Yearly Archives: 2020

PR Newswire

Meituan Dianping Announces Financial Results for the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2020

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HONG KONG, Aug. 21, 2020 — Meituan Dianping (HKG: 3690) (the "Company" or "Meituan"), China’s leading e-commerce platform for services, today announced the unaudited consolidated results of the Company for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020.

Company Financial Highlights

Although the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact the daily operations of our merchants, including restaurants, hotels and other local services merchants, our businesses demonstrated resilience and recovered at a gradual pace. Total revenues for the second quarter of 2020 increased by 8.9% year-over-year to RMB 24.7 billion from RMB 22.7 billion for the same period of 2019. Operating profit improved to RMB 2.2 billion in the second quarter of 2020, increasing by 95.5% year-over-year, while operating margin increased from 4.9% to 8.8%. Both adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net profit experienced positive year-over-year growth and improved to RMB 2.6 billion and RMB 2.7 billion, respectively. Our operating cash flow also turned to positive RMB 5.6 billion for the second quarter of 2020 from negative RMB5 .0 billion for the first quarter of 2020. We had cash and cash equivalents of RMB 13.9 billion and short-term investments of RMB44.5 billion as of June 30, 2020, compared to the balances of RMB 14.1 billion and RMB 42.4 billion, respectively, as of March 31, 2020.

"Although we continued to see impacts from the outbreak of COVID-19 in the second quarter, our business demonstrated resilience and recovered at a good pace," said Xing Wang, Chairman and CEO of Meituan. "During the quarter, we helped our merchants to weather the storm, which created value for our vast community of consumers and merchants, and, as a result, stimulated the progressive recovery of the local services industry from the pandemic. We further boosted the competitive advantages of our core businesses while enhancing our ecosystem during our business recovery process. In the second quarter, we utilized advanced digital operations tools to enable more merchants, enhanced our on-demand delivery infrastructure to better facilitate the digital lifestyle of consumers, and accelerated the online penetration and digitization of essential local services on both the demand and supply side."

"As the leading e-commerce platform for services, Meituan will continue to fulfill our social responsibilities," Wang said. "We will help to further boost consumption growth and to recover local economies to the best of our abilities despite the uncertainties and challenges in the next few quarters. We believe that our philosophy of focusing on the long-term growth and rewards will continue to yield positive results for all participants in the Meituan ecosystem."

Company Business Highlights

Food delivery

For the second quarter of 2020, GTV of our food delivery business increased by 16.9% year-over-year to RMB108.8 billion. The daily average number of food delivery transactions increased by 6.9% year-over-year to 24.5 million. The average value per order of our food delivery business increased by 9.4% year-over-year. Monetization Rate[i] of our food delivery business decreased to 13.4% for the second quarter of 2020 from 13.8% for the same period of 2019. As a result, revenues of food delivery business increased by 13.2% year-over-year to RMB 14.5 billion for the second quarter of 2020. Operating profit from our food delivery business turned to positive RMB 1.3 billion for the second quarter of 2020, compared to operating loss of RMB70.9 million for the first quarter of 2020, while operating margin turned to positive 8.6% from negative 0.7%. Moreover, operating profit from the food delivery business increased by 65.7% year-over-year, while operating margin improved by 2.7 percentage points year-over-year.

Despite the pandemic’s continuous impact, we further demonstrated the unique competitiveness of our business model and validated the essential needs for food delivery services from both consumers and merchants. Especially, our immediate response to the COVID-19 new cases that occurred in Beijing showcased our increasing experience in managing the recurring outbreaks of COVID-19. To ensure the safety of our delivery riders and consumers, among other measures, we immediately organized nucleic acid testing for all of our delivery riders in Beijing, expanded the use of "intelligent lockers" in the city, and further upgraded our contactless delivery process. For merchants, we rolled out targeted support and commission rebate programs to help them better survive the COVID-19 new cases that occurred in Beijing. We also created a portal for merchants to upload their green COVID-19 testing results so as to provide consumers with extra food safety assurance.

In the second quarter of 2020, we continued to launch various promotional campaigns to stimulate the recovery of our food delivery business. For example, we rolled out the "June 18 Food Delivery Festival" and engaged around 4,000 reputable restaurants and brands to provide consumers with a wide variety of attractive promotions in the period. We were also spot-on in identifying consumers’ behavioral changes and used targeted promotions to actively increase the consumption of afternoon tea and late-night snacks. Moreover, we have further stepped up the portion of subsidies allocated to targeted repeat consumers through our effective food delivery membership program. As a result, the order volume of our food delivery business experienced positive year-over-year growth in the second quarter of 2020, with the daily average number of food delivery transactions increasing by 6.9% year-over-year to 24.5 million.

On the merchant side, a further recovery in merchant operation and consumer consumption led to the strong marketing demand from merchants in the second quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, the pandemic has accelerated the restaurants’ online migration, increasing the mix of high-quality merchants on our platform during the period. Notably, the number of newly-onboard branded merchants increased by more than 110% in the second quarter as compared to the prior year period. Their increased demand for online traffic has accelerated their adoption of our online marketing services. As a result, online marketing services revenues experienced rapid growth in the second quarter of 2020, increased by 62.2% year-over-year.

On the delivery front, we further improved our delivery efficiency in the second quarter of 2020, attributable to the refinement of our proprietary dispatching system algorithms and the continuous improvement of the operation of our delivery network. In addition, the sufficient delivery capacity and the favorable weather condition across the country enabled us to reduce the amount of seasonal incentives paid to delivery riders on a quarter-over-quarter basis. These factors together have allowed us to better control delivery cost per order on both a quarter-over-quarter and a year-over-year basis. Meantime, the importance of our on-demand delivery network as a critical component of society’s broader logistical infrastructure has been substantially elevated post the outbreak of COVID-19. Our delivery network helped to ensure continuity in people’s daily lives during the pandemic and served as a stabilizing force for society by creating abundant employment opportunities. We will continue to explore diversified delivery models and invest in the cutting-edge technology for autonomous delivery to further improve our operating efficiency and enlarge our capacity while striving to serve the needs of our merchants and consumers in more service categories.

