Zimbabwe has turned a long-signalled restriction on second-hand clothing into formal law, tightening its effort to shield domestic manufacturers even as economists and traders warn that the move could squeeze low-income consumers and deepen pressure on an already fragile apparel market. The measure is now enforced under Statutory Instrument 59 of 2026, which bars the import of second-hand clothes unless an importer holds a government permit issued […]
The European Commission has confirmed a cyberattack on cloud infrastructure supporting parts of the Europa. eu web platform, with the intrusion discovered on March 24 and swiftly contained as investigators assess whether data was taken from affected public-facing services. The Commission has said its internal systems were not hit. The breach centres on a compromised Amazon Web Services account used to host elements of the Commission’s web […]
African Development Bank Group is set to launch the 2026 edition of its Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook report on 30 March at its headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, placing the continent’s growth prospects, debt strains and inflation risks under fresh scrutiny at a time of heightened global uncertainty. The event is expected to draw policymakers, investors and development specialists looking for updated guidance on how African […]
Singapore-linked professional bodies and trade groups have opened a Professional Services Centre in Nanjing, pitching it as a gateway for Chinese companies seeking to expand into Southeast Asia and for Singapore firms looking to deepen their footprint in China. The launch took place on March 27 at a forum in Nanjing and marks the alliance’s second centre in China and third globally, according to the announcement distributed by the organisers.
The centre has been set up under an alliance led by the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and supported by the Association of Small & Medium Enterprises, Institute of Valuers & Appraisers, Singapore Business Federation, Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Singapore Manufacturing Federation, Tax Academy of Singapore and the Law Society of Singapore. Organisers said the Nanjing base is intended to provide companies with legal, tax, accounting, valuation, advisory and market-entry support as they navigate cross-border expansion. The move comes as commercial links between China and ASEAN continue to broaden and as businesses face a more complex regulatory and geopolitical environment when operating across jurisdictions.
Nanjing was presented as a deliberate choice rather than a symbolic one. The alliance said the city offers strong university linkages, talent pools and institutional support, while the Singapore-Nanjing Eco Hi-tech Island provides an established platform for bilateral cooperation. That project is jointly backed by authorities in Jiangsu and Nanjing as well as Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, giving the new centre an anchor in a corridor that already carries a Singapore brand in east China.
Officials used the launch to underline the commercial logic. Nanjing Vice Mayor Xu Feng said enterprises expanding overseas depend on professional services support and described Singapore as a global hub with complementary strengths. Ernie Koh, a council member at Singapore Business Federation and vice-chairman of the research and publications committee at Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said the platform could help enterprises build capabilities and unlock opportunities across Southeast Asia. Darren Ku, a council member at ASME, said smaller companies in particular need a more coordinated route into foreign markets, from compliance to market-entry strategy. Daniel Koh, vice-president of the Law Society of Singapore, framed the legal dimension as equally important, arguing that cross-border growth now demands stronger risk management and regulatory advice.
The alliance is presenting the centre as more than a ceremonial office. It says its centres in China and Vietnam have already supported more than 100 businesses, and cited BIPO, the human resources technology group, as one example of a company that used the ecosystem to establish operations and build local teams in Nanjing. Those claims could not be independently verified from public disclosures in full, but they fit the broader trend of service providers bundling market access, compliance and talent support for companies trying to expand across Asia without building every capability in-house.
That broader trend matters. Enterprise Singapore continues to position China as a major destination for outward expansion, pointing to its scale, consumer market and innovation ecosystem, while also offering grants and overseas market assistance to firms venturing abroad. At the same time, ASEAN’s own data show the region’s trade in goods rose to about $3.8 trillion in 2024, and ASEAN says two-way merchandise trade with China reached $772.4 billion that year, accounting for roughly a fifth of ASEAN’s total trade. Chinese media and official commentary have since pointed to China-ASEAN trade crossing the $1 trillion mark in 2025, underscoring why service platforms that specialise in cross-border operations are multiplying.
Commercial opportunity, however, does not remove the risks. China is trying to reassure foreign investors after weaker inbound investment figures, while international companies remain alert to policy shifts, compliance burdens, data rules and geopolitical tensions. Reuters reported this month that Beijing has been signalling a more open stance to foreign business even as it works to reverse a decline in foreign direct investment. For Chinese firms heading south, Southeast Asia offers growth, manufacturing diversification and access to younger consumer markets, but it also presents a patchwork of tax regimes, legal systems and political risks that can complicate expansion plans. That is precisely the gap the Nanjing centre says it wants to fill.
