The Hong KongScience Park, the high-tech hub of the city, welcomed Chinese President XiJinping for a visit during his busy two-day trip recently to attend celebrations for the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China. The Science Park is the largest R&D and business incubation base in Hong Kong that houses over 17,000 innovators and 1,100 enterprises. It was launched in 2002 and had 28 R&D labs within a total floor area of 40,000 square meters.
High Expectations
During his
visit, Xi said the country holds grand expectations for Hong Kong. He also
reminded that China had written its support for developing Hong Kong into a
global innovation and technology hub in its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025)
that was released last year. The five-year plan serves as the blueprint and
action agenda for the social and economic development of the country in the
next five years.
The Progress
"In recent
years, with the support of the central government, Hong Kong has leveraged its
own advantages to make remarkable achievements in basic research, talent
cultivation, and development in the innovation and technology sector," Xi
said.
Last year, Hong
Kong got the 14th position on the global list of most innovative
economies, according to the Global Innovation Index (GII) released by the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Xi also stressed,
"The HKSAR government should give full play to the role of technological
innovation in supporting and leading economic development."
The Chinese
President also called on Hong Kong to better cooperate with mainland cities in
the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), strengthen the
collaborative development of enterprises, universities, and research
institutions, and strive to build the GBA into a global highland for scientific
and technological innovation.
GBA's Growing
Impressively
The GBA is
comprised of the two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao and
nine cities in the neighboring Guangdong Province. The total area is about
56,000 square kilometers, covering around 6 percent of the Chinese population.
In 2021, the GDP
of the GBA was 12.6 trillion yuan ($1.97 trillion), and the GBA contributed 11
percent of the national GDP. The number of high-tech enterprises in GBA has
touched 57,000, and the number of patents granted has reached around 780,000.
The Measures
"China's
Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has rolled out several measures to
support the scientific and technological development of Hong Kong and Macao to
promote their further integration into the national innovation system," said
Dai Gang, director of the International Cooperation Department at the MOST.
The ministry
also supported Hong Kong in building several innovation platforms, including 16
State Key Laboratories, six Chinese National Engineering Research Centers
branches, two national-level incubators for science and technology companies,
and three national high-tech industrialization partner bases. A similar policy
was also taken with Macau.
The ministry
also initiated measures to support young people from Macao and Hong Kong to pursue
careers in innovative industries and start their businesses on the mainland.
Sources:
https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/cgtn-hong-kong-on-highway-to-become-global-tech-and-innovation-hub-25-years-on-892030745.html
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cgtn-hong-kong-on-highway-to-become-global-tech-and-innovation-hub-25-years-on-301580056.html
https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20220703cn07453/cgtn-hong-kong-on-highway-to-become-global-tech-and-innovation-hub-25-years-on