Promote Life and Health Scientific Research
59. The impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic for more than two years has roused much global interest in R&D in life and health disciplines. In fact, the National 14th Five‑Year Plan has also called for focusing on issues like human health as well as the enhancement of technological strengths in specialist fields such as life and health.
60. Hong Kong has strong research capabilities in life and health sciences. There are a number of renowned scholars in local universities whose R&D teams display great originality and have the ability to create breakthroughs out of the blue, generating fruitful outcomes in scientific research. With clinical trial centres recognised by the National Medical Products Administration, Hong Kong enjoys clear advantages in promoting research and fostering development of industries in life and health disciplines. In 2018, I allocated $10 billion to launch the flagship project of "InnoHK Research Clusters", under which 28 laboratories have so far been established by local universities in collaboration with over 30 top‑notch universities/research institutions around the world. Among these laboratories, 16 are related to life and health sciences. On the back of our robust strength in scientific research, we can deliver more revolutionary R&D outcomes.
61. To further promote the development of life and health technology in Hong Kong, I will earmark $10 billion to provide more comprehensive support in the long run, including hardware, research talent, clinical trials and data application, with the aim of enabling institutions, including universities, to enhance their capacity and capability in this area, as well as strengthening the industrial chain. We will set up the InnoLife Healthtech Hub in the Hong Kong‑Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park. With the above 16 laboratories and the eight relevant State Key Laboratories as the basis, we can pool together top‑notch research teams from all over the world and focus our efforts on R&D work as well as global research collaboration in the field of life and health sciences. This includes biomedicine, big data and artificial intelligence, which can be applied in various areas, such as prevention, diagnosis, drug discovery, advanced treatment and rehabilitation. The HA will assist more institutions in exploring how to make better use of their hospitals for conducting research and clinical trials as well as the valuable clinical data they have accumulated for R&D purposes. Our aim is to promote multi‑faceted collaboration in scientific research and development of industries, develop Hong Kong into a major R&D hub in life and health disciplines, and link up related industrial clusters.
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