Hong Kong’s leader outlined plans Wednesday to diversify the city’s economy and accelerate growth, including fast-tracking an ambitious border development project and establishing the artificial intelligence sector as a “core industry”.

In his annual policy speech, Chief Executive John Lee reaffirmed a growth forecast of two to three percent for the year.

His announcements come as the global financial hub — which beat estimates to grow by 3.1 percent in the second quarter — navigates volatile trade tensions between Washington and Beijing and a dampened economic climate in mainland China.

Hong Kong was “moving through an irreversible economic transition, but it is an essential process for a stronger and more robust economy in the future”, Lee said in a nearly three-hour address, stating

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