, but how to establish the right presence there. We’re seeing businesses pursue access to American customers while keeping key functions in their home markets. Immigration planning needs to be part of that strategy from the outset, rather than something founders address only when they’re ready to relocate,” said Fred Ng, Cofounder & CEO of Beyond Border.

Four Findings on US Expansion and Immigration Trends

Beyond Border’s research highlights four developments shaping US expansion and international talent mobility:

1. Access to US customers remains the biggest expansion driver: Some 85% of survey respondents identified access to US customers as their primary motivation for expansion, compared with 8% citing fundraising and investors. Meanwhile, 60% plan to expand into the US within the next 12 months.

2. Founders are taking a more distributed approach to US expansion: Nearly two-thirds (64%) expect to establish a US presence through the founder alone or alongside a small team. At the same time, 72% intend to retain engineering and product functions in Asia, suggesting that US market entry does not necessarily require relocating entire operations.

3. Immigration uncertainty is not deterring founders’ US expansion plans: Beyond Border’s analysis of 1,140 immigration enquiries from Asia-based individuals found that approximately 45% (510) concerned the O-1 visa. Meanwhile, US government data shows diverging approval trends across immigration pathways. Between FY2022 and FY2024, approved L-1 petitions declined by 31%, while O-1/O-2 approvals increased slightly by 1%. Over a separate period, FY2023 to FY2025, EB-1A approvals increased by 20%, while EB-2 NIW approvals declined by 39%. These figures reflect changes in approval volumes rather than approval rates.

4. Changing talent mobility patterns could create opportunities for Asian economies: Estimates from Xpheno indicate that the number of US-based technology professionals returning to India increased from approximately 7,200 in 2023 to 15,100 in 2025. While these movements cannot be attributed solely to immigration policies, they point to broader shifts in international technology talent mobility.

As founders navigate an evolving immigration environment, Beyond Border’s research highlights the importance of aligning immigration decisions with commercial priorities, market entry strategies and long-term business plans.

For the full market commentary, visit https://lp.beyondborderglobal.com/organic/us-expansion-report-2026

Hashtag: #beyondborder #tech #immigration

https://www.beyondborderglobal.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyondborder/?viewAsMember=true
https://www.facebook.com/BeyondBorder01Visas
https://www.instagram.com/beyondborderglobal/

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Beyond Border

Built by founders for founders and highly skilled professionals, Beyond Border is a trusted, Singapore-founded, tech-enabled U.S. immigration platform. Launched in 2024, the company helps clients pursue U.S. visas and employment-based green cards, with a focus on O-1 visas and EB-1A and EB-2 NIW green-card pathways. Beyond Border supports clients from eligibility assessment through petition preparation, connecting them with vetted specialist immigration attorneys. Beyond Border has supported thousands of founders including from companies backed by Y Combinator, Techstars, Antler and 500 Global, as well as cross-border technology companies including SuperOps and Biorce. Beyond Border has nine offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Nigeria. For more information, visit www.beyondborderglobal.com

As global commercial vehicle competition intensifies, international growth requires strong products and manufacturing as well as professional full-lifecycle service. BAIC FOTON’s growing African lineup creates diverse sales, maintenance and technical-support needs, making local talent development essential. Since early 2026, the company has delivered nearly 100 specialized training sessions in key markets, including heavy-duty truck engine disassembly in Argentina, all-electric bus fault diagnosis in Türkiye, and one-day intensive training for five rotating groups in Uruguay. The programs turn headquarters’ technical standards into practical frontline diagnostic and repair skills.

Lu Zhenghua said the center will support Africa’s regional operating system and deeper localization by connecting technical standards, service experience and local team capabilities, while improving coordination among product supply, after-sales support and talent development. Wang Zhuozhong, VP of BAIC FOTON INTERNATIONAL, introduced the center’s background and development plan. Local partners discussed service cooperation, support for service providers and future opportunities.

Centered in South Africa and serving the wider continent, the center will share technical standards and service experience and help dealers improve spare-parts stocking, maintenance processes and response efficiency, advancing standardized, professional services.

