28.4 C
Vientiane
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
spot_img
Home Blog Page 507

News Hub Asia partners with Negeri Sembilan Fencing Association to champion youth in sports

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — In a strategic collaboration aimed at fostering grassroots sports and supporting athlete development, regional online news portal News Hub Asia (NHA) has announced its official media partnership with the Negeri Sembilan Fencing Association (NSFA) for the upcoming Negeri Sembilan Youth Challenge 2025.

Tengku Dato’ Mu’adzam Sadruddin bin Tengku Noone Aziz, President of the Negeri Sembilan Fencing Association with Ruzanna Muhammad, Editor-at-Large at News Hub Asia. | Photo by News Hub Asia
Tengku Dato’ Mu’adzam Sadruddin bin Tengku Noone Aziz, President of the Negeri Sembilan Fencing Association with Ruzanna Muhammad, Editor-at-Large at News Hub Asia. | Photo by News Hub Asia

This partnership underscores NHA’s commitment to providing a platform that amplifies the voices of young athletes while promoting sports development at the grassroots level. The Negeri Sembilan Youth Challenge 2025 is set to be a premier tournament, drawing aspiring fencers from across Malaysia to compete and showcase their talent.

Building upon the success of previous editions, the Negeri Sembilan Youth Challenge 2025 is poised to further its mission of nurturing young fencing talent. The 2024 tournament attracted over 330 individual entries and 38 team entries, including participants from Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia, as well as numerous clubs and state associations from across Malaysia.

The event featured individual competitions in Under-10, Under-12, Under-14, and Under-17 categories for both girls and boys, across the three fencing disciplines: Foil, Épée, and Sabre. Additionally, team competitions were held at the Under-12 and Under-17 levels for both genders in all three disciplines.

The tournament received support from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Malaysian Fencing Federation (MFF), the Negeri Sembilan State Sports Council (MSNNS), and several corporate sponsors. This collaborative effort underscores the collective commitment to fostering youth development in sports.

The 2025 edition aims to build on this foundation, providing young fencers with a platform to showcase their skills, gain competitive experience, and cultivate a sense of camaraderie and sportsmanship. By doing so, it continues to contribute significantly to the growth and development of fencing at the grassroots level in Malaysia and the broader ASEAN region.

Ruzanna Muhammad, Editor-at-Large at News Hub Asia, highlighted the importance of media coverage in fostering youth engagement in sports.

“At News Hub Asia, we believe that sports serve as a powerful tool for youth development, instilling discipline, resilience, and teamwork. By partnering with the Negeri Sembilan Fencing Association, we aim to shine a spotlight on the next generation of Malaysian fencing talents, providing them with the visibility and support they need to excel,” said Ruzanna.

The Negeri Sembilan Youth Challenge 2025 will not only provide a competitive platform for young fencers but also serve as an avenue for talent identification and sports development. With fencing gaining momentum as a growing sport in Malaysia, initiatives like this tournament are crucial in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the sport.

“Our partnership with News Hub Asia marks a significant milestone in our efforts to elevate fencing at the grassroots level. Media exposure is vital in inspiring more young athletes to take up the sport, and with NHA’s regional reach, we are confident that this collaboration will help boost interest and participation in fencing,” said Tengku Dato‘ Mu’adzam Sadruddin bin Tengku Noone Aziz, President of the Negeri Sembilan Fencing Association.

As Asia continues to develop high-performance athletes across various sporting disciplines, the demand for strong media partnerships is greater than ever. By bridging the gap between young athletes and their communities, NHA aims to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of sports in the region.

“Providing young athletes with media visibility not only enhances their personal brand but also opens doors for sponsorship and career growth. We hope that through this initiative, more companies and organisations will see the value of investing in youth sports,” added Ruzanna.

The Negeri Sembilan Youth Challenge 2025 is set to take place on 21st to 23rd June at Centerpoint Seremban in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia bringing together some of the most promising young fencers in the country. Fans and supporters can follow the tournament’s progress through News Hub Asia’s extensive coverage, ensuring that these young athletes get the recognition they deserve.

For more updates on the Negeri Sembilan Youth Challenge 2025 visit https://nsfencing.org.my.

