HONG KONG, April 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — In response to the urgent need for emotional health awareness among students, as highlighted in the Hong Kong Department of Health’s “Student Health Service Annual Report 2023/24,” which revealed that 2.2% and 1% of students had planned or attempted suicide in the past year, the Hong Kong Mental Wellness Association recently held six innovative charity concerts titled “You’ve Got a Friend” at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. These concerts promoted societal awareness of emotional health through music and story-sharing.

The concert, themed “You’ve Got a Friend,” conveys a positive message about emotional health. Renowned media personality Brian Chow Kwok-fung served as the director and host. The concert features the enchanting voice of HiFi Diva Susan Wong and five real-life stories that take the audience on a journey through mental health and beautiful music. The event aims to inspire attendees of all ages to learn how to cope with life’s challenges while exploring resilience and the roots of happiness.

To further promote the importance of emotional well-being, the event introduces two cartoon characters, “OK Buddy” and “iPANDAS,” representing the concert’s theme. The playful “OK Buddy,” with eyes forming the letters “OK,” symbolizes the message “It’s OK not to be OK,” while his friend, the warm-hearted iPANDAS, serves as a reminder that “You’ve got a friend.”

Support and Participation

The first charity concert received strong support from various sectors, including social services, education, healthcare, arts & culture. Notable attendees included Executive Council member Dr. Ko Wing Man; former Police Commissioner Mr. Raymong Siu Chak-yee; Deputy Commissioner of the Civil Aid Service Mr. Leung Kwun-hong and Pang Wing-seng; Mrs Fanny Law; Legislative Council members Mr. Chu Kwok-keung (education sector) and Mr. Tik Chi-yuen (social services sector). Dr. Ko Wing-man and Mrs Fanny Law are honorary directors of the Hong Kong Mental Wellness Association. Student choirs from St. Stephen’s Girls’ College, Alliance Primary School, Kowloon Tong, Maryknoll Convent School, and Marymount Primary School also performed in the concert, symbolizing hope for the future and raising public awareness about mental health.

Health Campus Initiative: “De-Stress-Express” (DSE)

Since 2023, the Hong Kong Mental Wellness Association has launched the “De-Stress-Express” (DSE) initiative to provide mental health support to Hong Kong secondary school students, alleviating the pressure they face during public examinations. The program has reached over 30 schools and nearly 5,000 students, offering comprehensive mental health education through workshops and training sessions for students, teachers, and parents.

WeCare SOS (Support Our Students) Emergency Support Program

In light of the rising youth suicide rates, the Hong Kong Mental Wellness Association launched the WeCare SOS Emergency mental health support program in December 2023. This school-based initiative utilizes a stepped care model, beginning with initial support from school social workers and followed by comprehensive assessment and evidence based management by community psychiatric specialists for high-risk students. As of mid-April 2025, the WeCare SOS Program has successfully supported over 300 cases, clearly demonstrating the effectiveness of this school based stepped care model in identifying students at moderate to high risk of suicide and providing timely appropriate assistance.

Preliminary analyses reveal that over 54.5% of the first 200 supported cases were identified as at moderate to high suicide risk, with 70% having self-harmed or attempted suicide. Following timely interventions, over 65% of these students were diagnosed with emotional disorders, showing significant improvement in their emotional conditions.

The Hong Kong Mental Wellness Association remains committed to supporting youth, promoting societal awareness of emotional health, and empowering students to lead positive and fulfilling lives.

CONTACT:

LEUNG SHUET WAI 梁雪慧
21518009 
WhatsApp 93510422

• Seeking collaboration partners to establish a manufacturing facility in U.S. for its lithium-ion battery solutions
• Participating in Advanced Clean Transportation Expo (“ACT Expo”) event from 28 April to 1 May 2025 in Anaheim, California to showcase battery solutions for the North American market

SINGAPORE, April 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Singaporean lithium-ion battery cell and pack manufacturer, Durapower Technology (Singapore) Private Limited (“Durapower” or the “Company“) is exploring to setup a local manufacturing facility in the U.S, as part of its global expansion plans.

