Press Release
HKBU, Tongji University and Lingnan University co-host 2022 Shanghai-Hong Kong University Alliance Annual Meeting cum Interdisciplinary Development and Innovation Forum
22 December 2022
Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), as the third Council Chair of the Shanghai-Hong Kong University Alliance (SHUA), co-hosted the 2022 SHUA Annual Meeting cum Interdisciplinary Development and Innovation Forum on 21 December together with Tongji University and Lingnan University, the Vice Chairs of the Alliance Council.
This year’s meeting was conducted in online format. Dr Choi Yuk-lin, Secretary for Education of the HKSAR Government; Mr Shu Gangbo, Deputy Director, Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs, Ministry of Education; Mr Liu Maozhou, Inspector of Department of Education and Technology, Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR; and Dr Li Yongzhi, Deputy Director, Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, attended and delivered opening remarks at the occasion. Senior management members, academics, teaching and administrative staff and other representatives of the 16 member institutions of SHUA joined the event.
Professor Alexander Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKBU, said: “We are now experiencing a world dynamic where major global changes and the pandemic intertwine. It marks an era of fundamental reforms, as well as profound development opportunities. According to the new positioning as outlined in the 14th Five-Year Plan in combination with its own advantages and characteristics, Hong Kong is now boosting and strengthening strategic emerging industries that suit its own development needs, such as biotechnology, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. These trends will add new impetus to the integrated development of Shanghai and Hong Kong and provide broader development opportunities for the Shanghai-Hong Kong University Alliance.”
At the meeting, Fudan University, on behalf of the Secretariats of SHUA, concluded the Alliance’s works in 2022, including summer schools, internship programmes and financial conditions and provided a briefing on the mechanism of the SHUA Pioneer Award. The appointment of the fourth Chair and Vice Chairs of the Alliance Council in 2023 was considered and passed by all SHUA members at the meeting. East China Normal University will take the place of the next Chair while The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology will be the Vice Chairs.
The theme of the Interdisciplinary Development and Innovation Forum conducted during the annual meeting was “Collaborating for Interdisciplinarity and Innovation”. Scholars from overseas universities and representatives of SHUA members, including Professor Cui Zhanfeng, the Donald Pollock Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Oxford, UK; Professor Hou Zhengmeng, Professor of Clausthal University of Technology and Head of the Rock Mechanics, Energy Research Centre of Lower Saxony (EFZN), Germany; Dr Albert Chau, Vice-President (Teaching and Learning) of HKBU; Professor Meng Zhongjie, Director of the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office and Admission Office, East China Normal University; Professor Liu Baolin, Dean of the Institute of Scientific Research and Development, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology; and Professor Wang Yang, Vice-President for Institutional Advancement, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, shared their insights at the forum. Citing examples of their respective universities’ characteristics and areas of excellence, they discussed issues related to interdisciplinary and innovation development.
Established in 2018, SHUA consists of 16 member institutions from Hong Kong and Shanghai with the aim of serving as a platform of exchange in tertiary education in order to strengthen collaboration between universities in the two cities, creating multilateral benefits and advancing innovations in teaching, learning and research.
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