For most of the 20th century, Hong Kong was a standalone star on China’s periphery. Before the Chinese mainland developed, the city had leveraged its unique position to become a one-of-a-kind place as the region’s primary financial and regional hub, having expertise, resources, markets, and capital which the rest of the country did not have at that point. Hong Kong’s own exceptional qualities earned it the nickname “Asia’s World City”, for it was at the time, in a league of its own.

While today, Hong Kong still has a powerful economic role as one of the world’s leading financial centers, it is increasingly under pressure to maintain its “head start” as the mainland’s development and economic rise have changed the landscape. Hong Kong was once a standout; now many other cities have risen on the mainland that have also evolved into globally influential business or innovation centers, including major cities in Guangdong province. Hong Kong once had no competitors, now it has many.

In order to maintain its advantages, Hong Kong primarily relies on framing itself as a gateway between the mainland and the rest of the world, serving as a hub where markets, capital and ideas mix — an advantage that the “one country, two systems” arrangement makes possible. However, the city must not stand still; in order to stay ahead, the special administrative region’s chief executive, John Lee Ka-Chui, said that the SAR must excel in “people, knowledge, creativity and adaptability” and thus make itself continually attractive as a global talent hub in order to complement the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30).

To achieve this, the city’s leadership has publicly sought to emphasize the importance of two areas. First, the expansion of the city’s higher education. Hong Kong is a world-class destination to study, learn and research, attracting top-tier academic talent, with academic institutions ranking among the best in Asia and the world, and with greater internationalization in their faculties than in many on the mainland. It is already on the city’s agenda to expand these advantages, thus attracting and developing new talent for the city.

Second, it has been stated by both the HKSAR government and numerous experts that Hong Kong must secure a competitive role in the single most important and revolutionary industry emerging today — artificial intelligence. The world is undergoing an AI race right now, which has also become a core aspect of geopolitical competition between the United States and China.

While China has made immense progress in AI technology and developed some huge AI-related firms, despite the US having attempted to throttle its development through semiconductor embargos, this is a rapidly developing digital “arms race” which is competitive to the extreme. Hong Kong is to serve a specific role of attracting international talent in this field, thus serving as a keystone for Chinese AI firms to develop and reach international markets.

The conditions that made the city rise like a single shining star in the 20th century no longer exist, and thus the Hong Kong of today must keep itself relevant by cooperating with the rest of China in a broader economic strategy, using its own unique capabilities to its advantage

Of course, this push for talent is not without its difficulties. Hong Kong faces geopolitical headwinds, including negative press in the West regarding national security issues, and active attempts by some countries such as the United Kingdom to woo the population to move overseas and thus take talent away. This means Hong Kong must not only develop the necessary resources and benefits to attract talent, but also win the corresponding “war of words” and set its own narrative and story against those who seek to define the city on its behalf. After all, even though it isn’t true, how many foreign newspaper op-eds did we see declaring Hong Kong “dead” following the passage of the Hong Kong SAR National Security Law? Thus, a key part of the city’s economic push and expansion also involves control of its own narrative and image.

Hong Kong is not, contrary to foreign reports, a “police state” or “dystopia” but a thriving city and economic powerhouse in East Asia; but part of the city’s success rests on its ability to adapt to a changing world. The conditions that made the city rise like a single shining star in the 20th century no longer exist, and thus the Hong Kong of today must keep itself relevant by cooperating with the rest of China in a broader economic strategy, using its own unique capabilities to its advantage.

The author is a British political and international-relations analyst.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.