The Company is currently looking for potential joint venture partners for its U.S. manufacturing facility and hopes to initiate discussions at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo (“ACT Expo“) event in Anaheim, California from 28 April 2025 to 1 May 2025, where it will showcase its wide range of battery technologies and solutions for the North American market. Additionally, Mr. Sanjay Bakshi, Durapower’s Group Director and Head of the North America market, will be attending the Select USA Investment Summit in Washington, D.C. from 11 – 14 May 2025.

Mr. Kelvin Lim, Chief Executive Officer of Durapower Group commented, “With our strong expertise in battery technology and rich portfolio of products and services, we believe that now is the right time to start planning our foray into the U.S market. The U.S. market is an important market that may present abundant opportunities for our future growth plan, and we look forward to exploring local partnerships in the U.S. and expanding Durapower’s global manufacturing footprint and product presence.”

Durapower is a Singaporean battery cell developer and manufacturer of lithium-based energy storage solutions with more than 15 years of track record in the automotive, ESS and marine industry. With its presence across 25 countries in Europe and Asia, Durapower’s high quality and performance battery solutions have been deployed in hundreds of vehicles, vessels and energy storage systems worldwide. It has multiple manufacturing bases around the world and boasts a strong safety track record to date with more than 1 billion electric kilometers driven.

Durapower develops battery technology research, owns proprietary manufacturing knowhow, and has also established international collaborations to support the development of scalable and sustainable batteries for the circular economy. The Company’s battery solutions enable critical applications with high performance, long life and safe operation, and serve the following four major market segments:

• E-mobility – Focused on last mile delivery fleets to commercial vehicles like buses and trucks
• Specialty – Industrial, port electrification and heavy vehicles to Automated Guided Vehicles (“AGV”)
• Marine –All types and sizes of maritime vessels, including modular batteries for retrofitting of diesel vessels to electric
• Stationary – Energy Storage Systems (“ESS”)

In addition to its constant R&D into battery technology, Durapower’s cutting-edge technological innovations include DP Pulse, a remote battery monitoring digital solution which combines revolutionary machine learning models with big data to further enhance customer use cases by improving battery health visibility and supporting predictive maintenance, thus enabling a higher uptime and peace of mind.

About Durapower Group             (www.durapowergroup.com)

Headquartered in Singapore, Durapower offers closed-loop, end-to-end energy storage solutions for the electric mobility and renewable energy applications including on and off-road Electric, Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles, electric marine vessel and stationary energy storage solutions. Since 2009, Durapower has been a leading innovator of Lithium-Ion cell technology, focusing on the research and development of battery materials, battery cell manufacturing and system integration.

With a global presence spanning 25 countries and 70 cities, including European countries, China, India and Southeast Asia. Durapower Group strives to make scalable, sustainable batteries that support the circular economy, empowering lives and transforming the future towards a carbon neutral economy.

BEIJING, April 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Recently, BlueFocus released its 2024 Annual Report, recording a total revenue of RMB 60.797 billion for the year, marking a 15.55% year-on-year increase and making it the first marketing company in China to surpass the RMB 60 billion milestone. Below are selected highlights from “A Letter to Our Investors” by BlueFocus CEO Fei Pan.

Dear Investors,

This year marks the 15th anniversary of BlueFocus’s public listing, and the forthcoming 30th anniversary of our founding. From our origins as a modest local company, we have steadily grown into one of the world’s top ten Marketing and Communications Groups—a transformation made possible by your enduring support, trust, and encouragement. On behalf of the entire BlueFocus Group, I extend my deepest gratitude.

China’s marketing industry has reached a scale of over RMB 1 trillion, and the global outbound market is of comparable size. Together, these two trillion-RMB arenas now stand at the cusp of a historic transformation, one that will be fundamentally reshaped by Artificial Intelligence (AI). What does a reimagined BlueFocus look like? It means transforming ourselves into a true AI-powered Marketing Technology company, breaking away from the traditional logic and business models that have defined marketing since its inception. It means becoming a global company, rooted in China and built to thrive on the world stage. It means growing into an enterprise of RMB 100 billion scale, one that combines technological DNA with global imagination. This is not merely a vision, but a clear and deliberate pursuit.

Next, I would like to share our current position and outlook, centered around two key questions that may be top of mind for many of you.

