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Unlocking the “great” economic vitality in “small” counties

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BEIJING, Dec. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — A news report by China.org.cn on China’s county economy:

 

The Christmas and New Year shopping carnival has arrived again. While, in eastern China’s Yiwu, the hustle and bustle already began months ago. As the largest hub for the world’s Christmas decorations, Yiwu provides more than 20,000 types of Christmas items for over 100 countries and regions every year. Since mid-summer, international merchants have been flocking there, crowding the shops in Yiwu.

Yiwu, as a small county-level city, has shaped its own unique development path based on its own strengths and with the help of policy support. Now, it is home to multiple specialized market clusters with modern logistics campuses. Last year, the city’s GDP exceeded 200 billion yuan (about 28 billion USD) for the first time.

Yiwu is a microcosm of the many Chinese county-level administrative divisions in the “100-billion-yuan-GDP club.”

Back in 2013, only nine counties and county-level cities had such a GDP scoresheet. Ten years later, the number has reached 59 according to the latest statistics. Represented by Yiwu and its like, the rapid progress in the county economy has denoted the vitality of China’s whole economy.

We can start with numbers to back the conclusion up. China now has 2,844 county-level administrative divisions, with their economic output accounting for about 40% of the country’s total GDP. While, the 59 counties in the “100-bln-yuan-GDP club” alone have contributed 7.6% of the country’s GDP, and more than 10% of the country’s output value of industrial enterprises above the designated size.

Moreover, the counties and county-level cities are witnessing industrial transition and upgrading. In an automobile production workshop in Feixi County, Anhui Province, the production line churns out a new energy vehicle every 58 seconds; the county is now the hub for over 100 companies along the industrial chain of new energy vehicles. In Shouguang County, which is known as the “vegetable capital” of China, a smart campus measuring more than 23,000 mu (about 3,788 acres) has been built in collaboration with over 40 scientific research institutions. In accelerating industrial innovation and cultivating new industries, the county economy has exemplified new potential for growth.

What’s more notable is how consumption in counties and county-level cities is bolstering domestic demand. In recent years, an array of tea beverage, dining, and fashion brands have mushroomed in the counties. In 2023, one-third of newly opened cinemas are in counties and county-level cities; coffee consumption is growing even faster than in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou; more than 60% of the 100-bln-yuan-GDP counties enjoy a consumption capacity higher than the national average. Besides, more and more young Chinese are traveling to counties. For example, Anji County in Zhejiang Province has branded its ecological tourism, attracting numerous tourists with its “Sea of Bamboo in China” and Hello Kitty Park; Liuyang in Hunan Province has built its own tourism brand by hosting the China Liuyang International Fireworks Festival. One can say, the county economy is turning into a significant growth driver for domestic demand.

In China, “county” is a different concept than that in western countries. Chinese county-level administrative divisions cover primarily and mainly the rural areas. Therefore, what we see as a positive momentum in the county economy, is to a great degree the fruits of China’s rural revitalization. Some also believe that it’s living proof of China’s ever-growing solid economic foundation.

The recently convened Central Economic Work Conference proposed to vigorously boost county economies, and placed “expand domestic demand on all fronts” at the top of its agenda. Amid complexities, by growing local specialty industries, strengthening talent pool building, and improving local business environment, even the seemingly smallest counties will unleash gigantic vitality.

China Mosaic 
http://chinamosaic.china.com.cn/index.htm
Unlocking the “great” economic vitality in “small” counties
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2024-12/26/content_117630805.htm 

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SOURCE China.org.cn

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Silicon Valley Stars Gather for Dreame’s San Francisco Debut

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April 25, 2026

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Dreame Technology, a global high-end technology company, confirmed the guest lineup for DREAME NEXT, the company’s largest-ever international launch event, running April 27 to 30, 2026, in San Francisco. The roster brings together figures who have shaped the trajectory of autonomous driving, personal computing, and professional sports: Sebastian Thrun, Steve Wozniak, and Dwyane Wade will all attend.

The breadth of expertise on the guest list reflects the reach of DREAME NEXT itself. Over four days, Dreame will stage product launches across smart mobility, smart home appliances, personal devices, and premium personal care, the first time a single event from the company has spanned its full product ecosystem. The event is organized around five themed segments: Drive Next, Living Next, Connect Next, Self Next, and Humanity Next.

Over the course of the four-day launch event, DREAME NEXT will bring together leading voices from across technology, academia, investment, and innovation to explore the next stage of industry transformation. Discussions will center on how AI-driven applications are reshaping products from the ground up, whether the age of AI requires products to be fundamentally reimagined, how intelligent technologies will redefine the foundations of manufacturing productivity, and what the next decade of human technological evolution may look like.

