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Sinopec and CATL Join Forces to Build 10,000 Battery Swap Stations, Pioneering a New Era of Green Mobility

BEIJING, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (“Sinopec”, HKG: 0386), one of China’s largest integrated energy and chemical companies, and CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited), the global leader in new energy innovative technologies, signed an industry and capital cooperation framework agreement in Beijing. The partnership aims to establish a nationwide battery swap network, setting a new benchmark for green infrastructure in China.

Sinopec and CATL Join Forces to Build 10,000 Battery Swap Stations, Pioneering A New Era of Green Mobility.
Sinopec and CATL Join Forces to Build 10,000 Battery Swap Stations, Pioneering A New Era of Green Mobility.

Under the agreement, the two industry giants will leverage their respective strengths to accelerate the development of battery swap ecosystems and standardize operations. This year, the collaboration targets the construction of no fewer than 500 battery swap stations, with a long-term goal of 10,000 stations, creating a seamless “swap-as-fast-as-refueling” experience for electric vehicle (EV) owners in China. The initiative aligns with China’s national strategy to promote new infrastructure and low-carbon transportation.

Ma Yongsheng, Chairman of Sinopec, emphasized the strategic significance of the partnership: “This collaboration marks another milestone in Sinopec’s commitment to energy revolution and green development. By combining our energy supply capabilities, nationwide network, and customer service expertise with CATL’s cutting-edge technology, we aim to build a comprehensive energy infrastructure that powers a better life.”

Dr. Robin Zeng, Chairman and CEO of CATL, highlighted the transformative potential of the initiative: “A robust energy replenishment network is critical to the widespread adoption of EVs. Through this partnership, we will elevate the battery swap model to new heights, injecting fresh momentum into sustainable development.”

Sinopec brings its extensive network of 30,000 integrated energy stations in the country, 28,000 Easy Joy convenience stores, and over 10,000 ultra-fast charging stations, serving 200 million customers daily. CATL, as the world’s top EV battery manufacturer, has partnered with leading automakers, including Changan, GAC Aion, BAIC, SAIC, Hongqi, NIO, and major truck producers like Sinotruk and Foton, to roll out a diverse lineup of battery-swappable passenger and commercial vehicles.

The partnership strengthens Sinopec and CATL’s ongoing work in energy stations, storage, and advanced materials. The collaboration will build smart energy microgrids, featuring solar power, energy storage, charging, swapping, and battery inspection. Moving forward, the two companies will explore broader synergies in zero-carbon solutions, vehicle ecosystems, and battery materials. Capital and equity partnerships will also be pursued to foster innovation and accelerate the development of new productive forces.

Thai Night 2025 Elevates Thai Entertainment on the Global Stage at FILMART


HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 7 April 2025 – The Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), Ministry of Commerce, successfully hosted Thai Night: Where Films Come Alive 2025 at JW Marriott Hong Kong during FILMART 2025, reinforcing Thailand’s position as a global hub for the film and entertainment industry. Presided over by Her Royal Highness Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi, the event brought together 517 distinguished guests, including 453 film industry representatives and 64 international media members, facilitating high-level business networking and expanding opportunities for Thai entertainment businesses in the global market.

Thai Night 2025

Under the theme “Thailand: Where Films Come Alive”, the event highlighted Thailand’s excellence in film production, talent, locations, and post-production services. It was attended by 37 leading Thai entertainment companies, as well as prominent figures from international film and media organizations such as CCTV (China), VIU (Hong Kong), NBCUniversal (Singapore), A+E Networks and Seoul Broadcasting System (South Korea), Lionsgate (India), and Variety Magazine (USA). The evening featured exclusive networking sessions, strengthening ties between Thai and international entertainment professionals. Special performances included a Muay Thai-inspired dance performance, blending Thailand’s martial arts heritage with cultural dance, and live performances of soundtracks from popular Thai series such as Make a Wish, Ai no Kisetsu, B.Friend Series, Piang Chonlay, and Duan Prang. Guests also had the opportunity to experience Thailand’s renowned cuisine, with Thai SELECT-certified food and beverages, further promoting Thailand’s Soft Power in entertainment and gastronomy.

According to Ms. Sunanta Kangvalkulkij, Director-General of DITP, “Thai Night continues to be a key platform in positioning Thailand as a leader in the international entertainment industry. By connecting Thai content creators, producers, and investors with global industry leaders, we are opening doors for Thai films, series, and creative talents to reach wider audiences and new business opportunities.” As part of Thailand’s broader strategy to promote its film and entertainment industry, Thai Night is held at major international events such as the Cannes Film Festival (France), the American Film Market (Los Angeles, USA), and FILMART (Hong Kong, China), reinforcing Thailand’s role in the global entertainment ecosystem and fostering international collaborations.