HKPC’s “Autonomous Air-ground Cooperative Tunnel Inspector” Claims 2025 Edison Awards Gold for the First Time


World’s Pioneering Drone Solution Achieving Millimetre-level Precision
Setting a New Benchmark for Smart Sites in Hong Kong

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 7 April 2025 – ​The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), the Civil Engineering and Development Department, and the Hyder-Meinhardt Joint Venture have co-developed the “Autonomous Air-ground Cooperative Tunnel Inspector” in the Trunk Road T2 and Cha Kwo Ling Tunnel project. This system integrates artificial intelligence (AI), multi-robot systems and precise positioning technique in GPS-denied environments, further advancing the intelligence, automation, and digitalisation of tunnel inspection in Hong Kong. HKPC is pleased to announce that this system has been awarded the Gold Award at the prestigious global Edison Awards, marking the third consecutive year that HKPC’s research projects have received this international recognition, and it is the first time receiving the honour of a Gold Award, highlighting the ongoing excellence of Hong Kong’s research achievements.

The Hong Kong Productivity Council, the Civil Engineering and Development Department, and the Hyder-Meinhardt Joint Venture have co-developed the "Autonomous Air-ground Cooperative Tunnel Inspector" in the Trunk Road T2 and Cha Kwo Ling Tunnel project. This system integrates AI, multi-robot systems and precise positioning technique in GPS-denied environments, further advancing the intelligence, automation, and digitalisation of tunnel inspections in Hong Kong. The system has been awarded the Gold award at the prestigious Edison Awards, marking the third consecutive year that HKPC’s research projects have received this international recognition, and it is the first time receiving the honor of a Gold Award.
The Hong Kong Productivity Council, the Civil Engineering and Development Department, and the Hyder-Meinhardt Joint Venture have co-developed the “Autonomous Air-ground Cooperative Tunnel Inspector” in the Trunk Road T2 and Cha Kwo Ling Tunnel project. This system integrates AI, multi-robot systems and precise positioning technique in GPS-denied environments, further advancing the intelligence, automation, and digitalisation of tunnel inspections in Hong Kong. The system has been awarded the Gold award at the prestigious Edison Awards, marking the third consecutive year that HKPC’s research projects have received this international recognition, and it is the first time receiving the honor of a Gold Award.

Hon Sunny TAN, Chairman of HKPC mentioned: “Winning the Edison Award again is a significant recognition of collaboration between Hong Kong’s Government, industry, academia and research sectors. This locally-developed groundbreaking system integrates air-ground collaboration, edge AI computing, and millimetre-level positioning technology that well overcomes the difficulty of positioning in GPS-denied environments. The system has been successfully applied to major infrastructure projects in Hong Kong, replacing the traditional manual inspection at heights. It not only brings safer tunnel inspection, but also enhances efficiency, and sets a good precedent for global infrastructure digitalisation. As an enabler of new industrialisation in Hong Kong, HKPC will continue to focus on the transformation and realisation of research and development outcomes, aligning with Government policies to transform Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology centre.” Previous HKPC technology application projects, such as the ‘InspecSpider’ system, have won international R&D awards. This time, the Tunnel Inspector’s recognition with the Edison Award further demonstrates Hong Kong’s strong innovative technology capabilities and its ability to implement these achievements in real-world applications.

AI-enhanced Measurement Efficiency: Reducing Working at Heights

Autonomous Air-ground Cooperative Tunnel Inspector incorporates three cutting-edge technologies: multi-robot cooperation between Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), edge-computing AI module installed in the UGV, and the use of fiducial marker and LiDAR to obtain precise positioning in GPS-denied environments. This combination allows traditionally time-consuming tunnel inspection tasks to be completed quickly. When the system is in operation, it adopts air-ground cooperation between the UGV and UAV to achieve 360° full coverage in the tunnel. The 5K camera automatically captures colour and thermal images, which are then transmitted to the AI module of the UGV for defect detection and analysis. The system can execute defect detection with millimetre-level precision. Compared to conventional inspection methods, it speeds up the inspection by 23 times and saves 50% of inspection cost.

Even in GPS-denied tunnel environments, the system can still calculate the precise coordinates of the UAV and UGV by using SLAM technique with fiducial markers, or deploying survey total stations in the tunnel to swiftly carry out automated tunnel inspections with up to millimetre-level accuracy. The system also delivers fully digitalised inspection reports, thus reducing the manual works. Engineers can monitor the system’s operation in a safe environment, which greatly eliminates the need for working at height and makes the tunnel inspection process safer and more efficient.

Practical Applications of AI and Robotics Leading Hong Kong’s Low-altitude Economy

HKPC was appointed by the HKSAR Government as the technical partner for the Working Group on Developing Low-altitude Economy and established the Hong Kong Industrial Drone Technology Centre in 2021. The Centre provides various low-altitude economy-related services and has trained nearly 700 drone pilots ready to advance the low-altitude economy. A key feature of the award-winning inspection system is air-ground collaboration, where UAV- perform specific tasks while supported by UGV-, which can carry batteries and some payloads on the ground, significantly enhancing UAVs’ flexibility, endurance, and safety. This provides a strong practical example for the future application of low-altitude UAV technology across various industries, potentially accelerating the development of Hong Kong’s low-altitude economy.

