Press Release
CGTN: How Boao Forum for Asia fosters shared development in Asia and beyond
CGTN published an article on the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2026, highlighting Asia’s positive economic outlook and its crucial role in global growth. Showcasing China’s efforts to strengthen regional and multilateral collaboration, the article underscores the forum’s importance as a platform for dialogue and cooperation, and highlights the need for Asian countries to work together to address shared challenges and build a better future.
Asia’s positive economic outlook took center stage at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2026. Its flagship report, The Asian Economic Outlook and Integration Progress Annual Report 2026, projects the region’s GDP to grow by 4.5% in 2026, reinforcing Asia’s role as a key engine of global growth.
Confidence in Asia’s prospects was further underscored by the robust participation of political and business leaders from around the world at the conference in Boao, south China’s Hainan Province. Attendees gathered to gain deeper insights into China’s trade and investment policies and explore opportunities in the world’s second-largest economy.
Addressing the plenary, Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, described the forum as a prestigious platform for promoting exchanges, collaboration and common development among Asian nations and the wider world. He noted that China stands ready to work with all parties to inject greater vitality and stronger impetus into the region’s development.
Enhancing cooperation amid shared challenges
According to the flagship report, Asia’s share of global GDP (in purchasing power parity terms) is expected to rise from 49.2% in 2025 to 49.7% in 2026, reaffirming its central role in the world economy. Meanwhile, intra-regional trade dependence increased from 56.3% in 2023 to 57.2% in 2024, signaling deepening economic integration.
In contrast, the global economy faces a sluggish recovery, rising unilateralism and protectionism, and mounting pressure to restructure industrial and supply chains. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projects global growth to slow to 2.9% in 2026, down from 3.3% in 2025.
In a virtual keynote speech, Kim Min-seok, South Korea’s prime minister, called for greater solidarity among Asian countries in the face of uncertainty driven by regional conflicts, technological disruption, supply chain shifts and demographic changes.
Over the past decades, Asian economies have strengthened regional cooperation and advanced along a path of mutual benefit. In 2025, trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reached 7.55 trillion yuan (around $1.99 trillion), up 8% year on year, according to the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC).
Chi Fulin, president of the China Institute for Reform and Development, noted that this growth reflects increasingly close ties between China and ASEAN under the framework of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Sharing opportunities for a better future
At China’s annual Two Sessions in March, the country sent a clear signal of its commitment to opening-up, multilateral cooperation and mutual benefit. In 2025, China’s total goods imports reached a record 18.48 trillion yuan, accounting for roughly 10% of the global total and reinforcing its position as the world’s second-largest import market, according to GACC.
China continues to translate the advantages of its vast domestic market into opportunities for global businesses. With an average annual growth rate of 5.4% and an economy exceeding 140 trillion yuan, it contributes around 30% of global growth and remains a vital engine of the world economy, Zhao said.
Meanwhile, China’s push to develop new quality productive forces – particularly in artificial intelligence and robotics – is creating fresh opportunities across industries. A range of intelligent robots showcased at the forum drew significant attention from participants.
In his remarks, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said China is contributing to global development through its growing strength and taking on greater responsibilities in the international system. He added that Singapore remains confident in China’s long-term prospects and supports its deeper participation in regional economic frameworks.
Marking its 25th anniversary and coinciding with the launch of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030), the forum comes at a pivotal moment. In his speech, Zhao called on participants of the forum to forge ahead with concerted efforts and enhance cooperation to address global challenges, bring win-win results and create a better future.
About Author
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Digi Observer journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
Press Release
Cryptorefills launches x402 payments for AI agents, publishes agentic commerce reference
USDC payments on Base for AI agents at checkout, alongside open-source documentation of how merchants run agent-driven commerce.
