On 12th June in HKSAR, HKIC and SmartMore jointly held a signing ceremony for a strategic partnership in HKSAR. The signing ceremony received high attention from the HKSAR government, with Chief Executive, Mr. John Lee, delivering a video address. The Financial Secretary, Mr. Paul Chan, witnessed the signing and delivered a keynote speech at the luncheon. There are great expectations from various sectors for the cooperation between HKIC and SmartMore in the commercialization of cutting-edge AI technology, including broader application in the GBA, to facilitate the digitalisation and intelligent transformation of the regional economy.

Ms. Clara Chan, CEO of The Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited (left), and Prof. Jia Jiaya, Founder and Chairman of SmartMore Corporation Limited (right), signing the strategic partnership, witnessed by Mr. Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government (centre).

In his video address, Chief Executive Mr John Lee stated, "The strategic partnership being signed today combines the extensive investment experience and broad network of the HKIC with SmartMore's outstanding technology and innovative capabilities in AI and intelligent manufacturing. The cooperation will cover the entire AI industry chain, talent development, and the enhancement of HK's computing power, promoting the wider application of LLMs in the GBA. It will also establish HK's first AI Research Institute, which holds significant importance. I have high hopes for HKIC and expect you to grasp forward-looking strategies, drive the development of target industries, expand business networks, and promote the development of new productive forces, injecting more creativity and vitality into HK's I&T ecosystem to contribute to high-quality development."

During the ceremony, Ms. Clara Chan, CEO of HKIC, and Prof. Jia Jia-ya, Founder and Chairman of SmartMore, signed the strategic partnership on behalf of both parties. The partnership was countersigned by Mr. Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR government. Hundreds of representatives from the technology and investment sectors, as well as industry leaders, witnessed the signing. This partnership not only signifies the formal commencement of the cooperation between the two parties but also marks a new phase in HK's accelerated development in the field of AI. 

In his keynote speech, Mr. Paul Chan emphasized, "The positioning of HKIC has two folds: first, to leverage its capital guidance and market leverage to attract scientific enterprises, allowing them to take deeper roots in HK and accelerate the construction of a more vibrant strategic industry ecosystem; second, to seek reasonable and long-term overall financial returns. Since its establishment, HKIC has established close ties with the start-up community, investment sector, and academia, adopting more direct, proactive, and flexible approaches to drive development. The cooperation between HKIC and SmartMore is an excellent starting point. HKIC will announce more strategic partners in the coming months and implement direct investments and joint investment projects."

Financial Secretary Mr. Paul Chan delivering a keynote speech.

Ms. Clara Chan stated, "HKIC bears a dual mission of seeking reasonable returns and promoting a more vibrant I&T ecosystem. This strategic cooperation with SmartMore serves as an exemplary model. With its leading technology and in-depth understanding of the industry, SmartMore will accelerate the application development of AI, new industrialization, and high-precision manufacturing in HK. The support, network, influence, and synergistic effects of HKIC will further facilitate the development of SmartMore. In the future, we will continue to focus on key areas and establish deep cooperative relationships with enterprises from various fields."

Ms. Clara Chan, CEO of HKIC, delivering a speech at the event.

Prof. Jia Jia-ya stated, "With the support of HKIC, SmartMore will make HK its home and concentrate on the industrial transformation opportunities brought by Industry 4.0, actively promoting new productive forces. By utilizing emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and large models, we will actively build HK's I&T ecosystem, facilitate the rejuvenation and upgrading of industrial industries in the Bay Area, and drive transformational development. Through cooperation with HKIC, we believe we can effectively integrate resources, create innovative momentum in science and technology, and upgrade HK's manufacturing sector while establishing a new foundation for the development of Industry 4.0."

Prof. Jia Jia-ya, Founder and Chairman of SmartMore, delivering a speech at the event.

As one of the world's leading AI unicorns, SmartMore has been dedicated to driving innovation and application of AI technology since its establishment in 2019. This includes intelligent detection integrated machines applicable to various industries, as well as a new generation of flexible intelligent manufacturing industrial products that seamlessly connect with advanced production lines, showcasing SmartMore's integration capabilities in optics, mechanics, and automation. These products were showcased at the event, allowing attendees to experience and test them first-hand.

Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government, Mr. Paul Chan (second from the left), CEO of HKIC, Ms. Clara Chan (first from the left), and Founder and Chairman of SmartMore, Prof. Jia Jia-ya (second from the right), visiting the exhibition area.

During the event, SmartMore also unveiled the global premiere of its IndustryGPT 2.0 version. Compared to the 1.0 version released in November last year, IndustryGPT 2.0 introduces a multimodal intelligent agent that synergizes with the intelligent industrial cloud platform, SMore ViMo. It autonomously selects and trains models, making the operation and interaction more user-friendly. The multimodal dialogue feature seamlessly integrates image description and generation, enabling more direct communication and efficient responses. Moreover, IndustryGPT 2.0 can control robotic arms to perform complex tasks, elevating automation and intelligent production to new heights.

IndustryGPT has already achieved commercial implementation and possesses core functionalities such as industrial knowledge-based Q&A, defect detection with solution generation, and quality inspection. Through IndustryGPT, manufacturers can achieve comprehensive model training, software integration, and production line deployment even without specialized algorithm engineers.

At this stage, SmartMore has served nearly 300 global clients, establishing a customer base deeply involved in the upstream and downstream industrial chains, including leading companies such as Apple, Carl Zeiss, Tesla, and BYD. Industry experts believe that this strategic cooperation will provide SmartMore with greater resources and support, helping the company make significant breakthroughs in the field of AI and market share.

Simultaneously, the strategic cooperation between HKIC and SmartMore reflects the strategy of fostering a more vibrant I&T ecosystem in HK through investment-driven initiatives. By selecting and nurturing promising enterprises like SmartMore and encouraging them to exert their "leading effect" in the industry chain, it is expected to attract more outstanding companies and talent to gather in HK, injecting new vitality into the local technology innovation ecosystem. HK will further consolidate its position as an international hub for I&T and achieve leapfrog development in frontier technology fields such as AI.

Looking ahead, HKIC and SmartMore will join force to explore the potential applications of AI technology in intelligent manufacturing and general manufacturing sectors. Both parties will leverage their respective strengths to promote the innovation and broader implementation of large models in the GBA, leading the regional economy towards deeper digitalisation and intelligent transformation.