Tieniu Tan, Vice Minister of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong SAR, visited the Chamber on 30 November to share his thoughts on the recently concluded 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). This was the fourth time that Tan, a renowned scientist and former vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, had attended the congress as a delegate.

He started by expressing his appreciation to HKGCC for giving him the opportunity to share his personal reflections.

“I think mutual understanding is very important,” he said. “Only through mutual understanding can we have mutual trust. And mutual trust is very important to get things done in the most efficient way.”

Tan recalled some “unpleasant experiences” when he lived in the U.K. in the 1980s as result of misunderstandings about the CPC.

“I personally think that if you really want to understand China, first of all you need to understand the CPC,” he said. “And the base of understanding the CPC is to understand its National Congresses.”

Since the 18th National Congress, China has seen “profound and fundamental” changes, Tan said, such as lifting 65 million people out of poverty. Looking ahead, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to drive development in China and beyond, delivering “the concept of a common community with a shared future.”

The past five years have also seen extraordinary breakthroughs by Chinese scientists.

For example, the Vice Minister said it had just been reported that China’s dark matter satellite had received signals from outer space that had never been detected before.

“That represents the possibility of a completely new understanding of the universe,” he said.

Other advances include one of the largest telescopes ever developed, the fastest supercomputer in the world, and success both in space and underwater exploration.

In Tan’s own area of expertise, artificial intelligence (AI), China is attracting global attention. “If you talk about output, the number of papers, Mainland China is number one,” he said. “And, also very impressive, Hong Kong is number six. In Hong Kong we have a very strong AI research force.”

Tan explained that while the concept of AI is not new, it is a hot topic because there have been a lot of breakthroughs recently. Perhaps the best-known is Alpha Go, but advances have also been made in medical diagnostics and language technology – including by the Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics.

Tan’s own work focuses on iris recognition, and is already being employed in a number of industries.

“This technology is now being used in all the major coal mines in Mainland China to identify the miners,” he said.

Iris recognition is more advanced than fingerprint or face recognition, and is particularly useful in an industry where dirt and dust mean that workers can be rendered unrecognisable. It has also been adopted by some Middle East countries for use at ATMs.

“These domestic breakthroughs have booming applications in all sectors,” he said. “Security, manufacturing, education, finance, media – that’s why AI is important.”

Tan was careful to highlight the limitations of AI, however. Alpha Go, for example, may be able to beat a world champion at Go, but it cannot play chess.

He explained the importance of the “golden cycle of STPM” – science, technology, products and market. An efficient cycle ensures that science and technology leads to the creation of innovative products that earn money when taken to market, which can then be invested back into more research and development.

Hong Kong and the rest of the Greater Bay Area have together got all of the elements of STPM, Tan said. Hong Kong, with its great universities and pool of leading scientists, provides the science. Shenzhen is a technology hub, while the Pearl River Delta is a major production area. Then the Chinese Mainland and beyond present an enormous market.

“I cannot think of another place in the world with such a wonderful ecosystem for STPM,” the Vice Minister said.

“We want to make it easier for our friends in Hong Kong to develop their businesses and careers in Mainland China,” Tan said.

Looking to the future, Tan said: “We are standing at a new historical juncture in Chinese development.” He noted that at this year’s National Congress there was more mention of one country, two systems than in the past, showing the importance of Hong Kong and Macao.

“The Central Government wants to develop Hong Kong into an international centre for science and technology,” Tan said, adding that a recent meeting with Chief Executive Carrie Lam had shown him the Hong Kong Government’s determination to develop the sector as well.

Tan concluded by providing his thoughts on the Chamber’s key role in Hong Kong’s success.

“HKGCC has been, and will continue to be, a great connector of the business community, and a great contributor to Hong Kong’s prosperity.”