Technology

Global Times: Species thriving thanks to policy, consensus in China

Published

2 years ago

November 1, 2024

BEIJING, Oct. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Under the global framework for biodiversity, more wildlife species are increasing in number and enjoying a better space for living and breeding in China with the help of advanced technology and more popular caring, according to the Chinese delegation from diverse institutes and organizations at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity that is being held in Cali, Colombia.

A prolonged whistle resonated through the sky, prompting visitors to lift their cameras in anticipation of capturing the migratory birds that were arriving. In recent years, tens of thousands of migratory birds such as cormorants fly each autumn to Shenzhen, a subtropical metropolis in South China, making the city one of the most important stops for these birds in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Their numbers are still increasing as the local environment improves. Environmental conservation organizations, including the Mangrove Conservation Foundation (MCF), see the growing population of migratory birds as a signal that urban biodiversity in China is heading in the right direction.

Only around a few meters away from visitors, a black-faced spoonbill heads down in search of food over the wetlands at the Futian Mangrove National Nature Reserve alongside dozens of its brethren. Meanwhile, in the Futian Mangrove Ecological Park, an Eurasian otter, a species that disappeared from the Shenzhen Bay for nearly 20 years, has re-emerged.

Chen Yudong, a staff member with the Mangrove Conservation Foundation who focuses on the protection and biodiversity of wetlands, told the Global Times that the Futian Mangrove Ecological Park is currently home to five species listed as National Key Protected Wildlife, including the Eastern imperial eagle, the black-faced spoonbill, and the small Indian civet.

Additionally, the park has 39 nationally protected wildlife species at the second level (including birds, mammals, and reptiles). From 2015 to 2023, the number of insect species had risen from 109 to 1,224, while bird species had increased from 83 to 220.

To maintain and improve biodiversity in metropolises like Shenzhen, Chinese environmentalists are exploring the effective application of emerging technologies and analytical methods in biodiversity monitoring, such as bioacoustics, weather radar data, and artificial intelligence, according to Insights for Cities on Biodiversity, an initiative focusing on how to sustain urban biodiversity, published in Shenzhen in September.

For instance, during the migratory season, weather radar is being promoted to analyze and predict the flight paths of bird flocks, informing the implementation of lighting management strategies. This technology can help reduce accidents involving birds colliding with tall buildings or windows, particularly at night.

The delegation of the conservation foundation brought the initiative to COP16 and shared China’s experience with people who are concerned about how global biodiversity is being impacted by the continuously expanding urban areas around the world.

Chen said that these projects and technologies are all aimed at speeding up achieving the global target set for 2030 and beyond to safeguard and sustainably use biodiversity, which was clarified in the framework, also known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at the COP15 during the Chinese presidency.

Shenzhen is not the only city that protects wetlands and preserves an international channel for migratory birds. Black-faced spoonbills have also been observed in the wetlands in East China’s Zhejiang and Fujian provinces and South China’s Guangxi.

Li Cheng, founder of the Xizijiang Ecological Conservation Center, has also been encouraged and guided by the biodiversity framework.

“Since the COP15 was held in Kunming, I have felt the growing emphasis on ecological and biological protection from the public and authorities. More people are aware of the importance of sustaining the populations of each species on the Earth through public outreach programs,” Li told the Global Times, noting growing social consensus on biodiversity conservation seen in his daily work.

The infrared cameras set up by Li’s patrol team around the Wuqinzhang Mountain in Guangdong have recently captured additional pangolin movements, further bolstering Li’s confidence that the population of these endangered creatures is increasing.

Li still remembers the excitement he felt when one infrared camera first captured a pangolin at the end of 2018 and the night when he and colleagues repeatedly checked the pangolin’s photo multiple times.

Chinese pangolins were assessed as “critically endangered” by the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species in 2019 and was even thought to be functionally extinct at the time of its assessment.

Now more and more people, including local villagers who have joined the patrol team, have begun to devote their lives to protecting pangolins. To improve the efficiency of their conservation efforts, Li noted that in addition to infrared cameras, a mobile application especially developed for patrol personnel has been put into use. The app is constantly updated with real-time information on the pangolins, thereby informing those on patrol of urgent situations.

