Hong Kong and Zhejiang province, home to artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek and other firms, will partner up more closely in 13 key areas and 51 projects, underscoring fields in AI, smart cities, fintech, under a new cooperation conference mechanism.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu signed a number of agreements with Zhejiang party secretary Wang Hao on the third day of his visit to the tech hub at the first meeting of the Hong Kong-Zhejiang cooperation conference on Thursday.

Under the new mechanism, Hong Kong and Zhejiang will pursue closer ties in 13 key areas of collaboration for a total of 51 projects related to jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative, trade, finance, aviation and others, according to Lee.

Additionally, both sides signed documents to highlight four areas of cooperation, including technological innovation, housing and living, economy and trade, and youth development.

The city leader said the two governments will focus on fields such as artificial intelligence, smart cities, fintech, biomedicine, new energy, microelectronics and new materials.

Writing in a Facebook post, Lee emphasized the close relationship between Hong Kong and Zhejiang.

“Hong Kong is Zhejiang’s largest source of foreign investment and a crucial platform and bridgehead for its enterprises to expand into global markets.”

By the end of last year, Hong Kong had invested in and established over 30,000 enterprises in Zhejiang, with the actual use of foreign investment exceeding US$200 billion, representing nearly 70 percent of that of Zhejiang’s total, according to Lee.

The total trade volume between both sides reached US$8.8 billion last year.

Noting that the Hong Kong Science Park welcomed 14 Hangzhou tech firms last year, Lee expressed hope that the new cooperation mechanism would better unite the strengths of both places and seize the opportunities presented by national development.

The city leader vowed to assist Zhejiang enterprises in entering international markets, while attracting foreign investment and premium resources to the province.

Lee has arrived in Ningbo and will attend two forums on investment promotion and economic cooperation on Friday.

(Jamie Liu)

HK, Zhejiang agree on closer cooperation in 13 key areas