Massive Huawei research town inspires HK visitors

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has called the Huawei European Town in Dongguan "a dream working environment" for over 30,000 of the tech firms' employees from around the world.

Lee visited the Huawei Ox Horn Campus, a European-themed village on the south shore of Songshan Lake that houses 25,000 research and development personnel. The campus has 108 R&D buildings with a gross floor space of about 1.4 million square meters.

During the visit, Lee stopped at the library to look at World War II-era British prime minister Winston Churchill's Memoirs of the Second World War.

The village, with modern research facilities in natural settings, is a "dream working environment" for researchers, Lee wrote on social media.

Lee and his delegation earlier yesterday visited the Hong Kong International Airport's logistics park in Dongguan before joining Chief Secretary Eric Chan's team in Foshan.

They visited a pilot facility at the logistics park to catch up on developments in cross-border cargo networks.

Lee, together with Dongguan mayor Lyu Chengxi, greeted an aviation security manager from Hong Kong who had settled in Dongguan.

Writing on the social media, Lee cited the "14th Five-Year Plan" as supporting Hong Kong's role as an international aviation hub, saying authorities are working with the city's Airport Authority to turn the SAR into an "Airport City."

This includes consolidating air, sea and land travel services to connect Hong Kong with the Greater Bay Area.

The Airport Authority and the Dongguan municipal government signed an agreement in February to set up the logistics park.

"I was proud to witness this historic moment," Lee said.

Lawmaker Frankie Ngan Man-yu said the new logistics park would halve shipping costs, cut down the time required by a third and manpower by a fourth, with cargo volume handled expected to reach 10 million tonnes in 2035.

If the mainland wants to export internationally via Hong Kong, Ngan said, the goods would have to go through customs to be transported by land to Shenzhen, then to the Hong Kong airport cargo terminal for security inspection, packing and boarding.

"All these procedures would be handled as a one-stop service in Dongguan," Ngan said.

Lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun quoted a Huawei executive as saying the company hopes to move into the Northern Metropolis because Hong Kong's "stable power supply" has given it a technological advantage.

But he was cautious too, adding: "Huawei believes researchers must enjoy space, beauty and fun. But there is no land in Hong Kong. Everything is like a matchbox. Would it be as easy to be creative?"

Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Bill Tang Ka-piu added: "Why don't we set up a Huawei University in Hong Kong?"

cjames.lee@singtaonewscorp.com