Featured speakers include AI pioneer Sebastian Thrun (Google X, Udacity), tech futurist Robert Scoble (Microsoft), Meta design leader Julie Zhuo, AI strategist William Fong (Microsoft), and business veteran James W. Keyes (7-Eleven, Blockbuster). The lineup also features Turing Award winner David Patterson, NASA rocket scientist Sylvia Acevedo, Stanford GSB’s Yossi Feinberg, economist Barry Eichengreen, tech journalist Rebecca A. Fannin, engineering leader Jim Chen, and Fremont Mayor Emeritus Lily Mei, alongside former Google DeepMind AI researchers and the co-founders of Robot Launch. These global leaders will share insights on AI, technology, innovation, economics, and entrepreneurship.

Demonstrating Dreame’s growing global influence, the event will also welcome standout guests from beyond the technology sector, including Apple co-founder and personal computing pioneer Steve Wozniak; and three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade.

The guests in attendance at DREAME NEXT reflect where the company is headed; that leaders from autonomous driving, personal computing, and professional sports are all in the same room for a single company’s launch event speaks to the scale and ambition of what Dreame is building. DREAME NEXT is not just a product launch but the opening chapter of the company’s next ten years.

Dreame’s product portfolio now spans categories that, until recently, belonged to entirely separate industries. DREAME NEXT is designed to demonstrate that these categories are connected by core technologies, including high-speed motors, intelligent algorithms, and bionic robotic arms, which are now being applied across smart mobility, personal devices, home appliances, and personal care. It represents not only the next generation of products and lifestyles, but also the beginning of Dreame’s vision for the next decade.

DREAME NEXT runs April 27 to 30, 2026, in San Francisco. Media, partners, and invited guests are welcome to attend.

Please stay tuned for the latest updates from the event through the official website or the social accounts on X: @DreameGlobal, Facebook: Dreame Tech, and Instagram: @dreame_tech.

About Dreame Technology

Founded in 2017, Dreame Technology is a global high-end technology brand built on a foundation of high-speed digital motors, intelligent algorithms, and bionic robotic arms. The company’s product portfolio spans smartphones, smart vehicles, smart home appliances, intelligent cleaning appliances, outdoor smart devices, and personal care, designed to simplify daily life and give users more time for what matters. Dreame operates in more than 120 countries and regions with over 6,500 offline stores and serves more than 42 million households globally. As of December 31, 2025, the company has filed more than 10,000 patents worldwide and holds over 3,000 granted patents.

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SOURCE Dreame Technology

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WisPaper Enables Parallel Scientific Exploration, Moving Research Beyond Sequential Workflows

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April 25, 2026

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SINGAPORE, April 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — WisPaper, an AI-powered academic research agent, today introduced a new approach to scientific workflows that supports concurrent research execution. The development addresses a longstanding constraint in research—the reliance on sequential, step-by-step processes—by enabling multiple lines of inquiry to progress in parallel, allowing researchers to expand both the speed and scope of exploration.

Breaking the Limits of Sequential Research

Traditional research follows a linear structure, where literature review, hypothesis formation, experimentation, and validation are carried out sequentially. This model limits researchers to advancing a single direction, as each stage requires manual effort.

WisPaper shifts this structure by reducing dependencies between stages. Tasks that once required sequencing can now proceed more independently, allowing different research threads to move forward without waiting for earlier steps.

Enabling Concurrent Exploration

With this approach, WisPaper supports a more parallel mode of research. Researchers can initiate multiple hypotheses or problem statements simultaneously, while the system advances processes such as literature analysis, experimental setup, and result generation across these directions.

This enables a higher density of exploration within the same time frame. Instead of focusing on a single hypothesis over an extended period, researchers can evaluate multiple possibilities, compare outcomes, and adjust direction more efficiently.

Redefining the Researcher’s Role

As execution becomes less constrained by manual coordination, the role of the researcher shifts toward higher-level decision-making. Researchers can focus on defining questions, setting priorities, and interpreting results across multiple ongoing investigations.

This model mirrors how larger research teams operate, where parallel efforts are coordinated toward shared objectives. By enabling similar capabilities at the individual level, WisPaper expands how research can be structured and managed.

Implications for Knowledge Production

Parallel exploration introduces a different rhythm to scientific work. By allowing more research paths to be tested within a given period, it may influence how quickly new findings emerge, particularly in areas where validation is time-intensive.

