Hong Kong, May 5 (Zhongxin Net) -- Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Sun Dong, is the first Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, who left campus and was invited to join the Government at a critical time for Hong Kong's governance and promotion of I&T development.
From university professor to accountability officer, how does he see this identity shift? In what areas should Hong Kong achieve breakthroughs in I&T development in the future? Sun Dong recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Network's "Hong Kong and Macao Meeting Room" to answer these questions one by one.
The picture shows Sun Dong being interviewed by China News Network's "Hong Kong and Macao Meeting Room". Photo by Li Zhihua
Excerpts from the interview are as follows:
China News Network: As Hong Kong's first Secretary for Commerce from the Mainland, and as Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry at an important moment in Hong Kong's I&T development, how have you been on your journey since taking office? What are the challenges and lessons learned?
Sun Dong: To be precise, it is the director of the bureau who is from the mainland and still insists on speaking Mandarin. Actually, although I am from the mainland, I have been in Hong Kong for more than 20 years. To be honest, from the time I accepted the invitation to join the SAR government, to the time I finally really participated in the work directly, it took two or three weeks before and after, and I didn't have much thought about whether I should join or not. There is no time to think about this because time is short.
Then, at that time, as soon as I accepted such an invitation and a new mission, at the important juncture of Hong Kong's governance and prosperity, especially at the historical moment when I&T development is an important direction for Hong Kong's future development, I felt that the task was arduous and I felt very honored.
Since joining the HKSAR Government, I have been thinking about how to enter the role as soon as possible and lead the team to open up a new situation in Hong Kong's innovation work. As for me, a professor who speaks Mandarin, comes to the government (work) to adapt to it, what should I do? I don't have much opportunity to think about personal things too much, just how to do the job well as soon as possible, so I went all the way, and it has been nearly a year now. I would like to thank my colleagues and the I&T community in Hong Kong for their support and concern along the way. In the past few months, if there has been a new situation in Hong Kong's I&T, it is mainly due to the joint efforts of all sectors in Hong Kong.
China News Network: You have studied in many places, and you have also worked in teaching and research in many universities at home and abroad, and now you have become an accountability officer of the HKSAR Government. How do you see this change in roles? How do past experiences help and inspire today's work?
Sun Dong: At that time, I didn't think too much about personal things, because I (gained) the trust of the country, the trust of the chief executive, and the chief executive invited me to join the team, so I think Hong Kong needs some people in the industry to stand up and help Hong Kong do something at this time.
I think my past experiences have helped me a lot in my current position. The first is that I was born in the mainland, studied in Hong Kong, worked overseas, and worked in Hong Kong's higher education and scientific research circles for more than 20 years, it should be said that I have a relatively deep understanding of Hong Kong's ecological environment; Moreover, because of my relatively diversified background, it is helpful for Hong Kong's next I&T development, because Hong Kong I&T needs to have diversified development, in addition to making use of Hong Kong's own advantages, it is necessary to rely on the motherland and connect with the world, to closely rely on the support of the state, to maintain close cooperation with the mainland I&T community, and at the same time to have overseas vision and lead Hong Kong to go global, so I think these past experiences are of great significance to such a leadership work now.
The picture shows Sun Dong. Photo by Li Zhihua
Chinanews.com: From your own experience, what is the soil for the development of innovation and technology in Hong Kong? What elements are lacking in the development of I&T centres? And how to make up for the shortcomings?
Sun Dong: I think Hong Kong's I&T soil is still very good, Hong Kong has five universities ranked in the world's top 5, which is not found in any other city in the world. We have thousands of world-class scholars and tens of thousands of active researchers; After the hard work of everyone in the past years, we already have two major science parks, and will establish a third science park in the Lok Ma Chau Loop; We have 100 State Key Laboratories, 16 InnoHK R&D platforms/laboratories, 28 National Engineering Research Centre Hong Kong sub-centres, and 6 functional institutions (R&D centres), including ASTRI (ASTRI) and Hong Kong Productivity Council. It should be said that after these years of efforts, Hong Kong's I&T environment has begun to take shape, especially in basic research, scientific and technological innovation, original innovation, Hong Kong has very good advantages, which is also inseparable from the fact that university research has been in line with overseas and adhered to the international route in the past many years.
In the next step, Hong Kong should uphold these advantages in the process of building an international innovation and technology hub, while also developing new areas. The Chief Executive delivered last year's Policy Address and our I&T Development Blueprint for Hong Kong clearly listed several major development directions as key industries for the future, including life and health technology, artificial intelligence and data science, advanced manufacturing and new energy technology, and financial technology.
As for the shortcomings, in the past, we only emphasized the basic scientific research of the university, resulting in the transformation of achievements compared with the surrounding areas, there are deficiencies, and then we did not have a clear industrial policy before, emphasizing that Hong Kong should develop related industries, since the establishment of this SAR government, especially under the leadership of Chief Executive Lee Ka-chiu, it has clearly proposed that Hong Kong should have its own industrial policy, to achieve coordinated development of the upstream, middle and downstream, so in addition to consolidating the advantages of upstream basic scientific research in the past, we must also focus on strengthening the transformation of achievements in the midstream. As well as downstream industrial development, this is where we will focus on improving next.
