iFLYTEK Co., Ltd., a global leader in intelligent speech and AI, and its subsidiary, Xunfei Healthcare Technology Co., Ltd., have committed to establishing their international headquarters at Cyberport through the “Easy Landing Scheme”. Over the next five years, the companies plan to invest HK$400 million in Hong Kong, encompassing an international business headquarters, an international R&D centre, and an international trade and capital management platform. Xunfei Healthcare also has plans to set up an international research institute at Cyberport. They intend to form a 150-member team to drive R&D and overseas market expansion, as well as cultivate an AI ecosystem with tens of thousands of developers.
At the recent signing ceremony, Prof. Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology, and Industry, noted that the two companies are exemplary leaders in the fields of AI and life and health technologies. He believes their presence in Hong Kong will boost the city’s AI industry development.
Simon Chan, Chairman of Cyberport, said that the two companies will enhance Cyberport’s AI ecosystem, driving innovative R&D, results transformation, and AI industrialisation in Hong Kong. He was also optimistic that the presence of these companies will attract more leading AI companies from Mainland China and overseas to Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Qingfeng Liu, Chairman of iFLYTEK, and Dawei Duan, Senior Vice President, both highlighted the Hong Kong government’s strong support for technological innovation and talent recruitment as key reasons for choosing Hong Kong as their international hub.
In addition to using the city as a base to expand their global AI leadership, these companies will focus their R&D efforts on several key areas, including advancing intelligent speech technology (including in Cantonese); developing large cognitive models and other core technologies; integrating medical health and AI; and exploring vertical application scenarios in the city. They also aim to build AI infrastructure that will bolster Hong Kong’s growing AI industry and strengthen its position as an international I&T hub.
