Hong Kong holds first embodied AI industry summit, charts path to global hub

2026-05-13 17:22 Last Updated At：05-14 12:51

Hong Kong convened its inaugural embodied AI industry summit on Tuesday, bringing together government officials, industry leaders, academics and entrepreneurs to explore the future of embodied intelligence and closer innovation cooperation between Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Chinese mainland.

Co-hosted by the Hong Kong China Friendship Association and the Shanghai-based robotics firm Agibot, the summit aims to forge a platform for exchanges and cooperation for Hong Kong's embodied AI sector, as well as build the SAR into a global hub for embodied AI.

Focusing on embodied AI application scenarios, innovation and entrepreneurship, and collaboration between industries, universities, and research institutes, the summit also unveiled the Hong Kong Embodied AI Industry Co-Creation Initiative to promote real-life application and commercialization.

"Hong Kong is a critical gateway and foothold for mainland companies going global. Hong Kong offers a wealth of scenarios, covering advanced retail, a strong education sector and many universities. We need to find like-minded partners to invest in this industry together," said Jiang Qingsong, a partner at Agibot.

Addressing the summit, John Lee, chief executive of the HKSAR, highlighted the role of embodied AI in promoting industrial upgrading and fostering new quality productive forces, adding that Hong Kong welcomes enterprises to set up operations in the Special Administrative Region to leverage its strengths and accelerate technological upgrading.

"Hong Kong's highly international, culturally diverse and compact urban landscape provides an ideal testing ground for embodied AI. Hong Kong offers rich and challenging application scenarios for service robots, healthcare and nursing applications and smart manufacturing, which can help connect technologies to global markets," he said.

Lee also said that Hong Kong will establish a committee on AI+ and industry development strategy to formulate strategies for driving industrial transformation through AI, with initial focus on life and health technology and embodied intelligence.

The Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Institute is set to commence operations in the second half of the year, with the aim of boosting AI research and development, facilitating the commercialization of research outcomes, and expanding real-world application scenarios, he said.

The institute will launch an AI technology matchmaking platform, providing industry demand with solutions to speed up commercialization and empower industrial development, Lee added. Also speaking at the summit, Frederick Ma, chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, stressed that Hong Kong boasts unique strengths of internal integration and external connectivity as well as openness and inclusiveness, making it an optimal platform for mainland innovation and tech enterprises to expand into global markets.

Guangzhou's Nansha Port enters 5th phase of construction

Construction of the fifth phase of Guangzhou Port's Nansha Port area, one of the major national projects, commenced in Nansha District of Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong Province, on Friday.

The project is designed with an annual container throughput capacity of 6.7 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), according to the Guangzhou Port Group.

It has four deep-water berths, each capable of accommodating 200,000-ton container vessels, with a combined shoreline exceeding 3,800 meters.

Upon completion of the Phase V project, the total container throughput capacity of the Nansha Port area is expected to reach 35 million TEUs annually. This would place it among the world's leading single port complexes in terms of handling capacity, further solidifying Guangzhou's status as an international shipping hub.