About the Edison Awards
First held in 1987, The Edison Awards are among the world’s most prestigious honour in science and technology, recognizing groundbreaking research achievements and innovative products distinguished by originality, creativity, and technological excellence. The awards are judged by Edison Universe, a non-profit organization, dedicated to promoting innovative thinking. Past award winners include Genentech, General Electric, General Motors, GoPro, IBM, NVIDIA and others. For more information about the 2025 Edison Awards, please visit: https://edisonawards.com/

Hashtag: #HongKongProductivityCouncil

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

About Hong Kong Productivity Council

The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) is a multi-disciplinary organisation established by statute in 1967, to promote productivity excellence through relentless drive of world-class advanced technologies and innovative service offerings to support Hong Kong enterprises. As a nationwide leader in innovative, market-driven research and development (R&D) internationally, specialising in leading technologies and all-rounded manufacturing services, HKPC promotes new industrialisation in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area and facilitates the development of new productive forces, leveraging innovation and technology (I&T), as well as bolstering Hong Kong to be an international innovation and technology centre and a smart city. The Council offers comprehensive innovative solutions for Hong Kong industries and enterprises, enabling them to achieve resources and productivity utilisation, effectiveness and cost reduction, and enhance competitiveness in both local and overseas marketplace. The Council partners and collaborates with local industries and enterprises and world-class R&D institutes to develop applied technology solutions for value creation. It also benefits a variety of sectors through product innovation, technology transfer, and commercialisation, bringing enormous business opportunities ahead. HKPC’s world-class R&D achievements have been widely recognised over the years, winning an array of local and overseas accolades.

In addition, HKPC offers SMEs and startups immediate and timely assistance in coping with the ever-changing business environment, and strengthens talent nurturing and Hong Kong’s competitiveness with FutureSkills training for enterprises and academia to enhance digital capabilities and STEM competencies.

For more information, please visit HKPC’s website: .

Ping An Releases 2024 Sustainability Report

30 Years of Public Welfare Education
“Worry-free, Time-saving and Money-saving” Project Creates a New Paradigm in Services

HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (“Ping An“, the “Company” or the “Group”, HKEX: 2318; SSE: 601318) has published its Sustainability Report 2024.

This is the 16th consecutive year that Ping An has released its sustainability report. The report features two themes: “Public Welfare Education” and “Worry-free, Time-saving and Money-saving” services. It also discloses the Company’s latest progress across five key areas: strategic management; business; operations and community; climate change and carbon neutrality; and governance.

Theme One: Thirty Years of Public Welfare Education

Ma Mingzhe, Chairman of Ping An Group said, “As long as there is still one student at Ping An Hope Primary School, our public welfare volunteer teaching will continue.”

Ping An’s public welfare education initiative marked its 30th anniversary in 2024. Since the establishment of the first Ping An Hope Primary School in 1994, the Group has continued to support rural education through measures such as infrastructure and maintenance, volunteer teaching, educational scholarships, training and development, and summer camps. In 2024, Ping An’s support included:

  • renovation of 22 rural schools
  • donation of sports grounds to five rural schools to create a better learning and sports environment for students
  • organization of 987 volunteers to conduct teaching in 74 schools, contributing 6,767 teaching hours
  • educational scholarship programs that collectively supported 1,065 students, including enabling 65 students realize their university dreams
  • training of 294 rural teachers
  • organization of 165 teachers and students from 27 schools to participate in summer and winter camp activities

As of the end of 2024, Ping An had assisted in building 119 Ping An Hope Primary Schools across the country. It recruited 12,708 volunteer teachers who contributed more than 443,000 total teaching hours. Ping An also established educational scholarships which have cumulatively supported 31,345 students, and trained over 20,000 rural teachers, benefiting 310,000 students.

Theme Two: “Worry-free, Time-saving and Money-saving” Project Creates a New Paradigm in Financial Services

Michael Guo, Co-CEO of Ping An Group, said, “Customers’ voices, needs and suggestions are the guide for our service reform and product upgrade.”

Since Ping An was established 36 years ago, the Company has grown into a world-leading “integrated finance + health and senior care” services group. Adhering to the value proposition of “worry-free, time-saving, and money-saving” services, Ping An focuses on developing professional products and services for three main scenarios: financial advisers, family doctors, and senior care concierges. Ping An made every effort to promote its value proposition in 2024. The Group launched its 2024 Customer Listening Day in May, calling on senior executives, business teams and front-line employees to engage with customers to understand their needs and pain points, and then accelerate the upgrading of product and service upgrades.

