Technology

CGTN: China maps out 2025 economic plans, vows more proactive macro policies

Published

1 year ago

December 13, 2024

BEIJING, Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The closely watched Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday as Chinese leaders decided priorities for the economic work in 2025.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech at the annual conference.

According to the meeting, despite the “complex and severe situation of growing external pressures and increasing internal difficulties,” China has ensured the overall stability and steady progress of the economy, and the major goals and tasks for economic and social development in 2024 are expected to be accomplished.

It stressed that China must adopt more proactive macro policies, expand domestic demand, and promote the integrated development of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation to do a good job in economic work in 2025.

Efforts must also be made to secure the steady development of the real estate and stock markets, guard against and defuse risks and external shocks in key areas, and stabilize expectations and stimulate vitality so as to promote sustained economic recovery, said the meeting.

From fiscal policy to monetary policy

According to the meeting, China will also adopt a “more proactive” fiscal policy, including an increase in the ratio of deficit and in the issuance of ultra-long special treasury bonds and local government special-purpose bonds.

China’s government debt-to-GDP ratio, according to the Ministry of Finance, stood at 67.5 percent at the end of 2023, much lower than the average 118.2 percent among G20 members and 123.4 percent for G7 countries estimated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). China’s fiscal deficit has long been below 3 percent, significantly lower than other major economies.

With a low government leverage ratio, China’s central budget has room for increased borrowing and deficit expansion, Minister of Finance Lan Fo‘an said in October.

The Central Economic Work Conference said China will adopt a “moderately loose” monetary policy and lower the reserve requirement ratio and interest rates when necessary to ensure adequate liquidity.

It marks the first “prudent” to “moderately loose” transition in the country’s monetary stance since 2011.

Since the beginning of 2024, the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, has cut the reserve requirement ratio twice, by 1 percentage point in total, for financial institutions, releasing approximately 2 trillion yuan (about $274.8 billion) in long-term liquidity.

From domestic demand to opening up

The Central Economic Work Conference listed priorities for economic work in 2025 in nine aspects, from stimulating consumption and developing new quality productive forces to preventing and addressing risks in key areas, consolidating poverty alleviation achievements and boosting green development.

The meeting stressed the need to vigorously boost consumption, improve investment efficiency and expand domestic demand on all fronts.

China remains one of the largest markets in the world. From January to October this year, China’s total retail sales of consumer goods approached 40 trillion yuan, while last year’s total exceeded 47 trillion yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

A national program aimed at promoting consumer goods trade-ins, unveiled in March, has demonstrated the untapped room of China’s domestic demand. Over 30 million participants have been attracted to the program, contributing total sales of over 400 billion yuan.

The two-day meeting also called for more efforts to further promote high-level opening up and secure the steady growth of foreign trade and foreign investment.

“China’s development is open and inclusive,” said Xi while meeting leaders of major international economic organizations, including the IMF, in Beijing on Tuesday, one day before the start of the annual conference.

China will put in place new systems for a higher-standard open economy, provide more opportunities for the development of other countries and share more development benefits with the world, Xi told the leaders at the Great Hall of the People.

Starting December 1, China has granted zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent of tariff lines to all least developed countries with which it has diplomatic relations.

That will help more products from these countries enter the Chinese market, sharing opportunities and boosting development, said Lyu Daliang, an official from China’s General Administration of Customs.

For more information, please click: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-12-13/China-maps-out-2025-economic-plans-vows-more-proactive-macro-policies-1zhpqUWwpkA/p.html

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SOURCE CGTN

Technology

Zifo Transforms Ontology Engineering with AI-Powered Intelligent Automation

Published

2 hours ago

April 30, 2026

Advanced AI solution speeds up ontology creation by 80%, generating structured, interoperable knowledge models for science-driven organizations.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and CAMBRIDGE, England, April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Zifo, the leading global enabler of AI and data-driven enterprise informatics for science-driven organizations, has developed an Intelligent Automation solution for Ontology Engineering, which is designed to seamlessly generate structured, interoperable knowledge models while accelerating ontology creation by 80%.

Overcoming the Bottlenecks of Manual Ontology Creation

Manual ontology creation in the biopharma industry has traditionally been a time-consuming process that requires specialized expertise. Organizations frequently struggle with semantic ambiguity, complex integration challenges, and limited scalability, resulting in workflows that can take weeks to complete. Zifo’s AI-powered automation tackles these challenges head-on by eliminating 80% of the manual work through automated class generation, description creation, and precise IRI mapping.