For more information about Thailand’s film industry and upcoming initiatives, please visit www.ditp.go.th or contact the DITP Trade Hotline at 1169.

Hashtag: #ThaiNight2025

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

Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures

World Health Day Statement by Education Cannot Wait Director Yasmine Sherif

NEW YORK, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Education is an essential investment in providing health to those left furthest behind.

On World Health Day, we must connect the dots between education and health in humanitarian crisis settings. A child attending school gets vaccinations and healthcare, a nutritious meal and mental health and psychosocial services. By funding education, we optimize our investments to cover multiple sectors in one investment, such as health.
On World Health Day, we must connect the dots between education and health in humanitarian crisis settings. A child attending school gets vaccinations and healthcare, a nutritious meal and mental health and psychosocial services. By funding education, we optimize our investments to cover multiple sectors in one investment, such as health.

On World Health Day, we must connect the dots between education and health in humanitarian crisis settings. A child attending school gets vaccinations and healthcare, a nutritious meal and mental health and psychosocial services. By funding education, we optimize our investments to cover multiple sectors in one investment, such as health.

“The link between education, health and well-being is clear. Education develops the skills, values and attitudes that enable learners to lead healthy and fulfilled lives, make informed decisions and engage in positive relationships with everyone around them,” according to UNESCO.

At the same time, poor health, hunger, war-trauma and diseases negatively impact academic performance, especially in humanitarian emergencies.

According to UNICEF, humanitarian investments in education and health have substantial returns. Every $1 invested in children and their well-being yields a ten-fold societal return.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and our strategic partners deliver speedy and lifesaving quality education on the frontlines of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. In places like Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti and Cameroon, this means healthy school meals, greater nutrition, safe classrooms and access to public health initiatives that are available at the beginning of school.

Right now, we are making impossible decisions on humanitarian funding that put millions of lives at risk. The most effective way of utilizing financial means is to ensure multiple impact or a holistic and cross-sectoral approach.

Education is one of the single best investments we can make, while also ensuring healthy lives for all. Not the least for the 234 million children and adolescents who today endure unspeakable crises with no other hope than to attend school, survive and thrive. This is what it is all about: the humanitarian imperative is about saving their lives.

LG RELEASES PRELIMINARY EARNINGS FOR FIRST-QUARTER 2025

The Company Achieves Record-High First-Quarter Revenue
Surpassing KRW 22 Trillion

SEOUL, South Korea, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — LG Electronics Inc. (LG) today announced its preliminary earnings results for the first-quarter of 2025, reporting a consolidated revenue of KRW 22.7 trillion and operating profit of KRW 1.3 trillion.

Logo of LG Electronics
Logo of LG Electronics

This marks the first time LG’s first-quarter revenue has exceeded KRW 22 trillion. Despite ongoing macroeconomic challenges, including a global economic slowdown, the company’s focus on “qualitative growth” businesses played a key role.

Especially in B2B sectors, the Eco Solution (ES) business has been the primary driver of growth in both revenue and profitability. Other areas—such as subscription services, webOS-based advertising and content, and direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales—also contributed to the company’s record-breaking results.

Operating profit exceeded KRW 1 trillion for the sixth consecutive year, continuing to reflect a stable profit structure. Increased revenue from high-margin areas created a strong operating leverage effect, helping to sustain a stable profit structure. Additional drivers of profitability included efficient resource allocation, normalization of raw material and logistics costs, and enhanced agility in global production operations.

In the home appliance solution business, LG’s premium products maintained strong leadership in the global market. The built-in appliance business – a B2B segment – alongside key component sales such as motors and compressors, also contributed meaningfully to the performance.

The company’s subscription business, which combines hardware and services, is rapidly expanding. In 2025, LG plans to further strengthen its subscription-ready product lineup and customer care services, while also accelerating the global rollout of its subscription model.

In the media and entertainment solution business, from this year, LG is integrating its display-based businesses – including TVs, IT (laptops, monitors) and ID (commercial displays) – to generate synergy in its webOS-based advertising and content platform, traditionally centered around smart TVs.

LG’s 2025 TV lineup introduced enhanced AI features such as personalized content recommendations, superior picture quality and immersive sound. New products like the ultra-light LG gram Pro AI laptop and the portable LG StanbyME 2 lifestyle screen received positive responses from global markets. The commercial display segment also secured several large-scale international contracts.