To meet customers’ diversified needs in wealth management, health, and senior care, Ping An provides services such as wealth management, insurance protection, and consumer credit through an integrated financial model featuring “one customer, multiple accounts, multiple products, and one-stop services.” As of the end of 2024, Ping An had 242 million retail customers, with an average of 2.92 contracts per customer. More than 25% of them were holding four or more contracts within the Group. Nearly 63% of Ping An’s retail customers were entitled to service benefits in the health and senior care ecosystem as of the end of 2024. In 2024, over 21 million customers of Ping An Life used health management services. Ping An has approximately 50,000 in-house and contracted external doctors and partnered with all top 100 hospitals and 3A hospitals in China. It has also established cooperation with over 104,000 health management institutions and 235,000 pharmacies. Ping An’s home-based senior care services cover 75 cities nationwide, and over 160,000 customers are eligible for home-based senior care services.

Top 10 highlights of Ping An’s sustainable development in 2024

1.    Stable business performance, with total cash dividends increasing for 13 consecutive years:  In 2024, Ping An achieved an operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of RMB121,862 million, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%; net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was RMB126,607 million, a substantial year-on-year increase of 47.8%; and total revenue was RMB1,141,346 million, a year-on-year increase of 10.6%[1]. With the goal of providing stable returns to shareholders, Ping An distributed a full-year dividend of RMB2.55 per share in cash in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 5%. The cash dividend ratio based on the operating profit attributable to the parent company was 37.9%, with the total dividend amount maintaining growth for 13 consecutive years.

2.    Technology empowering sustainable development, driving innovation in finance and healthcare: Ping An continues to increase investment in technology, comprehensively improving the user experience of financial and healthcare services through cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data. As of the end of 2024, Ping An had accumulated 55,080 patent applications in the fields of financial technology and healthcare. AI service representatives reached about 1.8 billion times, covering 80% of Ping An’s total customer service volume in 2024. Through intelligent underwriting and intelligent claims settlement, 93% of life insurance policies achieved second-level underwriting. Ping An Property & Casualty independently developed the Disaster Risk System (DRS3.0) and the Catastrophe Emergency Service Platform, integrating over 2 trillion pieces of geographic, disaster, meteorological, and insurance data, combined with meteorological disaster models, satellite remote sensing, machine learning, and other technologies. These tools provide intelligent risk control services such as disaster early warning, risk screening, and catastrophe risk management. In 2024, the DRS 3.0 issued 10.55 billion early warning messages, providing pre-disaster early warnings to 67.34 million individuals and enterprises. In healthcare, Ping An’s independently developed AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment system currently covers the diagnostic knowledge of over 2,000 diseases, with an accuracy rate of over 99% in triage – guiding patients to the appropriate medical department – and an assisted diagnosis accuracy rate of over 95%.

3.    Continuously developing green finance to support the low-carbon transformation of industries: Ping An regards green finance as a systematic initiative, supporting green development and industrial transformation through insurance, lending, investment, and other products and services. In 2024, Ping An’s green insurance premium income reached RMB58,608 million, a year-on-year increase of nearly 57%. The balance of green loans was RMB157,762 million, a year-on-year increase of 13%, and the scale of insurance fund green investment was RMB124,712 million. As an extension and expansion of green finance, transition finance has become a key driving force for promoting industrial upgrading and stable economic operations. Ping An is actively responding to this trend, increasing its support for transition finance and emerging low-carbon technologies. As of the end of 2024, Ping An Bank had cumulatively issued RMB440 million in project loans for carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology (CCUS) to Baotou Iron and Steel Group; and cumulatively issued approximately RMB3.44 billion in project loans for the Coal Grading Clean and Efficient Conversion Project to Yulin Chemical Co. Ltd.

4.    Leveraging integrated financial advantages to promote inclusive financial development: Ping An is committed to improving the accessibility of financial services, providing broader protection and support for micro and small enterprises and low-income groups. In 2024, Ping An Property & Casualty added 304 new inclusive insurance products to further expand the scope of protection. Ping An Life Insurance launched low-premium rural insurance products, covering accidental risks such as transportation and natural disasters, and the product provided protection for 42,000 customers throughout the year. Ping An Bank issued loans of  RMB160,224 million to micro and small enterprises, with a loan balance of RMB 506,331 million in 2024. It also issued 63,000 Rural Revitalization Debit Cards. As of the end of 2024, Ping An Property & Casualty had provided over RMB220 trillion in full-risk protection for nearly 2.4 million micro and small enterprises, with over 900,000 claims processed, worth nearly RMB4 billion. Ping An Bank had cumulatively served 782,000 micro and small enterprise loan customers, and issued nearly 260,000 cards.

