As Hong Kong marks the 29th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule on July 1, the South China Morning Post talks to the city’s senior officials about the administration’s achievements so far and what may lie ahead.

Hong Kong’s tech chief has warned that AI will “exceed all previous industrial revolutions” and heavily impact graduates and workers in traditional sectors, while pledging to accelerate training and industry development to create new jobs.

Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong said Hong Kong was proactively preparing for a paradigm shift by developing proprietary large language models (LLMs), launching artificial intelligence (AI) projects for public use, and rolling out a HK$50 million (US$6.37 million) universal education programme.

“The impact of this AI wave on Hong Kong and its entire society will, I believe, exceed all previous industrial revolutions,” Sun told the South China Morning Post.

“As a new wave of development unfolds, many new opportunities will emerge. At the same time, some traditional sectors will gradually decline – this is an inevitable outcome.”

Sun noted that employment struggles among local fresh graduates reflected a global trend with even students from top universities in the United States feeling the pressure.