Hong Kong’s John Lee in Hangzhou to boost tech and economic ties

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has urged businesses based in Hangzhou – capital of technology powerhouse Zhejiang province – to actively assist mainland Chinese tech companies in listing in Hong Kong, while hinting that a coming deal with the local government would cover innovation and technology cooperation.

Lee, who is in Zhejiang for a four-day official visit, also said on Tuesday that he would actively learn more about the rise of the province’s start-ups known as “Six Little Dragons”, including DeepSeek, which captured global attention this year for its cost-efficient artificial intelligence (AI) models.

Others include robotics firms Unitree and Deep Robotics, video game developer Game Science, brain-machine interface innovator BrainCo and 3D interior design software developer Manycore.

During the first day of his visit, Lee had dinner with Hangzhou-based Hong Kong business owners and representatives from the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in Zhejiang.

“Lee called on us to help more Zhejiang businesses, especially those technology companies, to be listed in Hong Kong, as the city plays the role of both superconnector and value-adder,” said Louis Tong, the chamber’s chairman.

Tong said about 20 representatives attended the dinner, some of whom came from tech-related business.

He added that representatives also called for more collaboration between Hong Kong universities and Hangzhou technology companies.