5.    Operating carbon emissions decreased by 8% year-on-year, accelerating towards the 2030 carbon neutrality goal: Ping An identifies and assesses climate change-related risks and opportunities, conducts climate risk scenario analysis, and formulates response measures and transformation plans. In 2024, the company actively promoted energy conservation and carbon reduction, with total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the year at 439,291 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), a year-on-year decrease of 8%. Among them, Scope 1 (direct GHG emissions) was 28,158 tCO2e, a year-on-year decrease of 22%. Scope 2 (energy-related indirect GHG emissions) was 342,193 tCO2e, a year-on-year decrease of 8%. In 2024, Ping An purchased a total of 11,612 megawatt-hours (MWh) of green electricity, avoiding nearly 6,800 tCO2e emissions. Scope 3 (paper use and employee travel) was 68,941 tCO2e emissions, about the same as in 2023. As of the end of 2024, Ping An’s self-developed employee carbon account platform covered 180,000 employees, recording 2.26 million carbon reduction actions, achieving an emission reduction contribution of approximately 23,662 tCO2e. In the field of green buildings, Ping An has 30 building projects that have obtained domestic and foreign green and healthy building certifications, of which 10 buildings have obtained Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold and above certification.

6.    Protecting consumer rights and privacy, exploring an aging-friendly service model: In 2024, Ping An updated its Policy Statement on Privacy Protection (2024) and Policy Statement on Information Security (2024), conducted special audits on consumer rights protection, and tracked the rectification of problems found in the previous year, ensuring a rectification rate of 100%. Targeting the senior population, Ping An is exploring the “aging-friendly” service model. Actions include installing anti-collision corners in the basic infrastructure of service counters, setting up rest areas for the elderly, and providing equipment such as wheelchairs, walking sticks, reading glasses, and medicine kits for a more friendly service environment for the elderly. Ping An also provides an exclusive service hotline for customers over 60 years old. Through the service hotline, senior customers can directly reach the dedicated customer service with one click, enjoying convenient and caring services. In addition, Ping An continues to explore digital methods such as intelligent voice assistants and simplified mobile app interfaces to help elderly customers cross the digital divide.

7.    Focusing on employee development and protection, with satisfaction increasing for two consecutive years: Ping An is committed to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of employees, helping employees grow through salary incentives and training, and achieving the common development of employees and the company. In 2024, Ping An updated the Statement on Employee Rights (2024), improving its employee protection mechanism. As of the end of 2024, Ping An had 273,053 employees. Female employees accounted for 51%, and in senior management, female personnel accounted for 36%. To encourage retention of core talent, Ping An implemented the Core Personnel Stock Ownership Plan and the Long-term Service Plan. As of the end of 2024, 103,610 employees participated in the plans, covering 38% of employees. For employee training and development, Ping An cooperated with educational institutions to introduce high-quality courses. In 2024, the Group invested RMB956 million in training, and employees benefitted from an average of 49 hours of training each. In addition, Ping An conducts satisfaction surveys for all employees every year. In 2024, the overall employee satisfaction reached 90 points, steadily improving for two years in a row. With excellent talent development and management practices, Ping An ranked 318th globally and second in the Chinese financial industry in Forbes’ World’s Best Employers 2024.

8.    Strengthening information security management and building an AI ethics system: Ping An continues to improve its information security management system and is promoting the construction of an artificial intelligence (AI) ethics system. In 2024, the Group, together with its member companies, completed 67 security emergency drills, covering 11 emergency scenarios such as ransomware, anti-DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks, and phishing emails. It carried out database backup recovery drills and cross-regional joint disaster recovery exercises, effectively improving the Group’s emergency response capabilities for information security. Throughout the year, more than 30 information security training sessions were conducted, focusing on eight major risk scenarios, such as personal information leakage, data outsourcing, phishing emails, and third-party personnel management. The training pass rate was 100%. Ping An has maintained information security management system certifications for many years. As of the end of 2024, Ping An’s ISO/IEC 27001 certification coverage rate reached 93%. In addition, in terms of AI governance, Ping An follows five ethical principles: people-oriented; human autonomy; safe and controllable; fair; and just, open and transparent. It issued the Policy Statement on AI Ethics Governance (2022), and aims to scientifically manage the development and application of AI to ensure that technological innovation meets ethical and moral standards.