“We have begun to shift our priorities and are more focused on restoring the pangolins’ habitat and making more creative use of conservation technologies,” Li noted.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-times-species-thriving-thanks-to-policy-consensus-in-china-302293621.html

SOURCE Global Times

Technology

Bloomberg Introduces Spread-to-Benchmark Quoting for EUR and GBP Portfolio Trading Baskets

Published

16 hours ago

June 2, 2026

LONDON, June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Bloomberg today announced the launch of Spread-to-Benchmark quoting and trading for Euro (EUR) and Sterling (GBP) denominated portfolio trades through its Portfolio Trading Basket Builder (PTBB). The new functionality expands the range of quoting protocols available for European credit portfolio trading and reflects growing client demand for spread-based execution workflows, alongside increased dealer support for the convention across EUR and GBP markets.

Spread-to-Benchmark quoting is a well-established protocol for USD credit portfolio trades and is used by market participants to evaluate and execute portfolio trades. By extending this workflow to EUR and GBP portfolio trades, Bloomberg enables clients and dealers to transact using a familiar spread-based methodology across additional credit markets.

The introduction of Spread-to-Benchmark quoting for EUR and GBP baskets reflects increased client interest in evaluating portfolio trades through a spread-based lens and the growing adoption of spread-based execution workflows in European credit markets. The workflow provides market participants with an additional framework for assessing the relationship between credit spread risk and underlying government bond yields when pricing and executing portfolio trades.

Additional Workflow Flexibility 
The workflow complements Bloomberg’s existing portfolio trading capabilities, which support the full range of market-standard quoting conventions, including Price, Yield, Spread-to-Benchmark and Spread based workflows that reference Bloomberg’s evaluated pricing service (BVAL). This gives clients flexibility to compare and execute portfolio trades using the quoting methodology that best aligns with their investment objectives, execution preferences and internal risk management processes.

“European credit clients continue to look for execution workflows that reflect how they evaluate risk and monitor portfolio trading outcomes,” said Harry Street, Global Head of Credit and Equities Trading Product at Bloomberg. “By expanding dealer support for Spread-to-Benchmark quoting for EUR and GBP baskets, Bloomberg is broadening the range of workflow options available to clients trading European credit portfolios.”

“Portfolio trading workflows in fixed income continue to become more sophisticated as institutional investors look for ways to evaluate execution quality in changing market conditions,” said Kevin McPartland, Head of Market Structure & Technology Research at Crisil Coalition Greenwich. “Spread-based quoting helps market participants more clearly distinguish between the impacts of credit spread and underlying rates movements when determining how best to execute a portfolio trade.”

Bloomberg’s Electronic Markets solutions are used by leading financial institutions to trade efficiently in over 175 markets around the world. More than 9,000 client firms use Bloomberg Electronic Markets to access industry-leading depth and breadth of liquidity across asset classes from over 800 dealers globally. Bloomberg Electronic Markets provides market participants with comprehensive solutions across the trading lifecycle, including robust price transparency, analytics, automation and execution, powered by Bloomberg’s high-quality, multi-asset class data and tools.

About Bloomberg
Bloomberg is a global leader in business and financial information, delivering trusted data, news, and insights that bring transparency, efficiency, and fairness to markets. The company helps connect influential communities across the global financial ecosystem via reliable technology solutions that enable our customers to make more informed decisions and foster better collaboration. For more information, visit Bloomberg.com/company or request a demo.

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SOURCE Bloomberg L.P.

Technology

Dr. Sunho Kang, a senior battery-technology executive with leadership experience at major global battery and EV manufacturers, joins TeraWatt Technology as Head of Product and Technology

Published

16 hours ago

June 2, 2026

SAN FRANCISCO, June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — TeraWatt Technology Inc. (Headquartered in California, USA) is pleased to announce that Dr. Sunho Kang has joined the company as Head of Product and Technology.

Dr. Kang is a globally recognized battery-technology executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience spanning the United States, Asia, and Europe, and a distinguished track record of advancing innovations from laboratory research through gigafactory-scale production. He has held senior executive positions at world-leading organizations including Samsung SDI, Apple, and Volkswagen Group of America, and brings deep expertise in lithium-ion battery materials, cell engineering, and product industrialization across a broad range of applications, including electric vehicles and energy storage systems.

At TeraWatt, Dr. Kang will lead global product development and the commercialization of TeraWatt’s battery technology platform, aiming to accelerate the delivery of TeraWatt’s competitive products as well as the technology and commercialization roadmap including manufacturing scale-up.

Dr. Kang commented:

“I am thrilled to join TeraWatt Technology as Head of Product and Technology. TeraWatt’s innovative battery platform presents a tremendous opportunity to push the boundaries of lithium-ion technology, and I look forward to working with the team to accelerate product development and commercialization to deliver meaningful impact.”

