Hong Kong will “fast-track” an formidable initiative alongside the border with Shenzhen in mainland China and set up synthetic intelligence as a “core business” to speed up financial progress, Chief Government John Lee mentioned Wednesday in his annual coverage handle.
The handle, which reaffirmed a 2% to three% financial progress goal for 2025, comes amid a broader push from Beijing to resuscitate China’s flagging financial progress and emerge from a longstanding actual property disaster. Final yr, the Chinese language Communist Occasion referred to as on Hong Kong’s elite to spice up China’s general fortunes.
The Northern Metropolis challenge would create housing for round 2.5 million folks and plant a brand new enterprise district between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
The challenge had been a spotlight of former chief Carrie Lam, introduced in 2021. It’s additionally prone to be built-in into Beijing’s broader Better Bay Space plan to hyperlink Hong Kong, Macau and cities across the Pearl River delta area.
RFA Cantonese reported in February that just about a 3rd of contracts linked to Northern Metropolis and different Hong Kong tasks have been going to Chinese language state-owned firms.
Activists and a few locals have pushed again on the challenge, citing issues about impacts on the atmosphere and the town’s funds.
Lee additionally mentioned Hong Kong would earmark HK$1 billion to create a hub to analysis synthetic intelligence — and that the federal government would use AI to enhance its effectivity.
Consists of reporting from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
