Coverage and statistics of "Total Domestic Expenditure on Innovation Activities" announced
The Government announced today (June 15) the coverage and statistics of Hong Kong's "Total Domestic Expenditure on Innovation Activities".
Under the 15th Five-Year Plan, the country has clearly supported Hong Kong's development into an international innovation and technology (I&T) centre. Promoting I&T development has been one of the key policy areas of the current-term Government. To more comprehensively reflect the development trends and future strategic directions of Hong Kong's I&T sector, the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau (ITIB), with reference to statistical methodologies adopted by other economies and after consulting the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), has announced the coverage and statistics of "Total Domestic Expenditure on Innovation Activities". "Total Domestic Expenditure on Innovation Activities" covers Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development (R&D), which includes basic and applied research; and expenditure on enterprises' application development and other related innovation activities (such as product design, software development, process validation, pilot testing, product testing, and applications for intellectual property registration). According to the latest figures from the C&SD, Hong Kong's "Total Domestic Expenditure on Innovation Activities" amounted to $51.714 billion in 2024, representing an increase of 9.0 per cent over 2023, with its ratio to Gross Domestic Product at 1.63 per cent.
The Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, said, "Both the 14th and 15th Five-Year Plans of the country clearly support Hong Kong's development into an international I&T centre. The 2025 Policy Address has set out a clearer vision and roadmap for I&T development. While the Government continues to increase investment in I&T, it also actively encourages enterprises to serve as the main drivers of innovation, jointly promoting the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation. At present, building on the research capabilities of existing universities, Hong Kong's I&T sector has basically formed a development framework underpinned by three major I&T parks and five major R&D institutions. In the next five years, the Government will align closely with the key technology areas prioritised by the country, strengthen research capabilities, and further encourage enterprises to invest in innovation activities, so as to empower economic transformation through technology, develop new quality productive forces, and realise the vision of developing Hong Kong into an international I&T centre."
A spokesman for the C&SD said, "The C&SD will continue to keep abreast of relevant international guidelines and provide professional statistical advice to the ITIB and other stakeholders, with a view to compiling appropriate statistics that reflect the latest situation of innovation activities in Hong Kong."
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CE meets Governor of Hainan Province
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, today (June 17) met with the Governor of Hainan Province, Mr Liu Xiaoming, at Government House to exchange views on further deepening co-operation between Hong Kong and Hainan. The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau; the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law; the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Miss Janice Tse Siu-wa; and the Director of the Chief Executive's Office, Ms Carol Yip, also attended the meeting.
Mr Lee welcomed Mr Liu and his delegation to Hong Kong for a Hainan Free Trade Port tourism and culture promotion event. Mr Lee said he was delighted to meet Mr Liu again following the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in Hainan this March. Hong Kong has long been the major source of external investment in Hainan and an important trading partner. The Memorandum of Cooperation signed between the two sides last year covers five areas, namely trade and investment, finance, safe and orderly flow of data, tourism and talent exchanges, which have taken co-operation between the two places to a new level. Mr Lee noted that with the full implementation of the island-wide special customs operations at the end of last year, the Hainan Free Trade Port has rolled out free and facilitative measures for cross-border flows. As both Hong Kong and Hainan are free trade ports, he said he looks forward to further leveraging their complementary advantages and promoting synergistic development, thereby contributing to the country's high-level opening up.
Mr Lee said that Hong Kong enjoys the unique advantages of having strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world under the "one country, two systems" principle, ranking No. 1 globally in economic freedom. Hong Kong has risen to become the world's largest cross-boundary wealth management centre, and is also the world's largest offshore Renminbi (RMB) business hub. The Hainan Provincial People's Government has issued offshore RMB bonds in Hong Kong multiple times since 2022, and a Hainan enterprise was listed in Hong Kong last year. These fully demonstrate Hong Kong's advantages in fundraising and financing as an international financial centre. Mr Lee welcomed more Hainan companies to make good use of Hong Kong's capital market, and professional and high value-added services for fundraising and business expansion. Hong Kong plays its roles as a "super connector" and "super value-adder", and is proactively supporting Mainland enterprises, including those in Hainan, in going global and attracting overseas capital through the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global, to jointly contribute to regional economic prosperity and better integrate into and serve the overall national development.
Mr Lee said that Hong Kong is committed to developing itself into an international tourism hub and a core demonstration zone for multi-destination tourism, capitalising on its position as an East-meets-West centre for international arts and cultural exchanges to build a city offering high-quality tourism experiences. With rich tourism resources in both places, Hong Kong and Hainan can jointly develop a wider array of tourism products. Mr Lee said he looks forward to attracting more high-value-added international visitors to travel to both places through multi-destination itineraries, and joining hands to contribute to the country's goal of building a tourism powerhouse.
CE meets Governor of Hainan Province Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
