CityUHK releases "Future City Index 2025" Hong Kong ranked as top ten Leading Future Cities, strengthening role as International Talent Hub

City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) today (19 May) launched the “Future City Index 2025” (CityUHK FCI), the world’s first city-level benchmarked report assessing the long-term development capabilities of 100 global cities across education, technology, talents, and finance. Based on an analysis of key indicators, the CityUHK FCI ranks Hong Kong among the world’s top ten “Leading Future Cities”, and identifies its top ten positions in “Talent Hub”, “Connection Hub”, “Resilience”, and “Future-positioning”. These results underscore Hong Kong’s competitiveness and strategic value on the global innovation stage.

The launch of CityUHK FCI was officiated by Mr Chris Sun, Secretary for Labour and Welfare of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR); Professor the Honourable Michael Ngai, CityUHK Council Chairman; and Professor Lee Chun-sing, CityUHK Acting President. Mr Peter Yan King-shun, Director-General of Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises of the Government of the HKSAR, and the Honourable Mr Dennis Leung Tsz-wing, Member of the Legislative Council of the HKSAR, also attended.

In his speech, Mr Sun remarked, “Hong Kong enjoys the strong support of the Motherland while staying closely connected to the world. As the country embarks on its 15th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong will further its role as the ‘Super Connector’ and ‘Super value-adder’. By partnering with universities to reinforce its role as a global talent hub, the city is committed to attracting top-tier professionals from the Chinese Mainland and overseas, building a world-class talent pool, and bolstering its development as an International Hub for High-calibre Talents. The CityUHK FCI offers global insights and a visionary outlook for Hong Kong’s growth. It plays a crucial role in enhancing the city's competitiveness and reinforcing its strategic status as a vital link between the Chinese Mainland and the international innovation and start-up ecosystems.”

In his welcome remarks, Professor Ngai stated that CityUHK fully supports the Government of the HKSAR to promote integrated development of education, technology, talents, and finance, and is committed to enhancing the “Study in Hong Kong” brand for retaining global talent.

“The Index offers a forward-looking benchmark for policymakers, researchers, industry leaders, and public institutions. It provides strategic direction for collaboration among government, industry, academia, research, and investment, as well as nurtures and attracts world-class talent. The Index will further shape the city’s talent pipelines, linking international capital with technology resources, attracting leading deep-tech enterprises, and driving knowledge into real-world applications,” he said.

Professor Lee, in his vote of thanks, remarked, “CityUHK has yielded fruitful results through HK Tech 300 and the CityUHK Academy of Innovation (CAI). Together with the newly released FCI - an effective tool that utilises big data to assess a city's long-term development and capabilities - it reaffirms our commitment to nurturing more deep-tech talent and start-ups.”

The CityUHK FCI, compiled and published by the Global Talent Flow Data Hub at CAI, evaluates 100 cities worldwide, across 39 indicators. The report delivers data-driven insights into six strategic dimensions, including talent hub, knowledge production, technological innovation, future-positioning, global connectivity, and urban resilience.

This inaugural report reveals the world’s top ten “Leading Future Cities” are Beijing, Boston, Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore. Notably, only five cities – Beijing, Hong Kong, London, New York and Paris – rank within the top ten across all four categories of “Talent Hub”, “Connection Hub”, “Resilience”, and “Future-Positioning”, underscoring their pivotal position in global talent competitiveness.

Among the five cities, Hong Kong stands out in attracting, nurturing and retaining innovative talent, and records the highest score in international collaboration among major bay areas.

Hong Kong has demonstrated strong resilience and adaptability amid the global challenges posed by the pandemic. Over the past decade, the city has achieved significant growth in the number of top researchers, research outputs, R&D investment, and high-tech enterprises. In the past five years, talent inflow exceeded 25,000; furthermore, there has been a 3.7-fold increase over the last ten years in the number of top researchers in emerging areas (including AI, biotech, fintech, and semiconductors). This growth underscores Hong Kong’s role as an international talent hub, connecting global resources and capital, and serving as a vital link between the Chinese Mainland and the wider ecosystems.

Professor Vincent Wang Xiaohui, Director of the Global Talent Flow Data Hub at CAI, noted that local universities are dedicated to nurturing tech talent. Leveraging the Chinese Mainland’s extensive high-end talent pool together with Hong Kong’s strengths in global connectivity and adaptability, it will further advance the policy of “Bringing in and Going Global,” positioning Hong Kong as a strategic gateway for talent and enterprises to expand overseas.

The Index is presented by CityUHK, with support from Clarivate, and the International Organisation for Migration at UN Migration.