The vehicle solution business, continues to expand sales of high value-added products, especially in in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems, while diversifying into automotive content platforms. LG Magna e-Powertrain is strengthening its competitiveness through advanced motor and inverter technologies and is enhancing operational capabilities at global production sites to support long-term growth. Meanwhile, the automotive lighting business is accelerating development of next-generation technologies, such as high-resolution and intelligent lighting systems, while improving overall efficiency.

The heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) business began operating as an independent Company in the first quarter. By focusing business capabilities on the essence of the order-based HVAC business and the characteristics of customers, the company is increasing its contribution to profitability.

In the commercial HVAC space, LG secured major overseas contracts in markets such as Singapore, thanks to its ability to provide localized, tailored solutions. Going forward, LG aims to make HVAC a core pillar of its B2B portfolio by leveraging its proprietary technologies in compressors, fans, heat exchangers and AI engines.

In the residential market, LG plans to maintain its leadership with AI-powered innovations. Additionally, in industrial and power-generation sectors, the company is actively pursuing new opportunities with large-scale chiller systems.

These figures are tentative consolidated earnings based on K-IFRS provided as a service to investors prior to LG Electronics’ final earnings results, including net profit. Details regarding each division will be announced officially later this month.

About LG Electronics, Inc.

LG Electronics is a global innovator in technology and consumer electronics with a presence in almost every country and an international workforce of more than 75,000. LG’s four Companies – Home Appliance Solution, Media Entertainment Solution, Vehicle Solution and Eco Solution – combined for global revenue of over KRW 88 trillion in 2024. LG is a leading manufacturer of consumer and commercial products ranging from TVs, home appliances, air solutions, monitors, automotive components and solutions, and its premium LG SIGNATURE and intelligent LG ThinQ brands are familiar names world over. Visit www.LGnewsroom.com for the latest news.

DFI Launches 2024 Sustainability Report

Emphasising Commitment to People, Products and Planet


HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 7 April 2025 – DFI Retail Group (DFI or the Group) is pleased to announce the release of its 2024 Sustainability Report, outlining the Group’s ongoing commitment and progress in sustainability across Asia.

DFI Retail Group Sustainability Report 2024
DFI Retail Group Sustainability Report 2024

In 2024, DFI demonstrated strong ESG performance. It was ranked in the 84th percentile in the Food and Staples Retailing industry in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment*. Key achievements include a 14.2% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions compared to the 2021 baseline, with a target of 50% reduction by 2030. The waste diversion rate improved to 61%, up from 56% of the previous year. DFI also made community investments totalling US$2.76 million, enhancing social impact through various initiatives across markets. Additionally, DFI achieved 57% packaging recyclability of Own Brand products with plastic packaging, progressing the Group on track towards the target of 100% by 2030.

Scott Price, Group Chief Executive, DFI Retail Group shared, “At DFI, our purpose is to sustainably serve our millions of customers in Asia for generations with everyday moments. This shared purpose inspires us to meet the daily needs of our customers while creating lasting, sustainable value for all stakeholders. As Asia’s leading retailer, we take this responsibility seriously by providing essentials that support livelihoods, health, well-being, and ecosystems across all our markets.”

Erica Chan, Group Chief Legal, Governance and Corporate Affairs Officer shared, “I am proud of the consistent progress DFI has made in laying the foundation for our refreshed Sustainability Framework. I am also deeply encouraged by the collective efforts of our teams, partners, and communities, and am confident that we will continue to make great strides in our sustainability journey in the years ahead.”

This year’s report introduces a refined Sustainability Framework centred around three key pillars: People, Products and Planet, with Governance as the cornerstone, ensuring robust leadership and oversight.

The People-focused priorities underscore DFI’s commitment to its customers, team members, communities, and the labour in its supply chains. By prioritising employee development, health, and safety, DFI aims to empower its team members and address the diverse needs of customers. Initiatives include enhancing training programmes, promoting gender equality, and fostering community engagement through various giveback projects.

Across the business, the Products pillar focuses on providing sustainable product choices that resonate with consumer demand. DFI is dedicated to increasing the availability of Own Brand products with sustainability certifications, ensuring that customers can easily access sustainable goods and solutions without compromising affordability, while also safeguarding product quality and safety. This commitment extends to advancing sustainable packaging practices and promoting responsible sourcing across its supply chains.

The Planet strategies recognise the urgent need to address environmental challenges and are dedicated to reducing DFI’s overall carbon footprint, minimising waste and advancing circular economies through upcycling. The Group remains on track to achieve a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030. Additionally, the company is addressing Scope 3 emissions by collaborating with suppliers and industry partners on decarbonisation strategies and engaging consumers to embrace sustainable consumption.

