Hong Kong-Shenzhen tech cooperation gets a boost with Lenovo AI lab in Hetao hub

Hong Kong’s technology cooperation with Shenzhen received a boost on Wednesday as Lenovo Group, the world’s biggest personal computer maker, set up an innovation lab at the city’s new Hetao tech hub and pledged to help firms adopt artificial intelligence and expand globally. Lenovo is the first multinational tech firm to publicly announce its presence on the Hong Kong side of the Hetao zone – the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park (HSITP) – which covers 87 hectares in the city’s northern Lok Ma Chau area. Ken Wong, president of Lenovo’s Solutions & Services Group, said the new Lenovo AI Innovation Lab at HSITP aimed to be an “open platform” to help partners access the tech giant’s AI solutions and scale their businesses internationally. The cross-border Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone was launched in 2017, following Beijing’s call for closer integration between the two cities. The Beijing and Morrisville, US, dual-headquartered PC maker chose Hetao for its new AI centre as it combined Hong Kong’s advantages in research and access to the global market with the manufacturing strengths of Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area, according to Wong. The park was “making it easier for talent, goods, capital, and data to move across the border”, Wong said. Lenovo said that its new AI lab had attracted more than 30 partners, including Chinese cybersecurity firms 360 Security Technology and Qi An Xin, server maker H3C and enterprise management systems firm Yonyou. Lenovo’s addition to HSITP would help attract more companies to set up in Hong Kong to serve global markets, said Vincent Ma, CEO of HSITP. The Hong Kong side of the Hetao tech hub officially commenced operations in December. Some 60 enterprises had already moved into its two first-phase buildings, representing an 80 per cent occupancy rate. It complements a 302-hectare site on the Shenzhen side. The city has high hopes for HSITP, which forms part of the Northern Metropolis, a flagship initiative aimed at strengthening Hong Kong’s economic base and deepening integration with the Greater Bay Area. Beijing’s newly unveiled 15th five-year plan urged development of the project. The Hetao park in Hong Kong aimed to become a “world-class innovation powerhouse”, said Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong. The Asian financial hub has in recent years set about revamping itself as an innovation and technology centre. The city has started construction on a major supercomputing data centre, which Sun unveiled last June. It is set to provide 180,000 petaflops of computing power, a 36-fold increase from the current level.