TAI’AN, China, March 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — This is a report from the Shandong office of Hong Kong Business Daily. Recently, Associate Researcher at the Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and PhD in Economics from Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, continued to write an article objectively analyzing the changes that artificial intelligence will bring to the tourist city of Tai’an.

Xu Ji believes that the climbing robot in Mount Taishan Scenic Area has become a beautiful landscape, which can greatly increase the consumption opportunities of tourists. The traffic volume of Tai’an is huge. During the 2025 Spring Festival alone, the number of tourists will reach 2.5755 million, and the related content of “climbing power robot” in Mount Taishan Scenic Area will be viewed more than 100 million times on the whole network. In addition, Tai’an will also share the same brand of assistive robots with the fire department for trial, which will greatly benefit the acceleration of smart transformation in public sectors such as fire rescue. The good experience of mountain climbing assistive robots among tourists in Tai’an will drive them to use health and wellness assistive robots, which will contribute to the growth of the health and wellness industry and the prosperity of the silver haired economy.

Continuing to say that leveraging data advantages to achieve advantageous industry chain extension is an important direction for Tai’an’s cultural and tourism industry efforts. Tai’an has built a cultural and tourism industry brain based on big data, artificial intelligence, and GIS, integrating multi-dimensional data such as tourist information, tourism resources, and urban supporting facilities. The cultural and tourism industry brain can not only determine the carrying capacity and operational efficiency of scenic spots, optimize the spatial layout of tourism resources, but also link emergency broadcasting and smart gates to control and guide the flow of people in scenic spots. In addition, the cultural and tourism industry brain can optimize product recommendation and customer service services according to the basic information and behavior characteristics of tourists, so as to meet the diversified consumption experience of tourists to boost cultural and tourism consumption.

According to the brain data of Tai’an’s cultural and tourism industry, during the Spring Festival in 2025, the proportion of adult tourists aged 18-23, 24-30, and 31-40 will be 23.11%, 20.58%, and 49.78%, respectively.

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SOURCE Shandong Office of Hong Kong Business Daily

SINGAPORE, March 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — JOYY Inc. (NASDAQ: YY) (“JOYY” or the “Company”), a global technology company, announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2024.

In the fourth quarter, JOYY’s revenue reached US$549.4 million, with BIGO achieving revenues of US$480.0 million. For the full year 2024, the Company’s revenue reached US$2.24 billion. The Company’s core business segment BIGO generated revenues of US$1.99 billion, with a year-over-year increase of 3.3%.

Driven by continued enhancement of global operations and strong execution, JOYY achieved steady profit growth in 2024. The Company’s non-GAAP[1] net profit for the full year 2024 reached US$298.5 million, a year-over-year increase of 2.0%. Non-GAAP[1] net margin came in at 13.3%. JOYY’s full-year non-GAAP[1] operating profit was US$136.1 million, a year-over-year increase of 4.2%. Non-GAAP[1] operating margin came in at 6.1%. The BIGO segment’s full-year operating profit and non-GAAP[1] operating profit reached US$240.9 million and US$286.3 million, respectively, which were equivalent to GAAP and non-GAAP[1] operating margin of 12.1% and 14.4%.

As JOYY sets the stage for ongoing growth, shareholder returns remain a high priority for management. In 2024, the Company repurchased 9.21 million ADSs for a total of US$309.2 million, representing 15.1% of its total outstanding shares as of the end of 2023.

JOYY announced a quarterly dividend policy for the following three years commencing immediately. Under such policy, the total cash dividend amount expected to be paid will be approximately US$600 million and quarterly dividend will be set at a fixed amount of approximately US$50 million (US$0.93  per ADS) in each fiscal quarter. Additionally, the company also announced an additional share repurchase program, under which the Company may repurchase up to US$300 million of its shares until December 2027.

Additionally, JOYY announced that the Company’s ticker symbol on Nasdaq will be changed from YY to JOYY, effective from March 31, 2025.

Ms. Ting Li, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of JOYY, commented, “In 2024, we made substantial progress in improving operational efficiency and diversifying our revenue streams. For full year 2024, our group’s non-GAAP operating income reached US$136.1 million, improving by 4.2%, year over year. Our group’s non-livestreaming revenues grew by 55.9% to US$449.8 million year over year. As we embark on a new chapter following the divestiture of YY Live, we have firmly established ourselves as a global technology company with remarkable international reach. Looking ahead, we remain deeply committed to driving diversified growth across our global operations and deepening our penetration in key markets to build on this success. Through AI-driven innovation, we are comprehensively enhancing our operational efficiency and cultivating meaningful experiences for our users. Based on our solid operational execution, we are confident in driving sustainable growth of our global business and creating long-term value for our shareholders.”

Full Year 2024 Financial Highlights

Net revenues for the full year of 2024 were US$2.24 billion.Non-GAAP[1] net income attributable to controlling interest and common shareholders of JOYY for the full year of 2024 increased by 2.0% to US$298.5 million from US$292.5 million in 2023. Non-GAAP[1] net margin for the full year of 2024 was 13.3%, compared to 12.9% in 2023.

Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Highlights

Net revenues were US$549.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.Non-GAAP[1] net income attributable to controlling interest and common shareholders of JOYY in the fourth quarter of 2024 was US$96.1 million, compared to US$64.2 million in the corresponding period of 2023. 