Chinanews.com: In the new budget, a lot of resources and funds have been invested in promoting the development of industry, education and research, what progress do you think Hong Kong has made in basic research and the transformation of research results in recent years, and what are the shortcomings?
Sun Dong: Since the HKSAR Government decided to establish the Innovation and Technology Bureau in 2015, Hong Kong's I&T ecosystem has been greatly improved over the past years thanks to the efforts of previous HKSAR Governments and the joint participation of the industry. For example, in 2017, there were only more than 1000,4000 start-ups in Hong Kong, and as of last year, there were more than <>,<> start-ups, and we plan to add more start-ups in the next few years in the "Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint" published last year.
All in all, in the past few years, the HKSAR Government has invested nearly 2000 billion yuan (Hong Kong dollars, the same below) for infrastructure construction, ecological environment changes, support for key projects, etc. It should be said that Hong Kong's I&T ecosystem is becoming increasingly thriving and we hope to maintain the momentum and accelerate development in the future.
For example, in basic research, this year's budget allocates $90 billion to strengthen Hong Kong's upstream basic research advantages, especially in the field of life and health, and in other key areas including artificial intelligence and quantum science, another $60 billion is allocated to emphasize the university's advantages in basic scientific research in this regard, and then use these platforms to bring in the world's best scientists from overseas.
In terms of midstreams, the Chief Executive proposed in his Policy Address last year to allocate 100 billion yuan to set up the "Industry-University-Research 1+ Plan", which will be used to support no less than 100 university R&D teams with the potential to become start-ups, hoping to accelerate the transformation of good scientific research achievements into the land of the university and then develop the industry.
In addition, we have several other major layouts, such as our plan to establish a microelectronics R&D institute in Hong Kong to support the vigorous development of Hong Kong's microelectronics industry through industry-university-research development; We also plan to set up an AI Supercomputing Centre in Hong Kong, hoping to promote the development of AI technology in the industry, so as to promote the development of Hong Kong's digital economy and build a smart city.
On the downstream side, we have formulated a clear industrial policy, proposed to introduce domestic and foreign enterprises to develop in Hong Kong, and we proposed to introduce no less than 100 representative technology enterprises to develop in Hong Kong in the next few years, including 20 so-called leading enterprises. We have relevant supporting facilities in terms of land, capital, talents, policies and other aspects to support the development of these enterprises in Hong Kong as soon as possible.
At the same time, we also support local traditional industries to transform and upgrade through technology, such as the "Re-industrialization Funding Scheme" to subsidize manufacturers to build smart production lines, aiming to increase the existing 5 smart production lines to 30 in the next 130 years, and we can provide up to 1500 million yuan per production line.
Of course, we have many other talent policies to attract domestic and foreign talents to Hong Kong and support their development in Hong Kong. All in all, through such a series of initiatives, we hope that Hong Kong can achieve coordinated development of upstream, middle and downstream and promote the process of building Hong Kong into an international I&T hub.
Infographic: On December 2022, 12, the "Innovation and Technology Expo 12", hosted by Our Hong Kong Foundation and co-organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China and the China Science and Technology Exchange Center, officially opened at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. Photo by Li Zhihua
China News Network: The SAR Government has also been recruiting talents to come to Hong Kong, I&T talents are a very important part of it, and plans such as Gao Caitong have been implemented. Does the Hong Kong government have confidence in "grabbing talents" one step ahead? Will more preferential measures be considered to attract and retain talent?
Sun Dong: The SAR government has recently introduced a series of policies, such as the "High-end Talent Pass Scheme", as of the end of April, tens of thousands of people have applied, and now the approval speed is also very fast, most of the eligible [applicants] will be approved as soon as possible, and by the end of last month, almost thousands of people had come to Hong Kong. We are also improving the existing Technology Talent Entry Scheme by lowering some of the thresholds, and the recently released Talent List has expanded its focus areas on innovation and technology.
For how to retain local talents, we have also proposed new measures, such as greatly improving the treatment of talent pool talents from April, and the salary (allowance) of doctoral graduates will increase to 4,45000 yuan per month, and each person can receive 3 years of funding, which is a great help to me or high-tech enterprises or related employers.
We also launched the Global STEM Professorship Scheme, which created 100 places a few years ago, and now that we have completed the funding of 100 people, we will continue to do so. We hope that through this series of measures, Hong Kong's talent ecology can change greatly in the near future.
The picture shows Sun Dong being interviewed by China News Network's "Hong Kong and Macao Meeting Room". Photo by Li Zhihua
Chinanews.com: The Mainland and Hong Kong Arrangement on Accelerating the Development of Hong Kong's International I&T Centre was signed in Beijing earlier, how do you think this will help Hong Kong's I&T development? How can the Mainland and Hong Kong complement each other in I&T development? In what areas does Hong Kong still need state assistance?
Sun Dong: The signing of this arrangement is the strongest support (given) by the state during the period when Hong Kong is governed and prosperous and built into an international innovation and technology center, and the document includes six major aspects and 27 specific projects, covering scientific and technological cooperation, resource sharing, talent cultivation and other related fields, and many measures will be introduced in the future.
Hong Kong's biggest strength for developing an international I&T hub is the state, which has also given Hong Kong the strongest support along the way. In the process of developing I&T, Hong Kong must pay attention to coordination with the overall development of the Greater Bay Area and integrate into the overall development of the country, Hong Kong is an important city in the Greater Bay Area, with a population of more than 720.8600 million, and the Greater Bay Area has a population of more than <> million, which is a huge market in itself. The <>th Five-Year Plan clearly points out that there are several major platforms for Guangdong-Hong Kong co-operation, including the River Loop, Qianhai and Guangzhou Nansha, and the establishment of these co-operation platforms provides a good opportunity for Hong Kong to further integrate into the overall development of the Greater Bay Area.
In the past period, in addition to signing a series of cooperation agreements with the country, we have also signed scientific and technological innovation cooperation agreements with the Guangdong Provincial Government and Shenzhen Municipality, the construction of smart city clusters, etc., so Hong Kong will discuss with other cities in the Greater Bay Area how to develop in dislocation and complement each other's advantages, and we still have a lot of work to do.
I think there are still many aspects that need the support of the state in the process of building Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology hub, such as we hope that mainland data can come to Hong Kong under the premise of regulation, help Hong Kong become an international data port, and some important human genetic resources can come to Hong Kong under the premise of regulation.
Moreover, in the future, Hong Kong will have its own products to engage in new-type industrialization, and we hope that these products can enter the mainland at zero tariff; In the future, Hong Kong should focus on the development of life and health technology, how to more easily enter the mainland market in the future research and development of new drugs and new medical devices, and whether the clinical scientific data and certificates conducted in Hong Kong can be discussed with the mainland and accepted by the mainland. All in all, we need to discuss a good mechanism to help Hong Kong better integrate into the overall development of the country.
China News Network: In April, you followed a delegation of officials and parliamentarians led by Chief Executive Lee Ka-chiu to visit Shenzhen, Dongguan and other Mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area. Have you explored any directions that Hong Kong can learn from or cooperate with?
Sun Dong: Our biggest impression is to chase time, development and competitiveness. In the past few years, the cities around the Greater Bay Area have developed rapidly, we have seen some good enterprises in Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Guangzhou, such as BYD, Tencent, DJI, etc., and also visited many other related facilities in Foshan and Dongguan, in addition to high-tech enterprises, there are also urban intelligent management, environmental protection related industries, which left a deep impression on us, which are worth learning from Hong Kong.
In the next step, how Hong Kong will develop world-class industries in some key areas according to its own characteristics is a question we have to think about.
Hong Kong has a good scientific research foundation and should better integrate with other cities in the Greater Bay Area through technological transformation, industrial upgrading and development. Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou have ranked second in the world's technology cluster for three consecutive years, which shows that if Hong Kong organically integrates with the Mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area, its technological strength can be greatly improved, which gives us important enlightenment.
The picture shows the Hong Kong Science Park. Photo by China News Agency reporter Li Zhihua
China News Network: A few days ago, you led the largest ever Hong Kong delegation to Switzerland to participate in the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions and launched a foreign visit in Switzerland. What was the effect or response?
Sun Dong: This is the first time that Hong Kong has returned to the world stage since the return to normal, one of the biggest I&T events, we have a record-breaking 293 projects and 500 people coming to Switzerland to tell the story of Hong Kong to the world, so this is definitely a great proof that Hong Kong has returned to the world stage. On the other hand, it also shows the world Hong Kong's very good strength in original innovation, which once again proves that Hong Kong has its strength to develop an international innovation and technology hub.
As we just mentioned, on the one hand, Hong Kong should rely on the motherland, integrate into the Greater Bay Area and national development, and at the same time go global, which is the mission of Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology center, so we will continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with overseas scientific research institutions and industries in the next step.
For example, a few years ago, we set up the InnoHK R&D platform in Hong Kong, and the results in the past few years have been very good, and some research centers have made good results, and the SAR Government will continue to increase support in this direction, strengthen our cooperation with some top overseas universities and research institutions, and strengthen Hong Kong's advantages in academic internationalization.
China News Network: In the last interview, you mentioned that similar foreign visits will continue in the future.
Sun Dong: Going to Switzerland is my first overseas visit since taking office, and we will continue to strengthen cooperation with overseas in the future, including Southeast Asia and other European countries, with the aim of strengthening scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation with overseas governments and non-governmental organizations on the one hand, and telling the story of Hong Kong to the world on the other hand. (End)