Hong Kong SAR's first five-year plan officially released: Artificial intelligence will be an important industry for future development.

On September 16, John Lee Ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, announced the "First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030)." John Lee Ka-chiu stated that artificial intelligence will be promoted as an important industry for Hong Kong's future development, empowering all sectors of the economy with artificial intelligence technology. The artificial intelligence ecosystem will be improved across multiple dimensions, and the "AI+" initiative will continue to be comprehensively advanced. Cross-sector integration will be strengthened, and the development and utilization of data resources and coordinated development with the mainland will be deepened. Efforts will be made to fully enhance the layout of computing power infrastructure to empower development, and through the construction of the Sha Ling Data Park, strong support will be provided for the computing power needed for Hong Kong's development of the artificial intelligence industry. Hong Kong's first five-year plan is formulated to better integrate into and serve the overall development of the country It proposes that in the opening year of the national "15th Five-Year Plan," the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region formulates a five-year plan for the first time. This is a major measure for the SAR government to uphold and improve executive-led governance and enhance governance effectiveness. It is a planning necessity for proactively aligning with the national development strategy and better integrating into and serving the overall development of the country. It is also a program of action for building social consensus, uniting forces from all sectors, and promoting Hong Kong's transition from governance to prosperity and the realization of high-quality development. John Lee Ka-chiu said that in formulating the first five-year plan for the economic and social development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030), it is necessary to base it on Hong Kong's actual circumstances, set medium- and long-term development strategies for Hong Kong, and clearly define development directions, task objectives, strategic priorities, and implementation paths, as well as operable and effective policy measures and major projects with Hong Kong characteristics. Through the five-year plan, the development direction will be clearer, resource allocation more effective, social expectations more stable, and the well-being of citizens and the interests of investors from all places more fully safeguarded, building a more open, more inclusive, freer, more prosperous, and safer Hong Kong, making it a channel and bridge connecting the country and the world and a more attractive, more dynamic, and more opportunity-filled international metropolis in the world. Hong Kong will help promote the development of cross-boundary low-altitude logistics in the Greater Bay Area It will promote the development of cross-boundary low-altitude logistics in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It will make full use of the industrial foundation and geographical advantages of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and, relying on the experience of prior exploration through cooperation with neighboring mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, connect the resource elements of the three places in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, expand application scenarios for cross-boundary low-altitude logistics in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and accelerate the formation of an integrated and large-scale cross-boundary low-altitude logistics network covering the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Support leading mainland and overseas industry players and high-quality emerging industry enterprises to list in Hong Kong Optimize the efficiency of the securities market. Strengthen the competitiveness of the listing regime and improve the operational efficiency of securities market infrastructure, support leading mainland and overseas industry players and high-quality emerging industry enterprises to list in Hong Kong, including deepening the docking and cooperation between HKEX and the Qianhai Equity Exchange Center, helping more high-quality mainland enterprises connect with international capital markets through Hong Kong's listing platform, and building a smoother and more efficient listing service. Improve and expand the mutual market access mechanism for financial markets, expand into emerging fields, give play to the function of the investment and financing platform, and promote economic, trade, financial, and infrastructure cooperation with Belt and Road partner countries and emerging economies such as the Global South. Artificial intelligence will be an important industry for Hong Kong's future development Promote artificial intelligence as an important industry for Hong Kong's future development, and empower all sectors of the economy with artificial intelligence technology. Improve the artificial intelligence ecosystem across multiple dimensions, and continue to comprehensively advance the "AI+" initiative. Strengthen cross-sector integration, deepen the development and utilization of data resources and coordinated development with the mainland. Fully enhance the layout of computing power infrastructure to empower development, and through the construction of the Sha Ling Data Park, provide strong support for the computing power needed for Hong Kong's development of the artificial intelligence industry. Review the legal support needed to support broader application of artificial intelligence and data, ensure that Hong Kong's laws keep pace with the times, and establish a regulatory framework conducive to artificial intelligence and intelligent development for Hong Kong. Support small and medium-sized enterprises in accelerating the application of artificial intelligence. Enhance citizens' artificial intelligence literacy and help citizens enjoy a safe and convenient digital and intelligent life. Based on life and health and embodied intelligence, formulate strategies for promoting industrial transformation and