The 900-square-meter facility allocates 450 square meters each to theoretical and practical training. A 140-square-meter classroom seats 80, and a 35-square-meter classroom seats 24. Offices and rest areas support five practical zones: complete vehicles, engines, transmissions, electrical and electronic systems, and new-energy vehicles. The facility supports training across BAIC FOTON’s product range and job roles.

After touring the center, Lu Zhenghua and his delegation met local dealers and customers to discuss regional business. African dealers welcomed its contribution to local talent and service capability, and looked forward to deeper technical and business cooperation.

Building on local manufacturing in South Africa, BAIC FOTON is integrating manufacturing, spare-parts supply, after-sales support and professional training. It will continue working with African partners to deepen internationalization and localization and promote high-quality growth across the continent.

Hashtag: #BAICFOTON

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Bill Deng, Founder and CEO of XTransfer, will join the management team at showcases and closed-door sessions in both cities, sharing views on AI risk control and operations, local-currency settlement in emerging markets and practical inclusive finance for SMEs. During the events, XTransfer will hold signing ceremonies for strategic cooperation with several international financial institutions, further extending its global clearing network.

A central focus will be XTransfer’s financial institution partnership model, which enables banks and payment institutions to participate as both co-builders and users. Partners can contribute local collection, payout and FX capabilities, while accessing services such as Pay-to-China, Local-Currency Collection and Local-Currency Payout through the XTransfer API.

Another focus will be XTransfer’s end-to-end local-currency settlement. In emerging markets, restricted access to foreign exchange can delay the settlement of legitimate trade payments. To address this, XTransfer has built an end-to-end B2B trade settlement network comparable to Visa and Mastercard, directly connecting paying and receiving banks. Paired with its pioneering local collection account service, it enables end-to-end local-currency settlement, a 24/7, fast, low-cost, and compliant option that lets buyers and sellers worldwide pay and receive trade funds in their respective local currencies. The service now covers nearly 60 countries and regions across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, and North America, etc.

Today, XTransfer serves more than one million SMEs globally, with over US$60 billion in total payment volume in 2025, and is trusted by more than 170 global financial partners. Through its participation in Hong Kong and Singapore, XTransfer aims to deepen collaboration across the financial ecosystem and make cross-border payments more secure, efficient and accessible for trade businesses worldwide.
Hashtag: #XTransfer #SFF #HKFW #HongKong #Singapore #Crossborder #Payment #SMEs #ASEAN

https://www.xtransfer.com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/xtransfer.cn

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

According to data from Frost & Sullivan, GREE’s leading position in the global Premium residential air conditioning market is built upon comprehensive superiority in core product performance. Consumers in the Premium segment do not pay merely for a “higher price tag”, instead, they choose products that offer superior usage experiences, more durable and stable operation, and outstanding energy-saving performance. GREE’s widespread recognition in this market is fundamentally rooted in its years of deep cultivation in energy efficiency technology, noise reduction technology, and comfortable airflow technologies. These technologies have passed the most demanding user tests across diverse scenarios in different countries and regions.

Winning recognition in the global premium market ultimately relies on what the product itself says. GREE’s reputation for quality among global consumers stems from sustained investments in core technologies, superior user experiences, and user value over many years.

To address the harsh challenges posed by diverse global climates, GREE independently developed a matrix of core compressor technologies covering all climatic zones. The Timo series, equipped with G-Boost single-stage enthalpy-adding compressors, was specifically developed for extremely hot regions like the Middle East. It remains reliable operation even at ambient temperature of 68℃, achieving non-declining cooling performance at 54℃. The Airy series pioneered the commercialization of ultra-wide frequency rotary compressors, capable of continuous heating for 10 hours without defrosting, improving the seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) by 9.5% to 16.7%. The S-cool series, equipped with G-Hyper dual-cylinder two-stage compressors, was crafted for extremely cold regions such as Northern Europe and North America. It operates stably within an ultra-wide temperature range of -40℃ to 54℃, achieving industry breakthroughs of “non-declining heating at -25℃ and non-declining cooling at 46℃”. These three compressor technologies provide “all-climate comfort” solutions for users in different climate belts through their respective differentiated technical paths.