Addressing the Complexities of Semantic Knowledge

Developing comprehensive knowledge models often demands deep domain expertise to define relationships and align terminology. Zifo’s intelligent solution overcomes this by providing an AI-guided workflow featuring an intuitive interface, meaning specialized ontology engineering knowledge is no longer required. By leveraging LLM-powered generation, the solution creates precise definitions with a deep understanding of domain-specific context, while generating standardized synonyms and establishing controlled vocabulary alignment to eliminate inconsistent terminology.

A Solution Designed for Scalable Scientific Data Modeling

The AI-powered solution addresses critical format compatibility and integration points in ontology management:

Seamless Integration: Automated mapping connects directly to established ontologies, including NCIT, CHEBI, OBI, and EFO, via BioPortal and OLS APIs.Massive Scalability: Parallel processing and batch operations empower teams to execute large-scale ontology projects without performance limitations.Automated Hierarchies: The AI autonomously generates semantic relationships and parent-child hierarchies based on domain context and predefined relation vocabularies.Format Compatibility: The solution produces direct OWL/RDF exports with proper URIs, ensuring seamless downstream integration.

Unique Features include:

Multi-Source Integration: The solution combines BioPortal, OLS, and EMBL-EBI APIs to guarantee comprehensive ontology coverage.Intelligent Ranking System: The system uses AI-powered relevance scoring and justification for precise ontology mappings.Precise IRI Mapping: It ensures that each generated class is linked to the correct IRI, directly promoting semantic web compatibility.Human-in-the-Loop Design: The solution automates repetitive tasks while maintaining vital expert oversight.End-to-End Workflow: Users are guided through a complete pipeline, from initial domain knowledge input straight to exportable OWL files.Visual Knowledge Graph: An interactive graph visualization allows for intuitive relationship exploration and validation.Multi-Format Exports: Provides seamless export options in CSV, OWL, or HTML Ontograph formats for downstream use, collaboration, and visualization.

Strategic Value Across the Scientific Chain

This solution breaks down the traditional barriers of data structuring. Built on a robust backend of Python, LangChain, and leading LLM models, alongside a frontend framework using Next.js 15 and Cytoscape.js for graph visualization, the solution is highly adaptable. Furthermore, future optimization enhancements will include provisions for uploading user-defined classes or semi-ready ontologies.

About Zifo

Zifo is the leading global enabler of AI and data-driven enterprise informatics for science-driven organizations. With expertise spanning research, development, manufacturing, and clinical domains, Zifo serves a diverse range of industries including Pharma, Biotech, Chemicals, Food and Beverage, and more. Trusted by over 190 organizations worldwide, Zifo is the partner of choice for advancing digital scientific innovation.

For more information, visit www.zifornd.com; https://zifornd.com/practical-ai-blueprints/

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2731415/Zifo_Technologies_Logo.jpg

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SOURCE Zifo Technologies

Technology

UNC-Chapel Hill establishes ‘Carolina in the Capital’ with new Washington, D.C. office

Published

2 hours ago

April 30, 2026

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has opened a new office in Washington, D.C., establishing an expanded presence for the University in the nation’s capital and creating exciting opportunities for students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Located at 101 Constitution Avenue NW, the 10,861-square-foot space – coined “Carolina in the Capital” – will support a variety of functions, including educational programming for undergraduate and graduate students, alumni relations and engagement with government partners.

As a leading R1 university, UNC-Chapel Hill annually attracts more than $1.6 billion to the state’s economy to fund research that creates a better quality of life for all its citizens. More than 60% of UNC-Chapel Hill’s total research funding comes from federal sponsors with the majority of that federal funding coming from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is based in the Washington area.

“Carolina in the Capital is a state-of-the-art facility that reflects our commitment to creating experiential learning opportunities for our students and faculty,” said Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. “The space is designed as an immersive learning environment where students can translate classroom knowledge into hands-on experience, which has never been more important. The facility also strengthens our ability to support engagement between our staff, alumni, policymakers and partners.”

Supporting students participating in Carolina’s Washington-based academic programs is a priority. For years, students and faculty have relied on temporary or borrowed spaces across the city. The new office provides a permanent home where students can gather, learn and build community while living and studying in Washington. A robust schedule of classes and events will fill the space throughout the year.

