Hong Kong to Host Asia-Pacific Summit 2025 at World Internet Conference, Focused on AI and Digital Technologies.

SITI attends press conference of World Internet Conference Asia-Pacific Summit in Beijing

The Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, attended a press conference for the World Internet Conference (WIC) Asia-Pacific Summit in Beijing this morning (March 17) together with the Secretary General of the WIC, Mr Ren Xianliang, to announce the launch of the Asia-Pacific Summit 2025 in Hong Kong.

In addition to the highly acclaimed annual Wuzhen Summit, the WIC has designated Hong Kong for the first time to host the Asia-Pacific Summit. Organised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government and co-organised by the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau (ITIB), the Summit will be held April 14 and 15 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre under the theme of "Integration of AI and Digital Technologies Shaping the Future - Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace".

The Summit is expected to attract around 1,000 participants from the Mainland and overseas, including representatives from governments and enterprises, international organisations, leading corporations, experts and scholars. Through exploring the latest trends in various technology areas and in-depth exchanges of views and experiences, the Summit aims to enable all parties to seize the development opportunities brought about by digital and intelligent transformation, promoting high-quality development in innovation and technology (I&T), strengthening digital collaboration, and creating new momentum and new advantages for the development of the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr Ren said that the WIC has chosen to organise the Asia-Pacific Summit in Hong Kong to leverage Hong Kong's unique advantage of global connectivity, fostering a cross-regional, cross-sector and cross-cultural dialogue platform to inject new impetus and create new opportunities for building an open, inclusive, innovative, connected and co-operative community with a shared future for the Asia-Pacific region.

Professor Sun expressed his gratitude to the WIC for choosing Hong Kong as the host city of the 2025 Summit, affirming Hong Kong's pivotal role of bridging the country and the world as a dual platform. This creates a top-notch platform for exchanges, dialogue and co-operation in I&T, further strengthening Hong Kong's position as an international I&T centre. The HKSAR Government endeavours to collaborate with the WIC in jointly making the Summit into the most influential regional I&T mega event. Professor Sun said he believes that the Summit will deepen regional co-operation in the I&T field, support Hong Kong's development into an international I&T centre, as well as foster the vibrant development of the digital economy across the Asia-Pacific region.

The rich content of the Summit will include the opening ceremony and the main forum on "The Future of Digital Intelligence", and three sub-forums on "Large Artificial Intelligence Models", "Digital Finance" and "Digital Government and Smart Life" on the second day of the Summit, when internationally renowned speakers will share their insights to explore the future development and potential across various domains in digital technology. The Summit will also organise a series of affiliated activities including a government-enterprise dialogue session, a cybersecurity emergency response advanced training programme and an information meeting on Practice Cases and Awards for Pioneering Science and Technology. Details of the Summit are available from the WIC announcement www.wicinternet.org/2025-03/17/c_1079097.htm.

In addition to the Summit, Hong Kong's annual I&T mega event, the Business of Innovation and Technology Week (BIT Week) will take place concurrently in April to feature a series of exciting I&T activities. Co-organised by the ITIB and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, InnoEX will take place from April 13 to 16, bringing together major I&T elites from the Mainland and overseas, industry leaders and buyers from around the world. Through a large-scale exhibition, seminars and a series of business networking events, InnoEX will foster exchanges and dialogues, enabling participants to grasp the latest advancements and applications in I&T and explore global collaboration opportunities.

Professor Sun concluded his visit and returned to Hong Kong in the evening.

SITI attends press conference of World Internet Conference Asia-Pacific Summit in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SITI attends press conference of World Internet Conference Asia-Pacific Summit in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SEE begins visit in Beijing

The Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, began his visit in Beijing today (March 20).

Mr Tse visited the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in the morning and toured facilities such as the National Crop Genebank of China, greenhouse of the Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, and the scientific research greenhouse to learn about the country's latest agro-technology developments.

In the afternoon, Mr Tse paid a courtesy call on the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC) and met with the Vice Minister of the GACC, Mr Zhao Zenglian, to continue deepening exchanges on various topics such as safeguarding food supply to Hong Kong, the facilitation arrangement for exporting Hong Kong-manufactured food products to the Mainland, as well as strengthening co-operation on food trade.

During the meeting, Mr Tse expressed gratitude to the GACC for its support in safeguarding food supply to Hong Kong and its assistance in the implementation of the facilitation arrangement for customs clearance. He said that the facilitation arrangement for customs clearance, which began in May last year, has been operating smoothly and significantly shortened the time required for customs clearance of Hong Kong-manufactured food products. It was well-received by Hong Kong food manufacturing industry. Both sides expressed the hope that the facilitation arrangement for customs clearance could be applied to more food categories in the future.

Afterwards, Mr Tse met with representatives from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China (MEE), the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, and the BRI International Green Development Coalition to exchange views on topics including co-operation in ecological and environmental field and combating climate change. He pointed out that with the strong support from the MEE, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government achieved great success at the China Pavilion's Side Event of the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) last year and hopes to continue telling the good stories to the world about the country and the HKSAR Government's efforts in combatting climate change through the platform provided by the COP30 this year.

Mr Tse will continue his visit in Beijing tomorrow (March 21).

SEE begins visit in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SEE begins visit in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SEE begins visit in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SEE begins visit in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SEE begins visit in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SEE begins visit in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SEE begins visit in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases