HKETO Briefs US on Life Sciences Opportunities in Hong Kong's Thriving Health Sector

2026-04-25 07:41 Last Updated At：07:58

HKETO, Washington DC promotes Hong Kong as hub for life and health sciences

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Washington, DC, (HKETO, Washington DC), hosted on April 24 (Washington time) a briefing on opportunities in Hong Kong's life and health sciences industry.

Click to Gallery

HKETO, Washington DC promotes Hong Kong as hub for life and health sciences Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

More Images

HKETO, Washington DC promotes Hong Kong as hub for life and health sciences Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The event, entitled "Hong Kong: Current Landscape and Development Opportunities in the Life Sciences Sector", was held under the Economic and Trade Express initiative. It was jointly organised by Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) New York Office. The event featured a presentation by co-founder of ElohaX, co-director of the University of Hong Kong-Cambridge AI to Advance Wellbeing and Society Research Platform and Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge, Professor Jacqueline Lam, on leveraging the strength of Hong Kong being a global "super connector" as well as a hub for converging talent, AI innovation and translational research that successfully transforms research into commercialisation.

The event was attended by members of the Washington Intergovernmental Professional Group and locals from various sectors, including life and health science professionals, federal and local government representatives of the United States (US), think tanks, businesses and other private sector entities.

The Director of the HKETO, Washington DC, Ms Elania Luk, said that with Hong Kong's prominent status as an international financial centre and international innovation and technology (I&T) centre, good human capital (including world-class education institutions and top talent attraction programmes), holistic government support and a strong business and start-up presence, Hong Kong is poised for strong growth in the life and science sector.

"Hong Kong is the second-largest biotech funding hub globally, following only New York. Our listing rules allow pre-revenue companies to list and raise capital.In addition, Hong Kong is home to five of the world's top 100 universities with a world-class research landscape supported by the Hong Kong Science Park and the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone.

"Hong Kong is actively advancing the integrated development of life and health technology at upstream, midstream and downstream levels.On upstream research and development (R&D), we will pursue its development through Life and Health Technology Research Institute and various R&D centres under the InnoHK research clusters.On midstream outcome transformation, the Research, Academic, and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme has supported 15 projects.As for downstream industries, three major I&T parks together host nearly 500 relevant enterprises and organisations, creating a vibrant ecosystem," Ms Luk added.

The Head of Business and Talent Attraction/Investment Promotion at InvestHK New York Office, Ms Xie Yi, spoke of how the office can provide bespoke services to US companies wishing to set up or expand their operations in Hong Kong to capitalise on regional markets and shared success stories of life and health sciences companies using Hong Kong as a platform for business development and expansion.

The Director (New York & Midwest) of the HKTDC, Mr Curtis Louie, introduced how the Asia Summit on Global Health - one of Hong Kong's flagship exhibition events which will take place on May 11 and 12 - would be relevant for American businesses and how the office's support services and strong networks can facilitate commercial and market opportunities.

Professor Lam shared how ElohaX seeks to improve health and quality of life through AI innovation, particularly with regard to research and therapy for Alzheimer's disease. She spoke of Hong Kong being a launch pad for interdisciplinary AI innovation.

Attendees also enjoyed an exhibition of curated paintings under the theme of "Hong Kong: Our Home". The paintings were commissioned by the Social Welfare Department under the Arts Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities, in collaboration with various non-governmental organisations. The paintings, among other things, exemplify Hong Kong's efforts in unleashing the potential of persons with disabilities in artistic activities and their contribution to society.

Hong Kong's Autonomous Vehicle Trials Progress Smoothly, Expanding Operations and Ensuring Road Safety.

Hong Kong steadily promotes autonomous driving following largely smooth trials

The Transport Department (TD) today (April 25) said that the trials of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in Hong Kong have largely been smooth, demonstrating the city's steady progress in promoting autonomous driving, which is on par with developments on the Mainland and overseas.

The Commissioner for Transport, Miss Winnie Tse, observed one of the trials on Airport Island and took a ride in an autonomous private car to learn more about its progress. Upon approval by the TD, since late February 2026, the trial has extended from Airport Island to Tung Chung and Sunny Bay, and has increased the number of AVs operating simultaneously from 10 to 20 for the passenger-carrying trial on Airport Island, and from three to eight for the Tung Chung trial. During the Airport Island trial, apart from onboard backup operators, remote backup operators have been introduced for the first time, operating the AVs from the remote control centre, with a view to testing the orderly transition to driverless operations, i.e. replacing in-vehicle backup operators with remote backup operators. The Airport Island trial's cumulative mileage has reached about 140 000 kilometres.

Miss Tse said she was pleased to note that the trial's performance across road sections was stable, safe and smooth. AVs shared the roads with other vehicles and complied with road safety rules, such as giving way to pedestrians and stopping in accordance with traffic light signals.

The TD has issued six pilot licences to date, involving the trial of 62 AVs at six locations. The Airport Island trial routes cover a number of roads, public transport interchanges (PTIs) and car parks around the airport, SKYCITY, AsiaWorld-Expo, hotels and the Aircraft Maintenance Area. The additional road sections cover the vicinities of MTR Tung Chung Station, hotels, shopping arcades and up to Sunny Bay PTI via Cheung Tung Road. The remaining locations are the West Kowloon Cultural District, Cyberport in the Southern District, the Kai Tak Development Area in Kowloon East, the Airportcity Link, and the "Park & Fly" carpark at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port.

Chaired by the Commissioner, the Autonomous Vehicle Applications Promotion Working Group will, in collaboration with relevant departments and the industry, review the progress of each AV project; provide steer on the trial locations, vehicle types and licensing arrangements required to support the commercial development of AVs; and explore appropriate regulatory arrangements to allow AVs to provide a certain degree of commercial services in specific areas on an individual pilot basis.

Miss Tse said, "We will accelerate the smooth transition of autonomous driving technology from the research and development testing phase to actual operation, and introduce and drive the industry to commence trials and applications in the community at full speed, so that more members of the public may access and experience the convenience of autonomous driving."

HKETO Briefs US on Life Sciences Opportunities in Hong Kong's Thriving Health Sector

HK