First question: At a time when everyone is declaring they’re “All in AI”, what is the real value behind BlueFocus’s All in AI strategy? And more importantly, what does it truly mean to be All in AI?

Today, AI has deeply integrated into more than 95% of BlueFocus’s operational scenarios, driving efficiency gains across integrated marketing, intelligent advertising, and our global outbound business, with improvements ranging from 60% to 1000%. Our goal is clear: to fundamentally restructure everything through an “AI Native” approach and logic, reimagining business scenarios, redefining and inventing new business models, reshaping the talent-to-business structure, and rebuilding our organizational structure and culture. For BlueFocus at this stage, these are elements far more important than the raw numbers behind cost reduction and efficiency gains:

It starts with real, sustainable business scenarios. These are environments where AI capabilities are continuously iterated through practical application, and where both process and outcome data can be labeled and refined. Today, BlueFocus uses AI to generate nearly 80,000 pieces of content each week across data analysis, content creation (text, images, video, and multimodal formats), and code generation. Our AI tools currently support around 600 clients, and in the past year alone, we executed over 1,500 AI-driven cases. On the revenue side, AI-enabled revenue has grown more than tenfold, reaching RMB 1.2 billion. We expect to achieve RMB 3 to 5 billion in AI-driven revenue by 2025.

It requires a truly self-developed AI platform and model. BlueAI is fast becoming the new engine that powers AI-driven applications across BlueFocus. It is our proprietary AI platform, our own “multimodal AI model for marketing,” purpose-built to meet BlueFocus’s strategic needs. BlueAI now supports more than half of BlueFocus’s project cases across both global and domestic marketing scenarios. Internally, we have incubated approximately 100 AI agents to scale and deepen our capabilities. Looking ahead, we aim to build on our growing base of content-scale data to power a self-reinforcing data flywheel, from factual data annotation, to content creation and delivery, to continuous deep learning. Our ambition is for BlueAI to become the most competitive model in the marketing industry and the next strategic engine of BlueFocus.

It builds on true AI infrastructure and robust data systems. By the end of this year, BlueFocus is projected to label over 200 million data records across marketing scenarios, with API token usage approaching hundreds of billions in scale. Coupled with the growing pool of process, operational, and media performance data accumulated across our business middleware systems, we are laying the groundwork for “emergent intelligence” under the new AI paradigm.

It takes deep organizational transformation and a bold talent strategy shift. At the organizational level, AI has become a hard-coded standard embedded in recruitment, promotion, and incentive structures. “No AI, No Bonus, No Promotion” is not just a slogan, but a decision-making principle that guides how we operate. Today, BlueFocus already has nearly 300 product and technology professionals and 200 AI Native seed talents. They are our strategic safeguard in becoming AI Native, and the foundation of our innovation.

With real scenarios, datasets, technology platforms, and a fundamental shift in organizational paradigms, we are methodically constructing durable vertical moats, barriers that differentiate us not only from general-purpose foundation models but also from competitors within our own industry.

Second question: Amid ongoing trade tensions, how should we think about and respond to the challenges facing our large-scale global outbound business?

Based on in-depth conversations with multiple clients, the broader industry is proactively embracing market diversification, accelerating expansion into high-average-order-value markets in Europe, high-growth regions like Southeast Asia, and fast-emerging opportunities in Latin America. Market volatility, while challenging, often reveals strategic openings for those positioned to move with agility. We remain confident in both the long-term trajectory of global e-commerce and the continued expansion of BlueFocus’s outbound business in 2025.

In 2024, we officially launched our Global Outbound Business 2.0 strategy. So, what does 2.0 signify for us? In short, it marks a shift away from a traditional agency-driven model toward one that is powered by technology, AI, and localized operations, ushering in a new era of proprietary traffic development and self-built competitive infrastructure. We see tremendous opportunities in both traffic structure and customer base. So far, our outbound team has built a customer base of nearly 100,000. Across this vast client pool, we are seeing growing marketing budgets and increasingly diversified demands, indicating that any partner capable of offering new capabilities stands a real chance of capturing new budget streams. Finally, in a global landscape shaped by diverse cultural and socio-economic contexts, resource and information barriers remain high. This is precisely why we continue to invest in building local offices.