In key dimensions of user experience, GREE also addresses consumer pain points with hardcore technology. The newly launched 2026 “Ai Silent King” features GREE’s self-developed AI energy-saving chip. Paired with artificial intelligence algorithms, it saves energy from the moment it is turned on, improving annual energy efficiency by 23%. Meanwhile, GREE’s SilenzX series air conditioners achieve ultra-low sound pressure levels of just 29 dB(A) for the outdoor unit and 15 dB(A) for the indoor unit—far below the industry average. This achievement earned the Gold Medal at the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, marking GREE’s leadership in the field of noise reduction technology globally.

From compressors to whole unit systems, from AI energy saving to quiet technology, GREE has built the core competitiveness of Premium products through solid technological accumulation and continuous innovation breakthroughs, creating truly high-quality air experiences for global users.

As of July, GREE holds 50 “world-leading” technologies. From residential air conditioners to central air conditioning systems, from single-refrigerant systems to solutions covering all climatic zones, GREE has constructed a complete, autonomous, and controllable technology matrix. It is this systemic innovative capability that allows GREE to maintain rapid response and technical adaptation capabilities in the face of differentiated needs across global markets.

Currently, GREE products serve more than 190 countries and regions worldwide. By adhering to serving users with core technologies and high-quality service, GREE continues to meet people’s pursuit of a better life. Honors are witnesses to the past, and innovation is the eternal coordinate. Standing at a new starting point, GREE Electric Appliances will continue to drive high-quality development through independent innovation, moving from “scale leadership” to “value guidance,” and from “Chinese Manufacturing” to “Global Brand”, thus achieving “Made in China, Loved by the World”.

Hashtag: #GREE

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

The forecast identifies large language models, which underpin generative AI applications, as an area where China is particularly well positioned to establish leadership. It also anticipates that Chinese companies and research institutions will become at least competitive across other critical technology sectors, potentially reshaping the balance of technological capabilities between Beijing and Washington.

The assessment comes as Chinese AI developers narrow the performance gap with American competitors despite restrictions on access to advanced semiconductors. Improvements in model efficiency, expanding domestic computing infrastructure and competitive pricing have strengthened China’s position in the global market.

Bloomberg Intelligence senior analyst Robert Lea identified a sharp improvement in Chinese model performance earlier this month. Leading Chinese systems trailed their American counterparts by approximately 3% on benchmark scores, compared with around 9% in May and 15% earlier this year.

That narrowing gap followed the September introduction of DeepSeek’s V4.1 Flash model, which demonstrated further advances in reasoning and computational efficiency. The findings suggest that restrictions on sophisticated American chips have not prevented Chinese developers from improving their systems.

The projections nevertheless remain conditional on technological progress, investment and commercial adoption over the next four years. Competitive performance in individual benchmarks does not necessarily establish overall leadership, particularly when computing capacity, profitability and enterprise deployment are considered.

China’s expanding capabilities are already influencing international adoption patterns. Models developed by DeepSeek, Alibaba and Moonshot AI have attracted developers seeking alternatives to comparatively expensive proprietary systems offered by American technology companies.

Data from OpenRouter, a platform providing access to multiple AI models, showed Chinese systems gaining substantial shares of usage during 2026. However, the figures represent activity through that platform rather than the entire global market, where direct subscriptions and enterprise contracts remain significant.

Chinese developers have also benefited from distributing models with openly available weights, allowing businesses and programmers to customise systems without depending entirely on proprietary services. This approach has encouraged international experimentation and strengthened adoption among cost-conscious users.

American companies retain important advantages, particularly in advanced semiconductor access, large-scale computing infrastructure and commercial relationships with enterprise customers. OpenAI, Anthropic and Google continue investing heavily in frontier models and the infrastructure required to train increasingly sophisticated systems.

Financial performance illustrates the distinction between technological competitiveness and commercial success. Anthropic disclosed revenue of $16.3 billion for the first half of 2026, compared with $1.2 billion during the corresponding period a year earlier, reflecting strong demand for its enterprise services.

