During his two-day visit to Hong Kong marking 25 years since the handover, President Xi Jinping made clear his vision for the roles Hong Kong is to play in China’s growth: an international tech hub and an international financial centre . To China, being self-reliant in technology is no longer something that’s nice to have; it is essential, especially given the geopolitical landscape. The mainland’s advancement in software as a service (SaaS), artificial intelligence, mobility, cloud computing, robotics and quantum computing are strong examples of what top-down governance and bottom-up creativity can give rise to. Hong Kong’s success in areas...