Author: Asianet Pakistan

 

HAIKOU, China, May 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On May 19, the 2025 Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) promotion event, focusing on the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, was held in Dubai.

Jointly organized by the Hainan Provincial People’s Government and the Chinese Embassy in the UAE, with support from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Hainan Provincial Committee (CCPIT Hainan) and the China Chamber of International Commerce Hainan Chamber of Commerce (CCOIC Hainan), the event aimed to facilitate high-level dialogue and practical cooperation.

H.E. Abdullah Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy, stated that the UAE will actively align with the FTP’s financial liberalization and cross-border trade facilitation policies, exploring innovative cooperation models in emerging fields such as AI and blockchain. UAE delegates at the conference expressed full confidence in the prospects of bilateral cooperation, stressing that governments, industrial parks, and trade promotion agencies of both sides should play an active role in advancing bilateral economic and trade collaboration.

During the conference, Hainan signed four batches of agreements with institutions from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and other countries, covering new energy, free trade zone development, logistics parks, automotive trade, and headquarters base development.

Hainan provincial leadership underscored that after the customs closure, the FTP will adopt a framework centered on “zero tariffs, low tax rates, and a simplified tax system” to cultivate a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment. They highlighted the importance of deepening cooperation with the UAE in areas like the digital economy and green energy.

Chinese Ambassador to the UAE Zhang Yiming noted that the FTP’s open policies closely align with the UAE’s 50-Year Development Plan, adding that bilateral collaboration will set a new benchmark for China-Middle East economic and trade cooperation.

Hainan is intensifying efforts to build itself into a free trade port (FTP), aiming to establish independent customs operations by the end of 2025.

Source: CCPIT Hainan

Contact person: Ms. Fu, Tel: 86-10-63074558

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 9455642

DUBAI, UAE – Media OutReach Newswire – 21 May 2025 – Wildberries, a leading e-commerce platform in Eurasia, has expanded its product offering to include products from sellers based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), bringing the number of countries where the company operates to ten.

It is expected that sellers from the UAE will diversify the platform’s current product range of more than 8 million SKUs, including by offering smartphones and other consumer electronics at attractive prices.

Cross-border e-commerce is one of Wildberries’ fastest-growing business segments and a major draw for sellers on the platform, as it enables small businesses and entrepreneurs from one country to leverage Widlberries’ infrastructure to sell their products in neighboring markets. The platform currently hosts more than 1 million sellers, over 85% of which are small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

In line with its commitment to customer convenience, Wildberries has fully automated the customs duty payment process so that it requires no additional actions on the part of the consumer. The amount of duty will be displayed next to the product price for informational purposes. Orders can be collected at any convenient pickup point.

Delivery will take from six days, depending on product availability and the speed of customs clearance. Wildberries plans to expand its product range and reduce delivery times as shipments from the UAE grow.

The UAE will become the tenth country in the company’s geographic footprint. At present, Wildberries operates in Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as working with sellers in China.

 About Wildberries

Established in 2004 in Russia, Wildberries is a leading e-commerce platform operating in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, while also partnering with sellers in China and UAE. Wildberries provides a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure to support customers and sellers, along with a developed logistics network spanning more than 130 facilities and 70,000 pick-up points across its markets. As of 2025, Wildberries serves over 79 million customers and processes more than 20 million orders per day.

CGTN published an article on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s inspection tour of central China’s Henan Province. Focusing on the province’s efforts to boost high-quality development and enhance governance efficiency, the article highlights the Chinese president’s emphasizing that high-quality development is fundamental to advancing Chinese modernization.

BEIJING, May 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Located in Luoyang in central China’s Henan Province, Luoyang Bearing Group Co., Ltd. is a traditional manufacturing firm that has invested heavily in scientific and technological research and made significant progress in industrial upgrading in recent years.

The firm has built a leading domestic bearing test platform for aerospace, wind power generation, high-speed railways, and new energy vehicles and has realized full digitalization of products from design, material selection, and production to delivery by applying technologies such as 5G Industrial Internet of Things.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) period, the firm made 13 sci-tech achievements that reached international standards. Its wind turbine main bearings now hold over 40 percent of the domestic market share.

“Modern manufacturing relies on sci-tech empowerment,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday while visiting the enterprise during an inspection tour of the province, calling for greater efforts in the quest for core technological breakthroughs and pursuit of a path of independent innovation.

He underscored unwavering confidence in boosting high-quality development and enhancing governance efficiency, urging Henan to open a new chapter in advancing Chinese modernization.

