Hong Kong’s technology cooperation with Shenzhen received a boost on Wednesday as Lenovo Group, the world’s biggest personal computer maker, set up an innovation lab at the city’s new Hetao tech hub and pledged to help firms adopt artificial intelligence and expand globally.

Lenovo is the first multinational tech firm to publicly announce its presence on the Hong Kong side of the Hetao zone – the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park (HSITP) – which covers 87 hectares in the city’s northern Lok Ma Chau area.

Ken Wong, president of Lenovo’s Solutions & Services Group, said the new Lenovo AI Innovation Lab at HSITP aimed to be an “open platform” to help partners access the tech giant’s AI solutions and scale their businesses internationally.

The cross-border Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone was launched in 2017, following Beijing’s call for closer integration between the two cities.

The Beijing and Morrisville, US, dual-headquartered PC maker chose Hetao for its new AI centre as it combined Hong Kong’s advantages in research and access to the global market with the manufacturing strengths of Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area, according to Wong.

The park was “making it easier for talent, goods, capital, and data to move across the border”, Wong said.