Amsterdam, May 11th 2026, ZEX PR WIRE, 15:00 CEST. Cryptorefills has enabled x402 payments at checkout, allowing AI agents to pay for gift cards, mobile top-ups and eSIMs using USDC on the Base network. The protocol, developed by Coinbase and Cloudflare, lets autonomous software settle stablecoin transactions programmatically. Cryptorefills has also published an open-source operations reference for the merchant operations layer of agentic commerce.
x402 lets a software agent receive an HTTP 402 Payment Required response from a merchant, settle the requested amount in stablecoin, and complete the transaction in a single automated exchange. For Cryptorefills, checkout becomes a programmable endpoint that agents can call directly.
The x402 launch adds a second agent-payment rail to the platform. Cryptorefills released its Model Context Protocol server in October 2025, allowing agents to discover products, build orders, and complete purchases through MCP. x402 addresses a different pattern: the agent calls a Cryptorefills endpoint, receives payment terms, settles in USDC, and completes the request in one round trip. The two rails serve different agent contexts and run in parallel.
“We shipped x402 and open-sourced our merchant operations work in the same week on purpose. One is a payment rail, while the other is what a merchant needs around it to accept agent traffic. Agentic commerce is happening, and very little about the second part has been written down,” said Massimiliano Silenzi, CEO of Cryptorefills. “We’ve been running stablecoin checkout since 2018, and a lot of what we learned there carries over. We chose to publish what we’ve learned and continue building the rest openly.”
The reference repository, available at github.com/Cryptorefills/agentic-commerce, covers the operations surface that surrounds the protocol stack. Topics include catalogue discovery for agent buyers, settlement reconciliation across chains, quote-and-pricing handling, and delivery confirmations. Documentation is released under CC0; example code is Apache 2.0.
“In the repository we just open-sourced there are nine playbooks, the TypeScript schemas behind them, and five runnable examples. Two of them connect to our live MCP and x402 endpoints, so a developer can clone the repository and watch the agent-merchant exchange execute against production,” said Simonluca Landi, CTO of Cryptorefills.
Cryptorefills serves AI agents through three of the field’s emerging standards: MCP for context, Agent Skills for capability publishing, and x402 for stablecoin settlement.
About Cryptorefills
Cryptorefills enables people in over 180 countries to spend cryptocurrency on everyday products and services. Categories include gift cards from over 6,600 brands, mobile top-ups across 600 operators, eSIMs, flights across 300 airlines, and stays at over 1 million hotels and properties. The platform supports stablecoin checkout across Base, Ethereum, Tron, Solana, Polygon, and other major networks, alongside Bitcoin and Lightning. It is among the first ecommerce companies to integrate AI-agent payment standards including MCP, Agent Skills, and x402.
Operating publicly since 2018 and headquartered in Amsterdam, Cryptorefills is a member of the Holland Fintech Association and Blockchain Netherlands Foundation.
About Author
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Digi Observer journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
Collaboration to focus on cost-effective capture and mineralization of biogenic CO₂ in Europe
Korea South, 11th May 2026, – SEOUL, South Korea & KORTRIJK, Belgium – South Korea’s ICEnergy and Belgium-based Emicap have partnered to deploy cryogenic carbon capture systems targeting biogenic CO₂ in Europe. The partnership combines ICEnergy’s proprietary capture technology with Emicap’s cryogenic R&D and market access, supported by Emicap’s sister company, LM Engineering, which provides industrial engineering and execution capabilities.
Dr. Sungho Park(icenergy0805@gmail.com), CEO of ICEnergy, stated that he hopes this partnership will enable ICEnergy and Emicap to take a further step toward realizing carbon neutrality in the European market. The collaboration comes at a pivotal moment following the successful demonstration of ICEnergy’s technology. Amid a rapidly expanding European market for biogenic CO₂ solutions, early deployment is critical to secure access to high-quality feedstocks and permanent storage pathways.
ICEnergy recently demonstrated a 10 ton/day cryogenic carbon capture system for both onshore and marine applications. The system converts flue gas CO2 directly into dry ice, avoiding the need for conventional separation and liquefaction steps. A key feature of the electrically driven process is the internal recovery and reuse of cold energy. By recycling this energy, external demand is reduced and consumption is focused on CO₂ conversion, resulting in approximately 30% lower energy use compared to conventional systems, supporting a low lifecycle carbon footprint.