As we look to the future, powered by the synergy of our AI strategy and Globalization 2.0, BlueFocus will continue to unlock new, high-quality incremental markets—breaking through the valuation limits that have long defined traditional marketing. Our ambition is to evolve into a Marketing Technology company rooted in technological DNA and guided by global vision—ultimately serving as a defining Chinese example in the evolution of the global marketing industry.

SHENZHEN, China, April 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Lexar, a global consumer brand of data storage solutions conducted a 2-day media event participated by a select group of journalists from leading international technology publications, April 23-24, Zhongshan, China.

Lexar’s wide-range of products cater to the needs of professional photographers, filmmakers, content creators, gamers and mainstream audiences. In October 2024, it launched a new line of digital picture frames under its sub-brand pexar. Some Lexar products for the global market are produced in its near 50,000 m(2) Zhongshan factory, in operation since 2019.

Ryan Li, CEO of Lexar, met with media members to provide executive insights into the company’s industry leadership and future trajectory as one of the most advanced factories for producing digital memory products.

While much of the leading consumer technology products in the world are produced in China, journalists from international media outlets are rarely able to visit factories. Lexar utilized this opportunity to not only showcase its industry-leading products to top global tech media outlets, but also to demonstrate the company’s innovation and high standards in its production process.

The tour was part of Shenzhen Global Connect Innovation Week, a technology showcase event organized by iMpact, a communications and business consulting firm helping global companies localize their operations in key markets.

Sixteen journalists from around the world participated in the Lexar factory tour, representing technology focused media from outlets including Trusted Reviews, Tom’s Guide, Android Police, ZDNet, Bloomberg and more.

During the media tour, the group visited the production lines focused on Lexar’s module products manufacturing. This was followed by a visit to the Lexar Quality Labs, where much of the rigorous testing for all Lexar products takes place. Before lunch the group was treated to a hands-on demonstration of the company’s key products for each category, armed with a better understanding of how they are made.

The tour wrapped up with a visit to the Memory History Museum, located inside the factory complex. It displays the significance and historicial connections between the storage memory with history and culture.

“It’s easy to take for granted the amount of innovation, dedication, and investment that goes into the consumer tech products we use on a daily basis,” noted one of the journalists on the tour. “We’re extremely grateful to Lexar for inviting us into their factory to see first-hand why they are one of the world’s leading brands in digital memory technology.”

About Lexar

For more than 28 years, Lexar has been trusted as a leading global brand of memory solutions. Its award-winning lineup includes memory cards, USB Flash Drives, card readers, solid-state drives, and DRAM.

Media Contact

Katherine Zhang
lexarbm@lexar.com

MUNICH, April 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Sungrow, the global leading PV inverter and energy storage system provider, announced that it won the 2025 iF Design Award for its flagship project, the all-new 1+X 2.0 Modular Inverter. Selected from over 10,000 entries worldwide, it is the first modular inverter ever to receive this renowned recognition—often referred to as the “Oscars of the design world.”

The iF Design Award jury evaluates entries based on criteria including differentiation, form, function, innovation, and sustainability. The 1+X 2.0 Modular Inverter impressed the panel with its groundbreaking modular architecture, intelligent features, and commitment to full lifecycle sustainability. This pioneering solution redefines the future of utility-scale PV inverters—setting a new benchmark in both design and performance.

Small Module, Mega Impact

The 1+X 2.0 Modular Inverter provides increased modularity compared to the previous version. With each unit having a power rating of 800kW, the inverter provides flexible scalability from 800kW to 9.6MW (single unit to 12 units in parallel). This results in great flexibility, which covers various scenarios.

The product’s split modular design isolates critical components (IGBTs, capacitors) in the upper inverter module for quick field replacement. Operation and Maintenance (O&M) time is slashed to one hour per module swap—the easy O&M enables field engineers to perform quick replacements.

With the AI-powered diagnostics function, the 1+X 2.0 Modular Inverter provides real-time fault identification, eliminating manual troubleshooting and delays, accelerating repairs, and minimizing reliance on manpower.

