踏入夏季以來，香港持續出現高溫潮濕天氣，室內外溫差顯著，此種濕熱環境正為床蝨（又稱臭蟲/木蝨）提供理想的繁殖及爆發條件。不少市民反映，家居床蝨問題於近期突然惡化，半夜被咬醒、身上出現多處紅點、床單上發現黑色一點點排泄物等情況，正在香港千家萬戶中不斷重演。 香港人口密度高，住宅空間狹窄，部分舊樓通風欠佳，加上床蝨極易透過衣物、行李、二手傢俬等途徑傳播，一旦出現便迅速擴散至床架、床褥、衣櫃、地腳線等隱蔽角落。許多居民曾嘗試日曬、噴灑殺蟲水、撒粉等土法，惟始終未能徹底根治，蟲患反覆發作，身心備受困擾。 在此背景下，專業、可靠且安全的滅床蝨服務，正日漸成為越來越多香港家庭的「救生圈」。記者近日訪問了一位居住在九龍區的林太，聽她講述從「自行處理」到「徹底解決」的真實經歷。 九龍居民親身經歷：自行滅蟲屢屢失敗 專業服務一次斷尾 林太一家居於九龍一棟老式洋樓。今年5月，她發現年幼的孫兒身上頻繁出現紅色咬痕，起初以為是蚊子叮咬，未予重視。直至某天深夜，她拿起手機手電筒一照，赫然在床褥邊線處見到數隻啡色小蟲爬動，方知家中已染上床蝨。 「我當時非常慌張，第二天早上立刻到超市買了最貴的殺蟲噴霧，對着床架、床褥大量噴灑，以為這樣做就可以把床蝨殺死。」林太回憶道。然而僅過一星期，床蝨再度出現，且數量更多，連客廳梳化、衣櫃角落均發現其蹤跡。 林太其後又嘗試網上流傳的「偏方」——以滾水燙洗、暴曬床單、撒放硅藻土，惟效果不彰。床蝨似乎藏匿於床板縫隙、牆紙接縫深處，普通噴霧根本無法觸及。那段時間，全家人均無法安睡，孫兒甚至害怕得不敢進房睡覺，精神狀態甚差。 在朋友介紹下，林太聯絡了香港本地專注床蝨防治多年的NOBEDBUGS-HK。令她意外的是，客服人員不僅耐心聆聽她因床蝨造成的困擾，並詳細說明服務內容，更火速安排師傅當日免費上門檢查。 「穿着制服的滅蟲師傅非常準時到達，入門後先進入發現床蝨的睡房，仔細檢查，之後師傅亦有在全屋不同位置檢查。」林太向記者表示，「師傅將睡房、客廳甚至雜物房的每一條縫隙、每一件傢俬的接駁位都看得十分仔細，最後用筆標記出床蝨藏匿的熱點，並向我詳細解釋，他沒有向我強行推銷服務就離開了，及後我就收到客服發的一份檢查報告及滅蟲方案。」 「最後我選擇了採用專業熱能處理及噴灑他們自家研製無味無害的粉末，對全屋包括所有隱患位置進行全面處理。整個服務流程清晰規範，並無任何隱藏收費，最重要的是不用棄置或清理任何雜物。完成熱能後，客服再聯絡我再安排師傅上門跟進及檢查日期及細心囑咐後續注意事項。」 「那次之後，家中真的再沒見過床蝨。孫兒終於肯回自己房間睡覺，我們也能睡得安穩。」林太感慨道，「專業的事情還是要交由專業的人來做，自己折騰幾個月，花費的金錢、承受的困擾，遠比找專業公司更多。」 深耕香港十餘年：專業資格與本地經驗兼備 林太的經歷絕非單一案例。NOBEDBUGS-HK自2013年起紮根香港，已累積為超過10,000個家庭及企業提供床蝨防治服務，並連續五年獲選為香港第一蟲害防治公司。該公司之所以能在本地市場贏得口碑，關鍵在於其紮實的專業資格以及對香港住宅環境的深刻理解。 公司的專業技術團隊獲得世界衛生組織（WHO）及紐約州衛生部（NYSDEC）認證，並曾在西班牙、智利、加拿大等地知名大學接受系統培訓。作為香港滅蟲管理協會成員，其服務流程完全符合國際標準。此外，NOBEDBUGS-HK亦持有香港環境衞生治理相關認證及正規企業備案，團隊內所有師傅均經過專業的訓練經驗豐富，亦非常熟悉了解床蝨的特性。 更為重要的是，NOBEDBUGS-HK針對香港住宅空間狹窄、舊樓較多、床蝨易於在樓宇之間傳播等特點，研發出一套本地化的綜合治理方案。當中的專業熱處理技術（模擬桑拿高溫環境）無需居民丟棄床褥或傢俬，即可徹底殺滅床蝨及蟲卵，對人畜安全無害。該公司更提供長達一年的保養服務——此舉在全球害蟲防治市場中極為罕見，真正做到讓客戶安心。 專家提醒：切勿胡亂自行滅蟲 專業防治方為根本 面對床蝨困擾，不少香港居民的第一反應仍然是「先自行嘗試」。然而，香港蟲害防治專家指出，常見的錯誤做法不僅無法解決問題，反而可能延誤最佳滅蟲時機。 錯誤一：胡亂噴灑家用殺蟲水。 市面上一般噴霧多數只能殺死表面活動的成蟲，對藏匿於縫隙深處的蟲卵及幼蟲無效，長期使用更可能令床蝨產生抗藥性。 錯誤二：暴曬床單或用滾水燙洗。 床蝨對高溫敏感，但日曬難以達到持續攝氏60度以上的致死溫度，滾水亦無法滲入木板縫隙，治標不治本。 錯誤三：簡單清掃或頻繁更換床單。 這些方法只能減少部分成蟲，無法消滅蟲卵。床蝨繁殖速度極快，一隻雌蟲一生可產下數百粒卵，只要遺漏少許，兩星期內便會再度爆發。 專家建議，市民一旦發現家中有可疑的咬痕紅點、床蝨蛻皮、黑色排泄物或活蟲，應第一時間進行隔離——避免將衣物、行李隨意帶入其他房間，同時盡快聯絡具正規資格的專業滅蟲團隊上門檢測。專業團隊憑藉多年滅床蝨的經驗精準找出蟲源，再透過熱處理、專業藥劑等綜合手段，實現全屋無死角滅殺，從根源上杜絕反覆發作。
Malaysia-Based ONE COMPANY Foundation Unveils ONE WALLET, a Keyless Telegram-Native Wallet on TON
Foundation-backed Web3 wallet replaces seed phrases with 2-of-3 Shamir Multi-Share custody; publishes Whitepaper V1.0 covering product, security, and the $1 token utility model. KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – June 01, 2026 – (SeaPRwire) – ONE COMPANY, a foundation registered with SSM, the Companies Commission of Malaysia, today unveiled ONE WALLET, a Telegram-native Web3 wallet built on the TON blockchain. The foundation also published ONE WALLET Whitepaper V1.0, detailing the product, security architecture, and the utility model of its $1 token. ONE WALLET targets the gap between custodial exchange wallets — easy but centrally controlled — and self-custody wallets, which are powerful but ask mainstream users to memorize twelve-word seed phrases and install separate apps. ONE WALLET inverts that order: users open Telegram, complete a lightweight device check, and transact. There is no seed phrase to write down and no app to download. At the core is a 2-of-3 Shamir Multi-Share custody model. A user’s signing key is split into three shares — held by the device, the user’s Telegram account, and an offline recovery share. The wallet is designed so that no single party, including ONE WALLET, can move funds alone: any two shares are combined briefly on the user’s device to sign a transaction, then discarded. Any one share alone cannot reconstruct the key. As a foundation-led initiative, ONE COMPANY frames ONE WALLET as the financial entry point to a broader digital ecosystem spanning fintech, AI, games, travel, and information services built on blockchain. The foundation’s stated mandate includes research and education for Web3, user protection and transparency, and regulatory-compliance systems. “Most people will never write down a seed phrase, and they shouldn’t have to,” said James Kim, CEO of ONE COMPANY. “Our job as a foundation is to make self-custody feel as natural as sending a message — and to do it with security that’s honest about its boundaries. Opening private testing and publishing our whitepaper on the same day is a deliberate choice: we want users, partners, and regulators reading the same document.” ONE WALLET’s roadmap moves from the core wallet (multi-chain send, receive, and swap) to a QR-based payments rail with merchant settlement, followed by the $1 token utility layer and an ecosystem of partner mini-apps. Whitepaper V1.0 is available in English, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. About ONE WALLET ONE WALLET is a Telegram-native, keyless Web3 wallet built on the TON blockchain. It replaces seed-phrase backups with a 2-of-3 Shamir Multi-Share custody model and is designed to combine a wallet, a QR-based payment rail, and the $1 token ecosystem in a single Telegram Mini App. Whitepaper V1.0 is available in EN, KO, JA, and ZH. About ONE COMPANY ONE COMPANY is a foundation registered with SSM, the Companies Commission of Malaysia, with offices in Kuala Lumpur. It develops and operates a global digital platform integrating digital wallet, fintech, AI, games, travel, and information services based on blockchain technology. ONE WALLET is its flagship consumer product. Social Links Telegram: https://t.me/onedollar_project X: https://x.com/one_wallet_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@One_Wallet_Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ONEWALLET.official/ Media Contact Brand: ONE COMPANY Contact: Media team Email: press@ONEWALLET.store Website: https://ONEWALLET.store
Malaysia-Based ONE COMPANY Foundation Unveils ONE WALLET, a Keyless Telegram-Native Wallet on TON
Foundation-backed Web3 wallet replaces seed phrases with 2-of-3 Shamir Multi-Share custody; publishes Whitepaper V1.0 covering product, security, and the $1 token utility model. KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – May 29, 2026 – (SeaPRwire) – ONE COMPANY, a foundation registered with SSM, the Companies Commission of Malaysia, today unveiled ONE WALLET, a Telegram-native Web3 wallet built on the TON blockchain. The foundation also published ONE WALLET Whitepaper V1.0, detailing the product, security architecture, and the utility model of its $1 token. ONE WALLET targets the gap between custodial exchange wallets — easy but centrally controlled — and self-custody wallets, which are powerful but ask mainstream users to memorize twelve-word seed phrases and install separate apps. ONE WALLET inverts that order: users open Telegram, complete a lightweight device check, and transact. There is no seed phrase to write down and no app to download. At the core is a 2-of-3 Shamir Multi-Share custody model. A user’s signing key is split into three shares — held by the device, the user’s Telegram account, and an offline recovery share. The wallet is designed so that no single party, including ONE WALLET, can move funds alone: any two shares are combined briefly on the user’s device to sign a transaction, then discarded. Any one share alone cannot reconstruct the key. As a foundation-led initiative, ONE COMPANY frames ONE WALLET as the financial entry point to a broader digital ecosystem spanning fintech, AI, games, travel, and information services built on blockchain. The foundation’s stated mandate includes research and education for Web3, user protection and transparency, and regulatory-compliance systems. “Most people will never write down a seed phrase, and they shouldn’t have to,” said James Kim, CEO of ONE COMPANY. “Our job as a foundation is to make self-custody feel as natural as sending a message — and to do it with security that’s honest about its boundaries. Opening private testing and publishing our whitepaper on the same day is a deliberate choice: we want users, partners, and regulators reading the same document.” ONE WALLET’s roadmap moves from the core wallet (multi-chain send, receive, and swap) to a QR-based payments rail with merchant settlement, followed by the $1 token utility layer and an ecosystem of partner mini-apps. Whitepaper V1.0 is available in English, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. About ONE WALLET ONE WALLET is a Telegram-native, keyless Web3 wallet built on the TON blockchain. It replaces seed-phrase backups with a 2-of-3 Shamir Multi-Share custody model and is designed to combine a wallet, a QR-based payment rail, and the $1 token ecosystem in a single Telegram Mini App. Whitepaper V1.0 is available in EN, KO, JA, and ZH. About ONE COMPANY ONE COMPANY is a foundation registered with SSM, the Companies Commission of Malaysia, with offices in Kuala Lumpur. It develops and operates a global digital platform integrating digital wallet, fintech, AI, games, travel, and information services based on blockchain technology. ONE WALLET is its flagship consumer product. Social Links: Telegram: https://t.me/onedollar_project X: https://x.com/one_wallet_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@One_Wallet_Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ONE WALLET.official/ Media Contact Brand: ONE COMPANY Contact: Media team Email: press@ONE WALLET.store Website: https://ONE WALLET.store
Confimarket Wins HackCanton Season 1 with Privacy-Preserving Consensus and Market Intelligence Infrastructure Built on Canton Network
