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The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Photos: VCG

Landscape of China's technological development in 2025 will be very interesting, a National People's Congress deputy said on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions.

The integrated application of new-generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data will continue to deepen, promoting digital transformation and intelligent upgrades, said Hendrick Sin, an NPC deputy from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and co-founder and vice chairman of CMGE Technology Group. 

China will support the development of unicorn and gazelle companies in 2025, according to a government work report submitted Wednesday to the national legislature for deliberation.

The work report said China will advance tiered development of innovative enterprises and promote the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises that use specialized and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products.

CMGE is Chinese mainland's first unicorn sci-tech company set up by Hong Kong entrepreneurs.

Hendrick Sin in front of the Great Hall of the People Photo: Chu Daye/GT

"In AI, China has demonstrated strong R&D strengths and market potential. At the same time, China has also made significant progress in cutting-edge sci-tech sectors such as biotechnology, new energy, and new materials, and is expected to play a more important role on the international stage," said Sin, who described China's cultural and sci-tech landscape last year as "changing with each passing day with the emergence and success of the likes of 'Black Myth: Wukong' and DeepSeek."

"Although it depends on multiple factors such as the level of breakthroughs of technological innovation and changes in the international environment, it is possible that the world will feel the shockwaves by China in the tech field in 2025," Sin said. "At any rate, China's pace of sci-tech development will be non-stop, and it will continue to contribute Chinese wisdom and strength to global sci-tech progress."

Commenting on the government work report's stated support of unicorn and gazelle companies, Sin noted that "unicorn" companies are the pioneers of technological breakthroughs, and dominating many future industries such as biomanufacturing and quantum technology. Unicorn companies not only promote technological development, but also give birth to new business models and foster industrial ecosystem.

China was home to 340 unicorns at the end of 2023, that was the second-largest number after the US, according to the Global Unicorn Index 2024 issued by the Hurun Research Institute last April. Unicorns refer to startups founded after 2000 with valuations of more than $1 billion that are yet to be listed on the stock market. Per a separate tally of Gazelles by Hurun in January, China has 258 such firms, also trailing after the US.

"As a representative from Hong Kong's innovation and technology community, I strongly support the development of the 'AI+' sector, where many potential unicorns will be born," said Sin.

The growth of unicorn companies requires a healthy environment. Through policy guidance, the government helps enterprises master key core technologies, improve modern enterprise system, and improve operation and management capacity. This support is actually the key to whether unicorn companies can truly rise, according to Sin.

Sin brought nine proposals to the NPC, promoting the connectivity of and sci-tech cooperation in the Greater Bay Area and the high quality of development of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone. In particular,he proposed a pilot program for data flow between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong as well as optimized management on vehicle traffic.