At the China Daily Greater Bay Area Conference 2026 in Hong Kong on Thursday, a clear theme ran through the sessions on finance, NewSpace and artificial intelligence in education: Hong Kong’s future rests on connecting what is too often treated separately — mainland and international markets, research and industry, technology and human judgment.

That is the practical meaning of Hong Kong’s role as a connector. It has become more valuable as the Asia-Pacific economy grows more integrated, technologically demanding and geopolitically complex. The conference, co-organized by China Daily and the Hong Kong Coalition, brought policymakers, business leaders and scholars together to consider how that role can be strengthened.

China and ASEAN already form one of the world’s great economic partnerships, with more than 2 billion people, a combined GDP of about $25 trillion and annual bilateral trade above $1 trillion. AI is making regional integration more urgent, increasing demand for computing power, specialized components and data capacity, while tightening links between research, manufacturing and finance.

Hong Kong is well placed to respond. But it cannot be content to benefit passively from regional growth. It should help make cross-border business easier to finance, safer to navigate and more accessible to international participants. Its value lies not simply in being a gateway, but in helping different markets, rules and business cultures work together with greater confidence.

The financial-services discussion made the point. The Stock Connect, Bond Connect and Swap Connect have shown what structured connectivity can achieve. The next phase should go beyond more efficient versions of existing products to include a broader range of exchange-traded funds, derivatives, commodities, and risk-management tools.

Hong Kong’s common law system, market infrastructure, regulatory experience and professional services matter to investors and companies operating across borders. The city can also help improve the less visible but vital work of trading, clearing and settlement, allowing regional markets to grow while retaining confidence and transparency.

The renminbi deserves special attention. Hong Kong is already the leading offshore renminbi hub. The larger opportunity is to make it an increasingly useful base for renminbi investment, hedging, settlement and risk management.

That requires credible destinations for capital, including green bonds, renminbi-denominated exchange-traded funds and, where safeguards are in place, tokenized real-world assets. It also means making life easier for corporate treasurers who need to remit, settle, invest and manage currency exposure. The purpose is not novelty. It aims to make the renminbi more useful in the region’s everyday commercial life.

The wealth-management discussion was timely. More Asian family wealth is passing to the next generation, and families want more than short-term returns. They need sound advice, clear structures, good governance and a jurisdiction they trust. Hong Kong can build on this demand through its family-office and asset-management sectors, provided it maintains the professional standards on which its reputation rests.

The NewSpace economy session offered another perspective on Hong Kong’s role in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The city will not compete in industrial production, and it does not need to. Its value lies elsewhere.

The opportunity is to combine strengths rather than duplicate them. The wider region brings engineering depth, manufacturing speed and dense supply chains. Hong Kong brings finance, law, regulation, professional services and access to international markets. Together, these strengths can support an industry that no single city could build as effectively on its own.

NewSpace is not just about satellites. It includes launch services, ground systems, communications, navigation, data, downstream applications and the businesses that grow around them. As the sector develops, companies will need patient capital, specialist insurance, intellectual property protection, clear rules, and trusted ways to handle cross-border commercial issues. These are practical areas where Hong Kong can add real value.

It can also help commercialize satellite data for shipping, climate monitoring, disaster response, logistics and carbon management. Practical reforms would help. A simpler system for registering a satellite constellation, rather than treating each satellite as an entirely separate case, would be a sensible starting point. So would a cross-border “green lane” enabling research teams to move satellite components, robotics equipment and prototypes more easily within the Greater Bay Area.

A dedicated space-economy office, led by an internationally recruited commissioner, could bring regulators, universities, investors and industry together. It would give businesses a clear point of contact and help ensure that good proposals do not become stranded between separate departments and approval processes. Hong Kong could also contribute to the emerging challenge of space sustainability, including managing orbital congestion and debris.

The education panel returned the discussion to the essential resource: people. AI literacy matters, but education cannot be handed over to screens. Students still need teachers, classmates, discussion, teamwork and the slow process of learning how to form sound judgment. In an AI-enabled economy, creativity, empathy and communication will matter more, not less.

Talent is another test. Hong Kong should continue to attract people from the Chinese mainland and overseas; the city has always depended on that mix. But the conversation cannot stop at recruitment numbers. A local graduate needs to believe there is room to build a career here, not just complete an internship and move on. Research should also sit closer to companies that can use it, fund it and turn it into real work.

Attracting talent is one thing, but keeping it is another. Once people arrive, they start making very practical calculations about rent, schools, jobs for spouses and whether they feel welcome outside official settings. If those questions are not answered, a visa program will only have limited effect. Hong Kong has to make the whole proposition convincing, not just the entry process.

The Greater Bay Area can strengthen that proposition. Hong Kong’s universities, international outlook and research strengths can be combined with the region’s capacity for prototyping, production and scaling up. Hong Kong can be where ideas are refined, protected, financed and introduced to global markets; neighboring cities can help turn them into products and enterprises at speed.

The conference’s central lesson was straightforward. Hong Kong does not need to reinvent itself. It needs to apply its established strengths to a larger field of opportunity. The Greater Bay Area provides the platform.

The next task for Hong Kong is to match it with ambition, practical policy and follow-through.

The author is an international partner and member of the Global Advisory Board, MilleniumAssociates AG.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.