The Work Meeting of Preparatory Committee of HKUST(GZ) successfully concluded
On the afternoon of April 8, the Preparatory Committee of HKUST (GZ) (hereinafter referred to as the Preparatory Committee) held a work meeting. Members from the Guangzhou Municipal Committee of CPC, the People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality and relevant departments, the Nansha District Committee of CPC, the Nansha District Government, Guangzhou University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), and HKUST (GZ) participated online. Leaders of HKUST and HKUST (GZ) also attended the meeting at the Clear Water Bay Campus, including Prof. Wei Shyy, Prof. Lionel M. Ni, Academician Nancy Yuk-Yu, Prof. Ting-Chuen Pong, Prof. Kwang-Tim Cheng, Prof. Charles W.W. NG, and deans of some hubs at HKUST (GZ).
At the meeting, the participants heard the report from the Bureau of Education of Guangzhou Municipality and the Nansha District Government about the recent work including the application for the formal establishment of HKUST (GZ) and campus construction. The issues including the application and preparation-to-establishment-related documents related to the official establishment of HKUST (GZ) and the campus construction plan (Phase 2) were discussed and approved after deliberation.
On September 19, 2019, the Ministry of Education issued a document approving the preparation and establishment of HKUST (GZ), the first Mainland-Hong Kong cooperatively-run school since the implementation of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. In October 2021, the People’s Government of Guangdong Province submitted an application to the Ministry of Education for the formal establishment of HKUST (GZ). In December 2021, the expert group of the Ministry of Education for Chinese-foreign cooperation in running schools (including the cooperation between Mainland and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), together with relevant departments and bureaus of the Ministry of Education, conducted the formal review and preliminary review of HKUST (GZ), and gave feedback on the preliminary review opinions.On January 10, 2022, the Ministry of Education organized experts to conduct an online centralized evaluation, and the evaluation report was issued on February 22. On March 10, the Education Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Department of Education of Guangdong Province, the Bureau of Education of Guangzhou Municipality, and both parties involved in the cooperation jointly held an online coordination meeting to promote the formal establishment of the school. During the process, Mr. Cheung-sing Liao, chairman of the HKUST Council, led HKUST to conduct several rounds of communication and discussion with Guangzhou University and the supporting organizations in Guangdong Province and Guangzhou City, and review the preparation-to-establishment-related documents item by item according to the preliminary evaluation opinions and evaluation reports. All the documents will be submitted to the Ministry of Education for review after being approved at the working meeting of the Preparatory Committee, and will enter into the review and signing process after approval.
The successful convening of the work meeting is of great significance to the application for the formal establishment of HKUST (GZ), which marks that HKUST (GZ) has made substantial progress in the transition from preparation to establishment in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Ministry of Education.
HKUST (GZ) is expected to officially open on schedule in September 2022.
