Press Release

Legislative Council and District Council members visit HKBU to understand the University’s future development plans

Thursday, 27 February 2025

Members of the Legislative Council and Kowloon City District Council paid an exchange visit to Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) today (27 February). They were warmly welcomed by Dr the Hon Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, Chairman of the Council and the Court at HKBU; Professor Alex Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKBU, and Professor Chen Zhi, President of Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (BNU-HKBU-UIC) and the University’s senior management members. Both parties had an in-depth exchange on how to promote education, research and innovation development, as well as HKBU’s future development plans.

Legislative Council and District Council members who visited HKBU include Dr the Hon Elizabeth Quat, Professor the Hon Chow Man-kong, Professor the Hon Chan Wing-kwong, Dr the Hon Johnny Ng Kit-chong, the Hon Lillian Kwok Ling-lai, the Hon Benson Luk Hon-man, Dr the Hon Ngan Man-yu, and the Hon Vincent Cheng Wing-shun. Kowloon City District Council members Mr Pun Kwok-wah and Mr Kwan Ho-yeung also joined the visit.

Dr Kennedy Wong greeted and expressed his gratitude to the Legislative Council and District Council members for visiting the University. He said that in response to the evolving global landscape and the rapid change in the demand for talent, HKBU is spearheading transdisciplinary education proactively and had introduced a number of transdisciplinary programmes in recent years to create an intellectually inspiring learning environment, with the objective of nurturing outstanding talent who can rise up to global challenges and possess a broad international horizon.

Dr Wong further highlighted that the most important asset of a university is its talent, and its primary mission is education. Hence, HKBU will fully leverage the advantages of the “One Country, Two Systems” framework to continuously attract international scholars and students, and respond to the call of the HKSAR Government to help establish Hong Kong as a hub for high-end international talent, thereby further promote the “Study in Hong Kong” brand. He hoped to take this occasion to conduct in-depth exchange with the guest visitors on the opportunities and challenges facing Hong Kong’s higher education, and discuss how to nurture more top-tier talent for Hong Kong and the Nation.

Professor Alex Wai provided a comprehensive overview of HKBU, the strength of its faculty, focuses of strategic development in recent years, outstanding academic and research achievements, as well as direction and plans of future development. He highlighted that in recent years, HKBU has been responding actively to the Nation’s 14th Five-Year Plan and the HKSAR Government’s development strategies. He remarked that under the “One University, Two Campuses” framework, HKBU has deepened its synergised development with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) through its Zhuhai Campus, i.e. BNU-HKBU-UIC. Joint efforts were also made to facilitate the launch of several pioneering cross-border research and innovation projects to foster the development of Hong Kong and the Mainland together. Moreover, HKBU is actively planning for the establishment of a new campus in the Northern Metropolis, constructing a regional hub for education and innovation, and fostering collaborations on innovation and technology, nurturing talent and incubating entrepreneurship, and promoting Hong Kong’s integration into the broader national development agenda.

Professor Chen Zhi introduced the history and latest developments of BNU-HKBU-UIC, as well as and its practice in advancing higher education across the GBA under the “One University, Two Campuses” framework in partnership with HKBU. He said BNU-HKBU-UIC has been strategically integrating resources from the GBA and the world in recent years. In addition to launching new transdisciplinary programmes, BNU-HKBU-UIC is actively establishing itself as a hub for industry-academia-research collaboration, exemplified by the launch of the BNU-HKBU-UIC Institute for Advanced Study dedicated to the effective translation of research breakthroughs into real-world applications.

Other HKBU representatives who attended the event included Professor Martin Wong, Provost; Professor Lyu Aiping, Vice-President (Research) cum Dean of the Graduate School and Acting Dean of the School of Chinese Medicine; Dr Albert Chau, Vice-President (Teaching and Learning); Ms Christine Chow, Vice-President (Administration) and Secretary; Professor Terence Lau, Interim Chief Innovation Officer; Professor Johnny Poon, Associate Vice-President (Interdisciplinary Research) and Founding Dean of the School of Creative Arts; Professor Wong Man-kong, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences; Professor Zhang Han, Dean of the School of Business; Professor Zhong Bu, Dean of the School of Communication; Professor Ronald Chung, Dean of the School of Continuing Education; Professor Michael Ng, Dean of the Faculty of Science; and Ms Jenny Li, Director of University Engagement Office.

Accompanied by HKBU’s senior management members, the Legislative Council and District Council members experienced the groundbreaking research and technological advancements demonstrated by HKBU's esteemed project teams. Among the featured projects, Dr Yu Yuanyuan, Assistant Professor of the Teaching and Research Division of the School of Chinese Medicine, introduced a new aptamer drug designed for bone anabolic therapies; Dr Ren Kangning, Associate Head of the Department of Chemistry, presented the multidimensional antimicrobial susceptibility testing system; Dr Kwong Chi-man, Associate Professor of the Department of History, shared insights from a spatial history research initiative exploring the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong; and Dr Chen Jie, Assistant Professor of the Department of Computer Science, showcased artificial intelligence technology designed to transform the filmmaking process.

The guests then visited the HKBU Visualization Research Centre, where Professor Jeffrey Shaw, Chair Professor of the Academy of Visual Arts and Director of the Centre, presented HKBU's trailblazing innovations in the convergence of art and technology. The Centre is home to the world's first immersive “360-degree LED Visualisation Cinema” and “180-degree iDome Cinema”, offering a groundbreaking platform for theatre, dance, music, and sports. It also facilitates the transformation of multimedia archives into post-cinematic experiences, opening new frontiers for artistic exploration and creative expression.

The visit provided an invaluable opportunity for HKBU to introduce its future development plans, innovative educational philosophy, and accomplishments in industry-academia-research collaboration to Legislative Council and District Council members who represent different sectors of society. It also strengthened the University’s connections with the community, with the objective of initiating joint efforts to promote the sustained advancement of higher education in Hong Kong.

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