NEW YORK, NY – May 29, 2026 – (IndoNewswire) – Confimarket, backed and incubated by WebWise Capital, is pioneering confidential consensus discovery and information-aggregation infrastructure for institutional participants requiring strict privacy, robust market structures, and advanced financial workflows. Built on the Canton Network, the privacy-preserving market intelligence platform secured first place at the inaugural HackCanton Season 1 grand final, emerging victorious from a competitive global pool of more than 300 development teams across 15 countries. Confimarket, a privacy-preserving prediction market built on Canton Network, has won first place at HackCanton Season 1 after advancing through a competitive field of more than 300 builders from over 15 countries. The project was selected as the first-place winner following the grand final of HackCanton Season 1, an ecosystem hackathon organized by AppsFactory and focused on DeFi, RWA, DAO & Governance, and AI applications for Canton Network. Confimarket is being developed as a prediction market for serious capital and demanding participants. Its core thesis is that prediction markets become materially more valuable when users can participate without exposing sensitive strategy, intent, or positioning to the broader market. Prediction markets have already shown their ability to aggregate information at scale. However, many high-value participants — including professional traders, institutions, analysts, and organizations with sensitive views — may be reluctant to participate in fully transparent public markets. Confimarket is designed around that gap: market-based information discovery with privacy-preserving participation, credible settlement, and infrastructure suitable for more advanced financial workflows. “Prediction markets are one of the most important categories in crypto because they turn information, belief, and probability into tradable markets. But the next stage of the category requires better infrastructure for participants who cannot expose their strategies or positions publicly,” said Alexander I, General Partner at WebWise Capital. “That is the opportunity we see with Confimarket: confidential prediction markets built for more serious capital, stronger market structure, and institutional-grade use cases.” Canton Network is a natural environment for this model because it combines privacy, interoperability, and an architecture designed for synchronized financial markets. Canton describes itself as the first privacy-enabled open blockchain network, built to preserve privacy while allowing participants to exchange data and value across connected applications. Canton Network has also been attracting prominent financial institutions and ecosystem participants. Official Canton materials list organizations such as J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, BNY, BNP Paribas, Bank of America, and others in the broader ecosystem. For Confimarket, this makes Canton a strategically relevant foundation: the network is designed around privacy-preserving financial infrastructure rather than general-purpose public-chain transparency. During HackCanton Season 1, Confimarket refined its product thesis, shipped core functionality, gathered user feedback, and strengthened the architecture behind the platform. The team used the hackathon as an early proving ground for confidential prediction market workflows on Canton Network, with a focus on market creation, trading logic, settlement flows, and the user experience required to make prediction markets accessible to higher-value participants. The hackathon win represents an early ecosystem validation signal for Confimarket as the project moves from prototype development toward product readiness. The grand final and judging process provided feedback from Canton ecosystem leaders, venture investors, infrastructure companies, and industry participants. Projects at HackCanton Season 1 were evaluated by representatives from the Canton Foundation as well as venture and industry participants including DWF Ventures, LongHash, Scytale Digital, Jsquare VC, Quantstamp, and Chainlink Labs. Following the hackathon, Confimarket is focused on completing its trading engine, improving the user interface and onboarding flow, preparing private beta access, and working toward liquidity and ecosystem partnerships. The team’s next phase is centered on turning the hackathon-winning prototype into a product that can support real prediction market activity, privacy-preserving participation, and institutional-grade use cases. Confimarket is also continuing to position itself within the Canton ecosystem as a prediction market layer for use cases where privacy, credible execution, and market-based forecasting are essential. Follow Confimarket on X for product updates, ecosystem announcements, and launch news, or explore the live app at confimarket.io. About Confimarket Confimarket is a privacy-preserving prediction market built on Canton Network. The project is designed for participants who need confidential participation, stronger market structure, and infrastructure suitable for institutional-grade workflows. Confimarket is backed and incubated by WebWise Capital. About WebWise Capital WebWise Capital backs and incubates early-stage projects at the intersection of AI, Web3, fintech, and digital financial infrastructure. Media contact Brand: Confimarket Contact: Media team Email: support@confimarket.io Website: https://confimarket.io/
Energy drinks: $83 billion category, zero global quality benchmark. Until now.
A new independent global ranking has exposed something the industry preferred to leave unexamined: energy drinks are not one category. They are two – and the divide runs straight down the Atlantic. MONTREAL, QC – May 27, 2026 – (SeaPRwire) – When you pick up an energy drink in Frankfurt, you are most likely picking up a pasteurised beverage made with real sugar, a meaningful vitamin stack, and an ingredient list short enough to read in under ten seconds. When you pick up what is marketed as the same product category in Houston, you are, in all statistical likelihood, drinking an artificially sweetened, chemically preserved formulation that bears almost no resemblance to its European equivalent beyond the can format and the caffeine content. Same shelf. Same category name. Fundamentally different product. This is not a matter of opinion or consumer preference. It is now a matter of documented fact – and the study that documented it, published this month by independent German beverage professional Pat Eckert under the banner of the Six Continents Index (SCI), is the first serious attempt anyone has made to compare energy drinks on a global basis using objective, measurable criteria. The findings are striking enough on their own terms. But their broader implication – that the world’s largest energy drink market has, over time, quietly optimised for margin rather than product quality – raises questions that go well beyond any single study. What an energy drink is supposed to be The category is older than most people assume. The correct answer is Japan, 1962, when Lipovitan-D was launched as a functional health tonic for a hardworking, health-conscious, largely white-collar population – built around a clear physiological promise, with sugar as one of its core ingredients. The global spread of the format came later, and with it, in certain markets, a gradual drift from that original intent. Before examining what the study found, it is worth asking what a consumer actually expects from an energy drink. The answer covers several things: sustained energy, immediate alertness, and functional support from vitamins and other active ingredients. But the foundation – the one the category name is built on – is energy itself, and that has a specific physiological meaning. Carbohydrates, including sugar, are the primary fuel source for both the body and the brain. Glucose is what muscles run on and what the brain demands in quantity when concentration and alertness are required. An energy drink that contains no sugar – or that replaces it entirely with artificial sweeteners that deliver sweetness without caloric content – is not, in any meaningful sense, an energy drink. It is a flavoured caffeine delivery mechanism. This is not a fringe position. It is basic nutritional science, and it matters when evaluating a category in which “zero” and “sugar-free” variants have proliferated to the point where, in some markets, they now represent the majority of shelf space. The logic of drinking a zero-energy product and expecting an energy outcome is roughly equivalent to ordering a decaffeinated coffee and expecting to feel alert. The category name is making a promise. In many cases, the formulation is not keeping it. The SCI was not a desk exercise. Eckert and his team spent roughly six months collecting energy drinks from all six inhabited continents – not just the obvious markets of the United States, Germany, UK and Japan, but extending to Nepal, Kenya, Mauritius, Chile, New Zealand, and dozens of markets in between. The result was a sample spanning virtually every corner of the global category, assembled product by product, market by market. The assessment framework applied to each of them covered 36 criteria: for example caffeine content and declaration, sugar quantity and type, sugar-to-caffeine balance, vitamin content, preservation method, label readability, packaging integrity, traceability, and label transparency – built around what a consumer has a reasonable right to expect from a product in this category. No taste testing, no jury votes, no brand popularity or marketing spend factored into the score. Only what could be objectively verified on the product itself. Top-performing products were submitted for independent Swiss laboratory analysis to validate what the label claimed. A category, or two categories sharing a name? The continental findings of the SCI read less like a market analysis and more like a study of two parallel industries that happen to use the same distribution channel. In Europe, 85.7 per cent of energy drinks assessed had been pasteurised – the same heat-treatment process used in quality food and beverage production for over a century, and one that eliminates the need for artificial preservatives. In North America, that figure was 12 per cent. In Asia, 78.9 per cent of products used real sugar. In North America, 8 per cent did. Some 84 per cent of North American energy drinks relied entirely on artificial sweeteners – a figure that stood at 4.2 per cent in Europe and was near zero across Asia, Australia, South America, and Africa. Australian products averaged 4.2 vitamins per serving; North American products averaged 2.9. The analogy that comes to mind is beer. The craft movement of the past two decades has repeatedly made the point that mass-market lager and a carefully brewed artisanal ale are related by category name and little else. The beverage industry has also seen the rise of alcohol-free beer – a product that answers a real consumer need, occupies the same shelf, and uses the same brand architecture as its alcoholic counterpart. Nobody seriously argues that non-alcoholic beer is the ‘real’ beer, however. Real beer has alcohol. Real wine has alcohol. Real energy drinks, by the logic of their own name, should have energy – meaning, above all, carbohydrates. The zero-sugar variant is a legitimate product with a legitimate market. But it should not be confused with the article it is imitating. The health debate around energy drinks follows a similar pattern of category confusion. Concerns about the category are frequently generalised from the worst-formulated examples to the entire shelf. This is not a methodology that would be applied to any other food or beverage category. A sausage made with poor-quality mechanically recovered meat and a high preservative load is a different product from one made with high-welfare pork, natural casings, and no additives beyond salt and spice – yet both sit in the same supermarket aisle under the same category label. The relevant question is not whether sausages are healthy or unhealthy. It is what is in this sausage. The same logic applies to energy drinks, and it is the logic the SCI was built to apply. Quantity