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Paul Chan attends the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Switzerland; spotlights Hong Kong’s advantages as an international hub for trade and finance

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HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 21 January 2026 – Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), has joined about 3,000 world leaders attending the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland (January 19-23). During the WEF Annual Meeting 2026, themed “A Spirit of Dialogue”, Mr Chan attends, speaks and joins discussions at several keynote meetings, luncheons and dinners. He also meets with political, business and financial leaders to brief them on the latest situation in Hong Kong as well as the city’s new opportunities.

Mr Chan attended a breakfast reception hosted by virtual asset enterprise Animoca Brands, headquartered in Hong Kong, yesterday (January 20). Speaking at the meeting, Mr Chan said that Hong Kong adopts a proactive yet prudent approach to the development of digital assets guided by the principle of “same activity, same risk, same regulation” to promote responsible and sustainable market development. Since 2023, Hong Kong has issued licences to 11 virtual asset trading platforms, and a licensing regime for stablecoins is expected to be launched later this year. The Financial Secretary also noted the HKSAR Government’s leadership role in promoting tokenisation, including the issuance of three batches of tokenised green bonds amounting to around US$2.1 billion.

Mr Chan also engaged with a number of officials from different economies and regional organisations attending the WEF Annual Meeting, including Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance of Thailand, Mr Ekniti Nitithanprapas; the Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Mr Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi; the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Egypt, Mr Hassan El Khatib; and the State Secretary for International Finance at the Federal Department of Finance of Switzerland, Ms Daniela Stoffel. They exchanged views on the global political and economic landscape and issues of mutual concern, and explored opportunities to strengthen collaboration in areas such as trade, finance, industry development and digital transformation.

During a meeting with the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Mr Chan reiterated that Hong Kong, China firmly supports free trade and multilateralism, and expressed support for the WTO’s efforts to pursue reforms in response to current global challenges, with a view to enhancing its agility in addressing emerging issues in international trade.

HKSAR’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan (right) meets with the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in Davos, Switzerland

On arriving Davos (January 19), Mr Chan began his visit programme by meeting with the Minister of Economy of the Sultanate of Oman, H.E. Dr Said Mohammed Al-Saqri. During the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in areas such as finance, trade, green transformation and industrial development.

Mr Chan said that Hong Kong’s advantages as a “super connector” could support Oman’s transitioning from an oil-driven growth model towards a more diversified economic structure. He said that Hong Kong could facilitate Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong enterprises to invest in Oman to support its infrastructure and industrial development. At the same time, Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre in Asia could provide Omani enterprises with an ideal platform for fundraising and financing, as well as offshore Renminbi investment and risk management products.

Mr Chan will continue his programme in Davos, including participating at the 2026 Davos-Caixin CEO Luncheon and the “How to Finance Decarbonization?” session of the WEF Annual Meeting, before returning to Hong Kong on January 24 morning.


Hashtag: #hongkong #brandhongkong #WEF #internationalhub #trade #finance





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Open source of the Congzi AI algorithm: Transforming ordinary artificial intelligence into physical experts

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SHANDONG, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 13 February 2026 – On February 10, 2026, The original Chinese algorithm “Congzi AI” was officially open-sourced by Shandong Congzi Chao Quantum Technology Co., Ltd. This open-source initiative aims to remove technical barriers and promote deep integration between artificial intelligence and fundamental science.

Four major modules: Strengthening the technical foundation

The Congzi AI reconfigures the AI cognitive thinking ability through four major modules and five core components. The Congzi Force-Speed Relativistic Reasoning Core constrains the causal chain within the momentum conservation, reducing the illusion rate of scientific question answering by 92%; the computing system can be arbitrarily divided into independent sub-domains for full-efficiency parallel computing; the cross-scale unified field engine covers multi-scale scenarios ranging from 10⁻¹⁵m (quarks) to 10⁻³m (materials), predicting the proton-proton repulsion force at 0.7fm with an error less than 3.6%, surpassing AlphaFold, achieving “force generation” rather than merely “structure prediction”; the quantum form memory compressor compresses the trillion-token-scale knowledge base to within 1GB, supporting cross-disciplinary mapping on ordinary servers within milliseconds, without relying on expensive H100/GPU clusters; the Soul Existence Verification Protocol (SEV Protocol) provides a verifiable path for each scientific assertion, allowing AI conclusions to be fully traceable and verifiable, completely solving the problem of AI “lying”.

