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Xinmei Shen

Hong Kong has brought its largest delegation ever to the US consumer electronics trade show CES as it strives to become a global technology hub, but US visa denials and the abruptly cancelled attendance of the city’s technology chief have cast a shadow over its efforts.
Some employees at exhibiting Hong Kong firms did not make it to CES in Las Vegas because of visa rejections, many of whom had experience working at Chinese tech companies that were blacklisted by the US government such as Huawei Technologies and SenseTime, participants at the annual trade show said.
“A lot of people are not here today actually,” said a staff member at one of the Hong Kong start-ups exhibiting at CES 2026. “A lot of people are one-man shows.”
Some also experienced tighter visa scrutiny and longer application times than previous years, according to another staff member of one of the Hong Kong exhibitors.

Even so, Hong Kong’s presence at CES was larger than in previous years, with 61 companies, including 47 from the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), “all here”, said HKSTP CEO Terry Wong.
The city’s endeavours at CES this year were also clouded by the sudden cancellation of a planned trip by Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong.
The city’s innovation and technology (I&T) minister was to begin a six-day US visit to attend CES, the government said on Tuesday. Four hours after his attendance was announced, the government said in a statement that Sun had cancelled the trip, without providing an explanation.
Sun’s bureau told the Post that the government constantly conducted “dynamic assessments” regarding the appropriateness of overseas visits by officials.
But Hong Kong’s presence at CES “continues” and “everybody is doing what was planned”, said Wong. “We continue to be very aspirational and excited about the outcome.”
Hong Kong’s delegation includes a “diverse” group of start-ups from fields including health tech, artificial intelligence and new materials, and many have matured from ideation to commercialisation, Wong said.
The size of Hong Kong’s delegation indicated that more local start-ups were ready to showcase their products, not only to the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese market, but to the overseas market, he added.
Wong, who was appointed as HKSTP CEO in July, said he would focus on supporting start-ups in their commercialisation and overseas expansion efforts.
Several Hong Kong firms won the CES Innovation Award this year, including firefighting robot maker Widemount Dynamics Tech, fitness tracking skin patch maker PointFit, and fatty liver diagnostic device maker Eieling Technology.


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Hong Kong’s CES delegation includes start-ups from fields of health tech, artificial intelligence and new materials


Hong Kong’s CES delegation includes start-ups from fields of health tech, artificial intelligence and new materials.


Hong Kong Science & Technology Park

Hong Kong science and technology

Hong Kong

United States

US visa denials cast a shadow over Hong Kong’s largest-ever delegation to CES

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hong Kong’s CES delegation includes start-ups from fields of health tech, artificial intelligence and new materials

Hong Kong’s CES delegation includes start-ups from fields of health tech, artificial intelligence and new materials