Boosting high-quality development

By the end of 2023, Henan had become home to approximately 10.94 million business entities of various types. Several of them have continuously created new momentum for development by focusing on building a green, low-carbon and circular economic system, effectively reducing the resource and environmental costs of development and enhancing their development potential.

The province has unveiled 27 provincial laboratories and six provincial industrial technology research institutes, which have become important platforms for developing new quality productive forces.

The 27 laboratories focus on multiple cutting-edge fields, such as new materials, new energy, biomedicine, food technology and nanobiology. They have also integrated production, study, research and application, playing a major role in transforming and upgrading traditional industries and the high-quality development of strategic emerging industries.

There are 12,000 high-tech enterprises in the province, and the annual average growth rate of technology contract transaction volume has reached 62.3 percent.

The province has recently issued an action plan for promoting high-quality development of the private economy, aimed at increasing support for private enterprises in areas such as transformation and upgrade, innovation, market development, talent introduction, and investment for research and development.

Guided by sci-tech innovation, the province should develop new quality productive forces in line with local conditions and enhance the support for the modern industrial system to promote high-quality development, Xi said.

During the inspection tour, Xi also visited the White Horse Temple, originally built during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), and the Longmen Grottoes, an over 1,500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site, learning about local efforts to preserve and inherit Chinese culture.

Xi said the integration of culture and tourism holds great potential and requires effort to promote the high-quality development of the sector and turn it into a pillar industry that benefits the people and enriches their lives.

Enhancing governance efficiency

In late April, Xi presided over a symposium on China’s economic and social development in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) period, where he urged greater emphasis on ensuring both development and security and promoting the positive interaction between high-quality development and high-level security through high-efficiency governance.

Henan Province has continued to improve the level of law-based practice, intelligence and professionalism of grassroots governance and enhanced people’s sense of gain, happiness and security.

Empowered by smart governance, local governments are improving the quality of public services. For example, the use of artificial intelligence has enabled local governments to collect, organize, and categorize queries related to people’s livelihoods faster and offer solutions more efficiently.

The province has also taken concrete measures to rectify pointless formalities and bureaucracy to effectively reduce the burden on the grassroots by standardizing village (community) work affairs, procedures and certification matters.

Beyond Henan, the country has rapidly advanced e-governance, introducing one-stop government service platforms and virtual public services to enhance administrative efficiency and modernize governance.

Emphasizing the need to enhance social governance, Xi urged efforts to improve public service levels, give full play to the role of the rule of law in regulating and safeguarding social governance, and enhance comprehensive prevention and control measures to ensure social security.

For more information, please click:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-05-20/How-China-boosts-high-quality-development-high-efficiency-governance-1DwZSmLcH7i/p.html

Contact:
CGTN, [email protected]

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 9455522

SINGAPORE, May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nearfield Instruments, a leader in advanced semiconductor metrology, and the A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics (A*STAR IME) of Singapore, today have signed a multi-year research collaboration agreement to drive innovation in semiconductor metrology technologies.

By leveraging Nearfield Instruments’ expertise in high-precision metrology and A*STAR IME’s cutting-edge semiconductor research, the partnership will accelerate the development of advanced metrology solutions that enable efficient AI chip production.

The rapid rise of AI is driving an explosive demand for compute power, presenting opportunities for innovation in semiconductor technology. As traditional semiconductor scaling reaches its limits, the industry is turning to heterogeneous integration—the advanced packaging of different types of chips into a single system—to achieve exceptional compute performance and enhanced energy efficiency. This shift introduces greater complexity in manufacturing and underscores the critical importance of process control and precision metrology to ensure production yield and efficiency.

“AI is changing everything but its success depends on compute efficiency as well as manufacturing efficiency,” said Hamed Sadeghian, CEO of Nearfield Instruments. “Nearfield enables the AI revolution by providing the metrology solutions needed to tackle the challenges of heterogeneous integration, with a specific focus on hybrid bonding. By ensuring precision and reliability, we help manufacturers scale AI chips efficiently, improve yields, and reduce energy waste. Our collaboration with A*STAR IME strengthens our ability to develop breakthrough solutions for the future of AI-driven computing.”

“A*STAR IME works closely with industry partners to translate research into impactful solutions for the global semiconductor industry. Our collaboration with Nearfield Instruments will drive innovation in metrology, to achieve the high yield and energy-efficient manufacturing of AI and high-performance computing chips,” said Terence Gan, Executive Director of A*STAR IME.

