Hong Kong should ‘strengthen research, drive industrial upgrading’: Zhou Ji

Hong Kong should strengthen its scientific research and drive industrial upgrading with the support of the central government, Beijing’s top man in the city has said, as 15 state key laboratories were presented with plaques on Monday.

Zhou Ji, director of Beijing’s liaison office, said at a presentation ceremony that the restructuring of the existing state key laboratories in Hong Kong demonstrated the central government’s strong support for the city’s technological development and its efforts to attract global talent.

“It presents a valuable opportunity for Hong Kong to accelerate its integration into the national scientific innovation system and fast-track its development into an international innovation and technology hub,” Zhou said.

At the ceremony, Minister of Science and Technology Yin Hejun presented plaques to 15 Hong Kong laboratories. Twelve of them were restructured and renamed from existing state key laboratories, while the other three were newly established.

The new laboratories focus on research areas such as optical quantum materials, led by the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) vice-chancellor Xiang Zhang; quantum information technologies and materials by the Chinese University of Hong Kong; and climate resilience for coastal cities co-led by Polytechnic University and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

All the laboratories are located at the four publicly funded institutions in Hong Kong and have been operational since last month.