Hong Kong sets 5-year plan to double innovation spending, boost new industries

Hong Kong's Chief Executive, John Lee Ka-chiu, announced a comprehensive five-year plan on Wednesday, aligning the city's development with China's national strategy. The blueprint aims to nearly double innovation spending and increase the share of manufacturing and new industries to 5.5% of the economy by 2030. Lee unveiled a set of binding and aspirational longer-term targets, promising a new innovation engine in the Northern Metropolis megaproject.

The plan covers 105 indicators, including 22 major targets across economic and innovation development, livelihoods, and environmental protection. Major indicators are divided into 17 anticipatory goals and five binding targets. If the binding targets are not met, Lee emphasized that accountability measures would be necessary.

Key anticipatory goals include a 10% annual increase in two technology indicators: nearly doubling innovation spending to 3% of GDP from 1.63% and raising value-added manufacturing to 5.5% of GDP from 3.8%. Additionally, the plan seeks to increase the share of companies with foreign parent firms by 4-5% annually.

Four of the five binding targets focus on environmental protection. These include cutting carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 32.5% and raising the share of zero-carbon energy in Hong Kong's electricity mix to 30% from 25% within five years. For the Northern Metropolis project, the government aims to increase "spade-ready sites" from 120 to 900 hectares and raise the number of homes completed to 70,000 from the current 11,000.

Lee also highlighted improvements in livelihoods, pledging to raise the doctor-to-population ratio to 2.43 and reduce the risk of early death from chronic conditions to 6.9%. The five-year plan dedicates a chapter to national security, emphasizing a holistic approach to economic resilience through enhanced legal systems and enforcement mechanisms.