Hong Kong scholar Li Cheng: The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is expected to build the world's first "AI Bay Area"

China News Service, Macau, November 9 (Reporters Mo Qian and Zheng Jiawei) "Compared with other major bay areas in the world, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has the greatest potential to become the world's first 'AI Bay Area.'" Li Cheng, director of the Center for Contemporary China and World Studies at the University of Hong Kong, made the above judgment when delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the "International Forum on Mutual Learning of Civilizations 2026" on the 9th. He called for promoting the transformation of artificial intelligence from "AI+" to "AI×". Hong Kong and Macao must not only be "super contacts", but also "super value-added people".

The "International Forum on Mutual Learning of Civilizations 2026" opened in Macau on the 9th. Li Cheng elaborated on the inheritance of civilization, global governance, and the practice of the Bay Area, and proposed to leverage the unique location and cultural advantages of the Bay Area to contribute the wisdom and strength of the Bay Area to the mutual learning of global civilizations. Li Cheng shared his experience of visiting the source of the Pearl River in Yunnan many times: the Pearl River gathers more than 770 tributaries and flows into the sea, giving birth to distinctive city clusters such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macau, which together form the development core of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. He believes that the unique watershed geography nourishes the diverse, integrated and eclectic cultural character of this land, which is the basis for the Greater Bay Area to embrace the era of artificial intelligence.

Looking at the current international landscape, various unstable factors in the world continue to increase. Li Cheng proposed that the root cause of turmoil is not the conflict between civilizations, but the imbalance within the international system, countries and societies is the main cause. "Mutual respect and positive interaction among different civilizations are important ballast stones for maintaining world stability." He said that China and the United States promote the establishment of a "constructive strategic and stable relationship based on respect, fairness, and reciprocity," and its positive effects can radiate outward and contribute to regional peaceful development.

Facing the global governance system that urgently needs to be reshaped, Li Cheng believes that the ideological wisdom of "harmony without difference" of Eastern civilization can play an important mediating role. Global governance must not only maintain the "four beams and eight pillars" of the existing system, but also explore reform paths that adapt to the new era.

"The earth is big enough to accommodate the common development of China and the United States; AI has opened up a new world and can also accommodate the common prosperity of all countries in the world and the entire human civilization." Li Cheng emphasized that in the face of the new changes brought about by artificial intelligence, all countries in the world should adhere to diverse coexistence and jointly protect the development prospects of human civilization.

Based on the historical context and global changes, he proposed that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area explores a bay area path for mutual learning among civilizations: relying on the international advantages of Hong Kong and Macao to share governance and development experience and empowering inclusive growth in the Asia-Pacific; building the world's first "AI Bay Area" to promote Hong Kong and Macao to upgrade from "super contacts" to "super value-added people" and expand cross-border collaboration of artificial intelligence; insisting on long-term mutual learning among civilizations, exploring and building a new community of human-machine collaboration, and seeking lasting peace and prosperity.