The launch also reflects a wider Singapore strategy of exporting professional and business services alongside capital and trade links. Earlier alliance messaging around the Shanghai centre described a “hunt in a pack” model in which multiple associations expand together so companies can tap a bundled network rather than isolated advisers. That approach appears to be carrying over into Nanjing, with the added emphasis on helping Chinese enterprises invest in Singapore and across ASEAN, not only on helping Singapore firms move into China.
Safe-haven demand pushed the US dollar towards its strongest monthly advance since July, as investors sought liquidity and relative shelter from a widening Middle East energy shock while also scaling back expectations for Federal Reserve easing this year. The dollar index was trading near 100.17 on March 27 and was up about 2.6 per cent for the month, a move that outpaced most major peers. Currency […]
Seychelles has used two high-level forums in Malabo to press for stronger backing for small island states and to elevate youth priorities within the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, with Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Minister Barry Faure taking a visible role in both meetings. The government said Faure addressed the Small Island Development States forum and later served as rapporteur at the youth forum, […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Omniyat has moved to reassure investors that it has enough liquidity to meet its debt obligations after the Dubai ultra-luxury developer was placed on watch for a possible downgrade, arguing that its cash position and funding profile leave it well equipped to handle maturities without depending on a fresh burst of property sales or a quick return to calmer markets. The company said […]
Blackstone has invested $250 million in an Abu Dhabi-based payments and data intelligence platform aimed at regulated digital markets, pressing ahead with a Gulf deal even as the war involving Iran continues to unsettle investors, energy markets and regional transport links. The investment in Advanced Digital Gaming Technology, or ADGT, marks what LSEG identified as the first private equity-backed inbound transaction in the Gulf since the conflict […]
As of December 31, 2025, total paying subscribers reached an all-time high of 16.91 million, a substantial 34.1% YoY increase, with a subscription rate of 6.1%, up 1.4 percentage points from 2024.
AI Agent-Integrated Products Gain Explosive Popularity, Driving Strong Penetration and Monetization Growth
Following the July launch of RoboNeo (Meitu’s flagship AI visual design agent), Meitu integrated AI Agent capabilities across most of its product portfolio to enhance workflow automation and user experience.
As such, Meitu’s productivity tools segment achieved an all-time high 9% subscription rate, up 3.1 percentage points YoY. Paying subscribers of this segment grew to 2.16 million, representing a significant 67.4% YoY growth, with international paying subscribers more than doubling.
The segment comprises three core tools: DesignKit specializing in AI workflows for e-commerce design,Kaipai and Vmake specializing in AI workflows for video production.
Backed by AI Agent empowerment, in 2025, DesignKit established strategic partnerships with leading global e-commerce platforms including Alibaba, JD.com, and Amazon. Kaipai focuses on verticals including healthcare, education, beauty, insurance, and real estate, empowering industry users to create professional talking videos. In 2025, Kaipai’s MAU nearly doubled, and paying subscribers tripled. Vmake targets fitness and wellness markets, achieving rapid MAU growth in the U.S., with Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) reaching approximately USD 3 million.
Meitu’s leisure product segment including the Meitu app, BeautyCam and Wink maintained robust user engagement. The paying subscribers for the leisure segment grew 30.3% YoY to 14.75 million, driving the segment’s subscription rate to a solid 5.9%.
Globalisation Milestones: Expanding Footprint in High-ARPU Regions
Meitu’s Globalisation strategy achieved significant progress, with MAU in markets outside Mainland China surpassing the 100 million milestone, a 6.3% YoY increase. International paying subscriber growth accelerated in the second half of 2025, with the majority of new additions coming from high-ARPU regions including Europe, the Americas and East Asia, enhancing the sustainability of international monetization.
AI Technology Advancement & Industry Recognition
Following the training of its self-developed large vision model’s foundational capabilities in 2024, the company has since shifted its R&D priorities towards vertical-specific model training and application-level optimization to better address targeted user needs, consistent with its model-agnostic strategy. In 2025, the company’s total R&D expenses grew moderately by 3.8% YoY.