In-store, hotel & travel

Revenues from our in-store, hotel & travel businesses decreased by 13.4% year-over-year to RMB4.5 billion in the second quarter of 2020. Operating profit of our in-store, hotel & travel businesses decreased by 11.9% year-over-year, but increased by 178.1% quarter-over-quarter to RMB 1.9 billion in the second quarter of 2020, while operating margin increased by 0.7 percentage points year-over-year and by 19.6 percentage points quarter-over-quarter to 41.6%.

During the second quarter of 2020, the in-store segment continued to recover at a slower pace than the food delivery business as consumers needed more time to rebuild confidence in certain discretionary in-store consumptions. In order to stimulate local services consumption and restore local economies, we cooperated with local governments to launch the "Safe Consumption Festival" in more than 60 cities and issued e-Vouchers during this quarter. These e-Vouchers were mainly for in-store dining initially, but we have since expanded them to cover hotels, shopping, and other local services. We also launched a series of promotional campaigns in the second quarter of 2020, including Labour Day promotions, Dragon Boat Festival promotions, and June 18 Marketing Festival promotions. These events covered all the aspects of our in-store services and helped to accelerate our collaborations with popular merchant brands to further improve our merchant base and offer consumers a wider variety of choices in turn. As a result, the recovery of transaction volume and merchants’ marketing demand of our in-store segment was on the right track. The year-over-year decline in commission revenues and online marketing services revenues were significantly narrowed from the first quarter of 2020. Moreover, we published a new 2020 version of our reputable "Must List Series." This series has evolved into a comprehensive and professional local services guide over the years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we noticed that consumers became more price-sensitive and conscious of hygiene factors, which further compounded the ability of our trusted Must List Series to attract user traffic and guide consumers to quality merchants. It also created a positive feedback loop for merchants to upgrade their services and better meet the emerging needs of consumers.

Our hotel business continued to be significantly affected by the pandemic, with the number of domestic room nights consumed on our platform in the second quarter of 2020 decreasing by 17% year-over-year. Nevertheless, we kept increasing our partnership with more hotels via our "Safe Stay" program to provide travelers with accommodation options that are more conducive to their desires and the quarantine environment. Meantime, in light of the increasing demand for intra-city and short-distance local travel, we also launched the "Safe Travel" program to help expedite the recovery of the industry. More notably, the pace of development for our high-star hotel partnerships also picked up, and we established a significant increase in relationships with these types of hotels in the second quarter of 2020 by increasing their non-lodging revenues through our "hotel + x" program. As a result, the contribution from high-end hotels further increased year-over-year.

New initiatives and others

Revenues from the new initiatives and others segment increased by 22.1% year-over-year to RMB5.6 billion in the second quarter of 2020. On a sequential basis, operating loss from the new initiatives and others segment expanded by 7.0% to RMB1.5 billion for the second quarter of 2020 from RMB 1.4 billion for the first quarter of 2020, while operating margin improved by 6.8 percentage points to negative 25.9% for the second quarter of 2020 from negative 32.7% for the first quarter of 2020. Operating loss from the new initiatives and others segment narrowed by 11.3% on a year-over-year basis, while operating margin improved by 9.8 percentage points year-over-year.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a catalyst for several of our new initiatives, and we saw a noticeable shift in the online shopping behavior on the consumer side and accelerated online penetration of traditional offline service businesses during the pandemic. During the second quarter of 2020, we maintained the rapid expansion of our key businesses, especially grocery retail business. Our marketplace model "Meituan Instashopping" achieved stellar revenue growth during the second quarter of 2020 on a year-over-year basis as we expanded our product variety and SKU categories to significantly grow our merchant base. "Caidaquan," our relatively nascent fresh produce-focused brand under "Meituan Instashopping," enabled more than 300 traditional wet markets to sell online and operate digitally. Our self-operated model, "Meituan Grocery," not only significantly expanded its coverage in key cities, such as Beijing and Shenzhen, but also began operations in new cities, such as Guangzhou, in July 2020. During the second quarter of 2020, we also established a new business division for community group purchase services, rolling out the "Meituan Selected" service brand accordingly in Jinan, Shandong in July 2020, which offers carefully selected fresh produce and daily necessities at attractive prices for local consumers living in different communities. Group leaders are appointed by us in each community to promote our discounted grocery products via WeChat groups. Group members can place orders through our WeChat Mini Program and pick up their products the next day at self-pickup points located in nearby convenience stores.

For bike-sharing services, we replaced around 1.5 million old bikes with new "Meituan Bikes" during the second quarter of 2020. The average turnover rate per bike improved incrementally and the unit economics also improved. Additionally, we launched more than 290,000 electric bikes. During this period, the average turnover rate per electric bike achieved better unit economics as compared to traditional bikes and demonstrated a clear path to independent profitability.