This collaboration aligns with Singapore’s continuous efforts to strengthen its semiconductor industry through strategic partnerships with global technology leaders. “This partnership highlights Singapore’s commitment to support cutting-edge semiconductor process control research, critical for the development of next generation semiconductors used in applications such as AI,” said Mr Chang Chin Nam, Senior Vice President and Head of Semiconductors, Singapore Economic Development Board. “We welcome Nearfield’s activities in Singapore and look forward to further research and supply chain collaborations within Singapore’s growing semiconductor ecosystem.”

About Nearfield Instruments

Nearfield Instruments is a leading provider of advanced metrology solutions for the semiconductor industry. Specializing in high-precision measurement technologies, Nearfield plays a critical role in enabling the process control required for next-generation AI chips and heterogeneous integration. As part of its global expansion, Nearfield has established Nearfield Singapore, an innovation and service hub dedicated to supporting semiconductor manufacturers across Southeast Asia.

For more information, visit www.nearfieldinstruments.com.

About A*STAR

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is Singapore’s lead public sector R&D agency. Through open innovation, we collaborate with our partners in both the public and private sectors to benefit the economy and society. As a Science and Technology Organisation, A*STAR bridges the gap between academia and industry. Our research creates economic growth and jobs for Singapore, and enhances lives by improving societal outcomes in healthcare, urban living, and sustainability. A*STAR plays a key role in nurturing scientific talent and leaders for the wider research community and industry. A*STAR’s R&D activities span biomedical sciences to physical sciences and engineering, with research entities primarily located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis. For ongoing news, visit www.a-star.edu.sg.

Follow A*STAR on Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok

For media inquiries, please contact:
Roland van Vliet
Chief Partnership Officer
Nearfield Instruments B.V.
[email protected]
+31-6-20 36 97 41

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 9455056

HA LONG, Vietnam, May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The vegan wedding of music icon Ho Quynh Huong and Hoang Cong Thanh – founder of Loving Vegan Food, held in the heart of Ha Long Bay, has captured widespread attention for its thoughtful organization and the sustainable lifestyle philosophy the couple upholds.

Set against the poetic backdrop of Ha Long Bay – a World Natural Heritage site – a unique wedding took place on Reu Island, also known as the Island of Love. The ceremony marked the union of renowned singer and green living advocate Ho Quynh Huong and vegan entrepreneur Hoang Cong Thanh. Loving Vegan Food had pleasure to support the first-ever vegan wedding in Vietnam. As one of the largest-scale vegan weddings ever held in Vietnam, the event has become a meaningful symbol of ethical and sustainable living.

At the heart of this celebration lies a five-year love story between two kindred spirits, both deeply devoted to a conscious way of living. The bride, Ho Quynh Huong, is one of Vietnam’s most beloved music icons, admired for her powerful voice and her long-standing advocacy for green living. The groom, Hoang Cong Thanh, has embraced a vegan lifestyle for over two decades and is a respected figure in the vegan business community.

The vegan wedding of music icon Ho Quynh Huong and entrepreneur Hoang Cong Thanh

Ho Quynh Huong and Hoang Cong Thanh were born and raised in Ha Long, a place of natural beauty and spiritual connection that nurtured their childhood and shaped their souls. For the couple, choosing their hometown as the wedding venue was a gentle yet powerful tribute to their roots – homage to Mother Earth, where their journey began.

The vegan wedding of music icon Ho Quynh Huong and entrepreneur Hoang Cong Thanh

The vegan wedding of music icon Ho Quynh Huong and entrepreneur Hoang Cong Thanh

Surrounded by 150 of their closest friends and family, the couple orchestrated a wedding that honored nature at every touchpoint. The wedding feast featured an entirely plant-based menu, crafted from fresh, clean ingredients that combined traditional Vietnamese flavors with modern culinary artistry. Each vegan dish was handpicked by the bride, carried messages of life, family, and gratitude toward nature.

The vegan wedding of music icon Ho Quynh Huong and entrepreneur Hoang Cong Thanh

The vegan wedding of music icon Ho Quynh Huong and entrepreneur Hoang Cong Thanh

Following the event, the wedding quickly garnered widespread attention from both local and international media. Images of the first-ever large-scale vegan wedding set in Ha Long Bay quickly spread, becoming an inspirational symbol of eco-conscious living in Vietnam and sparking interest among global audiences.

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/488cb99d-502b-4c0e-a8b9-e2865c1409e0
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[email protected]

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 9454984