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Business Highlights

JOYY continued to focus on cultivating a safe, high-quality, and diverse content ecosystem for its global users and community. In the fourth quarter, Bigo Live updated the community guidelines and comprehensively enhanced its community safety technological capabilities. The platform introduced its exclusive multimodal content moderation model, which was fine-tuned with scenario-specific data, leveraging third-party large models to further strengthen its content moderation capabilities. On the product feature front, Bigo Live refined user verification processes and stratification mechanisms to direct traffic towards high-quality, verified user content. At the same time, Bigo Live exercised stricter management of user-generated-content to ensure its users would have safe, high-quality experiences. In addition, Bigo Live formed partnerships with multiple industry players and worked with relevant authorities to jointly prevent and punish any potential malicious use of the platform.

On the content front, the annual Bigo Awards Gala was held at Marina Bay Sands Theatre in Singapore. Over 1,000 guests from around the world attended in person, and nearly 500,000 viewers tuned in via livestream. The event honored over 200 outstanding content creators and Families for their contributions to Bigo Live’s vibrant user community, and featured performances from global artists across various genres. The Bigo Awards Gala has become a core tradition for the platform, and has helped countless talented creators expand their influence and reach the global stage. In addition to the main global venue, Bigo Live also held regional galas in Dubai, Thailand, and others.

During the fourth quarter, Bigo Live utilized its proprietary AI model to analyze ultra-long user behavior sequences and refined its content recommendation. This improvement, together with Bigo Live’s continuous effort to expand its high-quality content offering and optimize its livestreaming room viewing features, drove a 2.1% sequential increase in average viewing time per user during the fourth quarter. By strategically directing traffic to mid-tier hosts and optimizing livestreaming tools such as beauty and body filters, Bigo Live achieved a 1.2% increase in host next-day retention and a 2.9% increase in average livestream time per host, both quarter-over-quarter.

Likee remains focused on two core markets: the Middle East and Europe. In the fourth quarter, Likee’s DAUs in Europe increased by 4.4% quarter-over-quarter. Driven by growth in paying users, Likee’s livestreaming revenue grew 2.2% sequentially. In 2024, Likee recorded its second consecutive profitable year.

Likee continued to elevate its content and community engagement in its core markets. Likee partnered with the globally popular game Genshin Impact to deepen its penetration among Gen Z users. The campaign featured Genshin-themed short video and livestream contests with special prizes, and a co-branded offline event in Europe. During the campaign, the initiative generated over 5.7 million views, and the offline themed event attracted 11,000 participants, even prompting several creators with millions of followers to join Likee. Beyond these targeted operational activities, Likee increased support for quality creators, driving a 13% quarter-over-quarter increase in viewer time spent on short videos. The proportion of content creators among daily active users grew steadily compared to the third quarter, indicating healthy levels of engagement.

In the fourth quarter, Hago’s quarterly livestreaming revenue achieved a quarter-over-quarter growth, driven by its blockbuster year-end operational events. Hago’s cash flow remained positive in the fourth quarter, achieving its goal of positive cash flow for the second consecutive year.

Hago’s user engagement further improved during the fourth quarter. Average time spent in channels increased by 8.6% quarter-over-quarter to 108.2 minutes. The product’s next-day retention rate also continued to improve.

This press release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures as additional clarifying items to aid investors in further understanding the Company’s performance and the impact that these items and events had on the financial results. The non-GAAP financial measures provided above should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, the measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. For details of the non-GAAP measures, including the reconciliations of GAAP measures to non-GAAP measures, please refer to the press release titled “JOYY Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Unaudited Financial Results” issued by the Company on March 20, 2025.

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SOURCE JOYY Inc.

DONGYING, China, March 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from chinadaily.com.cn: 

Yellow River Estuary Bay in Dongying, East China’s Shandong province, stands as a shining example of balancing ecological preservation with economic growth.

Notably, the bay has been recognized among China’s third batch of “Beautiful Bays” by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

In recent years, Dongying has made ecological restoration a top priority, working to strengthen its green foundation and protect biodiversity. The city has launched a series of targeted projects to restore its natural ecosystems, manage invasive species, and improve water supply to wetlands.

At the heart of these efforts is the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve – one of China’s largest and most important wetlands. Vast stretches of flourishing marshland provide critical habitats for countless species.

Thanks to integrated land and sea governance, these restoration efforts have paid off. The bay has become a vital stopover for millions of migratory birds. The number of bird species has risen to 374, while rare species such as the Yellow River knife fish and finless porpoise have returned. Water quality has significantly improved, further boosting the area’s ecological health.

This thriving environment has unlocked vast economic potential. Today, the bay has attracted nature photographers, bird watchers, and eco-tourists from across China. Visitor satisfaction has exceeded 98.5 percent, with annual tourism surpassing one million.

Seizing this opportunity, Dongying has been working to promote cultural and tourism integration through year-round events to improve visitor experience. In 2024, the city’s tourism revenue reached record highs, which drove growth in hospitality, transportation, and related industries.

Dongying’s ecological achievements have also accelerated industrial transformation. The city is developing sustainable aquaculture, introducing advanced recycling systems that reduce pollution and improve product quality. Signature products like Yellow River estuary hairy crabs and sea cucumbers are now sold nationwide.

The marine new energy sector is also booming. Dongying has established an offshore wind power equipment industrial park, attracting leading enterprises and forming a complete industry value chain. Notably, the world’s largest floating wind turbine was recently completed here, marking a major milestone for the industry.

From saline wastelands to an ecological oasis, Dongying’s transformation reflects its commitment to protecting the Yellow River’s ecological heritage while embracing green, high-quality development along its beautiful bay.

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SOURCE chinadaily.com.cn