For the full announcement of Meituan 2020 interim results, please visit:
http://meituan.todayir.com/attachment/202008211704561761848748_en.pdf

About Meituan Dianping

Meituan Dianping (HKG: 3690) (the "Company" or "Meituan") is China’s leading e-commerce platform for services. With the mission of "We help people eat better, live better," the Company’s platform uses technology to connect consumers and merchants. Service offerings on the platform address people’s daily needs for food, and extend further to broad lifestyle and travel services. Meituan is the world’s leading on-demand food delivery service provider and China’s leading e-commerce platform for in-store dining services. Meituan helps consumers discover merchant information, make informed decisions, complete online and offline transactions and enjoy on-demand delivery. The Company currently owns several household brands in China, including Meituan, China’s leading online marketplace for services, Dianping, China’s leading online destination for discovering local services, Meituan Waimai for on-demand delivery services, and Meituan Bikes for bike-sharing services. Meituan has 457.3 million Annual Transacting Users and 6.3 million Annual Active Merchants as of June 30, 2020. The Company operates in over 2,800 cities and counties in China.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the business outlook, forecast business plans and growth strategies of the Company. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are stated herein on the basis of the outlook at the time of this press release. They are based on certain expectations, assumptions and premises, some of which are subjective or beyond our control. These forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect and may not be realized in future. Underlying the forward-looking statements is a large number of risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding these risks and uncertainties is included in our other public disclosure documents on our corporate website.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Meituan Dianping
pr.global@meituan.com   
ir@meituan.com

Edmond Lococo
ICR Inc.
Email: Edmond.Lococo@icrinc.com
Tel: +86 138-1079-1408

[i] Monetization rate equals the revenues for the period divided by the Gross Transaction Volume for the period.

Related Links :

https://www.meituan.com/

PR Newswire

EMAS Fintech’s First Regional Support Centre in Malaysia

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Confident in Malaysia’s favourable economic conditions, infrastructure, capitalises on abundance of multi-lingual and diverse talent

MANILA, Philippines, Aug. 21, 2020 — EMAS Fintech Inc CS201953873 (EFI) today announced the opening of its first Regional Support Centre in Malaysia to support its expansion and capitalise on the full potential of investment trading in the region.

Jason Kellady, Chief Executive Officer of Emas Fintech Inc.
Jason Kellady, Chief Executive Officer of Emas Fintech Inc.

Located in Malaysia, the EFI South East Asia (SEA) Regional Support Centre will support and offer the benefits of EFI’s cross-industry digital investment trading platform to regional investors. The centre will assist to integrate and aggregate investments, right size portfolios, provide access to wider industry data, apply predictive analytics to generate insights which can improve investment performance and productivity.

Logo, Emas Fintech Inc.
Logo, Emas Fintech Inc.

EFI chief executive officer Jason Kellady said, "This regional support centre is the first of six planned regional support centres. It represents the first phase of our business plan. In the next 24 months, we will gradually expand and increase our presence from Southeast Asia to East Asia, South Asia, Europe, Oceania and North America with an aim of 20 countries and regions," he said. These countries and regions include Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in Southeast Asia; Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, in East Asia; India in South Asia; Austria, Denmark, France, Greece and Switzerland in Europe; Australia in Oceania; and Canada in North America. 

He said Malaysia is a suitable host to support its expansion plans. "We have evaluated different countries and decided to house our first regional support centre in Malaysia. We have started our talent acquisition programme," said Kellady.

"We plan to recruit a core team of 15 to 30 specialists and account managers, then gradually expand to cope with demand from our subscribers," he explained. "Malaysia has an abundance of qualified talent that is used to dealing with a multi-lingual, multi-cultural environment. We are capitalising on this advantage, which owes to this nation’s history of being the crossroad of global trade," he said during the unveiling of EFI’s first Regional Support Centre on August 21, 2020 to EFI supporters and community.

He added EFI has started implementing plans to apply for regulatory approval at every market that it intends to pursue. "Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, we think the opportunities in the digital currency or eFiat market is growing. It was valued at USD1.03 billion last year and we agree with projections that it will exceed USD1.40 billion in five years, growing at a CAGR of 5 per cent to 8 per cent during this period," he said. "The shifts in global markets must be carefully scrutinised, monitored and we have assigned this task to our regional support centre."  

With regulatory approval in hand, EFI intends to aggregate like-minded investors to benefit from its unique trading methodology, optimised to generate small but consistent interests. "Our proprietary Intelligent Calculation System or ICS will guide investors venturing to tap the global Fiat Currency. Our aggregation model will hopefully enable EFI to deliver responsible and sustainable returns for every investor." 

"We are expediting our plans to seek approval from regulators in three countries: Malaysia, Japan and Vietnam, and expect to be operational by the end of this year. In the meantime, we need to recruit and train adequate talent to support our ambitions," said Kellady, a 10-year banking and capitals markets veteran, who himself is multi-lingual and fluent in Mandarin and English.

EFI is ready to comply and meet regulatory criteria and has enacted its Disaster Recovery Plan due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "The safety of our employees is paramount. We have proactively been monitoring the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and applaud tough measures adopted by the Malaysian Government. We are confident Malaysia will have a shorter recovery period. In the meantime, we have curtailed our employees from travelling and taking necessary precautionary measures to protect our clients, employees and stakeholders involved in our operations."

"We have been working remotely to implement our plans. This is the best time to explore and invest in infrastructure and talent, especially in Malaysia, as costs are lower than average, and the job market is on our side. We are continuing our operations while taking necessary steps to minimise the contagion risks of this outbreak. As such, we wish to assure everyone that we will continue to abide by established procedures like social distancing and implement additional measures as deemed necessary. EFI is contributing to keep our communities safe and help break the chain of infection for Covid-19." 

ABOUT EMAS FINTECH INC. 

Emas Fintech Inc CS201953873 EFI is a Philippines-registered investment fund operator targeting private investors and communities of investors. It offers investors with better market access, higher responsiveness and investment returns. EFI has established its first of six regional support centres starting with South East Asia in Malaysia on August 15, 2020 and seeking regulatory approval where needed in countries that it intends to operate. EFI plans to be active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in South East Asia; Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, in East Asia; India in South Asia; Austria, Denmark, France, Greece and Switzerland in Europe; Australia in Oceania; and Canada in North America.  www.emasfintech.com 

TO EDITORS 

PHOTO (Photo kit by default in RGB and Grayscale, 15cm X 15 cm, JPG, 72dpi. Other formats available on request.) 