matters independently of quality. Three litres of an entirely natural chicken broth will make most people feel unwell. This is not an argument against chicken broth. Overconsumption of almost anything produces negative outcomes. The energy drink category has suffered from a persistent conflation of formulation concerns with consumption concerns, and the result has been a debate that generates more heat than light. What the SCI provides, for the first time, is a framework for the formulation question specifically – separating it from consumption patterns and allowing product quality to be evaluated on its own merits. North America’s uncomfortable result The SCI ranked North America last overall among the six continental regions assessed. For the world’s largest energy drink market by revenue, this is a result that demands some explanation. The most plausible one is competitive economics. The North American energy drink market is extraordinarily concentrated, with the top two or three brands together commanding the large majority of category revenue. In a market that competitive, the pressure on all participants is to protect margin. Artificial sweeteners cost a fraction of real sugar. Synthetic preservatives are cheaper than pasteurisation infrastructure. Vitamin inclusion adds cost without necessarily driving volume in a consumer environment where the functional credential of “energy” is dominated by caffeine and sweetness perception rather than by the full ingredient profile. The result is a market that has, over decades of intense competition, rationalised its way to formulations that serve producer economics more reliably than consumer nutritional expectations. This is not unique to energy drinks – it is a well-documented dynamic in high-competition FMCG categories generally. But it is notable that it has occurred in the market that, by revenue, appears to be winning. Europe, meanwhile, has retained formulation practices that are closer to the original product concept. Pasteurisation remains the norm. Real sugar remains the primary sweetener for the majority of products. The vitamin stack is fuller. This is partly a function of regulatory environment – the EU maintains stricter standards on certain additives than the FDA – and partly a function of a market that developed somewhat later and in a more competitive multi-brand environment from the outset, leaving less room for the cost-reduction trajectories that concentrated markets tend to produce. Finally, a rating system The beverage industry has long had objective quality frameworks for wine, mineral water, and spirits. Cars are safety-rated. Hotels are star-classified. Food products carry nutritional scoring systems of varying sophistication across different markets. Energy drinks – a category worth approximately $83 billion in global retail value in 2025, forecast to approach $116 billion by 2030 – have had none of this. Consumers buying an energy drink have had no independent, methodologically transparent basis for comparing what they were buying against alternatives. Marketing spend, shelf placement, and brand familiarity have filled the gap. The SCI does not fill that gap entirely – it is a first assessment, not a permanent institutional framework, and its methodology will no doubt be interrogated and refined over time. But it establishes the principle that the category can be evaluated objectively, and that the results of that evaluation are both informative and commercially significant. The question of aspartame illustrates why this matters. The sweetener – classified by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, a Group 2B classification – appeared in 10.5 per cent of products assessed globally, with 43 per cent of those aspartame-containing products found in Africa. The classification does not mean aspartame causes cancer; it means the evidence is sufficient to warrant ongoing scrutiny. A consumer with access to that information might reasonably prefer a product that does not use it. Until now, there has been no systematic global tool for identifying which products do and do not. The brand at the top of the table The highest-scoring brand in the SCI – on objective ingredient quality, formulation standards, and label transparency, with no weighting for taste, marketing, or popularity – is one that most consumers in the United States will not have encountered. HELL Energy, founded in Hungary in 2006, is not a household name in North America. It is, however, one of the largest energy drink manufacturers in the world by production volume, operating a megafactory with a combined annual capacity of ten billion cans, certified to the highest international food safety standards. The brand is available in 60+ countries and holds category leadership in Hungary, its home market, where it commands a market share consistently around 65 per cent. In other markets where HELL leads, the brand typically holds 49–68 per cent market share. In India – one of the most logistically and competitively demanding consumer markets on earth – it achieved category leadership in under five years. So it is not a small or unproven player. It is simply one that has not prioritised the North American market, where the competitive barriers to entry and the margin pressures on formulation quality are both at their most extreme. Notably, despite its scale and quality credentials, HELL typically sits on the shelf at around half the price of the global category leader – a combination that, in the markets where it competes, has proven difficult to argue against. Its position at the top of the SCI is consistent with a product philosophy that has prioritised ingredient quality over cost reduction. The brand uses no artificial preservatives, no aspartame, and real sugar in its standard formulations. These are not unusual choices in the European context. They are, however, choices that distinguish it sharply from the formulation norms of the world’s most valuable energy drink market. The marketing history is worth noting, not because it is the basis for the ranking – it emphatically is not – but because it illustrates a pattern of deliberate strategic positioning over two decades. The brand entered Formula 1 sponsorship at a point when that association carried category credibility, then exited before the returns diminished. Bruce Willis fronted global campaigns for six consecutive years. The successor chosen – Michele Morrone, a strikingly handsome Italian actor and former model for a number of international fashion brands, whose career was at an early stage when the partnership began – has since appeared alongside Sidney Sweeney and is in upcoming productions with Sir Anthony Hopkins, Al Pacino, Jessica Alba, and Andy Garcia. The instinct for identifying cultural traction before it becomes expensive has been consistent. It does, however, suggest that a brand capable of that quality of market timing over twenty years is unlikely to be sitting still on formulation either. What this means for the category The energy drink market is, in one sense, two markets that have been allowed to share a name for long enough that the distinction has become invisible. The publication of the SCI makes that distinction visible, and the question now is whether the market responds. The organic food and beverage movement offers a partial precedent. Products positioned on ingredient quality and transparency were, for much of the 1990s and 2000s, treated as niche and overpriced. They eventually found their mainstream. The process was slow and required both consumer education and retail willingness to give quality-positioned products shelf space alongside cheaper alternatives. The energy drink category is earlier in that process, but the direction of travel – in regulatory terms, in consumer awareness terms, and now in independent assessment terms – is not difficult to read. For distributors and retailers assessing which brands to build positions around over the next decade, the arrival of an objective global quality framework is, if anything, a simplifying development. The question of which energy drink to back has historically been answered primarily by marketing power and distribution reach. It can now also be answered, at least in part, by ingredient quality and formulation transparency. About The Six Continents Index & Fine Liquids The Six Continents Index (https://sixcontinentsindex.com) was conducted independently by Pat Eckert and his team at Fine Liquids, Meckesheim, Germany. Assessed brands were not notified in advance and had no involvement in the evaluation. No paid participation, sponsorship, or commercial influence played any role.
NEXA CORE Showcases Chip-To-Application AI Hub at ATxSG 2026
Singapore, May 22, 2026 — NEXA CORE, a Jakarta-based AI infrastructure company, is showcasing its “Chip-to-Application AI Hub” at Asia Tech x Singapore 2026, highlighting its vision for a unified, end-to-end AI stack built for Southeast Asia’s rapidly expanding needs for AI models and agents. Founded in Jakarta in 2025, NEXA CORE aims to provide customers from Indonesia to Southeast Asia with an enterprise-grade platform that integrates its self-developed ASIC chip, AI server infrastructure, foundation models, AI agents, and enterprise AI applications, enabling organizations to accelerate AI deployment while reducing infrastructure fragmentation and operational complexity. “At NEXA CORE, we believe Southeast Asia needs more than isolated AI tools — it needs a localized, unified and scalable AI hub purpose-built for the region,” said Thomas Van, General Manager of NEXA CORE. “From compute infrastructure to AI applications, our goal is to provide a full-stack environment for building, deploying, and scaling enterprise AI systems.” NEXA CORE booth at ATxSG NEXA CORE is also highlighting its growing ecosystem partnerships during the exhibition. To support regional AI and semiconductor ecosystem growth, NEXA CORE is collaborating with the Indonesia Chip Design Collaborative Center (ICDeC) on future AI deployment programs, and technical talent cultivation. The company is also working with PT Samala Serasi Utama on AI infrastructure expansion, enterprise AI adoption, and commercialization opportunities. As Southeast Asia rapidly expands investment in AI infrastructure and deployment, NEXA CORE aims to build the foundational AI layer connecting compute infrastructure to real-world enterprise applications throughout the region. For more information, visit: nexacoreteknologi.com For media inquiries please contact: Novianti NEXA CORE TEKNOLOGI PT +62 811-1112-7700 novi@nexacoreteknologi.com
OSL Lists State-Supervised Gold-Backed Stablecoin USDKG as Platform Expands Asia’s Digital Asset Ecosystem
