In early November this year, Chief Executive Carrie Lam signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Professor Chunli Bai, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), to promote innovation and technology advancement in the areas of biotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI) in Hong Kong. As part of the agreement, CAS will establish an affiliated institution at the Hong Kong Science Park to support the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health and the Institute of Automation – leading research institutions in areas of biomedical sciences and AI in Mainland China.
‘The institution will also promote transfer and translation of scientific research results, co-ordinate collaboration between the CAS and local universities, and undertake technological education and promotion activities’, explains a HKSAR government press release.
According to the South Morning China Post (SCMP), Lam believed that the signing of the agreement marked ‘a new chapter’ in cross-border technological cooperation as well as a step forward in the development of the city as a place of technological innovation. The move coheres with the Chinese government’s plan to transform Hong Kong into a hub of Innovation and Technology (I&T) as part of plans to turn the Greater Bay Area (Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province), into a I&T powerhouse. Under the plan, the four key focuses of the city’s I&T development include biotechnology, AI, smart city technology and FinTech.
The new CAS-affiliated institution in Hong Kong will also serve as the secretariat of the planned Greater Bay Area Academician Alliance, which will work to support the development of the Greater Bay Area by helping to coordinate participation and collaboration among academicians from both the CAS and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, according to China Daily.
Lam also announced that up to HK$30 million (US$3.8 million) of additional research funding would be set aside in the 2018–19 academic year to support 22 laboratories jointly founded by the CAS and local universities. The laboratories have been conducting research in a wide range of areas, such as AI, biochemistry and material sciences, mathematics, engineering and environmental sciences. This additional one-off fund will be administered by the University Grants Committee.
Comment by Karen Hsu, Education Services Manager (Hong Kong)
Looking back at Hong Kong’s progress in I&T development over the last one and a half years, it is clear that the city is determined to play an integral part in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) plans. From the government’s policy address, its allocation of research funding, the establishment of the Committee on Innovation, Technology and Re-industrialisation, to this new commitment to the setting up of a CAS-affiliated institution at the heart of HK’s I&T incubation centre, it is evident that the government are already making moves to pave the way for the city’s future as hub for innovation and, in turn, the future of Greater Bay Area as a rival to Silicon Valley – an important part of Beijing’s ‘Made in China 2025’ vison.
Local universities have reacted positively to news of the planned CAS-affiliated institution. The institution will be able to act as a liaison between the Ministry of Science and Technology in Beijing and Innovation and Technology Bureau – the government offices in charge of technology-related policymaking in the Mainland China and Hong Kong respectively. By liaising with the new GBA Academician Alliance, researchers would be able to develop a better understanding of how to apply for research grants and implement their projects in compliance with the Mainland’s regulations.
As for UK institutions, it remains to be seen whether there will be more opportunities for research partnerships, although healthcare technologies, artificial intelligence and robotics may be areas to explore.
About the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
According to UK Research and Innovation, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) ‘is China’s national scientific think tank and by far the country’s largest single producer of research. CAS receives a core funding allocation directly from the Ministry of Finance and augments this income by competing for research grants. There are over 100 CAS research institutes, as well as two universities and 11 supporting organisations across the country, many of which have established partnerships with UK universities and research institutes, and dozens of grants with China are with CAS and its affiliated institutes’.
According to a report published by Elsevier Scival in 2017, CAS was the top Chinese institution for UK–China research collaboration during the 2013–2017 period that the report covers, with over 6,900 joint papers (around 14% of all UK–China joint papers). Some of these partnerships involved direct collaboration between a UK university and a CAS research institute, while others were three-way or multi-party collaborations that also involved Chinese universities.
Sources:
HKSAR – Press Release:HKSAR Government and Chinese Academy of Sciences sign MoU on establishing affiliated institution in Hong Kong
China Times:Top science academy to set up branch in HK
Chinese Academy of Sciences:List of CAS subsided HK research institutes