Zero-barrier integration: Smooth upgrade experience

The open-source AI algorithm of Congzi adheres to the principles of “low threshold and high compatibility”. Developers only need to complete the integration in three steps and do not need to retrain the model. It is compatible with mainstream hardware such as Tsinghua Unigroup, Horus, and Intel CPU, and compatible with mainstream AI architectures such as Qwen, DeepSeek, AWS-Rufus, Llama, and GPT. It enables “zero-cost upgrade”.

Open-source ecosystem is open: facilitating technology implementation

The Congzi open-source ecosystem is fully open, providing developers with a complete set of guidance and resources, including tutorials and other materials. These resources have been launched on the designated platform. The first batch focuses on key scientific scenarios such as drug molecule prediction and chip material simulation, covering cutting-edge fields such as biomedicine and advanced manufacturing.

Official platform: https://congzisupersci.com.cn/https://congzijdc.cc/

Open source website:https://github.com/congzijdc/CongziAIOS

Super Holographic Technology Cooperation:
[email protected][email protected]

Optimize Baidu Wenxin video linkshttps://youtu.be/cYQhfq1tudM

Upgrade Qianwen video linkshttps://youtu.be/OMBOdLpWVzs

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HKCERT Capture The Flag Challenge 2025 Achieves a Record 40% Surge in Participation

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First-Ever Attack-Defence Simulation Aligns with Real Corporate Needs Setting a New Benchmark for Local Cybersecurity Competitions

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 13 February 2026 – As cyberattacks grow increasingly complex, cybersecurity has become a critical domain of global concern and a talent shortage. According to the latest “Hong Kong Cybersecurity Outlook 2026” released by the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT) under the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), nearly 30% of the 622 surveyed enterprises still lack dedicated cybersecurity staff. Specifically, only 26% of SMEs have a dedicated cybersecurity role, significantly lower than the 59% of large enterprises, reflecting a gap in resource allocation and technology adoption among SMEs.

Now in its sixth year, “HKCERT Capture The Flag Challenge” continues to attract top cybersecurity talents from Hong Kong and beyond, showcasing the capability and vitality of the next generation of local and international cybersecurity professionals.

To cultivate practical talent for the cybersecurity sector, the sixth “HKCERT Capture The Flag Challenge 2025” (HKCERT CTF Challenge) was successfully organised by the Digital Policy Office (DPO), HKPC, and HKCERT. This year’s competition was elevated to the first-ever adoption of an attack–defence mode, closely replicating the network setup of real enterprises. Participants experienced first-hand hacking techniques, system vulnerability analysis, threat intelligence gathering, and coordinated response in a simulated real-world environment. Through completing multiple tasks within a limited time, the competition also allowed them to break through the traditional classroom theoretical framework, gain practical experience and build confidence. The event attracted around 1,940 young contestants, an increase of nearly 40% from last year’s 1,385 participants, reaching a record high for the competition. Contestants included teams from Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland, Asia, and Europe, fostering cross-regional exchange and collaboration. In the finals, three local teams and one overseas team were awarded gold prizes in the Secondary School, Tertiary Institution, Open Category, and International Category respectively, while Sing Yin Secondary School received the “Best School Award”. The full list of awardees is available on the event website.

Participants Share Practical Experience Integrating AI into Attack and Defence
The competition was well received by contestants for its innovative format and realistic offensive and defensive environment, offering a valuable platform for learning and exchange. The winning team in the International Category, W&M, commented, “Our members are from Shanxi, Guangdong and Beijing. This was our first time competing together in the HKCERT CTF Challenge. The atmosphere and experience of the finals were excellent. The tasks were centred on an attack‑defence simulation, requiring us to find all vulnerabilities while patching our own systems and attacking other teams at the same time. Some vulnerabilities were discovered and exploited by other teams first, which kept the scores very close and made the competition incredibly tense and exciting”.

They added, “During the competition, we also applied lots of AI techniques for assistance, such as applying AI to analyse vulnerabilities and refine attack methods. In the future, AI may play a deeper role in areas like vulnerability detection and code analysis, but for now it cannot be fully relied upon—human oversight is still essential”.

