Under the auspice of Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China, the InnoTech Expo 2016, a showcase of national S&T innovation achievements sponsored by Our Hong Kong Foundation, was launched in Hong Kong on Sept. 24, 2016. Vice Minister of Science and Technology Li Meng headed a delegation to the event and delivered a keynote speech entitled “Implementing the Innovation-driven Development Strategy to Build China into a Powerhouse of Science and Technology”. Participants at the ceremony included Tung Chee-hwa, Vice Chairman of CPPCC and President of Our Hong Kong Foundation, Leung Chun-ying, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Zhang Xiaoming, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong, Nicholas W. Yang, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of Hong Kong, Eddie Ng Hak-kim, Secretary for Education of Hong Kong, Lap-Chee Tsui, President of The Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong, and representatives from various circles of Hong Kong and some Hong Kong-based liaison offices of the Central Government.

Around the theme of “Innovation Driving Development, Science & Technology Leading the Future”, the InnoTech Expo 2016 included ten sections, i.e. astronautics, aeronautics, communications, transport, health, deep sea, interaction, energy, innovation & entrepreneurship, and Hong Kong pavilion. The event showcased a series of major breakthroughs in high-end industries during the 12th Five-Year Plan period as well as leapfrog developments of Hong Kong in S&T innovation in recent years.

The exhibition was open to the public at 2 p.m. on the day of opening and in less than four hours, the visitors from various circles of Hong Kong have exceeded 7,000 people, with over 10,000 visitors on the following day. According to estimation, the total number of visits reached 100,000 for the show. This event was closely followed by the media from both Hong Kong and the Mainland, including Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television, Central News Agency, people.com, Central People’s Radio, China National Radio Station, and China Daily as well as Phoenix TV, Wen Wei Po, and Ta Kung Pao, among other newspapers of Hong Kong. These news institutions provided follow-up coverage of the exhibition, talks and related activities, making highly positive comments on the exhibition.

During his stay in Hong Kong, Li also visited Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Science Park and Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute. He also had a broad exchange of ideas with the science and technology community of Hong Kong, soliciting advice on promoting national S&T development and S&T cooperation between Hong Kong and the Mainland.