TeraWatt Technology founder CEO Ken Ogata, Ph.D. commented:

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Kang as our Head of Product and Technology. His deep expertise in battery materials, cell engineering, and productization will be instrumental in accelerating TeraWatt’s product roadmap and technology leadership. Together with Dr. Kang, we will continue to drive our mission forward.”

About TeraWatt Technology Inc.
TeraWatt Technology Inc. is a California-based company that produces lightweight, high-power, and safe next-generation lithium-ion batteries.

Company Overview
Name: TeraWatt Technology Inc.
Representative: Co-founder and CEO Ken Ogata
Headquarters: 28 Geary St, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94108, United States
Founded: January 2020
Established: December 2019
URL: https://www.terawatt-technology.com/

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dr-sunho-kang-a-senior-battery-technology-executive-with-leadership-experience-at-major-global-battery-and-ev-manufacturers-joins-terawatt-technology-as-head-of-product-and-technology-302786854.html

SOURCE TeraWatt Technology Inc.

Technology

Tencent Cloud and Soniox Announce Strategic Partnership: Combining Advanced Speech-to-Text (STT) Technology with Global Real-Time Infrastructure

Published

16 hours ago

June 2, 2026

HONG KONG, June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of global technology company Tencent, today announced a strategic partnership with Soniox, a San Francisco-based speech AI company that specializes in developing high-accuracy, low-latency speech AI solutions. The collaboration integrates Soniox’s speech-to-text (STT) technology with Tencent Cloud’s Real-Time Communication (TRTC) enterprise-grade global infrastructure, enabling enterprises to build and deploy multilingual voice AI applications across 200+ countries and regions.

Elevating Enterprise Voice AI at a Global Scale

In enterprise voice AI deployments, latency directly affects user experience and application reliability. The integration of Soniox’s high-accuracy, low-latency STT with TRTC’s global transmission infrastructure reduces latency across the entire pipeline, creating a comprehensive end-to-end solution for enterprises deploying conversational AI applications worldwide.

Soniox is the voice platform for every language. Unlike legacy speech AI, which was built primarily for English-speakers, Soniox delivers native-speaker accuracy across 60+ languages. Its technology can handle mid-sentence language switching — a user can switch between English and Chinese in a single utterance, and Soniox will capture every word with complete accuracy. All of this works through a single API that works for both speech-to-text and text-to-speech.

By integrating TRTC, the partnership leverages an enterprise-grade real-time communication backbone featuring more than 3,200 global nodes, sub-300 ms worldwide latency, and advanced capabilities such as AI noise suppression and weak-network resilience. These capabilities enable conversational AI applications to operate reliably across diverse network environments, including regions such as Southeast Asia and Africa.

With the roll out of this partnership, developers can integrate the Soniox STT API directly within the Tencent Cloud console. Whether targeting English-speaking markets or supporting languages such as Arabic, Hindi, and Malay, enterprises can build global voice applications — including intelligent customer service, voice assistants, real-time translation, and meeting transcription — to address the demands of expansion into emerging markets and multilingual scenarios.

Wison Xie, Head of Product at Tencent RTC, stated: “Tencent RTC has always been committed to providing reliable real-time communication infrastructure for global enterprises. Our partnership with Soniox brings together our strengths in enterprise-grade audio transmission and Soniox’s advanced speech recognition technology. Together, we are making it easier for businesses to deploy accurate, low-latency voice AI applications across any language and any market.”

Klemen Simonic, CEO at Soniox Inc., stated “At Soniox, our mission is to help businesses understand every word, in any language, with native speaker accuracy and exceptional speed. Partnering with Tencent Cloud combines our speech AI with world-class real-time infrastructure, enabling enterprises to build voice AI experiences that scale globally with low latency and reliability.”

About Tencent Cloud:

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

About Tencent RTC:

Tencent RTC provides real-time communication solutions, including audio/video calling, live streaming, and in-game voice. With enterprise-grade security, AI-powered enhancements, and a global network of over 3,200 nodes, Tencent RTC powers mission-critical communication for customers worldwide.

About Soniox:

Soniox is a next-generation voice AI company bringing about the end of English-first speech AI. Most people on the planet did not grow up speaking English and often mix languages mid-sentence; and yet legacy speech AI was built for just English. Soniox is different: native-speaker accuracy across 60+ languages, true mid-sentence language switching, and flawless alphanumeric recognition that legacy providers still can’t match. For developers building global apps, Soniox is the only option. Try it for yourself at soniox.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/tencent-cloud-and-soniox-announce-strategic-partnership-combining-advanced-speech-to-text-stt-technology-with-global-real-time-infrastructure-302786832.html

SOURCE Tencent Cloud