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200821/2893095-1-a?lang=0
Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200821/2893095-1-b?lang=0

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http://www.emasfintech.com

PR Newswire

Bithumb Global Launches Learning Platform to Allow Users to Earn While They Learn

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SYDNEY and SINGAPORE, Aug. 21, 2020 — Starting out in finance is often not easy and inexperienced investors are bound to make mistakes. As a result, they either make sure to attend a business school to learn these skills before delving into the sector or hire experts to do it on their behalf through mutual funds or directly.

Crypto Markets Suffer from Lack of Proper Educational Resources

It is difficult to learn these skills for crypto assets as there are very few institutions developed around them. The metrics for judging crypto projects are also very different from other projects, making this skill even more complex.

The courses which are available to teach interested learners about cryptocurrencies are mostly theoretical and focused on particular aspects of investment. Inevitably, investors often are not able to integrate these theories with the practice of investing in real ongoing projects. All this makes the courses boring that, to begin with, had no incentives for these learners to focus diligently on the process of investments.

It is for these reasons that investors are hardly motivated to continue learning and there is attrition in terms of learning over the period of the courses. This has created a lot of amateur investors who are willing to dive into the crypto investment sphere without an adequate understanding of the process of decision making and investing in crypto projects. This has, in turn, led to a rise in the number of fraudulent and incompetent projects which have been leveraged by these amateur investors, leading to the degradation of the whole crypto community.

Bithumb Global is Again Leading the Change

It is to deal with this lack of expertise among prospective investors, Bithumb Global has come up with a platform called "BG Learning" to leverage the capacity of new investors in the crypto community to make more informed and properly thought out decisions while making investments. This is meant to provide better outcomes in the long run for the whole crypto market, as more informed investors will be able to promote better projects and will add more value and stability. In other words, Bithumb Global is trying to give back to the community in the form of knowledge.

The platform works on a simple model. Anyone who signs up for the BG Learning program will get access to several handpicked projects. And based on the understanding of these projects the users will get rewarded in the form of tokens of these projects.

However, this is more than a simple publicity campaign for the said projects. It is a full-fledged interactive learning platform that allows the users to learn about projects, associated risks, and the opportunities of investing in these particular projects. There will be scope for discussions among peers as well as communication and clarification from experts from the field of crypto and tech investment in general.

The platform operates on the basis of a voting system and a mechanism for rewarding the more competent dedicated learners. It has voting events hosted periodically for its users. The number of votes for each user is determined on the basis of the number of assets held and the quantum of transactions carried out by the user.

However, all votes are not accounted for. The votes of users for specific projects will be accounted for only when the user is able to answer questions about the project correctly, demonstrating an understanding of the various aspects of the project. If the user answers the questions about the projects correctly, then he/she is rewarded in the form of tokens of the crypto projects that he/she had voted for. This is a way of incentivizing continued dedication towards learning for the users. The number of reward tokens airdropped to the users is calculated by taking into account the total number of votes in the event, the individual number of votes allocated to the user, and the total amount of project tokens airdropped.

This system, therefore, allows learners to get a practical hands-on investing experience without a certain degree of buffer against inaccurate understanding about the projects. Continued learning is ensured through constant incentivization. This gives them a great deal of knowledge about the crypto sector and the important aspects of projects that need to be understood before investing.

All this knowledge will help the new investors not only make investments on the already handpicked projects within the Bithumb Global platform but it will enable them to invest on other exchange platforms more effectively without falling for any hoax claims or any other such traps. They will also learn how to effectively diversify their portfolio to maximize their returns on their investments.

Bithumb Global Learning’s first season had featured a very stable investment opportunity for the learners on the platform. The platform had launched, Mantra DAO- an organization that tends to create a staking based financial institution where the users and stakeholders are able to collectively govern and drive the outcomes of the organization. As a gem of a DeFi project, Mantra DAO (OM) has a very eye-catching performance – rocketing 4x after listing on BG. Meanwhile, 100,000 OM rewards have been distributed to participants of BG Learning.

Therefore, being part of the Bithumb Global Learning platform not only helps the users build knowledge but opens up their opportunity to participate in voting events featuring such attractive projects.

PR Newswire

Australian Army Pushes Metal 3D Printing to Extremes in Latest Field Trial

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DARWIN, Australia, Aug. 21, 2020 — Building on the success of its world-first field trial in June this year, a "WarpSPEE3D" 3D metal printer has again deployed and been put through its paces by the Australian Army during a two-week field exercise in the extreme heat and humidity of the Northern Territory.

WarpSPEE3D is the world’s first large-format metal 3D printer to use patented cold spray technology that enables significantly faster and more cost-effective metal part production than traditional manufacturing. Developed by SPEE3D, Australian award-winning manufacturer of metal additive manufacturing technology, the printer is capable of printing large metal parts up to 40kg at a record-breaking speed of 100grams per minute.

The printer arrived in Darwin in early June and forms the backbone of the Army’s developing 3D printing capability.

Having received a number of upgrades and modifications in the two months since its first deployment, the WarpSPEE3D print cell deployed, as part of 1 CSSB’s larger Brigade Support Group, to various field locations in temperatures up to 38 degrees Celsius and 80% humidity, whilst printing and machining genuine military metal parts.

SPEE3D printers make metal parts the fastest way possible, leveraging metal cold spray technology to produce industrial quality metal parts in just minutes, rather than days or weeks. This process harnesses the power of kinetic energy, rather than relying on high-power lasers and expensive gasses, allowing 3D metal printing in the field, at affordable costs.

The Australian Army announced a $1.5 million investment in a pilot of SPEE3D technology in February 2020 with a 12-month trial designed to test the feasibility of deploying 3D metal printers both on-base and in the field. SPEE3D partnered with the Advanced Manufacturing Alliance (AMA) and Charles Darwin University (CDU) to deliver the program with soldiers from the Australian Army’s 1st Brigade training in 3D printing at CDU since February.

