In an era of rising geopolitical fragmentation, the annual Global Prosperity Summit in Hong Kong is an important illustration of how communities with different systems can collaborate constructively to explore new ideas and even foster world peace. The city should be proud to host the two-day event, which in its third edition this week showcased how Hong Kong provides intellectual leadership fostered by its unique status as a premier hub for dialogue and intellectual exchange.Organised by the Savantas Policy Institute, the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies and the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, the summit covered five key themes aligned with the city’s economic diversification efforts. Sessions included innovative drug development within the Greater Bay Area, the city’s efforts to become a sports and cultural hub, cryptocurrencies, international trade and commercial aerospace.Savantas founder Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and Shanghai institute vice-president Li Kaisheng proposed creating a council of think tanks from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. It would conduct joint research and offer policy recommendations. Formation of the council would be timely, ahead of an Apec finance ministers’ meeting in Hong Kong in October and a gathering of the bloc’s economic leaders in Shenzhen in November.Ip told the forum that Hong Kong was “uniquely positioned” between mainland China and developed nations. She said as ideas, systems and models increasingly interact – and collide – it can be a “platform for dialogue, exchange and pragmatic cooperation”.The “one country, two systems” principle, guaranteeing Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy and a capitalist system separate from mainland China, provides an innovative framework for peaceful coexistence and global conflict resolution. Summit keynote speaker, Ambassador Han Zhiqiang, vice-president of the semi-official China Public Diplomacy Association, said China will help to take part in settling international conflicts and improve mechanisms to resolve them. He said a recently established mediation body in Hong Kong would help bolster the international rule of law.The summit also featured new ideas that reflected Hong Kong’s progressive regulatory leadership. Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu said gold could serve as a “potential bridge” between conventional and new forms of finance. Hui said he had seen not only gold exchange-traded funds in conventional markets but also tokenised versions on blockchain.