Peter Helis Joins China Daily Greater Bay Area Conference Panel with Senior Hong Kong Leaders

Hong Kong, China – September 5, 2026 — Independent strategic advisor Peter Helis (贺励平) was a featured panelist at the Greater Bay Area Conference 2026 on 3 September, joining legislators, educators and technology leaders to examine Hong Kong education’s new mission in the era of artificial intelligence.

The conference, jointly hosted by China Daily and the Hong Kong Coalition (香港再出發) under the theme New Dynamics in Asia-Pacific Cooperation, New Opportunities for GBA Connectivity (亞太合作新格局，灣區聯通新機遇), opened with remarks from China Daily publisher Qu Yingpu and keynote addresses by The Hon C.Y. Leung, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po.

Helis spoke on Panel III — Hong Kong Education’s New Mission in the Era of Artificial Intelligence — moderated by Ms Rynn Song of China Daily Hong Kong. He shared the stage with Ir Daniel Lai Sik-cheung, BBS, JP, Programme Director of the JC GoAI Project and Coolthink@JC; The Hon Dominic Lee Tsz-king, Member of the Legislative Council; and Dr Charleston Sin, Head of AI and Data at Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation.

Drawing on seven years inside the Guangzhou Huangpu government system and his current work advising foreign multinational enterprises across the GBA, Helis argued that international firms are not hiring “AI tourists.” They are hiring domain specialists who can use AI as a working language — and verify the output.

“AI should not be one’s first degree; it should be like a second language; it’s a tool,” Helis said.

He also called for Hong Kong and neighbouring GBA cities to sell one integrated offer to international students and expatriate families — Hong Kong academic standards paired with mainland industrial placement — and to remove remaining institutional frictions on research funding, data flows and professional qualification recognition.

China Daily’s conference coverage and panel photography are available here:https://www.chinadailyhk.com/hk/article/638964Panel report: https://www.chinadailyhk.com/hk/article/638970

This appearance follows Helis’s panel at the 2026 Horasis Asia Meeting in Hengqin and the FGS Global GBA forum in Hong Kong.