development through artificial intelligence. Explore the creation of a demonstration compliance base for low-altitude economy going global Build an Asia-Pacific hub for low-altitude innovative applications, and formulate and implement the "Action Program for the Development of the Low-Altitude Economy." Improve the regulatory framework, standard-setting, infrastructure construction, and actively enhance scientific research, talent cultivation, and alignment with international standards related to the low-altitude economy. Give play to the role of "leading, bridging, and demonstrating," and, on the basis of strengthening effective alignment with the mainland's regulatory framework, explore the creation of a demonstration compliance base for the low-altitude economy going global. Study jointly promoting with the mainland the establishment of an international low-altitude economy cooperation organization. Build an authoritative international regulatory body for drugs and medical devices and establish independent drug and medical device review capabilities Comprehensively deepen regulatory reform for drugs and medical devices (drugs and devices), improve the regulatory system, align with international standards, establish independent drug and medical device review and approval capabilities, actively engage on the international drug and medical device regulatory stage, and strive for international authoritative certification. Promote research and development of innovative drugs and medical devices, accelerate the launch and use of innovative drugs, and build Hong Kong into an international medical innovation hub. Enhance the role of drug and medical device development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and improve people's health. Promote the quality improvement and capacity expansion of Disneyland and build Ocean Park into a conservation and study education base Deepen the coordinated development of culture, sports, and tourism, and enrich the supply of high-quality tourism products. Deepen themed tourism experiences, promote distinctive Chinese and foreign festival activities, and highlight Hong Kong's advantage as a place where Chinese and foreign cultures converge. Open more city walk routes, promote horse racing tourism, promote Hong Kong cuisine, expand and strengthen annual flagship events, and strengthen connections and cooperation with internationally renowned wine-producing regions. Continue to build Hong Kong into the "Events Capital of Asia," and promote international-level event tourism combining sports and culture. Consolidate Hong Kong's position as Asia's international cruise hub, attract cruise ships to deploy to Hong Kong and use Hong Kong as a home port, actively develop source markets, and continue cooperation with ports in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Make full use of Hong Kong's beautiful coastline and rich island resources to develop island-hopping tours and other water activity projects. Continue to enhance the attractiveness of famous tourist attractions (including Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park, etc.). Strengthen Hong Kong's function as the world's largest offshore RMB business hub Strengthen Hong Kong's function as the world's largest offshore RMB business hub. Comprehensively expand the scale of offshore RMB business, continuously improve the offshore RMB ecosystem, enhance liquidity support, establish a liquidity replenishment mechanism for Hong Kong's offshore RMB market, accelerate the promotion of offshore RMB product innovation and expand product types, build a full-coverage, multi-level RMB cross-border circulation network, and improve the stability of offshore RMB financing. Actively promote the RMB as a government payment currency. Further enhance the offshore RMB market's ability to support the real economy, comprehensively improve support and facilitation for trade, investment and financing, and cross-boundary business expansion, and support enterprises in using the RMB more widely in cross-boundary economic and trade business, facilitating the exchange of RMB with currencies of other regions. Study promoting facilitation services for cross-boundary insurance fund settlement under the current account by banking institutions and deepen mutual market access with the mainland insurance market Promote cross-boundary capital flows and implement pilot financial policy innovation. Strengthen financial market linkages with cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, promote the application of cross-boundary data verification platforms, and promote the high-quality development of fintech in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Make good use of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's role as a policy innovation testing ground, provide residents of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with richer cross-boundary insurance products, study promoting facilitation services for cross-boundary insurance fund settlement under the current account by banking institutions, and deepen mutual market access with the mainland insurance market. Deepen cross-boundary gold processing trade, explore green finance, sustainable investment, and fintech cooperation, and promote the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area carbon market and green finance ecosystem, so as to promote the development of the international carbon market. Promote more mainland institutions to invest in Hong Kong's bond market and expand the channels and business volume of "Stock Connect," "Bond Connect," "Wealth Management Connect," and "Private Equity Connect" It is necessary to optimize the international bond market. Coordinate the promotion of primary market issuance, secondary market liquidity enhancement, offshore RMB business expansion, and fixed income and currency infrastructure construction. Improve "Bond Connect" (Southbound Trading), and continue to promote the optimization and expansion of Southbound Trading in terms of investment scale, investor scope, products, and trading arrangements. Promote more mainland institutions to invest in Hong Kong's bond market, and expand the channels and business volume of "Stock Connect," "Bond Connect," "Wealth Management Connect," and "Private Equity Connect."