Global Business Summit Launches in Hong Kong, Showcasing Finance and Innovation Opportunities Across Industries

Inaugural Global Business Summit Brings Global Leaders Together to Drive Finance-Industry Integration

The Inaugural Global Business Summit (GBS) was successfully held today (January 27) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, providing forward-looking, multi-dimensional insights into the prospects, challenges, and opportunities facing various industries.

The GBS was held on the second day of the annual flagship event, the Asian Financial Forum. It was jointly organised by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. With over 3 500 global leaders in attendance, the event highlighted Hong Kong's unique role as a "Super Connector" and "Super Value-Adder," further solidifying the city's position as international financial and innovation and technology (I&T) hubs.

Echoing the theme of "Finance Empowering Business," the GBS focused on strategies for financial–industrial integration and the latest market trends. Discussions included life and health technology, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, new energy, fintech, and other fast-growing sectors. Participants explored how cross-sector collaboration can generate synergies, drive industrial upgrading, and leverage Hong Kong's strength as a financial and trading centre to support Chinese Mainland enterprises in going global. This collaboration also aims to attract more international capital to reinforce and foster ecosystem development, strengthening Hong Kong's role in finance and innovation.

The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, stressed the importance of Hong Kong's status as an international financial centre. Henotedthat empowering industries through finance would foster deeperintegrationand collaborative development between finance and industry. He stated in hisopening remarks "Looking ahead, trade, finance and innovation and technology will be the three principal drivers of our economic growth." Mr Chan pointed out that tailored incentive packages, such as land grants, premium concessions, tax incentives and other facilitation measures, would be prepared to welcome technology enterprises to establish a presence in the Northern Metropolis.

OASES, as a co-organiser of the GBS, actively engaged with global leaders from existing and potential strategic enterprises across various sectors, including AI & Data Science, fintech, advanced manufacturing and new energy technology, and life and health technology, enabling them to exchange ideas as guest speakers and provide professional and diverse industry perspectives.

The Director-General of OASES, Mr Peter Yan, said, "The successful debut of the GBS fully demonstrates Hong Kong's unique status as both the global financial and I&T hubs. The GBS has become an important platform for international collaboration, underscoring Hong Kong's strategic role in driving deeper integration between finance and industry, and providing global enterprises with new opportunities to explore and unlock value."

Since its establishment, OASES has actively promoted Hong Kong's unique advantages and policies, successfully attracting more than 100 strategic enterprises to set up in the city. These enterprises are expected to bring in approximately HK$60 billion of investment and create more than 22 000 quality jobs, further strengthening Hong Kong's position as an I&T hub.

Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, a leading global innovative pharmaceutical enterprise, actively participated in the GBS and joined the thematic panel titled "Biomedicine 2026: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities". The panel provided an indepth analysis of the latest developments in the global biomedical technology industry and examined the opportunities and challenges facing by the sector. Topics covered included cuttingedge scientific breakthroughs, transformation in clinical application, regulatory changes, and how cross-sector collaboration can drive continuous innovation in life and health technology.

The Vice Chairman of Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, Mr Dai Hongbin, said, "Hengrui places significant importance on Hong Kong's strategic position in the international innovation ecosystem. We are excited to enhance our collaboration with OASES to drive advancements, promote breakthroughs in biomedical technology through research, clinical practice and industrialisation, while actively contributing to the development of Hong Kong's innovation ecosystem." He also noted that the GBS serves as a stage for pharmaceutical enterprises to share knowledge on life and health science and medical innovation from various perspectives, fostering collaboration across sectors and global resource integration.

Vice President and Chief Economist of JD Group, Dr Shen Jianguang,joined a thematic panel discussion titled "AI Infrastructure: Driving Intelligent Supply" with other distinguished guests. The session delved into strategies for the practical use of AI technologies, investment priorities, and fostering industrial collaboration. It explored the growing importance of AI infrastructure as a key component of intelligent supply chains, smart manufacturing, and innovative business models, and its significant impact on the global industrial landscape.