HONG KONG – May 22, 2026 – (SeaPRwire) – USDKG, the gold-backed stablecoin issued by the Kyrgyz Republic, today announced its official listing on OSL HK, the Hong Kong-licensed digital asset exchange of global stablecoin payment and trading platform OSL Group. The milestone marks a significant step for the state-supervised, asset-backed digital currency as it enters one of the world’s most established licensed virtual asset markets. Link: https://www.osl.com/hk-en/announcement/new-listing-on-osl-hk-gold-dollar-usdkg Pegged 1:1 to the U.S. Dollar and fully backed by physical gold reserves, USDKG is now accessible to professional investors through OSL’s institutional-grade infrastructure. The initial trading pair USDKG/USDT is now available to professional investors across OSL HK’s over-the-counter (OTC) platform. The listing of USDKG aligns with OSL’s commitment to contribute to the development of a secure and compliant digital asset ecosystem in Asia and beyond. It also expands USDKG’s reach into new markets through a regulated platform aligned with institutional standards, supporting its use in cross-border settlement and broader financial applications. Jason Liu, Global Exchange COO of OSL, said: “OSL is dedicated to providing investors with access to regulated, innovative assets. The listing of USDKG not only enriches OSL’s product offerings for the market, but also strengthens its compliant stablecoin ecosystem, as the introduction of a state-backed, compliant digital asset further underscores OSL’s credibility and leadership within the industry.” Biibolot Mamytov, CEO of Gold Dollar (USDKG), said: “This listing represents an important milestone for USDKG as we enter one of the most established and highly regulated digital asset markets globally. Hong Kong is widely regarded as the gold standard for digital asset regulation, and working with OSL reflects our focus on transparency, gold-backed reserves, and institutional-grade infrastructure.” About USDKG USDKG is issued by OJSC Virtual Asset Issuer, a state-owned entity under Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Finance, with an initial issuance of $50 million backed by physical gold reserves audited by Kreston Global. The stablecoin is deployed on Ethereum and TRON, with smart contract audits conducted by ConsenSys Diligence. The token is already accessible through decentralized exchanges, including Curve and Uniswap, and supported by major wallets such as Ledger Live, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and TronLink. The stablecoin is fully compliant with FATF KYC/AML standards and is designed to facilitate financial inclusion and efficient cross-border value transfer. With this listing, Kyrgyzstan continues to position itself as a regional first-mover in regulated, asset-backed digital currencies, bridging traditional finance and blockchain infrastructure while maintaining full sovereign oversight and public accountability. About OSL Group OSL Group (HKEX: 863) is a global stablecoin payment and trading platform that strives to provide compliant and efficient digital financial infrastructure services globally, empowering enterprises, financial institutions and individuals to seamlessly exchange, pay, trade, and settle between fiat and digital currencies. Grounded in the core values of Open, Secure, and Licensed, it is committed to building a more efficient ecosystem that connects global markets and enables instant, seamless and compliant value movement worldwide. For media inquiries, please contact: media@osl.com. Social Links GitHub: https://github.com/USDkg/USDkg X: https://x.com/USDKG_Official LinedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/usdkg/ Media Contact Brand: USDKG Contact: William Campbell Email: business@usdkg.com Website: https://www.usdkg.com
首個全球能量飲料排行榜意外揭曉更深層幕後
你喝的能量飲料到底含有些什麼，取決於你住在哪裡 加拿大蒙特婁 - 2026年5月21日 - (SeaPRwire) - 一位飲料專家歷時六個月，收集並評估了來自全球六大洲的能量飲料，旨在打造全球首個客觀的能量飲料品類排行榜。然而，在評估過程中，一個意想不到的發現浮出水面：在不同的洲，能量飲料本質上是完全不同的產品。 全球收集與評估 德國知名飲料專業人士、認證品水師 Pat Eckert 意識到，儘管能量飲料是全球最大且最受討論的飲料品類之一，而且汽車、手機、葡萄酒、電影及許多其他消費領域都早已擁有嚴肅的全球性排行榜，卻從未有人為能量飲料建立過一個客觀的全球排行。 因此，在約半年的時間裡，他和團隊從全球所有六個有人居住的大洲收集了能量飲料，並使用相同的專業36項指標框架對每一款產品進行了評估，重點關注可衡量的產品質量、成分、透明度和配方標準。表現優異的產品還被送往實驗室進行檢驗和分析驗證。這就誕生了「六大洲指數」（Six Continents Index）—— 一個旨在確保專業、嚴謹和客觀的評級體系。 最初的目標很簡單：客觀地找出全球表現最好的品牌。 然而，在評估過程中，另一個發現幾乎是偶然間浮現出來的：能量飲料在不同的大洲實際上並不能算作同一種品類。不同地區遵循著截然不同的產品哲學 —— 從歐洲對巴氏殺菌的強烈關注，到亞洲對真糖的偏好，再到北美對人工配方、甜味劑和防腐劑的沉迷。 因此，該項目最終不僅成為了全球首個客觀的能量飲料排行榜，同時也成為了該品類在世界各地配方差異的一瞥縮影。 震撼發現 歐洲走向天然，南美走向人工。歐洲 85.7% 的能量飲料經過了巴氏殺菌，而北美這一比例僅為 12%，南美更是低於 1%。 亞洲仍在使用真糖，北美幾乎不用。在亞洲，78.9% 的能量飲料使用真糖；而在北美，這一比例僅為 8%。他們喝的實際上是完全不同的產品。 北美依賴甜味劑，世界其他地區則大多不然。84% 的北美能量飲料完全依賴人工甜味劑。在歐洲，這一比例僅為 4.2%。而在亞洲、澳大利亞、南美洲和非洲，這一比例幾乎為零。 澳大利亞注重補充維生素，北美則追求精簡。澳大利亞的飲料平均每款含有 4.2 種維生素，而北美僅為 2.9 種。 阿斯巴甜仍在全球範圍內使用，尤其是在非洲。被世界衛生組織/國際癌症研究機構（WHO/IARC）列為「可能對人類致癌」（2B類）的阿斯巴甜，在全球 10.5% 的產品中有所使用，而這些含有阿斯巴甜的產品中，有 43% 集中在非洲。 無雙酚A（BPA-free）標籤在全球範圍內幾乎隱形。在全球樣本中，只有 1.4% 的產品清晰地標有無雙酚A標籤。 北美作為全球收入最大的能量飲料市場，在六大洲中總分排名墊底。 歐洲選擇巴氏殺菌，北美選擇人工甜味劑，亞洲選擇真糖，澳大利亞選擇補充維生素。相同的品類，完全不同的產品哲學。 全球品牌觀察 在對六大洲評估的眾多品牌中，有兩個品牌因排行之外的原因脫穎而出。紅牛（Red Bull）是唯一一個在幾乎所有評估的全球市場中都能找到的能量飲料品牌；而日本的力保健（Lipovitan-D）則是研究中最古老的品牌，自 1962 年起就已經上市。 得分最高的产品 在大洲層面上，歐洲在指數中獲得了最高總分。澳大利亞及大洋洲排名第二，亞洲位列第三。 在品牌層面上，來自匈牙利的 HELL Energy 獲得了該指數中客觀產品質量的總分第一名。第二名是來自德國的 28 BLACK，緊隨其後的是同樣來自德國的 TAKE OFF。 完整調查結果 更多調查結果、方法論和背景資訊可透過訪問 https://www.sixcontinentsindex.com 索取。 關於該項目 「六大洲指數」項目由 Pat Eckert 及其團隊主導。Eckert 是一位德國認證品水師和獨立飲料專家，他此前的研究成果曾被《衛報》、ABC新聞、《電訊報》、《快報》、德國《鏡報》和英國廣播公司（BBC）報導。 受評估的品牌未被提前通知、未提交申請，且未參與評估。整個過程中沒有任何付費參與、贊助或商業影響。 媒體聯繫 品牌：Fine Liquids 聯繫人：Pat Eckert 電子郵件：pat@fine-liquids.com 網站：https://sixcontinentsindex.com
The World’s First Global Energy Drink Ranking Accidentally Revealed Something Much Bigger
What’s Actually in Your Energy Drink Depends on Where You Live MONTREAL, QC – May 21, 2026 – (SeaPRwire) – A beverage expert spent six months collecting and assessing energy drinks from all six continents to create the world’s first objective global ranking of the category. But during the process, an unexpected discovery emerged: depending on the continent, energy drinks are fundamentally different products. WORLDWIDE COLLECTION & ASSESSMENT Pat Eckert, an internationally recognised German beverage professional and certified water sommelier, realised that nobody had ever created an objective global ranking of energy drinks. This was despite energy drinks being one of the world’s largest and most discussed beverage categories, while cars, phones, wines, films, and many other consumer sectors already have serious worldwide rankings. So over roughly half a year, he and his team collected energy drinks from all six inhabited continents and assessed each one using the same professional 36-criteria framework, focused on measurable product quality, ingredients, transparency, and formulation standards. Top-performing products were submitted for laboratory testing and analytical verification. This became the Six Continents Index – built to be professional, rigorous, and objective. The original goal was simple: to identify which brands objectively perform best worldwide. However, during the assessment, another finding emerged almost accidentally: energy drinks are not really the same category across continents. Different regions follow very different product philosophies – from Europe’s strong focus on pasteurisation, to Asia’s preference for real sugar, to North America’s heavy reliance on artificial formulations, sweeteners and preservatives. So the project ultimately became both the world’s first objective global energy drink ranking and a snapshot of how differently the category is formulated around the world. The Shock FindingS Europe goes natural. South America goes artificial.85.7% of European energy drinks were pasteurised, compared with 12% in North America and under 1% in South America. Asia still uses real sugar. North America barely does.In Asia, 78.9% of energy drinks used real sugar. In North America: just 8%. They are effectively drinking a different product. North America runs on sweeteners. The rest of the world mostly does not.84% of North American energy drinks relied entirely on artificial sweeteners. In Europe: just 4.2%. In Asia, Australia, South America, and Africa: almost none. Australia vitaminizes. North America simplifies.Australian drinks averaged 4.2 vitamins per product, compared with just 2.9 in North America. Aspartame is still used worldwide, especially in AfricaAspartame (classified by WHO/IARC as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2B)), was used in 10.5% of products worldwide, with 43% of those aspartame-containing products found in Africa. BPA-free labelling was almost invisible worldwide.Only 1.4% of the global sample clearly carried BPA-free labelling. North America – the world’s largest energy drink market by revenue – ranked last overall among the six continents. Europe pasteurises. North America sweetens artificially. Asia uses real sugar. Australia vitaminizes. Same category, completely different product philosophies. GLOBAL BRAND NOTES Among the many brands assessed across six continents, two stood out for reasons beyond the ranking. Red Bull was the only energy drink brand found in virtually every market assessed worldwide, while Japan’s Lipovitan-D was the oldest brand in the study, having been on the market since 1962. HIGHEST-SCORING PRODUCTS At the continental level, Europe achieved the highest overall score in the index. Australia & Oceania ranked second, followed by Asia in third place. At brand level, HELL Energy from Hungary achieved the highest overall score for objective product quality in the index. Second place went to 28 BLACK from Germany, followed by TAKE OFF, also from Germany. FULL FINDINGS Further findings, methodology, and background information are available on request at www.sixcontinentsindex.com ABOUT THE PROJECT The Six Continents Index was led by Pat Eckert and his team. Eckert is a German certified water sommelier and independent beverage expert whose previous work has been featured by The Guardian, ABC News, The Telegraph, L’Express, Der Spiegel, and the BBC. Assessed brands were not notified in advance, did not apply, and had no involvement in the evaluation. No paid participation, sponsorship, or commercial influence played any role. MEDIA CONTACT Brand: Fine Liquids Contact: Pat Eckert Email: pat@fine-liquids.com Website: https://sixcontinentsindex.com
CN_【Press Release】China XLX Announces 2026 Q1 Results
