Officials of the Hong Kong Chu Hai College and guests take a group photo at the reception in Hong Kong on February 7, 2023. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Hong Kong Chu Hai College is accelerating the pace of upgrading its status to that of a university, and the college president is optimistic this goal can be achieved as early as 2026.
College President Chen Zhi said at a reception on Tuesday that to achieve that goal, the college is taking measures to meet the benchmarks of a full-scale university, including increasing student enrollment, recruiting more international scholars, and further upgrading the school’s research capabilities.
All criteria for a university have been met except the requirement of having at least 1,500 on-campus students for two consecutive years. This criterion could be satisfied soon when the college, upon approval, increases the number of students it admits from the Chinese mainland, Macao and Taiwan, Chen said.
Chen Zhi, president of the Hong Kong Chu Hai College, speaks at the reception on February 7, 2023. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
The president said the college has applied to hike the percentage of undergraduates from the mainland, Taiwan and Macao, and the Hong Kong Education Bureau and the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have responded positively to its application.
“This is in line with the law of development of private colleges, and tallies well with Hong Kong’s talent strategy,” Chen said.
Lam Kwong-siu, chair of the college’s Board of Governors, agreed, saying it is the college’s lofty mission to train more talents for Hong Kong.
Lam Kwong-siu, chair of the Board of Governors of the Hong Kong Chu Hai College, speaks at the reception in Hong Kong on Feburary 7, 2023. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
With the full resumption of travel between Hong Kong and the mainland this week, the college will actively respond to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area strategy, work to admit more students from the mainland, and will strengthen educational and academic exchanges with the Greater Bay Area. It is hoped that this will help foster more talents for Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Chu Hai College now provides 14 undergraduate majors and 13 graduate programs, including architecture, civil engineering, journalism and communications, Chinese literature and finance, and will develop more graduate and doctoral programs in the coming two years.
Bernard Chan Pak-li, Hong Kong undersecretary for commerce and economic development, said that the college’s strengths will be of great help to Hong Kong’s development, in particular in the development of the North Metropolis and in telling Hong Kong stories well to the world when the international financial hub takes the world stage again after the pandemic.
Bernard Chan Pak-li, Hong Kong undersecretary for commerce and economic development, addresses the reception in Hong Kong on February 7, 2023. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
At the reception, several companies and foundations made donations to the college, including HKI Group, the Hong Kong Fujian Charitable Education Fund, the Hong Kong Chan Clan General Association, the Chiyu Tan Kah Kee Education Foundation, and Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation.