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Exclusive | Hong Kong’s shift to innovation hub won’t be contained by US, minister says

  • Technology minister Sun Dong explains city’s strategy for diversifying geopolitical risks and streamlining sharing of data in bay area

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Innovation minister Sun Dong says the government is planning to expand a cross-border data transfer pilot scheme to cover all sectors in the bay area. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The latest moves by Washington to limit Hong Kong’s access to American health data and biotech equipment exports have had a “relatively limited” impact on the city’s goal of becoming a regional innovation hub, the IT minister has said, as he outlined his strategy to diversify geopolitical risks.

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Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong said in an exclusive interview with the Post that authorities were seeking to expand the city’s access to global pools of data by increasing collaborations with countries in Europe, the Asean bloc and others under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

A scheme allowing for the sharing of personal data over the border would also be expanded to cover all sectors in the Greater Bay Area this year, the minister revealed.

When asked about recent moves by the United States government to block Chinese access to the American life sciences market, Sun was adamant they would not deter Hong Kong from becoming an innovation and technology (I&T) hub as called for in Beijing’s latest five-year development plan.

“[The] impact of any unilateral policies implemented by individual countries is relatively limited,” he said.

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