Northern Metropolis university towns built to attract ‘world’s finest’ talent: John Lee

Hong Kong’s university towns in the Northern Metropolis are designed to attract the world’s finest students and scholars, the city’s leader has said at a global education summit, with overseas institutions expressing interest and calling for incentives to enter into partnerships.

Speaking at the Global University Presidents and Leaders Summit on Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the government would invite institutions to establish basic research institutes and shared research platforms, such as high-performance computing centres, joint laboratories and interdisciplinary research centres, in the three university towns located near the mainland Chinese border.

“These three university towns are being built to attract the world’s finest scholars and students … The towns are also designed to empower industry. We will encourage university staff to undertake research at companies. We will encourage industry professionals to contribute to university teaching and research,” he said.

“Our goal is to strengthen the links between industry, academia and research, enabling them to complement and reinforce one another.”

The three university towns form a 1,000-hectare project within the Northern Metropolis, covering San Tin, Hung Shui Kiu and Ta Kwu Ling. It was first proposed in 2024 to foster synergy among industry, academia and research and to integrate education, technology and talent.

The two-day summit, organised by the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship, opened on Tuesday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. It brings together 10 local universities and senior leaders from over 50 institutions across more than 20 countries and regions, including Harvard University and the University of Cambridge. The speakers include the heads of five Hong Kong bureaus.

Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said the university town was part of the government’s push to position education as a primary engine of high-quality development.

“Built around the One Town, Five Elements framework integrating education, technology, industry, talent and urban living, the university town creates a fertile ecosystem for industry and university research collaboration and offers a golden frontier of opportunities,” she said.

Australia’s Macquarie University vice-chancellor and president Professor Stephen Bruce Dowton told reporters at the summit that Hong Kong remained an attractive place for collaboration between institutions.

“Hong Kong is a great small city, and I see a rebirth of Hong Kong as a crossroads – very strong in finance, but also capitalising on a development to power new industries and create new jobs. It is a very exciting future for all of us,” he said.

“We see potential participation through the partnerships we have with existing Hong Kong universities.”

He said the university town project should be seen as a long-term plan requiring early investment, and called on the government to use tax and land incentives to attract anchor companies.

During a panel discussion, University of Hong Kong president Xiang Zhang said the Northern Metropolis offered a “golden opportunity” for the city’s universities to tackle global challenges, from AI to climate change.

“We want to capitalise on this opportunity offered by the university towns to lead the world in research, innovation and education,” he said.