People wait in line to try a health monitoring stand at the booth of China Mobile Hong Kong in Victoria Park of Hong Kong, south China, July 1, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has ranked seventh on Greater China’s innovation and technology index, revealing weaknesses in its talent pool and research and development capabilities, according to a report released by the Policy Research Centre for Innovation and Technology (PReCIT) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University on Thursday.
The inaugural PolyU Innovation & Technology Index report revealed that Hong Kong achieved a score of 3.53 out of 10 points, while Guangdong province, Jiangsu province, and Beijing city emerged as the top three regions for innovation and technology among the 34 regions in Greater China, with scores of 6.67, 5.20, and 4.72, respectively.
The report highlighted that Hong Kong trailed behind in research and development, number of patents, innovation and technology professionals, startups, and contribution to GDP from the city’s manufacturing industry
The indicator system is categorized into five areas, namely research and development, startup, talent, industry and impact, with weightings of 30 percent, 30 percent, 15 percent, 5 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
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The report highlighted that Hong Kong trailed behind in research and development, number of patents, innovation and technology professionals, startups, and contribution to GDP from the city’s manufacturing industry.
Despite Hong Kong’s gross domestic expenditure on research and development as a ratio to GDP having risen from 0.74 percent in 2016 to 0.99 percent in 2022, the figure remains below the Greater China average of 2.4 percent.
However, Hong Kong outperforms other regions in average venture capital deal size and high-technology exports, showcasing the city’s strength as an international financial center with a thriving free-market economy, robust trade conditions, and a livable environment.
The report said if the Hong Kong government achieves the vision outlined last year in the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint, the city’s ranking is projected to rise to sixth by 2027 and third by 2032.
Comparing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with other bay areas around the world, the San Francisco Bay Area and Tokyo Bay Area rank first and second respectively among the world’s four largest bay areas, with scores of 6.99 and 4.07, followed by the Greater Bay Area and the New York Bay Area.
Christopher Chao, PolyU vice-president and director of PReCIT, said, “Hong Kong has not fully leveraged its internationally recognized free-market economy due to the dominance of public investment in research and development expenditure.”
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He added that Hong Kong should enhance private investment in research and development, and strengthen the venture capital flow from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong in order to more effectively support the ongoing development of fintech and the innovation and technology ecosystem.
Eric Chui, co-director of PReCIT and head of the department of applied social sciences, said that the cost of maintaining intellectual property rights in the early stages of startups is high, which discourages entrepreneurs from protecting their business ideas and competitiveness.
He advised the government to increase the funding limit for each enterprise or individual application to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, and strengthen the technology talent pool for long-term sustainability.
Contact the writer at tianyuanzhang@chinadailyhk.com
