The Yangtze River Delta-Hong Kong Joint Innovation Centre was inaugurated in Shanghai's Pudong New Area on Sept 7.

Together with the opening of the Hong Kong Productivity Council Yangtze River Delta Centre, it marked a shift in cooperation between NICE and HKPC from point-to-point project matching to regular, systematic innovation collaboration.

The center was jointly established by the National Innovation Center par Excellence, or NICE, and the Hong Kong Productivity Council, or HKPC. On the same day, the Hong Kong Productivity Council Yangtze River Delta Centre opened at NICE's Zhangjiang headquarters, becoming HKPC's first regional hub outside the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The new joint innovation center will focus on industrial technology needs, combining NICE's strengths in identifying demand and commercializing research outcomes with HKPC's capabilities in applied research and international validation. The two sides will jointly conduct applied research, product development, and technology transfer, focusing on key technologies and common technological needs across YRD industries.

The center will further connect global innovation resources with YRD industrial demand. HKPC will also work with NICE to help move hard-tech outcomes from laboratories to production lines.

Together with the Hong Kong–Yangtze River Delta Joint Innovation Centre, established in Hong Kong in 2024, the new center forms a two-hub network linking Shanghai and Hong Kong. Separately, the Yangtze River Delta–Hong Kong Joint Innovation Centre and the Hong Kong Productivity Council Yangtze River Delta Centre will jointly advance the model of "R&D in Hong Kong, Commercialisation in the YRD, and Markets Worldwide."

Sunny Tan, chairman of HKPC, said Hong Kong's strengths in international innovation and technology are highly complementary to the YRD's industrial strengths, adding that the establishment of the two centers marks a new stage in Shanghai-Hong Kong innovation collaboration.

Liu Qing, director of NICE, said the two sides will use the joint platform to tackle key industrial technology bottlenecks, connect technology demand with global resources and accelerate the commercialization and international expansion of hard-tech innovations.

Sources: Shanghai Observer, HKPC