As research workflows continue to evolve, approaches that balance depth with broader exploration may play an increasing role in shaping how knowledge is produced.

About WisPaper

WisPaper is an AI-powered academic research agent designed as a full-chain research accelerator. It supports literature retrieval, analysis, experiment design, execution, and paper writing within a unified workflow, helping researchers manage complex scientific tasks more efficiently across disciplines. For more information, visit http://wispaper.ai/?utm_source=news.

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SOURCE Wispaper.ai

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Pony.ai Announces New Generation Autonomous Driving Compute Platform Built on NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion

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April 25, 2026

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GUANGZHOU, China, April 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Pony AI Inc. (“Pony.ai”) (NASDAQ: PONY; HKEX: 2026) today announced its new generation autonomous driving domain controller, a high-performance compute system designed for both Pony.ai’s L4 autonomous driving platform and a broader set of customer applications across autonomous mobility. Developed in collaboration with NVIDIA, the new controller is built on the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion platform and powered by NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor with NVIDIA NVLink, supporting Pony.ai’s next phase of commercialization in robotaxis and its growing domain controller business.

The new system is designed to deliver significant gains in AI computing performance, energy efficiency and support for the latest AI models, while meeting core L4 requirements such as multi-sensor fusion, full-scenario perception and high-complexity scenario understanding. It is also engineered to further enhance safety redundancy, system robustness and deployment flexibility.

Pony.ai expects the new platform to support a portfolio spanning multiple compute tiers and cooling solutions, enabling deployment across a wide range of autonomous applications. With flexible single-chip and multi-chip configurations, the platform is expected to incorporate NVIDIA NVLink to enable high-speed, low-latency communication between the two DRIVE Thor system-on-a-chips (SoCs), achieving a combined maximum computing performance of 4000 FP4 TFLOPS.

“Our collaboration with NVIDIA has supported several critical milestones in Pony.ai’s autonomous driving journey,” said Dr. James Peng, Founder and CEO of Pony.ai. “The next-generation domain controller built on NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion will be a key enabler for the continued evolution of our L4 autonomous driving products and help accelerate large-scale commercialization.”

“Autonomous driving systems are rapidly increasing in complexity, driving the need for scalable, high-performance compute platforms,” said Rishi Dhall, Vice President of Automotive at NVIDIA. “Pony.ai has been a long-standing NVIDIA DRIVE customer and ecosystem partner, and we’re pleased to see them build their next-generation domain controller on NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion with DRIVE Thor accelerated compute to support advanced L4 autonomous driving applications.”

The new platform builds on a long-standing collaboration between Pony.ai and NVIDIA that began in 2017. In 2022, Pony.ai launched its in-house developed automotive-grade computing unit powered by single or multiple NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin SoC, which was deployed in its sixth-generation Robotaxis. In 2025, the company began mass production of the world’s first L4 Robotaxi domain controller equipped with four NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin SoCs. That controller now powers Pony.ai’s seventh-generation (Gen-7) Robotaxis and provides a strong foundation for scalable, fully driverless operations.

As one of the few L4 autonomous driving companies globally with full-stack, in-house capabilities across both software and hardware, Pony.ai brings deep expertise in domain controller design. Its software-hardware co-design approach enables system-level optimization across performance, safety and cost.

Over the past year, Pony.ai has seen growing demand for its automotive-grade domain controllers across low-speed delivery, robosweeping, logistics, mining, autonomous shuttles and other robotics and intelligent mobility applications. Shipments of its “Fangzai” domain controller in 2025 surged by more than 500% year over year. Customers are spread across dozens of countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, and Switzerland.

Building on Gen-7’s gains in cost efficiency, safety and reliability, Pony.ai has also achieved significant milestones in robotaxi commercialization, including unit-economics breakeven in two of China’s major metropolitan markets. The company aims to expand its robotaxi fleet to more than 3,000 vehicles and its geographic footprint to more than 20 cities globally by the end of 2026.

About Pony AI Inc.

Pony AI Inc. is a global leader in achieving large-scale commercialization of autonomous mobility. Leveraging its vehicle-agnostic Virtual Driver technology, a full-stack autonomous driving technology that seamlessly integrates Pony.ai’s proprietary software, hardware, and services, Pony.ai is developing a commercially viable and sustainable business model that enables the mass production and deployment of vehicles across transportation use cases. Founded in 2016, Pony.ai has expanded its presence across China, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and other regions, ensuring widespread accessibility to its advanced technology.

Contact
Pony.ai: media@pony.ai

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SOURCE Pony AI Inc.

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