- The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is intensifying efforts to attract more nonlocal students, aiming to solidify Hong Kong’s status as a global education hub. The university plans to recruit more top-tier international students and researchers while boosting its global involvement.
- CUHK plans to host the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education Conference in February, and is introducing new programs in fields like AI and new energy to align with national development goals.
- The Co-Op at CUHK initiative offers internships to international students, helping them gain skills and workplace experience, with over 130 corporate partners providing 700+ placement opportunities.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is heightening initiatives to strengthen its global presence with an intention to bring in more nonlocal students, as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region aims to become an international hub of education.
CUHK vice-chancellor and president Dennis Lo Yuk-ming delivered the university's development road map for the next few years at a media event on Monday.
Lo explained that among the key objectives is to create an international talent centre. As CUHK has around 300,000 alumni worldwide, it will continue to recruit more high-calibre students and researchers globally, he stated. CUHK will also receive more students from the Chinese mainland, he added.
Through Sept 30, there were over 2,600 nonlocal undergraduate students at the university, representing some 15 percent of the total, far short of the 40 percent limit on nonlocal students at Hong Kong's government-funded post-secondary institutions.
In line with the special administrative region's long-term vision of becoming a world education and training center and towards establishing a 'Study in Hong Kong' brand, CUHK is aiming to enhance its global footprint by growing involvement in international university networks and hosting international academic events.
Significantly, Lo stated, the university will organize the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education Conference and Exhibition in Hong Kong in February, with more than 2,500 participants, including educators, university leaders, and policymakers from across the globe.
"Hong Kong is as international a city as China has. Universities here are bridges connecting our nation and the world, and hence internationalization is very important to us", said the vice-chancellor.
CUHK's master plan for development also aligns with the national objective of fully realizing a high-quality education system by 2035, said university Provost Isabella Poon Wai-yin.
Poon said the university is continuously reviewing how it can respond to the evolving needs of the country’s development. “We are also developing new academic programs in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and new energy, so as to contribute to the nation’s progress”, she said.
Along with hiring more nonlocal students, the university has also implemented programs to assist their career development in Hong Kong, Poon said. One such program is the Co-Operative Education Programme (Co-Op @CUHK).
The scheme provides students with six-to-eight-month full-time internship placements in local firms. It gives students the necessary soft skills, working contacts and workplace experience to make them competitive in the job market for placements in Hong Kong or other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) upon graduation.
Overseas students were particularly enthusiastic about the scheme since its launch in 2021, with 'more than half of the program's participants' being international students, according to Poon. The size of Co-op@CUHK corporate partners has thus far expanded to over 130, offering in excess of 700 placement opportunities for students.
"The program is beneficial not only for the students who intend to remain in Hong Kong, but also GBA enterprises wishing to extend their business in overseas markets", Poon added.