EQS 新聞 / 2026-05-17 / 14:04 UTC+8 新聞稿 （請即時發送） 中國心連心2026年度首季淨利潤同比大增68.7% 優化產品結構，加快營銷模式創新轉型，實現核心產品量價齊升 2026年度第一季業績重點： 集團實現收入約人民幣68.22億元，同比增長16.7%。 淨利潤同比大幅增長68.7%至約4.21億元，歸屬於母公司擁有人淨利潤同比增加51.7%至約人民幣3億元。 新增產能有序釋放，規模效應逐漸凸顯，整體毛利同比大幅攀升53.2%至約人民幣12.79億元。 精準把控投資節奏，長短期借款比例維持於8：2的合理水平，其中短期貸款同比下降9%。 （2026年5月17日，香港）中國心連心化肥有限公司（「中國心連心」或「本公司」，連同其附屬公司合稱「本集團」）（股份代號：01866.HK）宣佈，截至2026年3月31日止季度，集團實現收入約68.22億元（人民幣，下同），同比增長16.7%；淨利潤同比大幅增長68.7%至約4.21億元，歸屬於母公司擁有人淨利潤約3億元，同比增加51.7%。 回顧期內，在農需釋放及原料成本支撐的作用下，化肥行業整體經營環境穩中向好。本集團緊抓行業發展機遇，一方面持續加大差異化高效肥研發、優化產品結構，高附加值產品產銷佔比的提升，帶動產品均價穩步上漲；另一方面加快營銷模式創新轉型，持續拓寬國內外銷售渠道，緊抓國際市場出口機遇，進一步擴大化工品出口規模，實現核心產品量價齊升。 隨著九江二期項目順利投運，新增產能有序釋放，規模效應逐漸凸顯，單位生產成本進一步降低，拉動整體毛利同比大幅攀升53.2%至約12.79億元，為本集團業績增長提供堅實支撐。 今年首季度，尿素銷售收入約19.61億元，同比增加27.6%。隨著九江二期項目的順利投運，期內尿素產量同比大幅增長，助力銷量同比提升21.4%。由於下游客戶提前備貨，帶動庫存同比降低19%，支撐尿素價格上行，加上本集團持續優化產品結構，進一步提升毛利率較高的高效尿素銷售佔比，期內尿素平均售價同比上升5.2%。另外，九江二期項目的投產攤薄噸固定成本，加上原料成本節降約9%，期內尿素毛利率同比上升10個百分點至27%。 回顧期內，複合肥銷售收入約16.93億元，同比增加8.7%。隨著營銷轉型戰略落地，本集團的銷網絡已遍佈全國31個省級行政區，新增總經銷約7,000家，銷售網絡覆蓋率達91%，加上存量總經銷業務穩健增長，期內複合肥銷量同比增加8.2%。由於普通肥銷量佔比季節性偏高，且市場供應基本平衡，期內複合肥均價保持平穩，但受鉀肥、磷肥供應偏緊影響，帶動原料價格上漲，導致複合肥平均毛利率同比微降1.9個百分點至12%。 在項目投入高峰期，本集團將精準把控投資節奏，統籌平衡資本開支與財務風險的匹配，確保自身現金流穩健。本集團整體槓桿水平可控，負債結構合理，各項核心財務指標穩健向好。截至回顧期末，本集團的資產負債率較期初小幅上升1.9個百分點至67.9%，長短期債務比例維持於8：2水平，其中短期貸款同比下降9%，有效提升營運資金約14億元，新增貸款平均利率控制在2.86%以內，同比下降 0.18個百分點。 在項目建設方面，新鄉基地的化工新材料項目已進入試生產階段，各項指標運行良好，70萬噸尿素產能預期於今年第二季投產。准東項目（一期）各項施工進度有序推進，預計今年底前完成投產。廣西大項目（一期）計劃明年第三季投產，該項目將填補兩廣地區新型氮肥產能空缺，並依託平陸運河，提高運輸時效降低成本，有效推進東南亞市場佈局。 展望第二季，中國心連心董事長劉興旭先生表示：國內尿素價格在農業用肥旺季的支撐下，整體將保持堅挺平穩運行，但受供應寬鬆等因素影響，價格上行空間相對有限。春耕結束後，若出口政策調整放寬，或將帶動尿素價格階段性波動。同時，受地緣衝突影響，煤頭企業的成本優勢進一步凸顯，行業競爭格局將不斷優化。面對複雜的行業環境，本集團將通過技術創新、產品迭代、營銷轉型，推進數智化轉型與綠色低碳高質量發展，全面夯實核心競爭力。 ~ 完 ~ 關於中國心連心化肥有限公司 中國心連心化肥有限公司為中國最具規模優勢和成本效益的煤基尿素生產商之一，主要從事尿素、複合肥、甲醇、二甲醚、三聚氰胺、糠醇、糠醛、2-甲基呋喃和醫藥中間體等相關差異化產品的研發、生產與銷售。集團堅持「總成本領先、差異化競爭」的發展策略，做大做強化肥主業，依託新鄉、新疆、江西等地區資源，向上游新能源、新材料等產品鏈延伸，向煤化工相關多元化方向發展。中國心連心股份在香港交易所主板上市，股份編號：01866.HK。 投資者及媒體查詢 中國心連心化肥有限公司 桂琳 電話：86-135 6942 3415 電郵：lin.gui@chinaxlx.com.hk 中國公關顧問有限公司 蕭偉成 / 郭麗君 電話：852-2522 1368 / 852-2522 1838 電郵：dshiu@prchina.com.hk lguo@prchina.com.hk 2026-05-17 此財經新聞稿由EQS Group轉載。本公告內容由發行人全權負責。 瀏覽原文: http://www.todayir.com/tc/index.php
EN_【Press Release】China XLX Announces 2026 Q1 Results
EQS Newswire / 17/05/2026 / 14:04 UTC+8 Press Release (For immediate release) China XLX’s Net Profit Surged by 68.7% YoY in Q1 2026 Simultaneous growth in sales volume and selling price of core products driven by optimised product mix and accelerated transformation and innovation of marketing model Q1 2026 Results Highlights: Revenue grew by 16.7% YoY to approximately RMB 6.82 billion. Net profit surged by 68.7% YoY to approximately RMB 421 million and profit attributable to owners of the parent company climbed by 51.7% YoY to approximately RMB 300 million, The economies of scale became increasingly evident as new capacity came on stream in an orderly manner. Overall gross profit grew by 53.2% YoY to approximately RMB 1.28 billion. Investment pace was precisely managed, with the ratio of long-term to short-term debt staying at 8:2 and short-term loans decreasing by 9% YoY. (17 May 2026, Hong Kong) China XLX Fertiliser Ltd. (“China XLX” or the “Company”, together with its subsidiaries collectively referred to as the “Group”) (stock code: 01866.HK) announced that the Group’s revenue for the quarter ended 31 March 2026 grew by 16.7% year-on-year to approximately RMB 6.82 billion. Net profit for the period surged by 68.7% year-on-year to approximately RMB 421 million and net profit attributable to owners of the parent company climbed by 51.7% year-on-year to approximately RMB 300 million. During the period under review, the overall operating environment of the fertiliser industry steadily improved amid strong agricultural demand and favorable raw material costs. The Group capitalised on the opportunities emerging in the market to ramp up R&D of differentiated high-efficiency fertilisers, optimise the product mix and increase the proportion of high value-added products in overall production and sales, leading to steady growth in average selling prices of products. Meanwhile, it accelerated the transformation and innovation of marketing model, made continuing efforts to expand both of domestic and international sales channels, and seized global trade opportunities to boost the export of chemical products. As a result, the sales volumes of core products grew in tandem with selling prices. With the successful commissioning of the Jiujiang Phase II Project, the Group’s new capacity came on stream in an orderly manner. As the economies of scale became increasingly evident, unit production costs further reduced and resulted in 53.2% year-on-year growth in overall gross profit to approximately RMB 1.28 billion. These achievements laid a solid foundation for the improvement in the Group’s financial results. In the first quarter of this year, revenue from urea sales increased by 27.6% year-on-year to approximately RMB 1.96 billion. The commencement of operation of the Jiujiang Phase II Project drove the robust growth in urea output from the previous year with the urea sales volume increased by 21.4% year-on-year for the period. As downstream customers stocked up in advance, the inventories reduced by 19% year-on-year, hence lending strong support to urea price hikes. At the same time, the Group further optimised the product mix and increased the sales proportion of high-efficiency urea with higher margins. As a result, the average selling price of urea increased by 5.2% year-on-year. Moreover, the commissioning of the Jiujiang Phase II Project lowered the fixed cost per tonne coupled with roughly 9% reduction in feedstock costs, the gross profit margin of urea for the period climbed by 10 percentage points year-on-year to 27%. During the review period, revenue from compound fertiliser sales amounted to approximately RMB 1.69 billion, up by 8.7% year-on-year. With the successful implementation of marketing transformation strategy, the Group’s marketing network for compound fertilisers expanded to all 31 provincial-level administrative regions across China. While approximately 7,000 new exclusive distributors were added, the coverage rate of the Group’s sales network reached 91%. In addition, existing distributors delivered steady business growth. As a result, the sales volume of compound fertilisers for the period saw 8.2% year-on-year growth. Because the proportion of ordinary fertiliser sales was seasonally higher in the first quarter and the market supply was largely balanced, the average selling price of compound fertilisers for the period remained stable. Nevertheless, as the tight supply of potash and phosphate fertilisers drove up the feedstock costs, the gross profit margin of compound fertilisers slightly retreated by 1.9 percentage points year-on-year to 12%. During the peak period of project investment, the Group will precisely control the investment pace and balance capital expenditures with financial risks to ensure stable cash flow. Its overall leverage remains controllable with a well-structured debt profile. All key financial indicators remain strong and keep on improving. As of the end of the period under review, the Group’s debt-to-asset ratio was 67.9%, slightly up by 1.9 percentage points from the beginning of the period. The ratio of long-term to short-term debt stayed at 8:2 and short-term loans decreased by 9% year-on-year, hence freeing up approximately RMB 1.4 billion in working capital. The average interest rate on new loans for the period decreased by 0.18 percentage points from the previous year and was maintained within 2.86%. As for the project development, the new chemical material project at the Xinjiang Production Base commenced the trial run with all indicators performing well. The urea production facility with annual capacity of 700,000 tonnes is scheduled to put into operation in the second quarter of this year. The development of the Zhundong Project (Phase I) is progressing as planned and it is slated to commence operation by the end of this year. The Guangxi Project (Phase I) is expected to put into production in the third quarter of next year. This project is aimed at addressing the capacity shortage of new nitrogenous fertilisers in Guangdong and Guangxi. With an easy access to the Pinglu Canal, it will enhance the transport efficiency at lower costs and will enable the Group to effectively expand into the Southeast Asia market. Looking ahead into the second quarter, Mr. Liu Xingxu, Chairman of China XLX, said: Underpinned by the peak planting season, domestic urea prices are expected to remain firm and stable in general. However, due to ample supply and other factors, there is limited room for further price increases. If the export controls are relaxed after the spring planting season, urea prices may see periodic price fluctuations. Meanwhile, coal-based producers are poised to benefit from geopolitical conflicts and the competitive landscape in the industry will continue to improve. Facing a complex market environment, the Group will reinforce its competitive edges through technological innovation, production iteration, marketing model transformation, the promotion of digital intelligence transformation and green low-carbon high-quality development. ~ END ~ About China XLX Fertiliser Ltd. China XLX Fertiliser Ltd. is one of the largest and most cost-efficient coal-based urea producers in China. It is principally engaged in developing, manufacturing and selling of urea, compound fertiliser, methanol, dimethyl ether, melamine, furfuryl alcohol, furfural, 2-methylfuran, pharmaceutical intermediates and related differentiated products. The Group adheres to the development strategy of “maintaining overall cost leadership and creating competitive differentiation" while strengthening the core fertiliser operations. With support of the resources in Xinxiang, Xinjiang and Jiangxi, it extends the value chain to upstream new energy and new materials and diversifies into coal chemical related products. The Company’s shares (stock code: 01866.HK) are traded on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Investor and Media Enquiries China XLX Fertiliser Ltd. Gui Lin Tel: 86-135-6942-3415 Email: gui.lin@chinaxlx.com.hk PRChina Limited David Shiu / Liky Guo Tel: 852-2522 1368 / 852-2522 1838 Email: dshiu@prchina.com.hk lguo@prchina.com.hk 17/05/2026 Dissemination of a Financial Press Release, transmitted by EQS News. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Media archive at www.todayir.com
SHK Capital Partners 與 Pinegrove Credit Partners 達成戰略合作 拓展亞洲投資者投資創投債務的渠道
