Hong Kong is betting on the launch of an ambitious initiative to set the stage for an alliance of the country’s automotive and supply chain enterprises to embark on global expansion.

The initiative to create a greater international footprint is expected to be one of the major achievements of the 2025 International Automotive and Supply Chain Expo (Hong Kong), as the financial and logistics hub looks to leverage its sophisticated capital ecosystem, professional service resources, and international networks to turbocharge industrial upgrading and international cooperation.

The Expo, slated to run from June 12-15, will see 11 major Chinese mainland vehicle manufacturing groups, such as China FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor and BYD, display their portfolios. “Many carmakers have secured independent exhibition spaces exceeding 1,000 square meters, a scale rarely seen in overseas auto shows and unprecedented in the history of Hong Kong’s automotive exhibitions,” Fu Bingfeng, executive vice-president and secretary-general of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said at Monday’s news conference in Hong Kong.

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Farizon Auto, the new energy commercial vehicle brand under the Geely Holding Group, will turbocharge Hong Kong’s taxi electrification with delivery of the first batch of vehicles from a 1,000-unit order of Farizon Super Vans.

Hailed as the city’s largest, most comprehensive, and most impactful automotive event ever, the Expo will also embrace nearly 40 mainland automotive supply chain and technology enterprises, including batteries giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co, Ltd and Horizon Robotics to highlight breakthroughs in smart cockpits, advanced driver-assistance systems, automotive chips, radar systems, and Vehicle-to-Everything technologies, according to Fu.

Baidu, which received a license to test autonomous vehicles with its Apollo Go robotaxi service in Hong Kong last November, will provide an update on the operational progress it has made.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, policymakers and regulators on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong, and industry representatives from the mainland, the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will attend the launch.

“For Chinese mainland automotive companies, Hong Kong serves as the ‘first stop for global expansion’. By leveraging the city’s international branding and marketing resources, automakers can rapidly elevate their global visibility and target emerging market demands,” said Wingco Lo Kam-wing, president of the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong. “For international enterprises, Hong Kong acts as a ‘gateway to the Chinese mainland’. Through platforms such as the Expo, overseas brands can integrate with the country’s well-established supply chain ecosystem and tap into the vast consumer market of 1.4 billion people.”

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“This kind of ‘two-way empowerment’ sits at the core of Hong Kong’s value in advancing the globalization of the automotive industry,” Lo added.

Contact the writer at sophialuo@chinadailyhk.com