9.    Actively fulfilling social responsibility and enhancing community influence: In 2024, Ping An provided over RMB52 billion in rural industrial revitalization assistance funds, provided free physical examinations for 6,859 villagers, held 29 lectures on chronic diseases science, upgraded 45 rural clinics, and held 45 free medical consultation sessions in rural areas. Ping An also encouraged employees to devote themselves to public welfare projects. As of the end of 2024, there were more than 490,000 employee and agent volunteers, who participated in voluntary blood donation, educational public welfare, emergency disaster relief, and other public welfare actions.

10. Outstanding performance recognized by international rating agencies and capital markets: In 2024, Ping An was awarded an AA rating in the MSCI ESG rating, ranking first in the Asia-Pacific region in the multi-line insurance and brokerage industry for three consecutive years. It was rated “Low Risk” in the Sustainalytics ESG rating, with a score of 15.6, the best score among insurance companies in Chinese mainland. It was selected for the S&P Global’s “Sustainability Yearbook 2024 (China Edition)”, the only insurance company included in mainland China. In addition, Ping An has been selected as a constituent stock of the FTSE4Good index series for five years and has been a constituent stock of the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index Series for 14 years.

Sustainable development is a cornerstone of Ping An’s long-term strategy. The Group will continue to deepen the “integrated finance + health and senior care” technology-driven strategy, using technological innovation to create a competitive advantage in service. It will provide customers with all-around professional financial advisory, family doctor, and senior care concierge services, enabling customers to enjoy “worry-free, timesaving, and money-saving” services experience, and it will continue to create long-term, stable, and sustainable value for customers, employees, shareholders, and society.

[1] Based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

For details of the report, please click here.

About Ping An Group

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (HKEx:2318 / 82318; SSE:601318) is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. It strives to become a world-leading provider of integrated finance, health and senior care services. Under the technology-driven “integrated finance + health and senior care” strategy, the Group provides professional “financial advisory, family doctor, and senior care concierge” services to its 242 million retail customers. Ping An advances intelligent digital transformation and employs technologies to improve financial businesses’ quality and efficiency and enhance risk management. The Group is listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. As of the end of December 2024, Ping An had more than RMB12 trillion in total assets. The Group ranked 29th in the Forbes Global 2000 list in 2024 and 53rd in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2024. 

For more information, please visit www.group.pingan.com and follow us on LinkedIn – PING AN.

Temu Strengthens Commitment to Quality Assurance with Eurofins Consumer Products Testing Partnership

PARIS, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Temu, the international e-commerce platform, is strengthening its product safety and compliance measures through a partnership with Eurofins Consumer Product Testing and Eurofins Assurance, leading global providers of testing, inspection, and certification services. This collaboration aims to support transparency in Temu’s product safety processes, enhance quality control and ensure that products sold on the platform meet rigorous safety and regulatory standards.

Credit@Temu
Credit@Temu

Enhancing Product Safety and Compliance

As part of this initiative, Eurofins Assurance will conduct independent inspection services across multiple product categories, including textiles, apparel, jewellery, toys, outdoor furniture, and electrical products. These assessments will help ensure that items available on Temu comply with relevant safety and quality regulations before reaching consumers.

Additionally, Eurofins Consumer Product Testing will support Temu’s seller onboarding process by carrying out key product certification tests, such as Toy CPC (Children’s Product Certificate), Adult Apparel GCC (General Certificate of Conformity), Outdoor Furniture GPSR EU EN581-1 Physical Safety Testing, and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) + RoHS Test Reports.

Commitment to Consumer Confidence

“At Temu, we are dedicated to providing a secure and reliable shopping experience,” said a Temu spokesperson. “Strengthening our product safety measures is a key priority, and by working with Eurofins Consumer Product Testing and Eurofins Assurance, we are reinforcing our commitment to ensuring that products on our platform meet high safety and compliance standards.”

Temu’s partnership with Eurofins Consumer Product Testing and Eurofins Assurance reflects its ongoing efforts to enhance quality assurance measures and support consumers in making informed purchasing decisions.

About TEMU

Temu is a global e-commerce platform connecting consumers with millions of manufacturers, brands, and business partners. Operating in more than 90 markets worldwide, Temu is committed to providing affordable, high-quality products that enable customers to live better lives. Founded in 2022, Temu’s mission is to create an inclusive environment where consumers and businesses can thrive.

Trend Micro Customers Lower Cyber Risk Scores Through Proactive Security

Newly published report harnesses data from Trend’s platform insights on cyber risk


HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 7 April 2025 – Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global cybersecurity leader, today revealed a continued annual decline in its Cyber Risk Index (CRI) score,* the figure stood at an average of 38.4 for the year, down by 6.2 points from 2023. The data shows a clear trend that organizations leveraging proactive security approaches are seeing measurable risk reduction.