EQS 新聞 / 2026-05-18 / 12:58 UTC+8 SHK Capital Partners（「SHKCP」）與 Pinegrove Credit Partners今日宣佈達成戰略合作夥伴關係，以拓展亞洲投資者參與創投債務（Venture Debt）的投資渠道，並為投資者提供涉足高增長科技及創新驅動型行業的投資機會。 此次合作結合 Pinegrove Venture Partner (「Pinegrove」) 在創新經濟領域的深厚專業知識，以及 SHKCP 在亞洲廣泛的網絡資源及其於另類投資方案方面的卓越往績。創投債務已成為成長階段的科技、生命科學及醫療保健企業擴展業務的重要融資方案，既能助力企業擴充規模，亦保障創始團隊的股權及維持資產負債表的靈活性。是次合作的重點在於為亞洲機構及私人投資者提供與該新興資產類別投資理念相契合的解決方案，並支持創新經濟中高增長企業的創投債務融資需求。 SHKCP為新鴻基公司旗下另類投資方案業務分支。新鴻基公司（香港上市股份代號: 86）是香港領先且卓越、並以自有資本驅動的的另類投資平台，在另類投資和資產管理領域的專業實力廣受認可。Pinegrove Credit Partners 為 Pinegrove旗下的創投債務及私募信貸業務分支，Pinegrove獲得Brookfield 及 HRTG Partners支持，淡馬錫亦為其基石投資者之一。 Pinegrove 與第一公民銀行（First Citizens Bank & Trust）旗下矽谷銀行（Silicon Valley Bank，SVB）維持長期戰略合作關係，大幅強化其於創投生態圈發掘優質貸款項目、信貸審批並投放貸款的能力。自2012年以來，Pinegrove 旗下基金已累計投放逾45億美元，為超過450家成長期企業提供約580筆貸款。 新鴻基公司副行政總裁 Tony Edwards 表示: 「創投債務是一個發展日趨成熟的資產類別，具備吸引的經風險調整回報潛力。與 Pinegrove 這一頂尖平台合作，將進一步增強SHKCP 作為亞洲優質資本與全球創新主導企業之間橋樑的能力。作為 Pinegrove Credit Partners 的戰略合作夥伴及投資者，我們致力持續為客戶及合作夥伴拓展更多優質另類投資方案，同時支持新一輪全球創新發展。」 Pinegrove Credit Partners 管理合夥人兼負責人 Jim Ellison 表示： 「我們的平台建立在與創投生態系統內的深厚人脈與網絡資源之上，這使我們能夠實現差異化的項目發掘和嚴謹的資本投放。與 SHKCP 的合作，讓我們能依託一個投資理念一致且業務基礎紮實的另類投資平台，深入拓展亞洲市場。我們期待雙方攜手，為成長階段企業提供靈活的融資解決方案，同時為亞洲投資者創造穩健且具吸引力的經風險調整回報。」 – 完 – 關於Pinegrove Credit Partners Pinegrove Credit Partners 是 Pinegrove Venture Partners (「Pinegrove」) 旗下的創投債務與私募信貸業務分支。 Pinegrove 獲得 Brookfield 及 HRTG Partners 支持，管理資產規模超過 120 億美元，是橫跨創新經濟領域的多元化創投投資平台，旗下業務包括：創投債務（Pinegrove Credit Partners）、基金初級與共同投資（Pinegrove Strategic Partners），以及創業二級市場（Pinegrove Opportunity Partners）。 如欲進一步了解 Pinegrove Credit Partners，請發送電郵至 info@pinegrove.vc。 關於新鴻基有限公司及Sun Hung Kai Capital Partners Limited「SHKCP」 Sun Hung Kai Capital Partners Limited「SHKCP」成立於2020 年，是新鴻基公司旗下受香港證監會監管的附屬公司，持有第1、4 和9 類牌照。 新鴻基有限公司（「新鴻基公司」，香港上市股份代號: 86）是一家總部位於香港、以自有資本驅動的另類投資平台。自1969年成立以來，新鴻基公司憑藉深厚的財富管理根基，透過以有限合夥人及普通合夥人身份，投資於多個另類資產類別，包括對沖基金、私募股權、私募信貸及各類實物資產等，打造出獨特的投資實力，並持續締造穩健的長期經風險調整回報。截至2025年12月31日，新鴻基公司持有總資產約387億港元，總資產管理規模*達246億港元（約32億美元），過去三年年均增長率達81%。 如欲了解更多關於SHKCP的資訊，請瀏覽 www.shkcapital.com或關注公司領英。 如欲了解更多關於新鴻基公司的資訊，請瀏覽 www.shkco.com或關注公司領英。 *「總資產管理規模」指由SHKCP所管理、諮詢、分銷或以其他方式提供服務的資產總值，亦包括由種子合作夥伴及新鴻基公司擁有股權的管理人之資產。詳情請參閱新鴻基公司網站及我們的年報。此計算方法與監管申報之資產管理規模有所不同。 請注意，本新聞稿包含前瞻性陳述。該等陳述可能包括有關 SHKCP 及新鴻基公司的說明性預測、預估或期望，惟任何所作出的預測或預估概不保證將會實現。 媒體查詢，請聯絡： 匯思訊 電郵：shk@christensencomms.com
SHK Capital Partners and Pinegrove Credit Partners Enter Strategic Partnership to Expand Asia Investor Access to Venture Debt
EQS Newswire / 18/05/2026 / 12:58 UTC+8 SHK Capital Partners (“SHKCP”) and Pinegrove Credit Partners today announced a strategic partnership to broaden Asian investor access to venture debt investment solutions. The collaboration aims to offer investors with exposure to high-growth technology and innovation-driven sectors. The partnership brings together Pinegrove Venture Partner’s (“Pinegrove”) deep expertise in the innovation economy and SHKCP’s extensive Asian network and proven track record in alternative investment solutions. Venture debt has emerged as an increasingly important financing solution for growth-stage technology, life sciences and healthcare companies to scale while preserving ownership and balance sheet flexibility. The collaboration focuses on providing Asian institutional and private investors with an aligned approach to this evolving asset class, while supporting the venture debt financing for high-growth companies in the innovation economy. Sun Hung Kai Capital Partners is the alternative solutions arm of Sun Hung Kai & Co., a leading, preeminent Hong Kong-based (SEHK: 86), principal-led alternative investment platform recognized for its expertise in alternative investments and asset management. Pinegrove Credit Partners, the venture debt and private credit arm of Pinegrove, is backed by Brookfield and HRTG Partners, with Temasek serving among its anchor investors. Pinegrove maintains a long-standing strategic relationship with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank & Trust, which enhances its ability to originate and underwrite high-quality loans within the venture ecosystem. Since 2012, Pinegrove’s funds have deployed over $4.5 billion across 580 loans to more than 450 growth-stage companies. Tony Edwards, Deputy CEO of SHK & Co.: "Venture debt is a rapidly maturing asset class with compelling risk-adjusted return potential. Partnering with a premier platform like Pinegrove strengthens SHKCP’s ability to serve as a well-aligned conduit between sophisticated Asian capital and the world’s most innovation-led businesses. As a strategic partner and investor in Pinegrove Credit Partners, we are committed to expanding the breadth of high-quality investment solutions to our clients and partners while supporting the next wave of global innovation." Jim Ellison, Managing Partner and Head of Pinegrove Credit Partners: "Our platform is built on deep connectivity across the innovation ecosystem, enabling differentiated origination and disciplined underwriting. Partnership with SHKCP extends our reach into Asia through an established alternative investment platform with an aligned investment approach. We look forward to working together to provide flexible financing solutions to growth-stage companies while delivering attractive, risk-adjusted outcomes for investors in the region." – End – About Pinegrove Credit Partners Pinegrove Credit Partners is the venture debt and private credit business of Pinegrove Venture Partners (“Pinegrove”). Backed by Brookfield and HRTG Partners, and with over $12 billion of assets under management, Pinegrove operates as a diversified venture investment platform operating across the innovation economy, that includes: venture debt (Pinegrove Credit Partners), fund primaries and co-investments (Pinegrove Strategic Partners), and venture secondaries (Pinegrove Opportunity Partners). For more information on Pinegrove Credit Partners, please email info@pinegrove.vc. About Sun Hung Kai Capital Partners and Sun Hung Kai & Co. Sun Hung Kai Capital Partners Limited (“SHKCP”) is a Hong Kong SFC regulated subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited ("SHK & Co.", SEHK: 86), with Type 1, 4 and 9 licenses. Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited is a principal-led alternative investment platform based in Hong Kong. Since 1969, with its roots in wealth management, SHK & Co. has built a unique investment capability by investing across a wide range of alternative asset classes, both as a limited partner and investing in general partnerships, within hedge funds, private equity, private credit, and various real assets, consistently generating solid long-term risk-adjusted returns. As at 31 December 2025, SHK & Co. held approximately HK$38.7 billion in total assets, with total assets under management (Total AUM*) of HK$24.6 billion (~US$3.2 billion), reflecting 81% per annum growth over the past three years. For more information about SHKCP, please visit: www.shkcapital.com / follow us on LinkedIn. For more information about SHK & Co., please visit: www.shkco.com / follow us on LinkedIn. * “Total AUM” refers to the total value of assets managed, advised, distributed or otherwise serviced by SHKCP, and also includes assets managed by seeding partners and external managers in which SHK & Co. has equity stakes. For details, please refer to the SHK & Co. website and our annual report. This AUM methodology differs from that of the AUM in SHKCP’s regulatory filings. Please note that this press release contains forward-looking statements. Such statements may include illustrative projections, forecasts, or expectations regarding SHKCP and SHK & Co., and there is no guarantee that any projections or forecasts made will come to pass. For media enquiries, please contact: Christensen Advisory Email: shk@christensencomms.com
Carbonverse Pioneers a New Ecosystem of “Carbon Assets + Digital Wallet + Use-to-Earn”
- Carbonverse Partners with Joint Venture to Build a Closed-Loop Green Value System for the Consumer Market HONG KONG, May 18, 2026 - (ACN Newswire) - Recently, Carbonverse Limited and Wanel Capital Limited officially signed a cooperation agreement to establish a joint venture. Centered on three core pillars—carbon assets, digital wallets, and the "use-to-earn" (utility mining) model—the joint venture will integrate technical strengths with real-world scenarios. This initiative aims to drive carbon assets out of the industrial sector and directly into the consumer market, building a future-ready green value ecosystem. Carbonverse possesses mature practices and full-stack capabilities in carbon asset management, green finance scenario implementation, and carbon credit trading. Leveraging this partnership, the platform will further strengthen its digital wallet underlying technology, security systems, and development capabilities, creating an innovative infrastructure that deeply integrates "carbon assets + digital wallets + use-to-earn." Mr. Liang Liang, Chairman of Carbonverse, stated that this collaboration marks a critical milestone in executing the company's core strategy, following the successful completion of Carbonverse's underlying carbon asset layout and strategic tool systems. With carbon assets acting as the core vehicle, the top-level design will systematically dismantle three traditional barriers: - Breaking Scenario Barriers: Moving carbon assets beyond the traditional To-B (Business) and To-G (Government) sectors, allowing them to penetrate the mass consumer (To-C) market. Through the "use-to-earn" model, Carbonverse will cover everyday scenarios such as EV charging, commuting, smart homes, and health appliances, completing a pivotal leap for the carbon economy from industrial markets to consumer markets. - Breaking User Barriers: Building a unified entry point and asset closed-loop via a green digital wallet. This will enable the monetization of user attention and behavioral value, fostering deep integration and seamless value interoperability between the online digital ecosystem and offline private domain users. - Breaking Technology & Ecosystem Barriers: Seizing the historic opportunity where AI reshapes the global industrial landscape to construct a future-proof, three-in-one core competitiveness powered by carbon computing power, attention data, and intelligent operations. Under this strategic framework, the joint venture will leverage the large-scale circulation of carbon assets across online consumer platforms to establish highly efficient pricing and liquidity capabilities. Simultaneously, through innovative operational models—such as use-to-earn mechanisms, carbon blind boxes, and IP co-branded ecosystems—the platform will cultivate high-value, high-stickiness, and high-LTV (lifetime value) user assets. This will establish a virtuous cycle driven by data monetization, attention monetization, time monetization, and community value feedback. Looking ahead, Carbonverse will continue to deepen its strategic tools and ecosystem deployment. By deeply integrating artificial intelligence, Carbonverse aims to make AI a vital engine driving the convergence and innovation of the carbon ecosystem, digital assets, private domain value, and green finance, ultimately expanding its strategic runway for the future. About Carbonverse Carbonverse Limited, a subsidiary of C Dimension, is an innovative platform specializing in carbon asset digitalization and green initiatives. The company is dedicated to driving the transformation of carbon assets from mere compliance tools into premium financial assets, building a next-generation green consumer carbon ecosystem powered by use-to-earn mechanisms, generalized carbon inclusion, and attention monetization.
