Hong Kong and Zhejiang province, one of mainland China’s tech strongholds, have set up a mechanism to strengthen collaboration in 13 key areas including aviation, smart cities and artificial intelligence (AI), Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has said, while calling on entrepreneurs of Ningbo descent to invest in a border innovation hub in the city.
Beijing has high hopes for the collaboration, with Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office executive deputy director Zhou Ji – who was also in a high-level meeting with Lee – saying both sides should be pioneers and bring to life more projects “with international and domestic significance and influence”.
Lee was in the provincial capital Hangzhou on Thursday, holding talks with officials including Zhejiang party secretary Wang Hao and signing cooperation deals, before his delegation moved to Ningbo, a major port and industrial hub, in the afternoon to meet entrepreneurs.
The city leader said the two sides had set up the “Zhejiang/Hong Kong Cooperation Conference” mechanism, designed to better harness their strengths to seize major opportunities for high-quality development and opening up, with Lee pledging support to help the province’s enterprises expand overseas.
The two sides confirmed they would collaborate on 51 projects covering 13 key cooperation areas such as co-building the Belt and Road Initiative, trade and investment, finance and aviation, Lee said. The belt and road strategy is China’s plan to grow global trade.
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