As an ageing mainland China takes to AI, Hong Kong must catch up

AI Summary

China is responding to population decline and a shrinking workforce by using AI to sustain its manufacturing and export capacity. The article argues that Hong Kong must keep pace with mainland China’s adoption of AI.

A decade ago, when Beijing ended its one-child policy, demographers and economists issued a grim consensus: a rapidly shrinking workforce would cripple China’s manufacturing and export machine. Indeed, the demographic dividend that powered China’s rise between 1980 and 2010 has run its course; from 2022, the population began contracting annually. Yet, rather than surrendering its status as the world’s factory, China is neutralising its demographic crunch with an algorithmic dividend. China has...