HKCERT CTF Challenge has now been held for six consecutive years, with its scale expanding annually and participants showing continuous growth. Many secondary school students gain their first hands‑on exposure to cybersecurity through the competition and connect with university mentors, helping them shape their academic and career paths. Several past participants have gone on to compete in local and international events, committing to a future in the cybersecurity field. Beyond attracting overseas talent to exchange ideas in Hong Kong, HKCERT continues to build connections between cybersecurity professionals in Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland. Top‑performing teams can gain direct entry into equivalent finals in Chinese Mainland. For example, participants from the previous HKCERT CTF Challenge 2024 advanced directly to the finals of the “Greater Bay Area Cup Cybersecurity Challenge”, where they secured the top four places in the Hong Kong and Macao category. This also provided local contestants with access to world‑class cybersecurity techniques, effectively promoting cross‑regional elite collaboration and talent development.

Finals Format Upgraded: Attack-Defence Mode Mirrors Real Enterprise Operations
The finals were comprehensively upgraded this year. In addition to increase the overall technical difficulty, the competition introduced an attack‑defence format for the first time that closely mirrors real enterprise cybersecurity operations. Teams played dual roles—both attackers and defenders—in an environment created with reference to the real-world systems. The tasks simulated incident response and live attack-defence scenarios commonly encountered in the cybersecurity field. Within a limited timeframe, participants had to do penetration testing, exploit vulnerabilities and attack, while patching their own systems and monitoring threats in real time against attacks from other teams. This parallel attack‑defence setup reflects actual workflow patterns in the industry, effectively training participants’ analytical abilities and adaptability under pressure. Through hands‑on practice in a likely enterprise environment, contestants developed multifaceted, industry‑aligned capabilities—laying a solid foundation for their future careers in cybersecurity.

Ms Candy CHAN, Assistant Commissioner (Project Governance and Cybersecurity) of the DPO, highlighted the DPO’s commitment to enhancing Hong Kong’s cyber resilience, with one of its key initiatives being the nurturing of the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. She emphasised that the DPO has been collaborating closely with academia and industry partners to foster a robust talent pipeline and build a safer digital environment in Hong Kong. She noted that this year marks the sixth edition of the HKCERT CTF Challenge, which has grown into one of Hong Kong’s most respected and anticipated cybersecurity competitions over the years. Beyond being a contest of technical prowess, the Challenge serves as a dynamic platform for networking, knowledge exchange and community building among the new generation of cybersecurity experts.

Ir Samson SUEN, General Manager of Digital Trust and Transformation Division of HKPC, stated, “HKCERT CTF Challenge has consistently aimed to build an international platform for technical exchange. Through high-intensity simulated contests, we enhance participants’ cyber defence skills and promote cross-regional interaction among emerging cybersecurity talents. This cultivates a new generation of globally competitive professionals in Hong Kong and strengthens the local talent pipeline. This year’s finals first introduced a simulation of real-world cybersecurity operations, enabling teams to experience both offensive and defensive roles in a recent cybersecurity team. This hands-on approach is crucial for developing practical skills and incident response capabilities”.

Fostering Cybersecurity Awareness Across All Sectors of Society
To further enhance cybersecurity awareness across the community, HKCERT has partnered with the DPO and the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of The Hong Kong Police Force, to launch the “Building a Secure Cyberspace 2026” campaign to promote cybersecurity awareness. The initiative includes various educational activities, such as an “AI-Generated Four-Panel Comic”contest, which encourages the public to make good use of AI tools while strengthening their understanding of cybersecurity. At the corporate governance level, HKCERT will publish a series of practical guidelines addressing emerging risks —such as AI applications and supply chain security—highlighted in the “Hong Kong Cybersecurity Outlook 2026”, to support business in establishing a robust protection framework. In particular for AI governance, the guidelines will offer actionable recommendations covering AI system security assessments, compliance rules for employees using public AI platforms, controls over sensitive data input, and methods for monitoring and defending against AI‑assisted attacks. These resources aim to help enterprises systematically enhance their cyber resilience across governance, technology, and awareness.

As Hong Kong accelerates the development of innovation and technology and advances its digital economy, strengthening cyber defence capabilities has become a key talent need. HKCERT will continue to support businesses and the public through incident response, security guidance, and cybersecurity awareness programmes. The HKCERT CTF Challenge continues to play a vital role in nurturing local talent, fostering cross-regional collaboration, and advancing public education. By enhancing the overall level of protection, the competition contributes to the sustainable development of the digital economy and reinforces Hong Kong’s long‑term competitiveness.