As part of DFI’s efforts to advance its goals across these pillars, it progressed several impactful initiatives during 2024, including:

  • People: Mannings Hong Kong launched a safe disposal service for unused medicines, becoming the first community pharmacy chain in the city to do so. The programme expanded in 2024 to double the scale. Since its inception in 2023, it has handled around 8 million unwanted pills and received multiple industry awards for its contribution to public health. Additionally, IKEA Indonesia introduced the IKEA Social Entrepreneur Accelerator (I-SEA), partnering with local organisations to support marginalised communities. This initiative has supported over 220 local communities and impacted thousands of smallholder farmers and businesses through capacity building and mentorship.
  • Products: DFI has increased the percentage of its Own Brand products with sustainability certifications from 24% to 28%. Additionally, as part of the Group’s commitment to responsible sourcing, 7CAFÉ has adopted 100% Rainforest Alliance-certified Arabica coffee beans across its stores in Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore.
  • Planet: DFI led a successful Low-Carbon Rice pilot in Thailand, addressing the 6% of the Group’s Scope 3 emissions attributed to rice. With 85% of the world’s rice produced in Asia, DFI worked with local partners to train 30 local farmers in sustainable farming techniques, including Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD). The pilot produced 110,000kg of certified low-carbon rice, achieving at least 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on approved participating rice fields. In 2025, DFI plans to launch 200,000 kg of low-carbon rice under its Own Brand Yu Pin King in Hong Kong, helping promote sustainable agriculture across its supply chains.

Together, these pillars reflect DFI’s comprehensive approach to advancing sustainability priorities. By integrating these principles into its core business strategies, DFI is not only addressing immediate sustainability challenges but also paving the way for a more resilient future for its customers, communities and the planet.

For detailed information on the various sustainability initiatives undertaken by DFI, please refer to the Sustainability Report 2024. To learn more about DFI’s efforts, please visit DFI’s website.

*Ranking as of 8 January 2025

Hashtag: #DFIRetailGroup #SustainabilityReport #Mannings #Guardian #7-Eleven #Wellcome #MarketPlace #DFILucky #ColdStorage #Giant #IKEA #yuu

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

DFI Retail Group

DFI Retail Group (the ‘Group’) is a leading Asian retailer, driven by its purpose to “Sustainably Serve Asia for Generations with Everyday Moments”.

As at 31 Dec 2024, the Group, its associates and joint ventures operated over 10,700 outlets, and employed over 190,000 people.

The Group is dedicated to delivering quality, value and service to Asian consumers through a compelling retail experience, supported by an extensive store network and highly efficient supply chains.

The Group, including associates and joint ventures, operates a portfolio of well-known brands across six key divisions: health and beauty, convenience, food, home furnishings, restaurants and other retailing.

TAILG launched V6 flat-wire hub motor and will attend the 137th Canton Fair

BEIJING, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — TAILG, a global leader in electric two-wheelers, launched V6 flat-wire hub motor which introduced vehicle motor tech to two-wheel category on March 24. It will also showcase 19 models at 137th Canton Fair on April 15.

As the latest technological benchmark for electric two-wheelers, TAILG’s V6 motor tech was debuted in Beijng and was first applied in China on the 2025 version F52. It will significantly enhancing the power output, range, and energy efficiency.

At the same time, TAILG also introduced the Tai-Link system with enhanced vehicle intelligence and safety, ensuring more convenient riding experience, and more user-friendly electric mobility powered by AI.


To focus on quality upgrades, TAILG partnered with Huawei Cloud in March to launch a digital quality management solution covering R&D, production, and sales. Partnering with BYD, TAILG developed high-performance batteries and an integrated vehicle-battery-cloud safety system to improve safety and durability.

TAILG is actively engaging in overseas markets, not only strengthening its localized operations through the Indonesia Jakarta Lebaran Fair. It will also participate in the 137th Canton Fair, the world’s No. 1 foreign trade show, to let more merchants find the appropriate electric vehicle products.

TAILG will demonstrate 19 models of electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and E-bike series, from high-speed entertainment and daily commuting to delivery, providing diverse mobility solutions.

Welcome to TAILG’s booth ( Area C, Hall 16.2A 05-10/16.2B 12-17 ) in Guangzhou International Exhibition Center on 137th Canton Fair on April 15.

About TAILG

TAILG Group was established in Shenzhen, China in 2003. It’a group company integrating R&D, production, sales of electric two&three-wheelers, as well as the whole industry chain of sharing, charging and switching. TAILG has ten manufacturing bases worldwide with over 15 million units annually, and exports over 90 nations with more than 30,000 stores and served over 45million consumers.

