HKPC Advances Strategic Development in the Marine Economy Hosts “Marine Milestones and Future Marine Technology Summit” Celebrating the First Anniversary of the National Engineering Research Centre Hong Kong Branch and Its Upgrade to MARTEC

(Hong Kong, 16 October 2026) National 15th Five-Year Plan clearly identifies the marine economy as a key development priority. Hong Kong’s first Five-Year Plan and the latest Policy Address have also, for the first time, incorporated the marine economy into the city’s blueprint, supporting the industrialisation of marine technology. In active alignment with the national and HKSAR Government strategies for developing the marine economy, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) recently hosted the “Marine Milestones and Future Marine Technology Summit” at the “Future Industries Zone” of the 2026 Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition). The Summit brought together more than 100 leaders and representatives from government, business, academia and industry to explore innovations in marine technology, the development of marine industries and future collaboration opportunities, joining forces to advance the high-quality development of Hong Kong’s marine economy.

The Summit was held alongside HKPC’s “Future Marine & Quantum Technologies” Pavilion. Professor Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the HKSAR Government, visited the pavilion to learn about HKPC’s latest research and development achievements and industrial applications in marine and quantum technologies.

MARTEC’s First Anniversary, Sharing Key Achievements and Future Development Blueprint
Last year, HKPC established Hong Kong’s first National Engineering Research Centre Hong Kong Branch: Marine Eco-Tech Innovation Centre Driving Marine Economy. To better address the R&D and application needs of the marine industry, the centre has been elevated to Hong Kong Industrial Technology Centre for Marine Economy (MARTEC, National Engineering Research Center Hong Kong Branch), with its R&D and application scope expanded from marine ecological environment monitoring technology to broader areas of marine technology and industry applications.

To mark the important milestone of MARTEC’s first anniversary, the Summit also announced the establishment of the MARTEC Advisory Committee and held an appointment ceremony for its members. Bringing together experts from government, industry and academia, the Committee will provide professional guidance on emerging marine technologies and MARTEC’s strategic development.

Dr Samuel CHUI, Director of Environmental Protection of the HKSAR Government, said in his remarks, “The Hong Kong Industrial Technology Centre for Marine Economy (MARTEC) marks an important milestone in Hong Kong’s journey towards a new era of ‘Smart Marine’. We are honoured to be part of the MARTEC Advisory Committee and look forward to MARTEC leveraging national-level research capabilities and Hong Kong’s international strengths to advance the R&D and application of marine ecological environment monitoring, sustainable fisheries and AI-enabled detection technologies, providing robust support for marine environmental governance in Hong Kong and the nation. MARTEC will also serve a key bridge in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, fostering collaboration in marine ecological environment monitoring, pollution source control, and industry-academia-research collaboration.”

Mr Yonghai DU, Chief Innovation Officer of HKPC and Director of the Hong Kong Industrial Technology Centre for Marine Economy, said, “Leveraging its position as an international maritime centre, world-class research capabilities, and unique advantage of being ‘backed by the Motherland and connected to the world’, Hong Kong is well positioned to serve as an important platform for marine technology innovation and industrial collaboration. Over the past year, MARTEC has actively advanced marine technology R&D and technology commercialisation, achieving significant results in areas including ecological environment monitoring, intelligent sensing, marine equipment and emerging technologies. Looking ahead, we will work closely with members of the MARTEC Advisory Committee to deepen industry-academia-research collaborative, accelerate the translation of R&D outcomes into real-world applications, and contribute new momentum to the development of the marine economy in the Nation and Hong Kong.”

Mr Liang HOU, Director of the Center for Technology Exchange and Talent Development at the National Engineering Research Centre, and Executive Director of Lihe Technology, attended the Summit and witnessed this important milestone of MARTEC’s first anniversary. He said, “Over the past year, MARTEC has established a scientific and well-structured management system, built a strong research team, and participated in Chinese Mainland and international academic exchange activities. Looking ahead, the National Engineering Research Centre will continue to support MARTEC’s development and foster deeper collaboration between the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong in standards development, technology transfer, talent development, and international collaboration, contributing to Hong Kong’s development as an international innovation and technology centre while supporting the Belt and Road Initiative and global green development.”

Over the past year, key achievements have spanned marine ecological monitoring, intelligent sensing and marine equipment innovation, including:

• Ecological environment monitoring and intelligent sensing: An automated water quality monitoring system has been successfully developed and applied to monitor Hong Kong’s marine and reiver waters. Powered by cloud-based AI machine learning for intelligent analysis, the system significantly enhances the accuracy of water quality monitoring and the efficiency of early warnings. The “Fish Tracey” smart IoT system for fishing vessels has also been successfully developed and deployed to accurately record legal fishing activities and enable secure traceability, significantly improving the efficiency of observer reviews and providing solid and reliable data to support the scientific management of marine resources.
• Marine equipment and emerging technologies: A high-performance modular propulsion system for small electric vessels has been successfully validated, supporting the HKSAR Government’s policy direction of promoting the green energy transformation in transportation. In the field of emerging technologies, an innovative solar-powered seawater desalination solution, integrating solar panels with a biodiesel generators, has also been successfully completed a field trial on Tung Ping Chau.
   

Deepening R&D Collaboration
MARTEC will continue to strengthen collaboration with research institutions in Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and around the world, working together to advance the high-quality and sustainable development of the marine economy.

The Summit also featured a panel discussion session themed “Sail the Future: Hong Kong’s Marine Economy in the New Era”, brought together experts and industry leaders from the research and industrial sectors to explore development opportunities and future strategic directions for Hong Kong’s marine economy.

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Professor Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the HKSAR Government, visited HKPC’s “Future Marine & Quantum Technologies” Pavilion to learn about HKPC’s latest research achievements and industrial applications in marine and quantum technologies.

HKPC hosted the “Marine Milestones and Future Marine Technology Summit” to celebrate MARTEC’s first anniversary and mark the establishment of the MARTEC Advisory Committee with an appointment ceremony.

Dr Samuel CHUI, Director of Environmental Protection of the HKSAR Government, delivered the opening remarks, stating that MARTEC is an important milestone in Hong Kong’s journey towards a new era of “Smart Marine”.

Mr Yonghai DU, Chief Innovation Officer of HKPC and Director of the Hong Kong Industrial Technology Centre for Marine Economy, said that over the past year, MARTEC has actively advanced marine technology R&D and technology commercialisation, achieving significant progress in ecological environment monitoring, intelligent sensing, marine equipment and emerging technologies.

Mr Liang HOU, Director of the Center for Technology Exchange and Talent Development at the National Engineering Research Centre, and Executive Director of Lihe Technology, said that the National Engineering Research Centre will continue to support MARTEC’s development and foster deeper collaboration between the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong in standards development, technology transfer, talent development, and international collaboration.

The panel discussion session, themed “Sail the Future: Hong Kong’s Marine Economy in the New Era”, brought together experts and industry leaders from the research and industrial sectors to explore development opportunities and future strategic directions for Hong Kong’s marine economy.