Hong Kong tycoon Adrian Cheng doubles down on tech in step with China’s 5-year plan

Adrian Cheng Chi-kong, former heir apparent to Hong Kong property giant New World Development (NWD), plans to spend more time in mainland China and increase his tech investments this year, with a focus on a range of sectors from artificial intelligence to aerospace, echoing China’s latest five-year plan.

“If our country can realise [the 15th five-year plan], we would be stable and secure, and our future will definitely be promising,” Cheng, who is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – the country’s top political advisory body – told the South China Morning Post in Beijing last week.

China has enumerated 109 major projects to be carried out in support of the plan, which charts the next five years of the country’s development through 2030. Of these, 28 aim for enhancement and breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies, spanning from embodied intelligence and aerospace to quantum computing. These innovation-led projects are one of seven areas named by top policymakers as crucial for the high-quality development of the world’s second-largest economy.

After learning more about the five-year plan, Cheng said he would continue to invest in “hard technology”, including aerospace, quantum computing, AI and low-altitude vehicles and equipment.

Cheng added that he had invested in a robotics firm, without giving details.

The billionaire has been focusing on technology for at least nine years. C Capital, co-founded by Cheng in 2017, has invested in Chinese electric-vehicle maker Xpeng and AI chipmaker Biren Technology, as well as the Instagram-style social media platform RedNote. The former two are listed in Hong Kong.