Chinese developers face greater pressure on pricing, with intense domestic competition limiting opportunities to convert growing usage into sustainable earnings. Lower-cost models can accelerate adoption while simultaneously reducing margins available to finance future development.

Semiconductor manufacturing remains another constraint. Washington’s export controls restrict Chinese access to certain advanced processors and manufacturing equipment, although domestic suppliers including Huawei are developing alternatives intended to support national computing requirements.

China’s response increasingly combines domestic chip development with software optimisation. Researchers have demonstrated that improvements in training methods, architecture and inference efficiency can reduce dependence on the most powerful available hardware.

Beijing is also pursuing greater integration between artificial intelligence and telecommunications infrastructure. A three-year programme issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in June established targets for autonomous networks, computing access and specialised AI applications through 2028.

The programme envisages significant breakthroughs in core technologies by 2030, alongside improved coordination between communications networks, computing resources and intelligent services. Its objectives complement broader efforts to establish domestic technological capabilities.

Regulatory developments could influence the international availability of Chinese technology. Authorities proposed export restrictions this month covering 23 categories of AI technology, including language models, autonomous agents, chip designs and computing clusters.

The draft measures would potentially subject transfers of certain model weights, source code and advanced technologies to government approval. Their final scope and implementation remain undetermined.

China’s Ministry of Commerce has presented the proposals as part of a wider effort to regulate strategically sensitive technology transfers. The consultation also covers technologies beyond artificial intelligence, reflecting the government’s expanding attention to intellectual property and national security.

For overseas developers using Chinese models, the eventual rules could affect access to advanced systems and associated technical resources, depending on the restrictions adopted and the thresholds applied to particular technologies.

The annual event highlights Hualien’s two premier hot spring districts: Ruisui Hot Spring, famous for its iron-rich golden mineral waters known as the “Hero Spring,” and Antong Hot Spring, celebrated for its crystal-clear, skin-smoothing waters known as the “Beauty Spring.”

To enhance the international visitor experience, the event features stunning seasonal light installations, interactive AR stamp-collecting games, and special themed weekend events. Travelers can also easily access the region using convenient shuttle bus services linking major transport hubs and scenic attractions.

Hualien warmly invites global tourists to embrace the soothing healing power, breathtaking landscapes, and rich cultural hospitality of its autumn and winter hot spring getaway. For more details, please visit the official event website https://hotspring.hl.gov.tw/

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Deepening Localization: Manufacturing Strength in Focus

Localization remains central to BAIC FOTON’s global development. As a key manufacturing base in Africa, the BAIC South Africa Plant strengthens regional production capabilities and market responsiveness.

During the conference, guests will tour the plant to gain firsthand insights into localized manufacturing and operational achievements. The BAIC FOTON Africa Regional Training Center will also be officially unveiled, supporting product technology training, talent development and service capabilities to further strengthen regional operations.

Product Innovation: New Launches and Dynamic Experiences

Addressing Africa’s diverse transportation needs, BAIC FOTON will introduce its latest commercial vehicle lineup. The GALAXUS R5 and C5 heavy trucks will officially launch in Africa, while the TUNLAND PHEV pickup will make its South African debut, offering more choices for different transport scenarios.

Beyond product launches, the conference will feature static displays of medium- and heavy-duty trucks, light commercial vehicles, pickups and vans. Drift performances and test drives will provide immersive opportunities to experience vehicle power, comfort and handling, bringing product innovation to life.

Strengthening Partnerships: Advancing Together in Africa

The conference will facilitate discussions on regional development strategies, market expansion and partner collaboration. Strategic cooperation initiatives and customer vehicle deliveries will further reinforce relationships with African partners.

With growing localized manufacturing capabilities, an expanding product portfolio and stronger service support, BAIC FOTON continues to build a foundation for sustainable development in Africa while exploring new opportunities alongside its partners.

On October 29, the BAIC FOTON Africa Partners Conference will open in South Africa. Stay tuned for more highlights.

Hashtag: #BAICFOTON

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