Premier Li Qiang’s Government Work Report, delivered on Thursday at the opening of the fourth session of the 14th National People’s Congress, sets the stage for China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) — a blueprint for high-quality development through tech self-reliance, modern industries and new quality productive forces. With 10 percent research and development growth targeted and an emphasis on embodied artificial intelligence, quantum technology and 6G, the report spotlights the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s pivotal role: pioneering safe AI exports amid the Five-Year Plan’s push for global standards in AI governance and the Digital Silk Road. This dovetails with proposals for structured compliance frameworks and Shenzhen’s Futian pilots, transforming the SAR into the country’s trusted bridge to the broader world.

The 15th Five-Year Plan prioritizes breakthroughs in AI foundation models, high-end chips, and ethical standards — aiming to double chip capacity, foster Chinese-language datasets, and export digital frameworks via Belt and Road Initiative channels. The Government Work Report operationalizes this by fostering emerging industries while insisting on risk controls, creating an urgent need for export pathways that are innovative yet trustworthy.

Enter the proposed AI Technology Export Compliance Guide: a cornerstone tool classifying technologies by risk, streamlining licensing and validating models like “overseas R&D plus team relocation”. Aligned with the plan’s standardization drive, it positions compliance not as a hurdle, but as infrastructure — enabling Chinese AI to compete globally while projecting responsible governance to skeptical partners.

Shenzhen’s Futian district exemplifies 15th Five-Year Plan execution at the ground level. Its AI service station will deliver one-stop support — including application intake, compliance guidance and preliminary local opinions as key inputs for national approvals — decentralizing processes to accelerate high-quality growth without silos.

Futian’s pilot would advance the plan’s “AI+” integration via “testing-before-approval” and tiered management. Low-risk models for internal tools or nonsensitive data gain fast “filing-plus-commitment” tracks at the local level. High-risk ones — cross-border data, opinion generation, autonomous driving — would face rigorous technical reviews and assessments before escalation.

Underpinning this is an integrated “regulatory linkage, risk prevention, emergency safeguards” system: Routine reporting, joint oversight and expert panels from universities/labs ensure unity. Real-time tracking enables instant halts for risks, safeguarding the plan’s security imperatives while unleashing productivity.

Hong Kong evolves from hub to architect — driving national rejuvenation outward toward high-quality development where intelligence, bound by rules, powers the next era

Hong Kong, aligning explicitly with the 15th Five-Year Plan, can adapt these mechanisms seamlessly. Establish Futian-style stations for local firms, run tiered pilot programs to test export protocols and leverage the city’s rule-of-law edge to certify AI for global markets. This supports the plan’s self-reliance goals — AI chips, edge models, ethical frameworks — while channeling outputs into the Belt and Road Initiative’s Digital Silk Road, including smart cities, agriculture labs and shared computing grids.

Shenzhen’s ambitions — to embed AI in every home and business by 2030 and build a trillion-yuan ($145 billion) terminal cluster — complement Hong Kong’s strengths, fostering Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area synergies under the 15th Five-Year Plan.

The 15th Five-Year Plan’s genius fuses tech with systems: Export guides clarify R&D paths; pilot programs unlock small and medium-sized enterprises; safeguards build trust. Li’s report bridges to this long-game, balancing immediate targets (a 4.5 percent to 5 percent GDP growth target) with the 2026-30 vision.

​For Hong Kong, the stakes are high. As China’s innovation nexus, it must co-create: Streamline exports, pilot standards, and propel Digital Silk Road initiatives, turning plan priorities into global wins.

The premier’s road map and the 15th Five-Year Plan hand Hong Kong a mandate to build compliant AI ecosystems via Chinese mainland templates and then export them boldly. Stations accelerate; pilot programs innovate; safeguards endure.

Seize it, and ambitions will turn into reality: Trusted algorithms span continents. Laboratories forge alliances. Hong Kong evolves from hub to architect — driving national rejuvenation outward toward high-quality development where intelligence, bound by rules, powers the next era.

The author is co-chairman of China Prosperity Capital Group and a deputy to the National People’s Congress from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.