Great ideas can move a mountain. There are substantial grounds for believing that Qianhai’s acceleration program for young entrepreneurs is a great initiative that can move the mountain of technological inertia in Hong Kong. Recently, 26 projects, mostly from the city’s startups, have joined the above program run by the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub. Marking a new phase in cross-boundary synergistic collaboration, the program is part of Shenzhen’s broader push to promote technological and innovation cooperation between the neighboring cities.
Established in 2014, the hub was jointly recognized by the Guangdong provincial government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government as a base for boosting innovation and entrepreneurship among young people. The hub provides comprehensive services for young entrepreneurs, covering the entire development cycle of enterprises from startup, acceleration to maturity. Some Macao startups also establish their companies in Qianhai.
The hub deserves great credit for providing an ideal innovation ecosystem for the startups of the region. Shenzhen Tianxi Technology, founded by two Macao residents, is a case in point of the collaboration between Macao and Shenzhen. The innovative ecosystem in Shenzhen allows the company to build a company culture where creativity feels natural, and risk-taking is encouraged.
The “What’s Next? NextU Camp” program is another success in the hub. The program aims at nurturing the next unicorns — startups valued at more than $1 billion. The companies will receive various services, ranging from resource connection to financing.
The above-mentioned 26 projects cover a wide range of industries, especially artificial intelligence, embodied AI, smart manufacturing, and digital healthcare. Spaceship, a Hong Kong-based startup, joined the program and grew to be a global logistics brand that provides one-stop logistics solutions for cross-border e-commerce.
According to Peter Mok, general manager of Shenzhen Qianhai Ehub Operation Co Ltd, the startups can leverage Shenzhen’s strengths to address staffing, financing and marketing problems. The e-hub operator also hopes to bring Hong Kong’s scientific research capabilities to Shenzhen, helping the city’s companies enhance such capabilities. The vast Chinese mainland market also burnishes the appeal of the acceleration program.
Now let us turn to the success of Tianxi Technology. In 2017, two Macao residents, together with their teammates, made a Rubicon-crossing decision to establish an internet tech company in Qianhai. Tianxi focuses on various types of mobile internet professional service platform applications. The Banfayou legal service platform is one of the popular legal service platforms offered by Tianxi. Students from cooperating universities in China can use this platform for flexible practice, laying a solid foundation for future legal-related work. A tourism social platform is another product invested in by the company.
According to Cheang Ka-hou, co-founder of Tianxi Technology, the decision to establish his company in Qianhai was partly due to the attractiveness of the pro-entrepreneur environment in Qianhai and partly due to his optimistic assessment of the development potential of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Zheng added that he must seize the opportunity and catch up with the country’s development. Personal development should be integrated into the overall development of the motherland. The inspirational story of Tianxi shows that young entrepreneurs from Hong Kong and Macao should try their best to promote the integration of the two cities into the Greater Bay Area’s development.
There is an emerging consensus that the acceleration program has provided a lot of benefits for Hong Kong. First, the acceleration program can play an indispensable role in helping the city achieve its dream to become an innovation and technology hub in Asia. Although Hong Kong has some successful fintech unicorns, its aspiration to become a tech hub may be vitiated by some well-known unfavorable factors. But with strengthened links to Qianhai, Hong Kong and Macao will benefit from the combined strength of the Greater Bay Area and its ever-evolving ecosystem of global investors and the bright minds from world-class universities.
Second, the acceleration program offers a golden opportunity for young entrepreneurs in Hong Kong to engage themselves more positively in the process to promote the integration of the special administrative region into the Greater Bay Area’s development. Third, the comprehensive support provided by the hub is too attractive to be ignored. Fourth, technological innovation can help China move up the global ladder of competitiveness. Fifth, the acceleration program opens a critical window of opportunity for local startups to establish their footprints in the prosperous Greater Bay Area market. They should not miss the boat. Our think tank strongly believes that Hong Kong’s future lies in the Greater Bay Area.
Finally, we should not see the acceleration program through the tinted glasses of local protectionism. If the acceleration program succeeds in producing a vast number of unicorns, both Hong Kong and Shenzhen will benefit enormously. It is a win-win game. The future listing of these unicorns on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will further strengthen Hong Kong’s role as an international financial center. These companies will also strengthen the professional sectors in the city.
Albert Yip Hing-fai is the principal solicitor of HF Yip & Co, and director of national security education at the Chinese Dream Think Tank.
Kacee Ting Wong is a barrister, a part-time researcher at Shenzhen University Hong Kong and Macao Basic Law Research Center, and chairman of the Chinese Dream Think Tank.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
