LegCo Secretariat releases Policy Pulse on "Building an international education hub"
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The Legislative Council (LegCo) Secretariat today (June 27) released a Policy Pulse on "Building an international education hub". This issue provides a brief overview of the competitiveness of Hong Kong's education system, the unique advantages in developing Hong Kong into an international education hub, the related support measures by the Government, as well as relevant discussions of LegCo along with suggestions by Members.
As a cosmopolitan city, Hong Kong's education system is highly internationalized and diversified with great potential to become an international education hub. The Policy Pulse highlighted various international rankings of Hong Kong's education system, including being the only city with five universities in the world's top 100, ranking second globally in education competitiveness, and having the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education recognised by over 600 overseas post-secondary institutions. The Policy Pulse also briefly outlined the future development of post-secondary education in Hong Kong; the advantages brought by "one country, two systems" and enjoying strong support from the Motherland and being closely connected to the world; and the benefits of establishing an international education hub.
In the 2023 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced the establishment of an "international hub for post‑secondary education and a cradle for future talents". He further proposed building the "Study in Hong Kong" brand in his 2024 Policy Address. To promote Hong Kong as an international hub for post-secondary education and attract more talents to the city, the Government has introduced a series of measures. These include doubling the non-local student quota for University Grants Committee-funded universities; increasing the number of scholarship and hostel places; implementing schemes for non-local graduates to stay and seek employment in Hong Kong; strengthening research funding for institutions; promoting collaboration between Hong Kong and Mainland higher education institutions; and launching the Alliance of Universities in Applied Sciences to enhance the status of vocational and professional education and training.
To support the long-term development of post-secondary education, the Government has kickstarted the construction of the University Town project in the Northern Metropolis, and plans to announce the University Town Development Conceptual Framework in the first half of 2026. Members suggest the Government communicate with post-secondary institutions on the planning of the University Town and consider providing tax and financial incentives to encourage institutions to build second campuses in the University Town, and cooperate with industry and scientific research institutions, to give play to the industry-university-research effect, so as to attract research talents.
LegCo has been closely attentive to the development of education system in Hong Kong and formed a subcommittee to provide recommendations to the Government and the post-secondary education sector to speed up the development of an international post‑secondary education hub. In addition, LegCo has scrutinized and passed the Post Secondary Colleges (Amendment) Bill 2025, which aims to improve the monitoring and quality assurance mechanism for self-financing post-secondary institutions.
The Policy Pulse also pointed out that Hong Kong faces challenges in becoming an international education hub, including a lack of diversity in the sources of non-local students. Members suggest that the Government should systematically formulate targeted promotion strategies, identifying target countries including ASEAN and "Belt and Road" countries, and taking the lead in promoting "Study in Hong Kong" to these countries with the Economic and Trade Offices overseas, and continuously reviewing the policy positioning and development strategies.
The detailed content of "Building an international education hub" is available on the LegCo Website. The Policy Pulse, published by the LegCo Secretariat, covers specific topics and offers a comprehensive overview of related policy developments and summarized discussions in LegCo.
Ends/Friday, June 27, 2025
Issued at HKT 14:50
Issued at HKT 14:50
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