The program aims to significantly increase unique parts available to the Army compared to what the regular supply chain can provide.

SPEE3D CEO Byron Kennedy said, "This second field deployment proves our technology is a genuine solution for expeditionary metal 3D printing. This two-week trial demonstrates the WarpSPEE3D is a robust workhorse that is capable of printing real parts and solving real problems in the field. It also proves that soldiers can take control of the whole workflow of creating the spare parts they need, from design to printing and post-processing, right here where they need them."

About SPEE3D

SPEE3D, based in Darwin and Melbourne, Australia, is an innovative supplier of metal-based additive manufacturing technology. SPEE3D focuses on the development, assembly, and distribution of machines and integrated system solutions based on the patented supersonic 3D deposition (SP3D) technology. The products enable significantly faster, lower-cost, and more scalable production than traditional metal printing techniques for copper and aluminium.

Media Contact:
Byron Kennedy
SPEE3D
Telephone: +61 410 656 936
Byron.kennedy@spee3d.com
www.spee3d.com
Australia

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Tactical 3D printing by the Australian Army
Australian Army Lance Corporal Sean Barton, from the 1st Combat Service Support Battalion, prepares the WarpSPEE3D printer for part assembly during Exercise Buffalo Run at Mount Bundey Training Area, NT.

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PR Newswire

Hitachi Elevator takes part in World Elevator & Escalator Expo 2020 with smart elevator solutions for the IoT era

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SHANGHAI, Aug. 21, 2020 — The World Elevator & Escalator Expo 2020 is being held in Shanghai from August 18th to 21st. Hitachi Elevator is taking part in the event with cutting-edge solutions for the 5G IoT era: intelligent buildings manned by smart elevators powered by big data- and cloud services-based command and control systems.  

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Hitachi Elevator at World Elevator & Escalator Expo 2020
Hitachi Elevator at World Elevator & Escalator Expo 2020

Supporting ongoing COVID-19 prevention and control efforts

Following the outbreak of the pandemic, the elevator became a focal point of public health concerns as it is, by nature, a vehicle meant to transport several people within a compact space. Hitachi Elevator showcases its latest touchless elevators alongside a lineup of sterilization and disinfection devices for escalators at the event.

Hitachi Elevator showcases its new contactless elevator solution
Hitachi Elevator showcases its new contactless elevator solution

The touchless elevators can be summoned by means of gestures, voice, face recognition, a mobile app and a WeChat mini-app, avoiding the need to press or, in any way, make contact with the surface of an elevator button.

As for the voice option, the control system of the touchless series is able to understand and respond to voice-activated commands, including summoning the elevator and indicating the desired floor, not only in Mandarin and multiple Chinese dialects but also in many of the world’s languages, removing barrier to installation and deployment of the elevators worldwide.

The face recognition option goes the furthest in empowering COVID-19 prevention and control efforts, as it enables passenger registration while checking the temperature of every person before they are allowed to board the elevator via mobile infrared thermometry.

Based on years of experience with smart buildings as well with the R&D and application of elevator IoT, Hitachi Elevator took only one week to complete the development and design of the touchless elevators and has already installed several of the units in some of their clients’ buildings, making the elevator maker one of the earliest and most comprehensive providers of the conveyances in China. The company has also set an example in providing several feasible cases for COVID-19 prevention and control in a short period of time.

Boosting on-demand maintenance services

This April, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation issued a circular with the aim of enhancing smart regulation and social oversight of elevators. According to the circular, a coordination system for the standardization of elevator IoT, together with a unified approach to elevator IoT systems, is recommended as the path to achieving the data interconnection of elevator IoT.

Hitachi Elevator’s on-demand maintenance solution attracts the attention of visitors and professional buyers
Hitachi Elevator’s on-demand maintenance solution attracts the attention of visitors and professional buyers

Hitachi Elevator, one of the industry’s earliest providers of elevator IoT, showcases its latest on-demand maintenance solutions, each of which achieves data interconnection between clients, the big data system, maintenance facilities and spare parts centers via its cloud service center, ELECLOUD®, while supporting a remote monitoring terminal on each elevator to ensure safe operation.

The ELECLOUD service center can perform over 600 AI-based pre-diagnoses of the components of an elevator. At the expo, engineers demonstrated how a proactive approach to maintenance by monitoring the status of an elevator with a focus on the number of rides within a certain period, the operating environment and the life cycle of the components can prevent riders from getting stuck in the elevator due to an unanticipated halt or breakdown. The presentation showed that the pre-diagnosis technology reduced unanticipated breakdowns by 65% while allowing customers to reduce monitoring costs associated with improper and unsafe use of elevators by over 90%.

The company has completed the construction of an IoT service platform for elevator maintenance in collaboration with over 20 government offices in prefecture-level cities and property management firms across China, paving the way for further adoption of its on-demand maintenance services throughout the country.

Building an intelligent building transportation system

With the increasing adoption of AI, IoT and 5G technologies, the traditional elevator industry has embarked on a digital transformation backed by smart technologies. Elevator IoT technology is poised to create a better human-machine interaction experience.

Hitachi Elevator creates an intelligent building transportation system
Hitachi Elevator creates an intelligent building transportation system

During the exhibition, Hitachi Elevator showcased the next-generation smart product platform HPES, which empowers passenger, freight, hospital and sightseeing elevators, among other application scenarios, with intelligent operation control and safety technologies in tandem with a smart passenger-oriented solution designed to deliver a comfortable and safe experience.

During the elevator ride, passengers are kept informed of the status of the elevator, a key factor in ensuring a high-quality travel experience. In view of situations that may occur when passengers are in an elevator, Hitachi Elevator leverages a combination of text, photos and voice alerts delivered by a color LCD display to convey necessary information about diverse changes in the status of the elevator, the building and the external environment in real time, while providing timely and necessary tips on best practices for elevator safety.