Dr Shen noted that Hong Kong provides a vibrant and highly internationalised environment for AI enterprises, enabling them to expand their businesses and drive innovation. He emphasised that the GBS is a valuable platform that promotes the exchange of ideas and crosssector collaboration, while also creating important opportunities to explore new growth and advance industrial upgrading.

Dr Shen said, "With the rapid development of AI infrastructure, Hong Kong plays a greater role in data science, fintech and smart manufacturing, serving as a strategic hub linking the Chinese Mainland with international markets. We look forward to deepening co-operation with OASES through the GBS, driving the application of AI technologies across broader industrial scenarios, and contributing to the continued growth of Hong Kong's innovation ecosystem."

Moving forward, OASES will continuously align with the National 15th FiveYear Plan to elevate Hong Kong's status as a leading international hub for finance, shipping, trade, and innovation and technology. OASES will continue to leverage Hong Kong's unique role as a "Super Connector" and "Super ValueAdder" to accelerate growth in finance and I&T, and deepen global interactions. OASES will continue to attract high-potential technology enterprises to set up in Hong Kong and support them to thrive globally through our city. This initiative is designed to drive significant advancements in key emerging industries: AI & Data Science, fintech, life and health technology, advanced manufacturing and new energy technology, and cultural and creative technology. Ultimately, these efforts are intended to further solidify Hong Kong's competitive position as a global I&T hub.

The thematic panel titled "AI Driven Robotics and Autonomous Technologies: Revolutionising Industry", Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The speakers of the Global Business Summit, Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The speakers of the Global Business Summit, Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The thematic panel titled "Biomedicine 2026: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities", Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Director-General of OASES, Mr Peter Yan, Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Business Plenary: Strategic Collaboration for Shared Growth, Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

CFS finds trace amount of Enterococci in samples of individual batches of bottled mineral water

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (May 28) that two samples of bottled mineral water were found to contain trace amount of Enterococci. The CFS is following up on the incident.

A spokesman for the CFS said, "Under its routine Food Surveillance Programme, the CFS collected bottled mineral water samples at retail level for microbiological testing, including tests for Escherichia coli, Coliform bacteria, Enterococci, Spore-forming sulphite-reducing anaerobes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The test results showed that two samples of the individual batches of bottled mineral water below contained Enterococci at a level of one Colony Forming Unit in 250 millilitres, while all other tested parameters (Escherichia coli, coliform bacteria, Spore-forming sulphite-reducing anaerobes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were satisfactory (i.e. not detected).

According to the Microbiological Guidelines for Food, Enterococci shall not be tested presence in bottled natural mineral water. As a precautionary measure, the CFS has informed the retailers/distributors concerned to stop sales and remove from shelves the affected batches of the products below. The distributors concerned have also initiated voluntary recalls of the affected batches of the products concerned. Members of the public may call the respective hotlines below during office hours for enquiries about the recalls.

Product details are as follows:

Product name: Still Scottish Mountain Water

Brand: Marks & Spencer

Volume: 750ml

Best-before date: December 2026

Distributor: ALF Retail Hong Kong Limited

Hotline: 3656 2253

Product name: LOTTE ICIS Natural Mineral Water 8.0

Brand: Lotte

Volume: 2 litres

Best-before date: September 22, 2027

Distributor: Goldtop Century Ltd

Hotline: 2632 7373

Since January 2026, the CFS has collected 50 samples of bottled drinking water for testing. Apart from the two unsatisfactory samples mentioned above, all other samples passed the tests.

"Enterococci are a group of bacteria commonly found in the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and animals, generally posing a low risk to healthy individuals. However, certain strains may cause infections in immunocompromised individuals. Members of the public should stop consuming the affected batches of the natural mineral water. Anyone who feels unwell after consuming the products, such as experiencing symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or fever etc, should seek medical treatment," a spokesman for the CFS said.

The CFS had alert the trade, and will continue to follow up on the incident and take appropriate action. An investigation is ongoing.

Source: AI-found images