To read the Trend 2024 Cyber Risk Report, please visit:
https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/hk/security/news/threat-landscape/trend-2025-cyber-risk-report

Rachel Jin, chief enterprise platform officer at Trend Micro: “Trend customers are embracing our vision for proactive security by using the AI-powered Trend Vision OneTM Cyber Risk Exposure Management to identify risk and prioritize mitigations. By getting on the front foot, they can build resilience, rapidly contain threats, and become more time and resource-efficient. It’s an approach that any organization can emulate with the right mindset and tooling.”

The CRI score declined each month throughout the year, from 42.5 in February to 36.3 in December. While organizations remain in the Medium Risk zone, the continued decline in CRI scores reflects real progress in cyber risk reduction. It highlights a growing shift toward continuous security assessment and risk-based decision-making.

Among the highlights from this year’s report are:

Most risky events: Risky cloud app access came top, followed by “stale Microsoft Entra ID account.” Rounding out the top 10 were email, user account and credential-related risks; many of them misconfiguration-related. Over one billion organizations were logged with multi-factor authentication disabled on Entra ID Accounts, highlighting a clear need for enhanced, automated identity security.

Average Mean Time to Patch (MTTP): The top detected and unpatched CVEs from 2024 were “high severity” Elevation of Privilege (EoP) vulnerabilities published in the first half of the year. Europe (23.5 days) and Japan (27.5 days) recorded the fastest MTTP of any region, while non-profits (19 days) and the technology sector (22 days) were the fastest verticals. Healthcare (41.5 days) and telecoms (38 days) were slowest. Trend offers virtual patches to protect customers on average three months before official vendor updates.

Industry breakdown: Education, agriculture and construction had the highest CRI in 2024, singling them out as the most exposed sectors.

Regional breakdown: Europe was the most improved region, recording a seven-point CRI reduction—possible as a result of regulatory pressure from NIS2 and DORA. The Americas and AMEA have room to improve, while Japan maintained the lowest average (34.3).

Ransomware: LockBit, RansomHub, and Play ransomware were responsible for the highest number of reported breaches in 2024. According to Trend research, organizations with a CRI above average are around 12 times more likely to suffer a ransomware breach than those below average.

AI: The report highlighted AI-assisted deepfake phishing, virtual kidnapping scams, and automated reconnaissance as key emerging AI threats. However, AI can also empower network defenders to better predict and prevent cyberattacks, such as via the industry-first security LLM Trend Cybertron.

To further lower their CRI, Trend urges global organizations to embrace a proactive security approach by:

  • Optimizing security settings to maximize product features and get alerts on misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and other risks. And leveraging native sensors/third-party sources to build a comprehensive view of the attack surface.
  • Contacting the device and/or account owner when a risky event has been detected to verify and investigate using the Vision One Workbench search function.
  • Inventorying stale accounts to delete inactive and unused ones, disabling risky accounts, resetting passwords with strong credentials, and enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA).
  • Applying the latest patches or upgrading application/OS versions regularly

*Trend Vision One Cyber Risk Exposure Management uses its risk event catalog to formulate a risk score for each asset type and an index score for organizations. It does this by multiplying an asset’s attack, exposure, and security configuration by asset criticality. The result is an integer between zero and 100 that falls into one of three levels: Low Risk (0-30), Medium Risk (31-69) and High Risk (70-100).
Hashtag: #trendmicro #trendvisionone #visionone #cybersecurity #trendcybertron #cybertron




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

Trend Micro

Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity leader, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Fueled by decades of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro’s cybersecurity platform protects hundreds of thousands of organizations and millions of individuals across clouds, networks, devices, and endpoints. As a leader in cloud and enterprise cybersecurity, the platform delivers a powerful range of advanced threat defense techniques optimized for environments like AWS, Microsoft, and Google, and central visibility for better, faster detection and response. With 7,000 employees across 65 countries, Trend Micro enables organizations to simplify and secure their connected world.

SunPower x TCL, a New Solar Powerhouse to Redefine Sustainable Living in 2025

MELBOURNE, Australia, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — SunPower Corporation Australia, a leading provider of innovative solar energy solutions, today announced the commencement of its business operations as a new energy business unit within TCL Zhonghuan.

With a solid foundation of forty years of expertise in the development and innovation of solar technologies, SunPower Corporation Australia is committed to delivering leading-edge technology to the market. SunPower Corporation Australia also understands the value of its dedicated SunPower installer network, and to bolster this crucial component, the company is investing in offering them additional solutions and extending the product range. SunPower Corporation Australia will provide SunPower branded solar energy solutions as well as TCL Solar products, along with energy services. These offerings will enable homeowners and businesses to efficiently control their energy consumption and optimize the usage of their self-produced clean energy.