The company also displayed a visual escalator management solution enhanced by smart devices, cameras and big data technologies. Taking into account the need to handle high passenger throughput while maximizing the uptimes required by urban rail transit systems, Hitachi Elevator provides a visual safety management system designed to intelligently detect and analyze people flow. A key feature of the system is the cameras on the site that constantly monitor the movement of people on the escalator and analyze the data derived from the monitoring to quickly identify potential safety risks. In the event that the monitoring equipment detects hazardous overcrowding, or a passenger having gotten stuck or fallen, the safety management system will instantly link with the escalator control system to initiate safe operation mode and avoid harm to any rider.

In the 25 years since Hitachi Elevator entered the Chinese market, the firm has played a part in the country’s urbanization process in line with the growth of the economy. Looking ahead, the company plans to leverage its integrated urban management solution to further promote the development of Chinese cities by facilitating the construction of smart cities and accelerating the next stage of economic development based on enhancing the quality of life for all.

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PR Newswire

Pantum Launches Facebook Campaign Inviting Indian Users to List Down Favourite Features of the Bestselling Printers

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ZHUHAI, China, Aug. 21, 2020 — Aiming to optimize user experience for Indian customers, Pantum has launched a social media campaign on the Pantum India Facebook page to invite Indian users to list out their three most beloved features of Pantum M6502NW laser printer and M7102DW multi-function laser printer (MFP). Almost two thousand platform users shared and engaged with the post within days, and here is the round-up of their thoughts about which features have made the two printers the ideal printing solutions for enterprise and home office setup:

M6502NW – a compact three-in-one printer suitable for small business and home

With Pantum one-step driver installation, users can enjoy the simplest way to instantly set up and connect the printer to a computer with just one click. For the fans of Pantum M6502NW laser printer, the versatile connectivity and streamlined setup steps have made it a great working companion in both business and home scenarios. It features intelligent connection mode which enables users to automatically identify the nearby printers via Pantum App. Users can also connect the printer to multiple computers through Wi-Fi or network.

Coming in at a cost-effective price, Pantum M6502NW’s powerful functionality packed in a compact design takes its place as the second most favourite feature cited by its users. Capable of scanning, photocopying and printing, the affordable three-in-one laser printer is designed to maximize productivity for the start-up and home office while offering a more space-saving printing solution.

The high-performance and efficiency of Pantum M6502NW have also opened up more possibilities for the users who have to work from home during the pandemic. With a monthly page volume of up to 2,000 pages and the rate of 22 pages per minute, the printer is more than capable of handling whatever you might need to throw at it.

Pantum M6502NW Multifunction Laser Printer
Pantum M6502NW Multifunction Laser Printer

M7102DW – a perfect budget MFP printer that corporate users are looking for

For corporate users who are looking for a budget multi-function laser printer (MFP) with maximum features, Pantum’s fans might tell them that M7102DW is an unmissable choice. The all-in-one printer sports a clean and professional look and operates without noise and heating problem. But the most mentioned feature that has made this device hard to beat as an MFP printer at this price point is automatic duplex printing, also known as double-siding printing, an ideal function for the companies that wish to keep the operational costs down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For businesses demanding high-productivity and fast workflow, printers equipped with incredible print speed and convenient operation are highly sought-after, and M7102DW has made its reputation among users for these two features. The MFP printer comes with an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) that can scan up to 24 A4 pages per minutes and copies 33 pages per minutes, meeting the daily printing need of medium and large enterprises.

Pantum M7102DW Multifunction Laser Printer
Pantum M7102DW Multifunction Laser Printer

"At this unprecedented time, we have seen a drastic shift to remote working, and the technology remains a critical assistant helping people adapt to this challenge. Through this campaign, we are so glad that our India users on Facebook once again reminded us that Pantum’s technology continues to make a difference for them in adjusting to this difficulty," said Mr. Abhra Das, Pantum India Sales Head.

"With the pandemic continue to escalate around the world, we are striving to create more powerful and affordable printing solutions in a hope to enable everyone to easily set up their working and learning space at home during this global health crisis," he added

About Pantum

Founded in 2010, Pantum is a printer manufacturer, with its business covering printers, printing materials, and printing solutions and services. In 2011, Pantum began its overseas expansion with current global footprints in more than 50 countries. With its patented technology, Pantum is committed to meeting the evolving printing needs by offering economical, user-friendly, and energy-efficient products as well as reliable printing solutions. Today, Pantum is now also bringing greater value to Indian customers through its cost-effective products, premium services.

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PR Newswire

Tuniu to Report Second Quarter 2020 Financial Results on August 28, 2020

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NANJING, China, Aug. 21, 2020 — Tuniu Corporation (NASDAQ: TOUR) ("Tuniu" or the "Company"), a leading online leisure travel company in China, today announced that it plans to release its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020, before the market opens on August 28, 2020.

Tuniu’s management will hold an earnings conference call at 8:00 am U.S. Eastern Time on August 28, 2020 (8:00 pm Beijing/Hong Kong Time on August 28, 2020).

Listeners may access the call by dialing the following numbers:

US

+1-888-346-8982

Hong Kong

+852-301-84992

Mainland China

4001-201203

International

+1-412-902-4272

Conference ID:

Tuniu 2Q 2020 Earnings Call 

A telephone replay will be available one hour after the end of the conference call through September 3, 2020. The dial-in details are as follows:

US

+1-877-344-7529

International

+1-412-317-0088

Replay Access Code:

10147497

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference call will be available at http://ir.tuniu.com/.

About Tuniu Corporation

Tuniu (Nasdaq:TOUR) is a leading online leisure travel company in China that offers a large selection of packaged tours, including organized and self-guided tours, as well as travel-related services for leisure travelers through its website tuniu.com and mobile platform. Tuniu covers over 420 departing cities throughout China and all popular destinations worldwide. Tuniu provides one-stop leisure travel solutions and a compelling customer experience through its online platform and offline service network, including a dedicated team of professional customer service representatives, 24/7 call centers, extensive networks of offline retail stores and self-operated local tour operators. For more information, please visit http://ir.tuniu.com.