Meanwhile, on Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)’s “Global Top 50 Gen AI Mobile Apps” list, Meitu ranked first in the photo, video and design category by the number of featured products, with four apps selected. This external recognition reinforces Meitu’s position as a leading global AI application company in imaging, video and design.
Fueled by sustained R&D investment, Meitu is systematically deploying AI Agents into scalable productivity workflows. Going forward,Meitu will continue expanding diverse imaging skills to empower global developers and users with professional-grade AI creation experiences.
Hashtag: #Meitu
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Qatari billionaire Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani has taken a stake in German robotics company Neura Robotics, adding Gulf capital to one of Europe’s biggest funding pushes in humanoid and cognitive machines. The investment places the former Qatari prime minister alongside Amazon in Neura’s latest financing, while corporate filings cited by Bloomberg show he became a shareholder through Prime Capital SA, a unit […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear-linked and industrial sites on Friday widened the Middle East war and triggered a fresh market sell-off, as Tehran answered with attacks across the Gulf and on regional targets, stoking fears that a longer conflict could deepen the hit to growth, trade and energy supplies. Oil climbed sharply, Wall Street fell again and investors moved into traditional […]
Hundreds of organisations using Microsoft 365 are facing a fast-growing phishing threat that sidesteps conventional multi-factor authentication controls by abusing a legitimate Microsoft sign-in process rather than breaking it. Security researchers tracking the activity say more than 340 organisations across the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Germany have been affected, with attacks accelerating through March after the first known cases were detected on February 19. […]
Cybersecurity researchers have identified a new malware campaign that embeds its command-and-control infrastructure within the Ethereum blockchain, complicating efforts by defenders to detect and disrupt operations. The campaign, dubbed EtherRAT, uses smart contracts to store instructions for infected systems, marking a shift in how threat actors leverage decentralised technologies to evade traditional monitoring. Analysts say the approach allows attackers to bypass domain-based detection methods, as blockchain networks […]
A ransomware group linked to Tehran has reappeared with upgraded capabilities, raising concern among cybersecurity researchers who say the threat actor is deploying more sophisticated techniques to evade detection and disrupt organisations across multiple sectors. Security analysts tracking the group known as Pay2Key report that its latest campaigns show marked improvements in execution methods, stealth mechanisms and anti-forensics tactics. The group, which gained attention during earlier waves […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Saeed bin Suroor heads into the Dubai World Cup meeting with a chance to extend one of racing’s most enduring records, as the Godolphin trainer prepares Dubai Future for a prominent bid in the Dubai Gold Cup on Saturday. The veteran handler, long associated with Godolphin’s rise on the global stage, is aiming to push his tally at the meeting to a new […]
A decision by Donald Trump to extend a pause on military strikes targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure into April has injected a fresh layer of uncertainty into a conflict that has already rippled across the Middle East, disrupted oil markets and heightened global inflation concerns. The move follows nearly four weeks of escalating hostilities involving Iran, regional militias and US-backed forces, with attacks on energy installations, shipping routes […]
Reflection, an artificial intelligence startup supported by Nvidia, is seeking to raise $2.5 billion at a valuation of about $25 billion, positioning itself as a high-profile contender to China’s rapidly advancing open-source AI ecosystem led by DeepSeek. The fundraising effort, still under discussion with investors, underscores intensifying competition between proprietary AI models backed by large capital pools and open-source alternatives gaining traction across Asia and beyond. Reflection’s […]
Mozilla has released Firefox 149, introducing a suite of features aimed at strengthening privacy protections and improving user productivity, as competition intensifies across the browser market. The update, issued on 24 March, combines new browsing tools with expanded security layers, signalling a broader strategic shift by Mozilla to differentiate its flagship product from rivals such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Central to the release is a […]
Tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz have moved to the centre of calculations in the confrontation involving Donald Trump and Iran’s leadership, as competing narratives over diplomacy and deterrence shape global energy and security outlooks. Statements from Washington suggesting Tehran is seeking terms to end hostilities contrast sharply with signals from Iranian officials, who continue to project defiance while recalibrating their strategic posture in the Gulf. The […]
The meeting highlighted the role of LuLu Group International, which operates more than 280 hypermarkets across the Gulf Cooperation Council, in maintaining steady flows of essential commodities including rice, wheat, pulses, fruits and vegetables. Officials familiar with the interaction indicated that the discussion centred on logistics efficiency, pricing stability and the need to safeguard uninterrupted shipments during periods of geopolitical and climate-related uncertainty.
