Hong Kong will establish the country’s first national manufacturing innovation centre outside the Chinese mainland, in a bid to strengthen its role in advanced industries and the Greater Bay Area (GBA). The facility, focused on semiconductor-related technologies, was announced in the Hong Kong government’s 2026–27 Budget unveiled this week.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan said around HK$220 million (US$28.1 million) has been earmarked to create the centre, which will be developed at Yuen Long InnoPark near Shenzhen Bay Port. Led by the Hong Kong Microelectronics Research and Development Institute, the hub will concentrate on advanced packaging and other chip-related research and development, aiming to drive “core breakthroughs” in critical technologies and speed up commercialisation of local R&D.
Under the national “new quality productive forces” agenda, the centre will form part of a network of state-level manufacturing innovation platforms. Chan said Hong Kong’s position gives it a unique edge in attracting international talent and linking global research with the mainland’s strengths in pilot production and large-scale manufacturing.
[See more: Hong Kong bourse targets global capital after record 2025]
According to government and think-tank figures cited by China Daily, the facility is expected to integrate the full industrial chain from basic research and prototyping through to mass production, supporting companies in upgrading their products and expanding into overseas markets. It will also track international developments in areas such as artificial intelligence and healthcare technology, with the aim of drawing leading scientists, engineers and start-ups from both the mainland and abroad to conduct “frontier research” in Hong Kong.
The new centre is part of a wider innovation and reindustrialisation push outlined in the budget, which also includes plans for a high-level steering committee on AI and initiatives to promote open-source chip technology with GBA and international partners. It builds on earlier investments such as the Advanced Manufacturing Centre at Tseung Kwan O InnoPark, which provides high-end production space and services for smart manufacturing.
Beijing’s latest five-year plan identifies the GBA as one of three major international innovation and technology hubs, alongside Beijing and Shanghai, with Hong Kong expected to play a key role in basic research, finance and global connectivity. Officials and policy advisers say the new national manufacturing innovation centre signals that the city is moving deeper into the strategic core of China’s high-tech industrial upgrade.