“The dawn of a new era in smart and sustainable living is here. By combining TCL’s global presence, manufacturing capabilities, and supply chain strength with SunPower’s 40 years of experience in pioneering solar technology innovation, we’re bringing a product offering to the Australian and NZ markets that is of the highest quality and performance, while expanding the accessibility into all segments,” commented Stephen Straughair, Senior Director, ANZ Sales. “Today isn’t just about launching a new brand, we’re bringing SunPower and TCL Solar into the mainstream, and scaling our go-to-market resources in residential, C&I and Utility scale PV.”

Operating in Australia and New Zealand, SunPower Corporation Australia is primed to ignite a wave of innovation in the industry, setting unprecedented standards in the solar space.

“We understand that the solar landscape has changed, the addition of new and emerging technologies, accompanied with the strength and bankability of TCL Zhonghuan will be a welcomed advantage by our expanding customer base. Given this, we’re confident that our new, more agile, organizational structure, leveraging our highly regarded SunPower brand, positions us at the cutting edge of the industry, and help to achieve accessibility of premium solar PV in the mainstream markets” said Stephen Straughair. “The objective in Australia and NZ is to be a top 5 player in Solar PV installations, across all segments. We aren’t here to make up the numbers, we’re here to be a significant part of the mainstream PV industry, by supplying the best brands, the most competitive solutions, and long-term security on end customer investments.”

Discover how SunPower offerings can contribute to a future that is more environmentally conscious, technologically advanced, and sustainable, by visiting https://sunpower.global/au/ 

About SunPower Corporation Australia

SunPower Corporation Australia, a proud member of the TCL Zhonghuan, stands at the forefront of pioneering solar energy solutions. As a brand trusted by millions of homeowners, businesses, and energy producers around the globe, we are committed to empowering a sustainable connected future and transforming the way our world is powered. Leveraging our 40 years of experience in solar, we are fast-tracking the transition to clean, renewable energy, ensuring a brighter tomorrow for all. Find more at https://sunpower.global/au/ and on LinkedIn.

Bus-Rapid-Transit Road Rushing to be Completed Before Lao New Year

Bounyavat Niraxay, Director of the Public Works and Transport Department, alongside the Vientiane Sustainable Urban Transport Project (VSUTP) (Photo: Sommala Phimmavong)

Vientiane is committed to completing the construction of the Setthathirath Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) road just before the Lao New Year, according to Bounyavat Niraxay, Director of the Public Works and Transport Department, during an inspection on 2 April.

Beijing forum champions cultural diversity protection in science fiction

BEIJING, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from China Daily:

The 4th Creativity 2030 International Forum provides a platform dedicated to protecting cultural diversity and promoting sustainable development during this year's Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference in Beijing on Saturday.
The 4th Creativity 2030 International Forum provides a platform dedicated to protecting cultural diversity and promoting sustainable development during this year’s Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference in Beijing on Saturday.

The 4th Creativity 2030 International Forum provided a platform dedicated to protecting cultural diversity and promoting sustainable development during this year’s Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference in Beijing on Saturday.

Shahbaz Khan, director of the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for East Asia, delivered a video speech at the event, saying that this forum demonstrated the vital role of creativity and innovation in advancing sustainable development and preserving cultural diversity in the digital age.

He stressed the need to foster innovation in creative industries, particularly in fields like science fiction, by providing essential resources, network support and policy frameworks to stimulate the flourishing of creativity and robust growth.

The forum marked the 20th anniversary of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, which encouraged developing countries to enhance their capacity to protect and promote cultural diversity through dialogue and international cooperation. It is China’s first project included in UNESCO’s global celebration of the convention’s 20th anniversary.

The Beijing Science and Technology Commission and the Zhongguancun Science Park Administrative Committee guided the forum with support from the Beijing Science and Technology Innovation Promotion Center. It was organized by the International Centre for Creativity and Sustainable Development under the auspices of UNESCO (Category 2).

Up to 150 representatives from 10 countries, including France, Germany and Austria, attended the forum.

In 2024, ICCSD launched a program to collect cases of protecting and promoting cultural diversity in the digital environment. Twenty exemplary cases were published at the event. These cases highlighted cutting-edge technological innovations like artificial intelligence, extended displays and big data, covering new technology applications in the cultural sector.

The cultural industry is expanding in the digital age, with new forms of cultural and technological integration, including science fiction, developing rapidly. Beijing alone hosts nearly 800 science fiction companies with a total annual revenue of 48 billion yuan ($6.6 billion), propelling the city’s science fiction industry to new heights.