The recently concluded Global Prosperity Summit in Hong Kong aptly accomplished its objective of enhancing the city as a global meeting place for people and ideas, and brought with it fresh perspectives and insights.
Like last year, the summit comprised panels on subjects top of the mind of thinking individuals concerned about the future. The topics were the promise of space, artificial intelligence and the future of work, trade wars, climate change and sustainable development, and Hong Kong’s bridging role in a changing world.
An additional feature was a keynote speech by Wu Hailong, president of the China Public Diplomacy Association. Wu is an experienced diplomat who served as head of China’s mission to the European Union and the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna.
In his keynote speech, themed “China and the world”, Wu outlined the four trends transforming the international landscape: the rise of China; fault lines in the United States’ relations with its Western allies; the rise of the Global South; and the shift of the world’s political center of gravity to Asia.
Despite current tensions, Wu stressed that China wants to build a relationship with the US based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. The Global South, which accounts for 40 percent of global economic output and 80 percent of global growth, is gaining in importance even as the US’ alliance with its Western partners is being fractured. China’s home is Asia, where it has signed Belt and Road agreements with 25 countries and is the largest trading partner of 18 countries nearby. Wu expressed hope for peace in Asia so long as all countries share a common vision of a shared home and commitment to building a shared future.
In the current climate of uncertainty, the panel discussion on trade unsurprisingly attracted the most media attention. John Clarke, former head of the European Union’s delegation to the World Trade Organization and the UN, hit the nail on the head by pointing out that the US has become a rogue member of the international community. The US only cares about its interests and is using its market power to blackmail and bully its trading partners into submission. Clarke made it quite clear that as a massive trading bloc of 27 countries, like China, the EU is big enough to stand up to the US and would not hesitate to hit back.
Days after Clarke spoke, US President Donald Trump complained that talks with the EU were “going nowhere” and the EU was “nastier than China”. He threatened 50 percent tariffs on EU imports. The European Commission indicated it is readying retaliatory tariffs amounting to 95 billion euros ($108 billion) on the US. The escalation rattled stock markets in both Europe and the US, confirming the Chinese saying that there are no winners in a trade war.
At the panel on AI, speakers explored the relationship between man and machine. With man-made intelligence advancing at a breakneck pace and permeating practically every aspect of life, do humans still have a need to learn to code? Can coding be taken over by machine? Dr Andrew Ng, managing general partner at AI Fund, emphatically rejected the notion that coding can be abdicated to a machine. Coding fosters training in logic and problem-solving and ensures that man controls machines, not the other way round.
Speakers also recognized that AI is like electricity and will be applied to all aspects of our life and transform the workplace. It will cause many jobs to become obsolete but will also improve performance and create new value that could spawn fresh industries.
To much of the audience from Hong Kong, the panel on space was perhaps the most inspiring and thought-provoking. When Hong Kong people think about space, most of them think about scientific exploration, Hong Kong’s universities’ technical participation and the selection of a payload specialist to take part in the nation’s space program. Few people realize that so many aspects of modern life — from weather monitoring to time service, communication, rideshare and food delivery services, real-time stock transactions, online banking and education, just to name a few — depend on space. Experts estimate that in 2025, the global commercial aerospace industry is valued at $700 billion and growing at an annual rate of 5-7 percent.
In recent years, in China, with the Beidou Navigation Satellite System providing more precise, reliable, intelligent, networked, flexible and ubiquitous positioning, navigation and time services, commercial opportunities for the low-altitude economy are expanding. Whereas the space sector used to be driven predominantly by government-directed outer space exploration programs, private enterprises engaged in both hardware and software production in the low-altitude segment have mushroomed, giving rise to demand for financing, insurance and legal services.
One of the panelists, Dr Adam Janikowski, an investment banker with a special interest in space sector development, drew attention to the Luxembourg model where the government developed policies and strategies in support of commercial development of the space industry, an example that Hong Kong is well positioned to follow given its deep capital market and legal, regulatory and financial expertise.
It is imperative to improve the regulation of space as space debris collisions could have catastrophic consequences. The panelists agreed that there is much Hong Kong can do to support commercial space development and international rule-making, and to work with regional experts to address space issues and establish a regional aerospace intelligence and innovation center.
The Global Prosperity Summit proved its worth not just in providing a global forum for discussions, but also generating new ideas for regional cooperation and economic development. GPS Episode 2 was a successful lift-off to new heights.
The author is convenor of the Executive Council and a legislator.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
