Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Below is the response of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) to the 2025 Policy Address delivered by the Chief Executive today (17 September):
HKBU welcomes and thanks the Chief Executive for outlining Hong Kong’s strategic plan to proactively align with national development strategies and the blueprint for the future development of Hong Kong’s economy and people’s livelihood in the 2025 Policy Address, with corresponding immediate and long-term supporting policy measures proposed.
Professor Alex Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKBU, says, “HKBU fully supports the Government’s policy measures to promote the internationalisation of Hong Kong’s higher education sector and the strengthening of the “Study in Hong Kong” brand.”
The proposed raise in the enrolment ceiling for self-financing non-local students of each funded post-secondary institutions from the level currently equivalent to 40% of local student places to 50%, and the over-enrolment ceiling of self-financing places of funded research postgraduate programmes to 120% starting from the 2026/27 academic year, will provide greater flexibility and opportunities for universities to enrol non-local students with diverse cultural background in the long run. Non-local student enrolment at HKBU has increased steadily over the past few years, and the University will progressively expand its non-local student population and promote the integration of non-local students into the University and the Hong Kong community. HKBU hopes to leverage the Government authorities’ support to local universities including measures to increase student hostel supply, and at the same time maintain close collaboration with different stakeholders to enhance education, research and other campus facilities to meet the needs of the growing non-local student population.
In addition, the Policy Address proposed to introduce the “Hong Kong: Your World-class Campus” large-scale publicity campaign to promote Hong Kong’s quality resources in areas such as academic studies, scientific research and international cooperation. It also proposed that the University Grants Committee provide funding to the eight funded universities to enhance their international and Mainland publicity efforts, as well as teacher and student recruitment. HKBU welcomes and supports these initiatives, and believes that they can help attract more high-calibre talent to study and work in Hong Kong.
HKBU supports the Policy Address’s proposal to expedite the development of the Northern Metropolis, the establishment of the Committee on Development of the Northern Metropolis under which a Working Group on Planning and Construction of the University Town will be formed, and the implementation of a series of measures to streamline and facilitate the development of the Northern Metropolis. Professor Wai points out that these measures can accelerate the development of the Northern Metropolis University Town substantially. HKBU will actively provide recommendations to the Government to help refine the planning so as to meet the needs of Hong Kong’s higher education development.
HKBU also welcomes the Policy Address’s emphasis on advancing the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science, as well as life and health technology industries. Professor Wai says that HKBU fully recognises that innovative technology has already become the main impetus of social and economic development. As such, the University has been focusing on research areas including data analytics and AI applications with specific focus on the fields of art creation, innovative and cultural industries, and humanities and culture, as well as health and drug discoveries. HKBU will continue to collaborate with the Government, industry bodies, and enterprises to strengthen the nurturing of talent, research and innovation, and technology translation that are essential for the development of the related industries.
Regarding the development of Chinese medicine, as the contractor for the service deed of Hong Kong’s first Chinese Medicine Hospital, HKBU is working in full gear on the preparatory work for the Hospital, which is expected to begin its phased operation in December this year. The University will observe closely the release of the Chinese Medicine Development Blueprint before the end of this year, and will contribute actively in order to support the Government’s vision of developing Hong Kong into a bridgehead for the internationalisation of Chinese medicine.