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PR Newswire

Acronis True Image 2021 Unites Award-winning Backup with Advanced Antimalware, Creating The First Complete Personal Cyber Protection Solution

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Integrating real-time antimalware and on-demand antivirus with its best-of-breed personal backup solution enables Acronis to deliver unmatched value to users

SINGAPORE, Aug. 21, 2020 — Acronis, a global leader in cyber protection, has just announced the release of Acronis True Image 2021. The new release integrates advanced cybersecurity capabilities with unmatched personal backup to create the first complete personal cyber protection solution for home users, prosumers, and small businesses around the world.

Delivery comes as the COVID-19 pandemic exposes gaps in traditional solutions and strategies. Securing home machines has never been more important, yet a recent Acronis survey found nearly half (47%) of remote workers never received clear guidance on working from home.

Incorporating cybersecurity capabilities such as real-time antimalware protection, on-demand antivirus scans, web filtering, and videoconference protection into Acronis True Image ensures users have complete cyber protection. For individuals and small business users, unifying these vital capabilities in one solution makes their protection easier to manage and more affordable, while greatly improving the security.

"As more people work or attend classes from home, the FBI documents a 400% increase in cyberattacks because hackers know home systems are not usually as well-defended as an office," said Serguei "SB" Beloussov, founder and CEO of Acronis. "Backup without cybersecurity is an incomplete option in that situation, as is cybersecurity without backup. Acronis True Image 2021 delivers the easy, efficient, and secure cyber protection needed today."

Standalone backup and cybersecurity are obsolete

With the modern reliance on everyday devices like computers, smartphones, and tablets, the data they contain has an inherent value. Cybercriminals are constantly evolving their attacks to reach that data, which is why security research firms such as AV-Test report more than 350,000 new malware threats every day.

Since backup software and files are often the targets of these new attacks to prevent recovery, backup alone no longer provides suitable protection for users. Similarly, conventional cybersecurity solutions do not provide the data protection and recovery capabilities users need.

Relying on multiple products that were not designed to work together creates security gaps, is more complex to manage, and is more costly. With a single, integrated solution, Acronis True Image 2021 users can proactively stop any malware attack and then quickly restore affected files. The single, intuitive interface reduces the complexity of managing their security and backups.

Integration delivers superior cyber protection

For the last few years, Acronis True Image has been the only personal backup solution with a built-in antiransomware that stops attacks in real-time, while automatically restoring any affected files.

With the launch of Acronis True Image 2021, those capabilities are expanded with the addition of the company’s advanced antimalware technology, which is currently deployed in Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud. This next-gen, full-stack antimalware has been shown by independent security labs such as Virus Bulletin and AV-Test to return a 100% detection rate with zero false-positives.

As a result, home users gain advanced capabilities with Acronis True Image 2021, including:

  • Real-time protection, driven by AI-enhanced behavioral heuristics, which stops all malware — including zero-day attacks by never-before-seen threats
  • On-demand antivirus scans of the full system or quick scans of at-risk files, either of which can be scheduled in advance or run instantly
  • Web filtering that automatically blocks Windows users from accessing malicious websites that harbor malware, disinformation, scams, and phishing attacks
  • Videoconference protection prevent hackers and malware injection attacks from exploiting popular apps like Zoom, Cisco Webex, and Microsoft Teams
  • Comprehensive detection, with both behavioral analysis and signature-based analysis engines

These advanced antimalware capabilities are included with Advanced and Premium licenses, and offered as a three-month trial with Standard and Essential licenses.

Pricing and availability

Four versions of Acronis True Image are available: Standard, Essential, Advanced and Premium. One-computer licenses starting at US$59.99 for Standard and US$49.99 for Essential. Special launch prices for Advanced and Premium licenses (starting at US$69.99 and US$99.99, respectively) are available until November 2020, at which time the full MSRP will be in effect (starting at US$89.99 and US$124.99, respectively).

About Acronis

Acronis unifies data protection and cybersecurity to deliver integrated, automated cyber protection that solves the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security (SAPAS) challenges of the modern digital world. With flexible deployment models that fit the demands of service providers and IT professionals, Acronis provides superior cyber protection for data, applications, and systems with innovative next-generation antivirus, backup, disaster recovery, and endpoint protection management solutions. With award-winning AI-based anti-malware and blockchain-based data authentication technologies, Acronis protects any environment — from cloud to hybrid to on-premises — at a low and predictable cost.

Founded in Singapore in 2003 and incorporated in Switzerland in 2008, Acronis now has more than 1,500 employees in 33 locations in 18 countries. Its solutions are trusted by more than 5.5 million home users and 500,000 companies, including 100% of the Fortune 1000, and top-tier professional sports teams. Acronis products are available through 50,000 partners and service providers in over 150 countries in more than 40 languages. For more information, please visit www.acronis.com.

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Pearl Abyss Updates Rival System in Shadow Arena

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SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 21, 2020 — Pearl Abyss announced today that its action-packed PvP Shadow Arena has introduced the new Rival System. Players can now gain Ranking Points by fighting against similarly-leveled opponents at a similar level.   

Pearl Abyss Updates Rival System in Shadow Arena
Pearl Abyss Updates Rival System in Shadow Arena

The Rival System is a new system that allows players to compete and grow against opponents who have similarly ranked during Ranked Matches. If players either directly take out or outrank their Rival in a match, additional Ranking Points will be given even if they do not win the game. Moreover, it will be easy to spot a Rival as a new function will notify players when their Rival is nearby. 