‘Hong Kong Cinema @ CANNES 2026’: Hong Kong’s role as a bridge between global and Asian film markets
Goal: to deepen industry exchange and expand co production and investment opportunities Cannes, France, May 18, 2026 - (ACN Newswire) - “Hong Kong Cinema @ CANNES 2026”, jointly organised by the Cultural, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB) of the Hong Kong SAR Government, the Hong Kong Film Development Council (FDC), the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA), and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), is held at the Cannes Film Festival from 12 to 23 May. Exhibitions, industry seminars, business matching meetings, project pitching sessions and networking activities are organised to promote cross-regional co-production opportunities while underscoring Hong Kong’s role as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange and a regional intellectual property (IP) trading hub. It also showcases the strength and creative diversity of Hong Kong’s film industry to the global screen community. “Hong Kong Night” enhances international industry exchange As a highlight of “Hong Kong Cinema @ CANNES 2026”, “Hong Kong Night” was held on 16 May at Majestic Beach in Cannes, bringing together around 600 international film professionals, including producers, distributors, investors and film promotion organisations. The event connected these global industry players with Hong Kong exhibitors, emerging producers, and Hong Kong actors Carlos Chan and Natalie Hsu, as well as winning teams of the FDC’s Content Development Scheme for Streaming Platforms, creating valuable opportunities for international exchange and discussions on collaboration. The Hong Kong Pavilion: industry strengths help expand global collaboration The Hong Kong Pavilion is staged at the Marché du Film, featuring a strong line-up of Hong Kong film production and distribution companies, including Edko Films, Emperor Motion Pictures, Entertaining Power, Media Asia Film, and One Cool Film. Other participating Hong Kong film companies include Fortune Star Media, Golden Network Asia, Mandarin Motion Pictures, and Blast Films. Exhibitors feature a range of latest and upcoming productions, including Edko Films’ Cold War 1994; the Chinese film Under Current, the top opening box office title of 2025; Entertaining Power’s The Fruitless Tree; Media Asia Film’s Twilight of the Warriors: The Final Chapter; and One Cool Film’s crime action film The Trier of Fact. These feature film projects have attracted producers, investors and distributors from different countries and regions, facilitating in-depth discussions on Hong Kong cinema’s latest creative trends, production strengths and international co-operation opportunities. Anna Cheung, Assistant Executive Director of the HKTDC, said: “By co-organising ‘Hong Kong Cinema @ CANNES 2026’ once again with the CSTB, FDC and CCIDA during the Cannes Film Festival, the HKTDC helps the Hong Kong industry follow up on projects discussed at the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART) held in March, and brings Hong Kong original works to overseas markets. We also support international screen productions in entering the Asian market via Hong Kong, reinforcing the city’s role as a vital bridge connecting Asian and the global markets.” Participating companies said the Hong Kong Pavilion provides a highly effective platform for meetings with international buyers. Many participants received enquiries and collaboration invitations and say that “Hong Kong Cinema @ CANNES 2026” significantly raises the profile of Hong Kong cinema internationally, making it a key gateway for market expansion. Grace Chan, Head of Distribution at Entertaining Power Co. Limited said, "I bring the family-drama-themed title ‘The Fruitless Tree’. It is very important for me to meet every programmer from different film festivals. This is a really good bridge for us to come here and present a movie to everyone in the market especially film festival programmers." Vanessa Lo, Vice President of Sales and Distribution at Media Asia, said: “Media Asia joined the Hong Kong Pavilion at this year’s Cannes market to seek partners for ‘Twilight of the Warriors: The Final Chapter’, and successfully established partnerships with buyers from multiple territories including France, Germany, Singapore and Vietnam, many of whom had previously collaborated on ‘Walled In’.” Mark Shaw, Director of Shaw Organisation, and Hang Trinh, Chief Executive Officer of Skyline Media, said: “The success of the ‘Twilight of the Warriors’ franchise stems from its strong cast, distinctly Hong Kong storytelling, and continued global demand for Hong Kong action cinema.” Exploring Asian film markets and seizing global opportunities A series of industry seminars and exchange activities were also organised during the event. At the seminar titled “Capital Flows & Co-Production Opportunities in Hong Kong, Asia and Beyond”, speakers shared insight into funding trends and co-production opportunities in Hong Kong and Asian film markets. Another seminar, “Hong Kong Power: The ground-breaking AI ecosystem building cinema, technology and research”, featured representatives from Mei Ah Entertainment and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, who discussed the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in film creation, production workflows and talent development. The session also explored how Hong Kong can foster cross-regional and cross-sector collaborations by integrating industry, academia and research, alongside the rapid advancement of AI technologies. The newly introduced “Spotlight on Hong Kong: Pitching Session” starred five emerging Hong Kong producers and their latest film projects. Award-winning teams of the FDC’s Content Development Scheme for Streaming Platforms also participated, with three winning producers — Kingman Cho, Li Ling Long and Tsang Tsui Shan — sharing updates on their projects. These sessions facilitated in-depth exchanges between the Hong Kong delegation and producers from different countries and regions on creative visions, production experience and collaboration models, with the aim of nurturing the next generation of Hong Kong film talent and enhancing their competitiveness in the international market. “Hong Kong Cinema @ CANNES 2026” also introduced its first-ever business matching meetings, connecting the Hong Kong delegation with overseas producer delegations led by international organisations. Participating international organisations included returning partners from Producers Connect @ FILMART 2026, such as Cinecittà from Italy, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), ICEX Spain Trade and Investment and the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), as well as new partners including Telefilm Canada, CNC (France), Cinema do Brasil, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH from Germany, and Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Fund. These meetings have deepened long-term collaboration between Hong Kong and international institutions, while promoting co-production and partnership opportunities between filmmakers worldwide and Hong Kong. Photo download: https://bit.ly/3Puddnp “Hong Kong Night” brought together around 600 filmmakers, investors, distributors, and industry representatives from around the world, and featured the attendance of actors Carlos Chan (far left) and Natalie Hsu (second left) Under Hong Kong Cinema @ CANNES 2026, a Hong Kong Pavilion was set up, attracting a wide range of Hong Kong film production and distribution companies to showcase their latest and upcoming productions, while exploring collaboration opportunities with the global film and television industry Vanessa Lo, Vice President of Sales and Distribution at Media Asia, and Hang Trinh, Chief Executive Officer of Skyline Media, collaborated once again for the distribution of ‘Twilight of the Warriors: The Final Chapter’ The seminar “Capital Flows & Co-Production Opportunities in Hong Kong, Asia and Beyond” examined capital trends and co-production opportunities in the Hong Kong and Asian film markets The seminar “Hong Kong Power: The groundbreaking AI Ecosystem building cinema, technology and research” featured representatives from Mei Ah Entertainment and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, who shared insight into the application and future development of artificial intelligence (AI) in film creation, production processes, and talent development The “Spotlight on Hong Kong: Pitching Session” highlighted five featured Hong Kong producers and their latest film projects, and announced the winning teams of the Content Development Scheme for Streaming Platforms previously launched by the Hong Kong Film Development Council Media enquiries HKTDC’s Communications & Public Affairs Department: Serena Cheung Tel: (852) 2584 4272 Email: serena.hm.cheung@hktdc.org About HKTDC The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The HKTDC is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong's trade. With over 50 offices globally, including 13 in the Chinese Mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets. The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via research reports and digital news channels.
Vaiz introduces agile project management tools as teams leave Jira for simpler alternatives
Limassol, Cyprus – May 19, 2026 – (SeaPRwire) – Vaiz, the Limassol-based maker of a unified workspace for tasks and documents, is putting its agile project management tools in front of teams that have adopted agile in principle but find themselves buried in the ceremony that comes with it. Seventy-four percent of organizations now run on agile or hybrid agile approaches, according to Digital.ai’s 18th State of Agile Report — but adoption and effectiveness are two different things. In 2026, the question is no longer whether agile matters. It is whether the tools teams use to run it are helping them ship faster or just making the process more visible. The ceremony problem Most agile tools were designed to manage agile processes: sprint boards, story point estimation, velocity charts, burndown reports, retrospective templates. The tools are thorough. They are also, for many small and mid-sized teams, exhausting. Configuring Jira to run a ten-person team requires the kind of admin investment that makes sense for a fifty-person engineering org. Running Scrum ceremonies across three different tools — a sprint board in one place, specs in another, retrospective notes in a third — means teams spend their energy on coordination instead of delivery. Vaiz ships with a ready-to-use Scrum template that covers the full sprint rhythm out of the box: nine columns including a dedicated Ceremonies lane for planning, standups, reviews, and retrospectives, plus a Sprint Results area to keep outcomes visible across cycles. WIP limits on active stages prevent overload. Sprint Number, Estimated Time, and Logged Time fields let teams track capacity and spot the gap between planning and reality — without over-engineering the process. Engineering task categories cover Frontend, Backend, API, DevOps, UI/UX, and more. No admin required to get started. Teams comparing the two platforms directly can see a full breakdown at vaiz.com/compare. Why agile teams are choosing Vaiz Every task in Vaiz contains a native document editor capable of holding user stories, acceptance criteria, technical specs, and decision logs directly alongside the work. When a developer picks up a sprint item, the context is already there — no Confluence tab, no “where did we put that spec” in Slack. GitHub and GitLab integrations pull requests, branches, merge requests, and commits onto the task itself, so sprint traceability happens without manual status updates. The built-in AI assistant turns sprint goals into task breakdowns, drafts plans from briefs, and compresses long comment threads into action items the team can actually act on. For engineering teams working with AI-assisted development, Vaiz exposes a native MCP endpoint that lets Claude, Cursor, and other compatible assistants read and write directly into the workspace — no manual copy-paste between tools. Development pace Vaiz is on version 2.84 with regular releases since 2025, recently moving to a two-week release cycle. Releases in 2026 have delivered an improved UI, Slack integration, Cursor IDE support, and calendar integration. An iOS app is coming soon in Q2 2026. Switching and pricing Teams moving over from another tool can transfer boards, tasks, and history through Vaiz’s Migration Center, which currently handles Jira, Asana, Trello, YouTrack, Linear, and Notion in one click — with ClickUp, Monday, and Wrike on the way. The platform is free for teams of up to 10 users, with no credit card required. Paid plans are $5 per user per month for Pro and $9 per user per month for Premium. An on-premises Enterprise edition is available for organizations with data residency requirements. Every paid plan includes a 30-day free trial, and startups receive a 50% discount. More information is available at vaiz.com. About Vaiz Founded in 2024 and based in Limassol, Cyprus, Vaiz Ltd builds a cloud-based work management platform that brings task boards, documents, and automation into a single workspace. The product is used by cross-functional teams at startups, game studios, product companies, agencies, and growing businesses, and holds a 4.8/5 average rating across G2, Trustpilot, Crozdesk, and SoftwareSuggest. Media Contact Brand: Vaiz Contact: Mike Burton Email: marketing@vaiz.com
Asset Value Investors (AVI) urges the dismissal of two directors at Wacom