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Tencent Cloud EdgeOne Contributes its Key Capabilities into 3GPP Core Standards, Sparking a New Wave of Technological Advancements

HONG KONG, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of global technology company Tencent, today announced the first-time inclusion of two of its EdgeOne capabilities: Data Boosting and Rate Limitation into the core Technical Specifications of 3GPP – the world’s largest global standards organization for mobile communications.

Tencent Cloud EdgeOne Contributes its Key Capabilities into 3GPP Core Standards, Sparking a New Wave of Technological Advancements
Tencent Cloud EdgeOne Contributes its Key Capabilities into 3GPP Core Standards, Sparking a New Wave of Technological Advancements

Since 2018, Tencent Cloud has actively participated in 3GPP standard setting and has led multiple global standard projects in fields such as multimedia network transmission, contributing hundreds of standard proposals in total. The inclusion of the two EdgeOne capabilities into the global standards also signifies that Tencent Cloud has reached a leading global level in the field of edge security acceleration.

Tencent Cloud EdgeOne is the first truly integrated edge security acceleration platform in China based on a new architecture. It provides comprehensive security protection, network and application performance acceleration, leading edge computing, and comprehensive monitoring and operational analysis capabilities.

The Data Boosting leverages Tencent Cloud’s edge nodes distributed across global availability zones, caching content on nodes closer to users. This minimizes issues such as network latency, connection errors, and network delays, helping users quickly enable network, page, and file optimization with one click, thereby handling service access requests in a faster, more stable, and secure manner.

After the Data Boosting solution was incorporated into the 3GPP core technical specifications TS 23.501/502/503, third-party applications and CDN acceleration nodes can make on-demand acceleration requests to the operator’s mobile network through standardized interfaces, meeting Quality of Service (QoS) requirements in real time, further reducing access latency and improving response speed.

Rate Limitation is used to distinguish normal client access from malicious access, maintaining site security by selecting appropriate statistical methods, limiting thresholds, and disposal methods. The inclusion of this capability in the 3GPP standards will encourage mobile network operators to provide information about internal speed limits, allowing third-party applications and Content Delivery Network (CDN) acceleration nodes to optimize relevant strategies, thereby reducing risks related to malicious resource usage, service abuse, and data leakage.

As mobile communication networks increasingly adopt cloud technologies, service architectures in the internet sector are gradually becoming essential infrastructure for mobile communication networks, and the integration of cloud and networks is accelerating globally.

In this context, Tencent Cloud EdgeOne continually refines its product by integrating research and development practices with industry development needs, garnering numerous authoritative certifications. Previously, EdgeOne has been recognized as a Representative Vendor in Gartner’s “Market Guide for DDoS Mitigation Solutions”, “Market Guide for Cloud Web Application and API Protection”, and “Market Guide for Edge Distribution Platforms”, and is named as a Major Player in the “IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Edge Delivery Service 2024 Vendor Assessment”.

Simultaneously, leveraging its leading technology capabilities, EdgeOne has been implemented in typical scenarios across multiple industries such as finance, gaming, social entertainment, and e-commerce retail, becoming the first choice for top global clients expanding overseas and entering China. For example, in the gaming sector, 87% of the top 30 gaming companies in China use EdgeOne to handle millions of concurrent downloads; among the top 10 revenue-generating gaming companies in Korea, EdgeOne solutions have an 80% adoption rate. EdgeOne’s global nodes, paired with its innovative architecture, help accelerate game server access by over 30%, increase download speeds by an average of 50%, and boost first-day engagement by 20%.

According to EdgeOne product team, the inclusion of Tencent Cloud EdgeOne’s two core capabilities in the world’s most authoritative communication standards not only promotes further integration of technologies like CDN and mobile communication networks with international standards but also fosters a healthy industry ecosystem among application service providers, operators, and end users. End-to-end performance optimization will significantly enhance user experience.

As the four major product segments—Edge Acceleration, Edge Security, Edge Media, and Edge Development—continue to mature, EdgeOne will leverage Tencent’s more than 20 years of deep expertise in network and audio & video technologies to offer more diverse technical solutions to global users, aiding more enterprises in achieving sustainable and high-quality development.

About Tencent Cloud:

Tencent Cloud, one of the world’s leading cloud companies, is committed to creating innovative solutions to resolve real-world issues and enabling digital transformation for smart industries. Through our extensive global infrastructure, Tencent Cloud provides businesses across the globe with stable and secure industry-leading cloud products and services, leveraging technological advancements such as cloud computing, Big Data analytics, AI, IoT, and network security. It is our constant mission to meet the needs of industries across the board, including the fields of gaming, media and entertainment, finance, healthcare, property, retail, travel, and transportation.