The new "Master" Tier has also been added to Shadow Arena. With this addition, a total of 8 Tier placements are now available in the game. Diamond Players who survive for the longest time with more than 8 kills in a promotional match will be promoted to a Master.  

In the Developer’s Note, Shadow Arena Lead Producer Kwangsam Kim announced that he is preparing to update a 5v5 Mode and a Deathmatch mode. A Replay mode will also be released soon, which will allow beginners to save and share tutorials and games. 

Last but not least, the Battle Pass event will continue to take place until September 17. Participants who obtain a special Ticket during the event period will have a chance to win a valuable prize such as a GeForce RTX 2080 graphics card, Seagate SSD 1TB, and a Limited Edition Shadow Arena Merchandise Package.  

Visit the official website, Discord, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter for more information.    

About Pearl Abyss  

Best known for the MMORPG franchise Black Desert, Pearl Abyss is a leading developer in the game industry. Established in 2010, Pearl Abyss has since developed Black Desert for PC, mobile, and console, and is developing Shadow Arena for PC and console. All of Pearl Abyss’ games are built on the company’s own proprietary engine and are renowned for their cutting-edge graphics. The company is also developing Crimson Desert, DokeV, and PLAN 8 and is poised to continue its growth through 2020 and maintain its position as one of Asia’s leaders in game development. More information about Pearl Abyss is available at: www.pearlabyss.com  

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VeChain Introduces New Blockchain-enabled Sustainability Solution To Power “Green Business” For Enterprises

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SHANGHAI, Aug. 21, 2020 — As consumer behaviors shift towards greener and more sustainable products due to climate change awareness, companies are increasingly looking to integrate a more sustainable approach to their businesses. Market-leaders such as Nike, Adidas, H&M & Amazon are already placing sustainability at the forefront of their global product and marketing strategies.


To help companies digitalize and increase efficiency for sustainable business practices, VeChain, the leading enterprise friendly blockchain platform, officially launches its Blockchain-enabled Sustainability Solution. The solution is built on its one-stop data Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform VeChain ToolChain™. 

BlockChain + Sustainability: Ensuring Trustworthy Long-term Efficiency & Profitability For Brands

Research by The World Economic Forum has shown that the risks for companies will grow due to both the direct impact of climate change on business operations and supply chains. There have been corresponding demands for transparency on sustainable activities, with financial regulators, policymakers proposing mandatory climate risk disclosure legislation, and litigation against companies failing to disclose climate risk.

In the meantime, the majority of customers are demanding more sustainable products from brands, showing strong willingness to change their purchasing habits to help reduce negative impact to the environment, especially among Generation Z. These customers are also inclined to buy products that have a clearly defined sustainability policy.

VeChain’s Blockchain-enabled Sustainability Solution centers on building a value-driven approach for businesses to streamline sustainable practices during the supply chain and manufacturing process. Blockchain technology allows businesses to reliably and accurately showcase their sustainable practices not only to consumers, but financial regulators and policymakers.

Value Propositions of VeChain ToolChain™ On Sustainability

The VeChain Blockchain-enabled Sustainability Solution is built on VeChain’s Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform VeChain ToolChain™. VeChain ToolChain™ is characterized by its high standardization, light cost and flexible payment in the market, and is easily implemented by businesses in every sector.

Most importantly, VeChain ToolChain™ also offers customizable tools and whitelabel services, where companies can implement their Sustainability Service for their own clients. The main value propositions of VeChain ToolChain™ in the sustainable sector includes:

  • Immutable Proof for Green Supply Chain
    The VeChain Blockchain-enabled Sustainability Solution provides enterprises effective sustainable practices with proven templates for blockchain data processing that cover key stages such as recycling, processing, reusing, inspection and more. Brands and retailers will be able to better trace the original source of their goods across the globe, ensuring that their products have been sourced lawfully, responsibly, and environmentally.
  • Transparency and Consistency of Information
    The solution ensures that all data will be trustworthy, immutable, and consistent across different counterparties in the supply chain. This reduces friction generated from discrepant or lost information, and enhances open collaborations in an efficient and cost-effective way.
  • Trust and Confidence between Consumers and Brands
    The added transparency by blockchain could help re-engineer all sustainable processes entirely by combining digital based services with field activities. Brands can demonstrate sustainable initiatives to the public or reporting to the regulators, and therefore, enhancing trust and brand image.
  • New Business Value by Accessing Professional Services
    Sustainable initiative data collected across supply chains or daily operations by VeChain ToolChain™ can help companies to lower the cost of public reporting service for government regulation, sustainable rating service for green brand image, and attestation service for responsible financing (green bonds, government financial subsidies, equity investors). Companies will also gain access to world leading third-party services through the VeChain global partner network, including DNV GL, PwC, Deloitte, Grant Thornton, and more, greatly reducing the cost of certification, audit, insurance or supply chain financial services.

As the world’s leading enterprise-friendly blockchain platform, VeChain shares the vision with enterprises to a future of green business, and has accumulated know-how and refined technology in proven cases in numerous business sectors. Joining hands with its strategic partners such as PwC and DNV GL, VeChain aims to bring blockchain technology to businesses in every sector. 

About VeChain
As a leading enterprise friendly blockchain company, VeChain began in 2015 and aims to connect blockchain technology to the real world by providing enterprises with blockchain solutions suitable for their business needs. With VeChain ToolChain™, a one-stop data BaaS platform, VeChain will continue to help enterprise clients in digitalization transformation, and eventually realize the long-term vision of enabling the real economy.

VeChain is the pioneer of real-world business applications, with international operations in Singapore, Luxembourg, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Paris, America, Italy and San Francisco. With the professional compliance guidance of our strategic partners, PwC and DNV GL, VeChain has established partnerships with many leading enterprises in various industries, including Walmart China, Bayer China, BMW, BYD Auto, H&M, Shanghai Gas, LVMH, D.I.G etc. For more information, visit: www.vechain.com

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