LONDON, May 14, 2026 - (ACN Newswire) - Asset Value Investors Limited (“AVI”) has submitted shareholder proposals on one of AVI Japan Opportunity Trust’s (“AJOT”) portfolio companies, Wacom Corporation (TSE: 6727, “Wacom”) calling for board changes ahead of Wacom’s upcoming Annual General Meeting in June. AVI, Wacom’s largest shareholder on behalf of all the portfolios it manages, is seeking the dismissal of two directors and the appointment of one external director. Alongside these proposals, AVI has disclosed additional material on its Wacom campaign, including a detailed presentation on an updated dedicated website (www.DrawWacomsFuture.com). Since initiating its investment in Wacom in August 2021, AVI has sought various forms of engagement aimed at enhancing the company’s long-term corporate value as Wacom’s largest shareholder. However, the Branded Business, one of Wacom’s principal business segments, fell into loss from FY2023/3 onwards, and business growth has stalled amid the implementation of large-scale restructuring measures. Furthermore, AVI has serious concerns regarding Wacom’s governance framework in light of the recently announced inappropriate acquisition of a company represented by one of Wacom’s own outside directors, despite the absence of tangible business synergies with Wacom, as well as the improper use of corporate resources, including the provision of preferential treatment to the children of the company representative director, Mr Ide. In light of these circumstances, AVI, as the company’s largest shareholder and a long-term investor on behalf of all the portfolios it manages, publicly launched a campaign last year to support sustainable improvements in corporate value. This year, AVI has decided to publish additional materials and submit shareholder proposals at the upcoming annual general meeting, as follows: - Appointment of one outside director - Dismissal of two directors (the Representative Director and one outside director) Kaz Sakai, Head of Japan Research at AVI, commented as follows: “Wacom has demonstrated serious deficiencies in governance oversight. These include the acquisition by Wacom of a loss-making company represented by Mr Nakajima, one of its own external directors, for more than ten million dollars, the subsequent transfer of Mr Nakajima into an internal director role, and conduct by Mr Ide, Wacom’s Representative Director and CEO, that can only reasonably be viewed as a conflation of personal and corporate interests, together with a board that has tolerated such behaviour.” “Wacom must restore the proper functioning of its governance framework without delay. In addition to proposing the dismissal of Mr Ide and Mr Nakajima, whom AVI has concluded are central to these governance failures, AVI has also nominated a candidate for outside director capable of strengthening governance and management. We are confident that, through the board structure recommended by AVI and the implementation of operational improvement measures, Wacom can further reinforce its position as the global market leader in the graphic tablet business.” About Asset Value Investors (AVI): AVI is an investment management company established in London, United Kingdom, in 1985. AVI has invested in Japanese equities for more than 40 years. AVI manages AVI Global Trust (AGT) and AVI Japan Opportunity Trust (AJOT) and other funds, collectively investing Y180bn into the Japanese market. AGT and AJOT are public companies whose shares are listed and traded on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. AVI is a signatory to Japan’s Stewardship Code and is committed to constructive engagement with management teams and boards of its portfolio companies, with the aim of contributing to sustainable growth and enhanced enterprise value. AVI’s holding in Wacom on behalf of all its funds is 13.8% making AVI the largest shareholder (as of 30 April 2026). Wacom is a 5.5% holding in AJOT. Media Contacts: KL Communications, AVI@kl-communications.com +44 (0)20 3882 6644 Ashton Consulting, avijapanpr@ashton.jp This information is provided by Reach, the non-regulatory press release distribution service of RNS, part of the London Stock Exchange. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. RNS Reach: https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/AJOT/avi-urges-the-dismissal-of-two-directors-at-wacom/17592170
As bossware backlash grows, Vaiz launches work management built on trust, not tracking
Limassol, Cyprus – May 05, 2026 – (SeaPRwire) – Vaiz, a Cyprus-based work management platform, is growing its user base with a product principle most competitors ignore: zero employee surveillance. The platform has no keystroke logging, no screenshot capture, no mouse tracking, and no automatic activity monitoring. It is a deliberate product decision, not a missing feature. Vaiz combines tasks, documents, and team collaboration in one workspace — without any form of employee activity tracking. The announcement comes as workplace monitoring faces renewed criticism. In April 2026, a major technology company began installing software on employee computers to record keystrokes, mouse movements, and screen activity to train AI models. The decision triggered immediate employee backlash and public debate about the limits of employer surveillance. A growing number of teams are now looking for tools that help them coordinate work without tracking how people spend every minute. Why no-surveillance work management matters now Employee monitoring software has grown from a niche practice to a global norm. Adoption rose from 30 percent before the pandemic to 60 percent by 2022. In 2026, the EU AI Act classifies workplace AI monitoring as high-risk and restricts practices such as emotion recognition in employment, with penalties up to 35 million euros or 7 percent of global revenue. Research shows that 31 percent of monitored employees feel micromanaged, and 23 percent report a sense of constant surveillance. For small and mid-sized teams that depend on trust and speed, surveillance tools often cause more harm than the problems they claim to solve. Vaiz was designed for these teams. The platform does not include any automatic activity tracking, screen recording, or behavioural monitoring. What Vaiz offers instead of surveillance Vaiz is a unified work management platform that brings tasks, documents, files, and team discussions into a single workspace. Rather than tracking employee behaviour, the platform makes work visible through structure: task boards, project timelines, milestones, and shared documents that give everyone context without oversight software. The platform connects to over 2,000 applications through Zapier and offers native integrations with Slack, GitHub, and GitLab. Embedded tools include Figma, Miro, YouTube, Vimeo, Swagger, and GraphQL editors. A built-in AI assistant turns goals into task breakdowns, generates project plans, summarises discussions into action items, and improves document clarity. A native MCP server connects Vaiz to AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, and three public SDKs let developers extend the platform. The full list is available on the integrations page. Vaiz co-founder Konstantin Cherkasov explained the company’s position: “We build tools that help teams coordinate their work, not tools that watch people. If a platform needs to capture your screen to know whether you are productive, the problem is not the employee — it is the platform.” Switching and pricing Vaiz’s Migration Center supports one-click imports from Jira, Asana, Trello, YouTrack, Notion, Linear, Monday, ClickUp, and Wrike. Pricing starts with a forever free plan for up to 10 users, no credit card required. The Pro plan costs five US dollars per user per month, and the Premium plan costs nine US dollars per user per month. An Enterprise edition with on-premises deployment is available for organisations with data residency requirements. A 30-day free trial covers all paid plans, and startups qualify for a 50 percent discount. Development pace Vaiz today releases version 2.84, which introduces calendar integration. Since September 2025, this is the tenth numbered release. The team has recently moved to a two-week release cycle, accelerating from the previous pace of roughly one major update every three weeks. Earlier releases in 2026 delivered an improved UI, Slack integration, Cursor IDE support, and an iOS app with full desktop parity. The public product roadmap is available on the website. The company’s focus is building a connected workspace where teams can plan, execute, and communicate in one place — without tools that treat employees as subjects of observation. More information is available at vaiz.com. About Vaiz Vaiz Ltd was founded in 2024 and is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus. The company operates a cloud-based work management platform that combines task boards, documents, and automation in one workspace. Vaiz is used by cross-functional teams at startups, product companies, game studios, agencies, and growing businesses. Related links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vaiz/ Media contact Brand: Vaiz Contact: Mike Burton Email: support@vaiz.com Website: https://vaiz.com
TaxiNexo Accelerates Global Expansion: Autonomous Taxis Arrive in Los Angeles
New York, NY – May 05, 2026 – (SeaPRwire) – TaxiNexo, an AI-powered mobility company, recently announced that it began its global strategy years ago, aiming to bring autonomous taxis to major cities worldwide. Currently, the company has already launched autonomous taxi services in New York City and achieved initial success. TaxiNexo continues to expand its autonomous driving network. Following New York, the company will soon officially launch its autonomous taxi service in Los Angeles, further expanding its presence in its key US markets. In addition to the cities already mentioned, TaxiNexo is also targeting other major American cities, including Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Atlanta, planning to gradually advance testing and commercial operation of autonomous vehicles to build a national smart mobility network. The company stated that its autonomous taxi system, based on an AI-powered dispatch platform and autonomous driving technology, can achieve efficient operation and continuous optimization. In high-frequency urban travel scenarios, this model is expected to improve traffic efficiency and provide users with a more convenient travel experience. The company has long invested in research and development of autonomous driving technology and its expansion into the global market, aiming not only to enter a single city but also to create an autonomous mobility ecosystem spanning multiple cities and countries. In its future development strategy, the company aims to become the world’s largest autonomous vehicle operation and rental company and promote the global adoption of autonomous mobility services. Media contact Brand: TaxiNexo Contact: Media team Email: suport@taxinexo.com Website: https://www.taxinexo.com
LemonBottle Concludes FACE & BODY 2026, Secures Latin America Foothold
Seoul, Korea – May 01, 2026 – (SeaPRwire) – Global aesthetic brand LemonBottle has strengthened its presence in Latin America after showcasing its products at FACE & BODY 2026 in Mexico. Featuring core products including ‘REBOOT,‘ focused on fundamental skin recovery and balance. Local Mexican physicians share hands-on treatment insights and expertise, engaging in live Q&A sessions Discussions on official distribution agreements with local partners, with several contracts successfully signed FACE & BODY 2026 is a leading international event that brings together professionals from the global aesthetic and medical beauty industries, serving as a platform to share the latest trends, technologies, and products. It is particularly regarded as a key gateway for entering the Latin American market. At the event, LemonBottle presented its core product range, including REBOOT, a treatment focused on skin recovery and balance, alongside its Ampoule Solution for body contouring and Skin Booster, aimed at enhancing skin condition and delivering immediate visible results. Mexican physicians with hands-on experience using the products took part in live discussions at the booth, sharing treatment insights and answering questions from practitioners. Topics ranged from application techniques to expected results, reflecting growing interest in clinically driven aesthetic solutions. In particular, there was strong interest in the combined skincare program using Ampoule Solution and Skin Booster, as well as continued inquiries about the new product, REBOOT. In addition, LemonBottle held multiple meetings with local partners during the event, securing several distribution agreements as part of its continued expansion strategy. The company successfully finalized several contracts, laying a solid foundation for practical market entry. Operated by Korea-based aesthetic company SID MEDICOS, LemonBottle has sold more than 4 millions vials globally and built a network of over 450 official partners. Backed by zero reported cases of adverse effects, LemonBottle is strengthening its position in the aesthetic industry. The brand has particularly gained recognition in key markets including the UK, as well as across Europe and Asia. Building on the success of this event, LemonBottle plans to accelerate its expansion into the Latin American market. The company aims to rapidly strengthen its market presence through expanded local partnerships and distribution networks, while continuing to introduce next-generation product lines aligned with global trends. A company representative said the response in Mexico confirmed the region’s strong potential, adding that LemonBottle will continue to expand its local partnerships and distribution network in Latin America. As the global aesthetic market evolves, the brand is focusing on treatments that go beyond short-term results, with increasing emphasis on skin recovery, conditioning and long-term outcomes. For more information about LemonBottle and its products, please visit the official website and or call them at +82 02-571-1110 Social Links Whatsapp: https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=821095298006 Media contact Brand: SID MEDICOS (Brand: LemonBottle) Contact: Media team Email: partnerships@sidmedicos.comWebsite: https://www.lemonbottle.net