Hong Kong will continue to raise its expenditure on innovation activities as a share of gross domestic product, aiming to lift the ratio to 3 percent after 2030, up from about 1.63 percent in 2024, as the city aims to develop into an international innovation and technology hub.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu set out the target on Wednesday while delivering the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030).

Lee said Hong Kong will build on the strength of its higher education sector, which includes five universities ranked among the world’s top 100, and focus on frontier technologies while strengthening basic research capabilities in original innovation.

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The city will concentrate resources on key technologies such as life and health, artificial intelligence and robotics, microelectronics, new energy, advanced manufacturing and new materials. It will also develop national and regional major research platforms, step up efforts to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies, and attract and support related enterprises to expand their presence in Hong Kong.

“We will basically have established an international innovation and technology center based in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, serving the entire country and connected to the world, after 2030,” Lee said.

“(This will give) rise to a new system and new paradigm for innovation and technology development where enterprises will be the key players, unicorns will be the lead, and modern finance will empower the integrated development of technological and industry innovation, bringing into full play the strengths of world class institutions in scientific research,” he added.

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Lee said the Hong Kong Microelectronics Research and Development Institute will build on its existing foundation and take the lead in operating the first national manufacturing innovation center in Hong Kong at the Microelectronics Centre building, with the target of establishing the center by 2027.

The chief executive pledged to “develop Hong Kong into a health and medical innovation hub with global influence”. He said the city will intensify the regulatory reform of drugs and medical devices and enhance its regulatory regime to align with international standards, while developing the capacity for independent evaluation and approval of medical products.

The SAR government will also advance the R&D of innovative drugs and medical devices to expedite the launch of innovative drugs for market use, Lee said.