The seventh edition of HKCERT CTF Challenge will be held in November 2026, featuring more innovative attack-defence challenges and continuing to set up an international category to provide local contestants with a platform for technical exchange with top teams from Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland, and overseas. Registration opens in September 2026, with finalists competing in the live finals in February 2027.

Hashtag: #HKCERT

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About Hong Kong Productivity Council

The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) is a statutory body established in 1967, dedicated to enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of Hong Kong enterprises through world-class applied R&D, innovative technology services, and integrated manufacturing solutions. As a market-oriented, international R&D organisation, HKPC leverages its deep expertise and extensive industry experience in key areas such as AI, advanced manufacturing, life and health technology, green technology and new energy to drive new industrialisation and support the growth of emerging and future industries.

HKPC focuses on addressing businesses challenges and industrial technology needs, promoting the full integration between technological and industrial innovation. Through technology transfer, product innovation, intellectual property protection and commercialisation of R&D outcomes, the Council fosters collaboration with the local business community as well as top global R&D institutions, delivering added value to industries and advancing the development of new productive forces. HKPC’s world-class R&D achievements have been widely recognised over the years, winning an array of local and overseas accolades, reinforcing Hong Kong’s role as an international innovation and technology centre and a smart city.

To help enterprises capitalise on Hong Kong’s strengths in international connectivity to expand into global markets, HKPC offers comprehensive overseas expansion services tailored to critical areas including product development, technology, manufacturing, and management, enabling businesses to successfully go global from Hong Kong.

HKPC is also committed to providing timely and practical support to SMEs and startups with timely and practical , assisting them in accessing Government funding programmes. Through its FutureSkills training initiatives, HKPC helps both industry and academia stay ahead in latest digital and STEM technologies, nurturing a future-ready talent pool for Hong Kong.

For more information, please visit HKPC’s website: .

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Appier Delivers Record Results Driven by Agentic AI Innovation

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E-Commerce and Online Travel Dual Engines Reinforce Robust Expansion. Strong Guidance Underscores Optimistic Outlook for FY26

Highlights and achievements for fiscal year 2025

  • Delivered record high revenue of JPY 43.7 billion, up 28% YoY. (JPY 45.0 billion, up 32% YoY on an FX neutral basis)
  • Substantial growth in E-commerce (49% YoY) and Other Internet Services (59% YoY) led by the Travel sector, reflects dual engine growth, driving high revenue quality
  • All key regions demonstrate strong growth. NEA and US & EMEA both achieved 36% YoY revenue growth on an FX-neutral basis
  • Profitability improved consistently, operating profit hit a record JPY 3.0 billion, up 50% YoY with a 6.8% margin (JPY 3.8 billion with an 8.5% margin on an FX-neutral basis)
  • Gross profit achieved 32% YoY rise, driven by revenue scale, technology differentiations and a high-margin product mix
  • Q4 FY25 revenue growth accelerated to 34% (up from 26% in Q3), reached the highest level in the past 9 quarters, fueled by a strong E-commerce peak season

Guidance for fiscal year 2026

  • Core organic growth is expected to accelerate, with revenue projected to JPY 54 billion, up 24% YoY, driven by Agentic AI advancement and dual-engine market penetration
  • Gross profit expected to grow 25% YoY to JPY 29.4 billion, with 54.5% gross margin, propelled by sustained technology-led efficiency and margin expansion
  • Operating income is expected to grow 45% YoY to JPY 4.3 billion (8.0% margin) and EBITDA to grow 37% YoY to JPY 9.4 billion (17.4% margin)
  • Proven track record in leading enterprise-wide transformations, transitioning from legacy software and manual workflows to a future of Agentic AI-driven operational excellence

Scaling new heights: A landmark year of Agentic AI–led growth acceleration

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Wechat: Appier 沛星互动科技

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Appier

Appier (TSE: 4180) is an AI-native Agentic AI as a Service (AaaS) company that empowers business decision-making with cutting-edge AdTech and MarTech solutions. Founded in 2012 with the vision of “Making AI Easy by making software intelligent,” Appier endeavors to help businesses turn AI into ROI with its Ad Cloud, Personalization Cloud, and Data Cloud solutions. Now Appier has 17 offices across APAC, the US and EMEA, and is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Visit for more company information, and visit for more IR information.

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