Emicap integrates cryogenic CO2 capture with downstream applications by coupling emission sources from Waste-to-Energy and biomass plants to the carbonation of alkaline industrial residues such as steel slags and fly ash. To ensure seamless site-specific deployment, Emicap applies its cryogenic R&D expertise to tailor ICEnergy’s capture systems for these European industrial plants. This integration enables the permanent storage of CO2 while upgrading captured emissions and industrial residues into supplementary cementitious materials for use in low-carbon construction. By operating across the full value chain, Emicap helps offset capture costs, reducing reliance on institutional subsidies.
The partners are targeting removal of up to 200 kilotons of CO₂ annually by 2035, positioning the collaboration to contribute to industrial-scale, net-negative emissions.
Media Contact
Organization: ICEnergy Co.,
Contact
Person: Sungho Park
Website:
https://www.icenergy.co.kr/
Email:
icenergy0805@gmail.com
Contact Number: 82313307852
Country:Korea South
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Emicap, ICEnergy Forge Partnership to Accelerate European Carbon Capture Deployments appeared first on
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It is provided by a third-party content
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About Author
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Digi Observer journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
Collaboration to focus on cost-effective capture and mineralization of biogenic CO₂ in Europe
Korea South, 11th May 2026, – SEOUL, South Korea & KORTRIJK, Belgium – South Korea’s ICEnergy and Belgium-based Emicap have partnered to deploy cryogenic carbon capture systems targeting biogenic CO₂ in Europe. The partnership combines ICEnergy’s proprietary capture technology with Emicap’s cryogenic R&D and market access, supported by Emicap’s sister company, LM Engineering, which provides industrial engineering and execution capabilities.
Dr. Sungho Park(icenergy0805@gmail.com), CEO of ICEnergy, stated that he hopes this partnership will enable ICEnergy and Emicap to take a further step toward realizing carbon neutrality in the European market. The collaboration comes at a pivotal moment following the successful demonstration of ICEnergy’s technology. Amid a rapidly expanding European market for biogenic CO₂ solutions, early deployment is critical to secure access to high-quality feedstocks and permanent storage pathways.
ICEnergy recently demonstrated a 10 ton/day cryogenic carbon capture system for both onshore and marine applications. The system converts flue gas CO2 directly into dry ice, avoiding the need for conventional separation and liquefaction steps. A key feature of the electrically driven process is the internal recovery and reuse of cold energy. By recycling this energy, external demand is reduced and consumption is focused on CO₂ conversion, resulting in approximately 30% lower energy use compared to conventional systems, supporting a low lifecycle carbon footprint.
Emicap integrates cryogenic CO2 capture with downstream applications by coupling emission sources from Waste-to-Energy and biomass plants to the carbonation of alkaline industrial residues such as steel slags and fly ash. To ensure seamless site-specific deployment, Emicap applies its cryogenic R&D expertise to tailor ICEnergy’s capture systems for these European industrial plants. This integration enables the permanent storage of CO2 while upgrading captured emissions and industrial residues into supplementary cementitious materials for use in low-carbon construction. By operating across the full value chain, Emicap helps offset capture costs, reducing reliance on institutional subsidies.
The partners are targeting removal of up to 200 kilotons of CO₂ annually by 2035, positioning the collaboration to contribute to industrial-scale, net-negative emissions.
Media Contact
Organization: ICEnergy Co.,
Contact
Person: Sungho Park
Website:
https://www.icenergy.co.kr/
Email:
icenergy0805@gmail.com
Contact Number: 82313307852
Country:Korea South
The post
Emicap, ICEnergy Forge Partnership to Accelerate European Carbon Capture Deployments appeared first on
Brand News 24.
It is provided by a third-party content
provider. Brand News 24 makes no
warranties or representations in connection with it.
About Author
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Digi Observer journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
Cryptorefills launches x402 payments for AI agents, publishes agentic commerce reference
Emicap, ICEnergy Forge Partnership to Accelerate European Carbon Capture Deployments
Emicap, ICEnergy Forge Partnership to Accelerate European Carbon Capture Deployments
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