
Hong Kong SMEs generate new business by making use of their carbon-tracking technologies
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) say they have been generating new business by leveraging their carbon-tracking technologies,
despite some financial uncertainties facing the broader sector.
For Hong Kong start-ups like Urban Spring, which supplies smart water refilling stations, and EzyGreenPak, which makes sustainable packaging, using technologies that measure climate-related data throughout their production chains has created new business opportunities. Both firms operate carbon-tracking platforms.
'[Carbon data] data transparency helps to attract business partners,' said Helen Chan, head of partnerships at Urban Spring, adding that the company's smart water stations in the city have surged 50 per cent in number since 2023.
At the end of last year, the company saw a major increase in inquiries, she said.
Carbon data data transparency helps to attract business partners, says Helen Chan, head of partnerships at Urban Spring. Photo: Handout
'Our pipelines for 2025 show a lot of demand coming from hotels,' she said, as they were eager to receive green certifications.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


South China Morning Post
39 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
AI content detector: why does China dismiss it as ‘superstition tech'?
With the graduation season approaching, many Chinese universities have introduced regulations setting clear requirements for the proportion of artificial intelligence -generated content – or the 'AI rate', as it is called – in theses. Advertisement Some universities have used the AI rate as a deciding factor in whether a thesis is approved. The rule is intended to prevent academic misconduct, as educators have become increasingly concerned about the unregulated use of AI in producing scholarly literature, including data falsification and content fabrication, since the public debut of generative AI models such as ChatGPT However, an official publication of the Ministry of Science and Technology has warned that using AI content detectors to identify AI writing is essentially a form of 'technological superstition' that could cause many unintended side effects. AI detection tools could produce false results, the Science and Technology Daily said in an editorial last Tuesday, adding that some graduates had complained that content clearly written by them was labelled as AI-generated. Advertisement Even a very famous Chinese essay written 100 years ago was evaluated as more than 60 per cent AI-generated, when analysed by these tools, the article said.


South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Xi-Trump call a ‘step back from the brink', but China's neighbours still caught in rivalry
The much-anticipated phone call between the leaders of China and the US could offer a respite for many Asian countries caught in their rivalry, but the detente might also complicate their calculations on how to strike a balance between the two superpowers, according to analysts. More than four months after his return to the White House, US President Donald Trump had what he described as a 'very positive' phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday. While Trump said his 90-minute discussion with Xi had not touched on matters beyond trade, it was widely considered a diplomatic breakthrough after weeks of worsening tensions between the world's two biggest economies. For many of China's neighbours that have relied on trade with both powers, the call between the two leaders has eased their predicament of having to choose between prioritising trade with China and navigating aggressive US policies. Lee Seong-hyon, a senior fellow with the George H.W. Bush Foundation for US-China Relations, said the phone call marked a 'tentative step back from the brink, offering brief respite for Asian neighbours like South Korea'. But he said the relationship between the two powers had 'become more fragile than ever', noting that it was the first phone call with Xi since Trump's inauguration in January.


South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Why Hong Kong is China's undisputed hub for global finance, at Shanghai's expense
When Yan Jun was looking around last year for a stock market to raise capital for his Beijing-based traffic-control software company, the engineer and chairman thought he was spoiled for choice. He could sell shares of his 10-year-old company AICT on one of the three mainland exchanges – Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen – that together make up the world's second-biggest capital market, with a combined value of US$10 trillion, according to Bloomberg data. Or he could raise capital offshore by selling shares in Hong Kong's nearly US$6.2 trillion market , the world's fourth-largest. New York – a welcoming possibility at first – lost its appeal early this year when US President Donald Trump unleashed a new wave of trade hostilities and animosity towards Chinese companies. In the end, the choice was clear: Hong Kong won because of its access to 'international capital and strong connectivity to global markets', Yan said. The city, where he earned his doctorate in business administration, would also be the launching pad for his business abroad, he added. AICT's products are used in sensing robots, intelligent traffic systems and autonomous driving. Photo: Handout Yan is not alone. Since the summer of 2024, a series of mainland companies have made similar calculations and turned to Hong Kong's stock exchange for capital infusions.