Hong Kong Targets Biomedicine Powerhouse Status In Debut 5-year Plan

Biomedicine is set to feature in Hong Kong’s first five-year plan, due to be unveiled next week, as the city’s top officials signal closer medical cooperation across the Greater Bay Area.

Lending weight to those ambitions, global pharmaceutical company GSK emphasised its interest in expanding its role in the region’s biotech development on Wednesday, at the fifth Hong Kong International Biotechnology Conference and Exhibition (BIOHK).

Speaking at the event, Hong Kong Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the city’s first five-year plan would align with the national blueprint, which had designated biomedicine as “one of the emerging industries of strategic importance”.

“Biotechnology is ... a national and regional imperative. And Hong Kong is answering that call with conviction and speed,” Lo said.

The city, he noted, served as a “superconnector” and “super value-added” hub for biotech and manufacturing capacity in the Greater Bay Area – the integrated economic and business hub linking Hong Kong and Macau with cities in Guangdong province.

The region, home to 88 million people, generated a gross domestic product of more than 15 trillion yuan (US$2.23 trillion) in 2025, official data showed.

Hong Kong’s first-ever five-year plan is expected to be unveiled on September 16 at a Legislative Council meeting, followed by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s 2026 policy address.

The 15th five-year plan is the country’s blueprint for economic, social, technological and political development for 2026 to 2030.

To streamline approvals, the health secretary Lo said Hong Kong would establish its own Centre for Medical Product Regulation by the end of this year, with the goal of becoming “an internationally recognised regulatory authority”.

GSK Chair Jonathan Symonds speaking at the fifth Hong Kong International Biotechnology Conference and Exhibition. Photo: Handout

Meanwhile, Jonathan Symonds, GSK’s chair, said the company was changing its strategy in China. “We no longer want to be an asset-heavy company that is building physical assets in China,” he said. “We want to be an integrated collaborator with all of the assets that exist in this country.”

GSK employs more than 4,000 people in China and has five regional hubs, including in Beijing and Guangzhou. The company has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Hong Kong government, the Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trial Institute and the University of Hong Kong.

Looking ahead, Symonds noted that preventive healthcare would become increasingly important as ageing populations and rising chronic disease added to the economic burden.

Prevention refers to early intervention aimed at slowing or stopping disease risk factors before they progress into full-blown illness.

Symonds pointed to the Hetao Shenzhen–Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone as providing the physical space and regulatory framework needed to develop the field.

“One of the big suppressors of both economic growth and productivity is health,” he said.

Also speaking at BIOHK on Wednesday, Leung Chun-ying, the vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, highlighted Nansha’s role in Guangdong-Hong Kong cooperation, noting that the district was just 45 minutes from Kowloon by high-speed rail.

The partnership, Leung said, was targeting “cell and gene therapy and high-end medical devices”, with the goal of “accelerating the gathering of leading enterprises and various innovative elements at home and abroad”.