Wednesday, 16 September 2026
In the opening year of the National 15th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) welcomes and thanks the Chief Executive for outlining Hong Kong’s strategic directions in The First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030) and the 2026 Policy Address, to proactively align with national development strategies, seize the opportunities presented by the nation’s development, and better integrate into and contribute to the nation’s overall development, setting out a clear blueprint for Hong Kong’s future development and talent nurturing.
Dr Kennedy Y H Wong, Chairman of the Council and the Court of HKBU, says: “HKBU fully supports the HKSAR Government’s adoption of the Five-Year Plan as an important blueprint for Hong Kong’s medium- to long-term development, setting clear directions for the city’s development in education, technology, talent cultivation and social well-being. The Policy Address also proposes a series of policy measures to promote the internationalisation of Hong Kong’s higher education and strengthen the ‘Study in Hong Kong’ brand.” Dr Wong states that HKBU will actively align with the development needs of the nation and Hong Kong, continue to advance excellence in teaching and research, develop and strengthen its leading and distinctive academic disciplines, in particular HKBU’s strengths in the integration of humanities and technology, promote the integration of innovation and technology in areas such as the cultural and creative industries, and healthcare, and draw on its years of experience in transdisciplinary teaching and learning. HKBU is confident in nurturing the next generation of talent, contributing to Hong Kong’s high-quality development and the nation’s modernisation, and remains dedicated to developing Hong Kong into an international hub for high-calibre talent.
Professor Alex Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKBU, says that HKBU supports the Government’s efforts to expedite the planning and development of the Northern Metropolis University Town. The Government’s planning and positioning of the San Tin, Hung Shui Kiu and Ta Kwu Ling University Towns will help institutions formulate long-term development directions based on their respective strengths. It will also foster collaboration among institutions, innovation and technology parks, and industries, creating synergy among the Government, industries, academia, research and investment sectors, and accelerating the transformation and realisation of research outcomes, thereby realising the integrated development of education, technology and talent. Professor Wai says: “HKBU can collaborate with enterprises and research institutions from the technology parks, as well as partners from the Chinese Mainland and overseas in areas such as Chinese medicine and healthcare, artificial intelligence and data science, art technology, cultural and creative industries, and sports technology, through collaborative research and development, joint laboratories, pilot-scale validation and talent training. The goal is to promote closer alignment among the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain and talent chain.”
Professor Wai also welcomes the Government’s decision to upgrade the “Working Group on Planning and Construction of the University Town” to the “Committee on Construction and Development of the University Town”, with the inclusion of non-official expert members. The Committee will provide high-level stewardship on the long-term strategic development of the Northern Metropolis University Town, and study specific measures to assist and incentivise institutions in the Northern Metropolis University Town to promote the transformation of outcomes, thereby enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness in innovation and technology.
The Five-Year Plan and the Policy Address also reaffirm the goal of developing Hong Kong into an international hub for high-calibre talent and establishing the “Study in Hong Kong” brand, with an aim to increase the number of non-local students enrolled in full-time post-secondary programmes in Hong Kong to 100,000 in the 2029/30 academic year. A range of supporting measures have been proposed, including expediting the construction of specific ancillary facilities such as student hostels and adopting diversified development models to advance hostel construction. Professor Wai notes that HKBU has actively recruited non-local students in recent years, promoted the “Study in Hong Kong” brand, and supported the “Hong Kong: Your World-class Campus” international promotion. The number of non-local undergraduate new students admitted by HKBU in the 2026/27 academic year has reached a record high. HKBU welcomes the relevant policies and will continue to create a multicultural learning environment, align with the Government’s measures to attract more outstanding students from the Chinese Mainland and around the world to study in Hong Kong, further expand Hong Kong’s talent pool, and reinforce Hong Kong’s status as an international post-secondary education hub.
In addition, HKBU is pleased to see the Government’s support for the development of leading and distinctive academic disciplines, the nurturing of emerging disciplines and cross-disciplinary areas, as well as measures to increase the quotas for the Belt and Road Scholarship, UGC-funded research postgraduate places and the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme, as well as provide support under the Fund for Innovative Technology-in-Education. HKBU believes that these measures will support capacity expansion and quality enhancement in post-secondary education and strengthen Hong Kong’s overall research capabilities. HKBU will also step up its promotion and student recruitment efforts in the Belt and Road countries and regions.
The Chief Executive also emphasises the commitment to developing Hong Kong into an “international innovation and technology centre” and an “important gateway for the nation to open up and cooperate with the world in the field of I&T”, and proposes to build a new landscape of “three major I&T parks and five key R&D institutions”.
Building on its solid foundation in recent years, HKBU will continue to actively align with Hong Kong’s direction in I&T development. In recent years, HKBU has established the HKBU Qianhai Institute for Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Centre for Exercise Science and Medicine (CESAME), the Art Tech Incubation Hub (CHRYSALIS), the Wu Jieh Yee Institute of Translational Chinese Medicine Research, and the Guangdong and Hong Kong Universities “1+1+1” Joint Research Collaboration Scheme jointly launched with the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province and Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University. Professor Wai states that HKBU will seize the strategic opportunities arising from collaboration in technological innovation and industrial innovation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, deepen the two-way integration of the innovation chain and industrial chain, endeavour to integrate into the new landscape, contribute to better connecting Hong Kong with the nation’s development in technology, talent cultivation and capital, foster industry-academia-research collaboration, and promote the translation of research outcomes from Hong Kong into the Greater Bay Area, thereby contributing to the nation and advancing its reach into international markets.