CityUHK today launched the inaugural "Future City Index 2025". Mr Chris Sun, Secretary for Labour and Welfare of the Government of the HKSAR (4th from left); Professor the Honourable Michael Ngai, CityUHK Council Chairman (4th from right); and Professor Lee Chun-sing, CityUHK Acting President (3rd from left); join Mr Peter Yan King-shun, DirectorGeneral of Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (2nd from left); the Honourable Mr Dennis Leung Tsz-wing, Member of Legislative Council of the HKSAR (2nd from right); Professor Michael Yang Mengsu, CityUHK Senior Vice-President (Innovation and Enterprise) (3rd from right); Professor Michael Tse Chi-kong, Associate Vice-President (Innovation) and Director of CityUHK Academy of Innovation (1st from left); and Professor Vincent Wang Xiaohui, Director of the Global Talent Flow Data Hub at CityUHK Academy of Innovation (1st from right), officiated the launch of the index.

Mr Chris Sun, Secretary for Labour and Welfare of the Government of the HKSAR, delivers speech at the ceremony.

Professor the Honourable Michael Ngai, CityUHK Council Chairman, delivers welcome remarks.

Professor Lee Chun-sing, CityUHK Acting President, delivers a vote of thanks

Professor Vincent Wang Xiaohui, Director of the Global Talent Flow Data Hub at CityUHK Academy of Innovation, shares key findings of the “Future City Index 2025”.

Professor Vincent Wang Xiaohui, Director of the Global Talent Flow Data Hub at CAI, noted that local universities are dedicated to nurturing tech talent. Leveraging the Chinese Mainland’s extensive high‑end talent pool together with Hong Kong’s strengths in global connectivity and adaptability, it will further advance the policy of “Bringing in and Going Global,” positioning Hong Kong as a strategic gateway for talent and enterprises to expand overseas.

The Index is presented by CityUHK, with support from the Clarivate, and the International Organisation for Migration at UN Migration.

DH investigates Serious Untoward Event involving day procedure centre "Heal Fertility Limited" and requests that it stop accepting new cases for reproductive technology procedures

The Department of Health (DH) announced today (July 7) that it had received a notification from the Council on Human Reproductive Technology (Council) regarding a day procedure centre (DPC), "Heal Fertility Limited", in Central that holds a licence from the Council to provide reproductive technology procedures. The DPC has made errors when sending embryo biopsy specimens for testing. The incident constitutes a Serious Untoward Event stipulated in the Code of Practice for Day Procedure Centres (Code of Practice) of the Private Healthcare Facilities Ordinance (Cap. 633) (the Ordinance). The DPC did not report the incident to the DH within 24 hours upon identification, as required. Following a preliminary investigation, the DH has directed the DPC to implement a series of corrective and improvement measures, including the immediate suspension of accepting new cases for reproductive technology procedures.

The concerned DPC is located in One Chinachem Central, 22 Des Voeux Road, Central. The incident involved two couples preparing to undergo reproductive technology procedures. The embryo biopsy specimens they provided for testing were suspected to be replaced by other embryo biopsy specimens. The testing centre discovered the error during the genetic testing process and coordinated with the DPC to repeat the sampling and testing.

The DPC had earlier reported the incident to the Council, the Council notified the DH on the evening of July 3 following an investigation. The DH immediately sent staff to the DPC on the morning of July 4 to conduct an inspection and investigation, and to thoroughly review the relevant workflows and safety measures according to the Ordinance. The investigation revealed that the incident involved misidentification of the test specimens, which constitutes a Serious Untoward Event under the Code of Practice. However, the DPC did not report the incident to the DH within 24 hours upon identification, which constituted a non-compliance to the Code of Practice. According to information provided by the DPC, genetic testing subsequently confirmed that the two couples were biologically related to the embryos stored at the DPC, indicating that the embryos themselves had not been mixed up. The incident involved an error with the biopsy specimens sent for testing, and there is currently no evidence to suggest that any embryos were mixed up or incorrectly implanted.

In view of the preliminary investigation findings, human factors may be involved. To ensure public safety, the DH issued a requirement notice to the DPC on July 6 and required the DPC to take the following measures:

• Immediately stop accepting new cases for reproductive technology procedures until the completion of investigation and full implementation of remedial safeguards;
• Proactively notify persons who have been receiving reproductive technology procedures in the DPC about the incident and provide appropriate medical advice and/or confirmatory testing as necessary;
• Make suitable arrangements so that affected persons do not incur additional costs or suffer financial loss in connection with any counselling, confirmatory testing, or other follow-up actions; and
• Submit an investigation report within four weeks on the root cause analysis, immediate corrective actions taken and the necessary long-term improvement measures.

The DH has provided the Council with the preliminary findings of its investigation. The DH will continue to take the necessary follow-up actions in accordance with the Ordinance and maintain close liaison with the Council to safeguard public safety.

Source: AI-found images