Yusuff Ali is understood to have outlined how the group has expanded sourcing networks and strengthened warehousing capacity to manage demand across markets such as United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait. These countries rely significantly on imports to meet domestic consumption needs, making supply chain continuity a strategic concern for both governments and private sector operators.
India remains a major exporter of food products to the Gulf, with staples such as basmati and non-basmati rice forming a substantial share of shipments. Fresh produce, seafood and processed foods have also seen sustained demand as expatriate populations grow and consumption patterns diversify. Trade data over the past year has shown that food exports to GCC markets have held steady despite fluctuations in global commodity prices and shipping costs.
The discussion comes against a backdrop of tighter export controls imposed at various points to stabilise domestic food prices. Authorities have intermittently restricted shipments of certain grains, including rice varieties, prompting concerns among importing nations about supply reliability. Industry participants say large retailers with integrated supply chains, such as LuLu, have been better positioned to absorb shocks by diversifying sourcing and building buffer stocks.
Government officials have emphasised that export policies are calibrated to balance domestic needs with international commitments. During the interaction, Modi is said to have reiterated the importance of maintaining India’s reputation as a dependable supplier while ensuring affordability within the domestic market. The approach reflects a broader strategy of using trade diplomacy to reinforce economic ties with key regions.
LuLu Group’s operations have evolved beyond retail into food processing, logistics and distribution, enabling it to play a pivotal role in linking producers in India with consumers across the Gulf. The company sources directly from farms and cooperatives, reducing intermediaries and allowing for more competitive pricing. This model has gained traction as governments encourage greater efficiency in food supply chains.
Analysts note that Gulf countries have been investing in food security initiatives, including overseas farmland acquisitions, strategic reserves and partnerships with large distributors. Retailers such as LuLu have become central to these efforts, providing the infrastructure needed to manage large-scale imports and ensure consistent availability at the consumer level.
Yusuff Ali has previously highlighted the importance of long-term partnerships between exporters and retailers in stabilising supply. The group has expanded procurement centres across multiple states, enabling it to source a wide range of products while maintaining quality standards required by Gulf markets. Investments in cold chain logistics have also helped reduce wastage and improve delivery timelines.
The meeting also touched on opportunities to enhance bilateral trade flows through digitalisation and improved port connectivity. Industry experts argue that reducing transit times and streamlining customs procedures could further strengthen supply chains, particularly for perishable goods. With global shipping routes facing periodic disruptions, efficiency gains at origin and destination ports have become increasingly critical.
India’s engagement with the GCC has deepened across sectors, with food trade forming a key pillar of economic cooperation. The region accounts for a significant share of India’s agricultural exports, while remittances and energy imports reinforce the interdependence between the two sides. Strengthening food supply mechanisms is seen as part of a broader effort to secure mutual economic interests.
Ziff Davis has struck a new licensing agreement to launch a dedicated French edition of IGN, extending the global reach of its gaming and entertainment media brand through a partnership with European publisher eMense. The deal will see eMense operate IGN France under licence, marking the latest step in Ziff Davis’s strategy to scale its media properties internationally without direct ownership of local operations. The move builds […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Shareholders of Al Ansari Financial Services have approved a full-year dividend for 2025 at the company’s Annual General Meeting, reinforcing a payout approach that signals stability in earnings and confidence in cash flow generation. The approved distribution includes a final dividend of AED 148.5 million, equivalent to 2 fils per share, for the second half of the financial year. This follows an identical […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Prices for one of Rolex’s most recognisable sports models have climbed sharply on the secondary market, as collectors position themselves ahead of a major annual watch industry showcase that often sets the tone for production shifts and new releases. The stainless steel Rolex GMT-Master II with its distinctive red-and-blue “Pepsi” bezel has seen renewed demand among traders and enthusiasts, with resale values edging […]
Artificial intelligence is emerging as the defining battleground in global cybersecurity, with defenders racing to counter increasingly sophisticated threats as cyber criminals adopt the same technologies to scale and sharpen their attacks. A report by PwC highlights how malicious actors are integrating AI into core operations, enabling even relatively inexperienced hackers to launch complex campaigns that once required advanced technical expertise. The shift is altering the threat […]