AI-Driven Intelligence for Worry-Free O&M

The 1+X 2.0 Modular Inverter integrates advanced technologies such as AI-driven fault detection, automated air duct cleaning, and intelligent IV curve analysis, to minimize manual intervention and optimize operational efficiency. It can accurately identify and locate over 20 types of faults, reducing reliance on manpower.

Meanwhile, its self-cleaning air duct system automatically eliminates debris at the intake, removing the need for routine manual cleaning. The built-in smart IV diagnosis capability enables real-time, non-intrusive system checks without shutdowns or additional servers, further enhancing refined, digital, and intelligent O&M for utility-scale PV plants.

Sustainability from Start to Finish

From material selection and manufacturing to transportation, installation, operation, and maintenance, the 1+X 2.0 Modular Inverter is engineered for sustainability at every stage. Grid-forming can be used to provide power during plant construction and commissioning by forming a microgrid within or across several inverter blocks. This eliminates the need for diesel generators, accelerates the lead time of grid connection, maximizes power generation for the lifecycle of the project, and reduces emissions.

Moreover, the 1+X 2.0 Modular Inverter boasts a significantly smaller footprint than traditional inverters and reduces material consumption by 15%. Its modular and separable design allows for rapid on-site assembly and disassembly, supporting easy maintenance, part-level reuse, and a greener project lifecycle.

Beyond performance and sustainability, the 1+X 2.0 Modular Inverter achieves a perfect harmony between functionality and aesthetics. Its minimalist design blends clean circular and square elements with a modern white-gray color contrast, striking a balance between technological sophistication and user-friendly appeal. The integrated design between the display panel and rounded-corner ventilation openings not only enhances visual coherence but also improves maintenance accessibility. A black display panel ensures excellent visibility even under intense sunlight, enabling users to quickly read system status at a glance.

The visitors of Intersolar Europe 2025 (7-9 May) will have the opportunity to explore the all-new 1+X 2.0 Modular Inverter at the Sungrow booth (B3.310, B3.410).

About Sungrow

Sungrow, a global leader in renewable energy technology, has pioneered sustainable power solutions for over 28 years. As of December 2024, Sungrow has installed 740 GW of power electronic converters worldwide. The Company is recognized as the world’s No. 1 on PV inverter shipments (S&P Global Commodity Insights) and the world’s most bankable energy storage company (BloombergNEF). Its innovations power clean energy projects in over 180 countries, supported by a network of 520 service outlets guaranteeing excellent customer experience. At Sungrow, we’re committed to bridging to a sustainable future through cutting-edge technology and unparalleled service. For more information, please visit: www.sungrowpower.com.

Media Contact

Mina Zhang
mina.zhang@cn.sungrowpower.com 

TOKYO, April 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — TIER IV, the pioneering force behind the world’s first open-source software for autonomous driving, is thrilled to announce the successful completion of an initiative aimed at developing autonomous trucks to address the critical shortage of drivers in the logistics industry.

In the project overseen by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), TIER IV developed an autonomous driving system for highway logistics, based on commercial trucks manufactured by Isuzu Motors and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus. These trucks successfully completed test runs on a new priority lane for autonomous vehicles on the Shin-Tomei Expressway with support from Yamato Multi Charter and Suzuyo Cargo-Net.

TIER IV is driving efforts to establish a sustainable business model for autonomous trucking. The completion of this initiative marks a significant milestone in the development of a scalable and flexible autonomous driving system that can be deployed by a range of vehicle manufacturers and logistics operators.

TIER IV is building on its commitment to advancing autonomous driving technology through an AI-based approach, Autonomy 2.0, and further enhancing Autoware*, the open-source software for autonomous driving championed by TIER IV. These efforts are accelerating the deployment of autonomous trucks and helping to address critical logistics challenges.

*Autoware is a registered trademark of the Autoware Foundation.

About TIER IV

TIER IV stands at the forefront of deep tech innovation, pioneering Autoware*, the world’s first open-source software for autonomous driving. Harnessing Autoware, we build scalable platforms and deliver comprehensive solutions across software development, vehicle manufacturing, and service operations. As a founding member of the Autoware Foundation, we are committed to reshaping the future of intelligent vehicles with open-source software, enabling individuals and organizations to thrive in the evolving field of autonomous driving.

Media Contact
pr@tier4.jp