Secretary for Education Eddie Ng and six university council chairmen today attended the Guangdong/Hong Kong Universities High Level Meeting in Guangzhou.
They discussed the latest developments in post-secondary education and co-operation opportunities with provincial education officials and higher education leaders.
Nearly 12,000 Mainland students are studying at University Grants Committee-funded institutions in Hong Kong in the 2015-16 academic year. Of them, 1,600 are from Guangdong.
More than 3,000 Hong Kong students have pursued undergraduate studies on the Mainland each year over the past three academic years.
Last year’s statistics showed over 15,500 Hong Kong students were studying at Mainland higher education institutions and graduate schools, up nearly 40% since 2011.
The number of Hong Kong-Mainland joint research projects also rose from fewer than 900 in 2011 to 1,300 in late 2015, and one-fifth of them involved institutions in Guangdong.
So far six Hong Kong institutions have established a research base or institute in Shenzhen.
Mr Ng said he hopes the meeting will promote high-level exchanges between institutions in Hong Kong and Guangdong, adding that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Higher Education Institution Alliance to be established later this year will further cement ties.
Also discussed were the Belt & Road initiative and the development opportunities it holds for higher education institutions.
The delegation then visited a stem cell science company.
Mr Ng also met Guangdong Provincial Committee Secretary Hu Chunhua and Director-General of the Department of Education Luo Weiqi.