The Washington, D.C. region is home to the largest concentration of out-of-state Carolina alumni anywhere in the country. The new office creates a dedicated space to strengthen those connections and support networking, mentorship, professional development and community-building among D.C.-based Tar Heels.

The space will also serve as a platform to bring Carolina’s research and academic expertise into closer conversation with policymakers, industry leaders and member organizations. Carolina is the nation’s 11th largest university in the country based on research volume with primary federal funding coming from NIH and the National Science Foundation (NSF), both based in the D.C. area. Carolina is a proud member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Association of Public & Land Grant Universities (APLU), which are both based in Washington.

The office is funded entirely through the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation and does not use any state appropriations.

You can view additional photos of the space here.

Media Contact: UNC Media Relations, 919-445-8555, mediarelations@unc.edu

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SOURCE University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Office of Communications

Technology

Investing.com Acquires Stonki to Accelerate Its Entry into the Agentic AI Era

Published

2 hours ago

April 30, 2026

The acquisition strengthens Investing.com’s AI capabilities, advancing a next-generation research assistant that can analyze markets, generate insights, and guide investors in real time

NEW YORK, April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Investing.com, one of the world’s largest financial platforms used by more than 60 million investors each month, today announced the acquisition of Stonki, an AI-powered investing assistant designed to help traders turn ideas into structured, actionable trading plans.

The move marks a major step in the company’s evolution toward agentic AI, strengthening its ability to deliver faster, deeper, and more actionable market insights to a growing base of more than 300,000 paying subscribers across its InvestingPro suite, the company’s premium subscription offering for advanced market data, tools, and AI-driven insights.

Over the past 12 months, nearly 3 million users have used WarrenAI, Investing.com’s AI-powered financial research assistant launched last year, to perform market analysis, making AI a central entry point into the platform’s ecosystem. With the addition of Stonki, the company is moving beyond traditional AI tools toward agentic systems that can proactively guide users through the investment process.

“We’re entering the age of agentic AI, where the technology moves beyond just answering questions to actively helping investors think, analyze, and act,” said Omer Shvili, CEO of Investing.com. “Bringing Stonki.ai into the fold accelerates our goal of building an agentic platform that will serve as a 24/7 analyst for our users. We are developing this to be more than just a tool; it will be a partner that identifies opportunities, tracks unfolding situations, and surfaces trade ideas even when the user isn’t active—giving our users the kind of edge that was previously only available to professional investors.”

Founded in 2025, Stonki is developing a new category of ‘agentic’ AI for investing, enabling users to turn investment ideas into fully defined strategies with entry and exit conditions, risk management rules, and continuous monitoring.

“We started Stonki because, as investors and traders ourselves, we knew how much time and focus it takes to stay on top of the market and properly manage a day trade, a swing trade, an investment idea, or a portfolio,” said Ulas Bilgenoglu and Itay Verkh, co-founders of Stonki. “We set out to build AI that could carry part of that load by continuously monitoring the market, turning ideas into structured strategies, and helping users make better decisions with clear entry and exit conditions, disciplined risk management, and ongoing tracking. Joining Investing.com gives us the scale, data, reach, and strong AI foundation to accelerate that vision. Together, we can create an experience where AI helps users stay ahead of the market, manage risk, and act with greater confidence.”

The acquisition expands Investing.com’s AI capabilities across both technical and fundamental investing workflows. Stonki’s technology is built around persistent, real-time intelligence, continuously monitoring markets, tracking user-defined strategies, and alerting investors when conditions align, rather than relying on one-off prompts or static analysis.

For active traders, the platform is evolving into a real-time analysis engine designed to support high-frequency decision-making with precision and speed. For long-term investors, it is becoming a central hub for research, enabling users to evaluate opportunities, set personalized alerts, and monitor portfolios based on their individual investment strategies.

Users will be able to define specific conditions, such as a stock crossing a long-term moving average, and have the AI continuously monitor the market, analyze relevant signals, and surface actionable insights in real time. The system will also review portfolios on an ongoing basis, helping investors avoid potential losses and uncover new opportunities aligned with their strategy.

This latest step builds on Investing.com’s broader strategy of expanding its AI-powered suite, including WarrenAI, ProPicks AI, and its recently launched AI Chart Analysis, all aimed at delivering faster, more accurate and more actionable insights to investors.

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SOURCE Investing.com