Education is the fastest growing industry in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is on course to be the scholastic hub of Asia as the government rolls out new incentives to lure talent to the city on the wave of academic excellence. Yes, education has become the fastest growing industry in Hong Kong.

Last year Chief Executive John Lee announced in his annual policy address the setting up of a committee on Education, Technology and Talent to promote Hong Kong as an international hub for high calibre talent. And he is expected to elaborate on this in his annual address in September. Hong Kong, he said can expect a shortage of about 180,000 workers over the next five years and to develop a quality talent pool, we will implement reforms to different aspects of the talent admission regime.

Hong Kong boasts 54 international schools, providing different non-local curricula, including those of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the International Baccalaureate program.

Also, world-class institutes such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, the Asia Society, and HKU-Pasteur Research Pole (France) have established their bases in Hong Kong.

As Hong Kong is an international city, besides preparing local students for the future, it also offers golden opportunities for international students, especially those pursuing a high-tech career with international AI institutions in neighbouring Shenzhen.

Last year, about 73,700 non-local student from more than 100 countries/regions came to study post-secondary programmes in Hong Kong and another 5,100 students entered Hong Kong on exchange programs.

And US President Donald Trump’s savage crackdown on Harvard and other universities is being viewed as an opportunity to lure top students and research talent to the city. Early results are promising. Hong Kong's eight publicly funded universities have received 850 transfer inquiries from students affected by the new US policies and have extended at least 36 formal offers in the past couple of months.

Already Hong Kong is on the road to achieving its goal of being a world tertiary centre as it is the only city with five universities in the world's top 100 ranking and is fourth globally for education competitiveness.

The government is attaching so much importance to the future of Hong Kong this year that it is allocating some 17.5 per cent of its budget, or HK$102.86 billion to education.

To fully leverage the distinctive advantages of the post-secondary education sector in Hong Kong, and to press ahead with the development of Hong Kong as an international education hub, the Government is taking forward a series of measures to attract more outstanding talents to study and conduct research in Hong Kong. These include raising the enrolment ceiling of non-local students for publicly funded post-secondary institutions, increasing the quotas of the Belt and Road Scholarship and the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme, launching the Research Matching Grant Scheme to encourage more organizations to fund institutional research activities, increasing much needed hostel places, temporarily exempting non local postgraduate students and full-time non-local graduate students from restrictions on taking up part-time jobs, allowing non-local students to stay in Hong Kong without conditions for 24 months after graduation, and developing the Northern Metropolis University Town.

These efforts aim to promote the "Study in Hong Kong" brand, enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness and contributing to national strategies focused on talent cultivation and innovation.

The plan includes the development of post-secondary education in the Northern Metropolis (a large swath of land straddling the boundary between Hong Kong and Shenzhen) and striving to develop the Northern Metropolis University Town where local post-secondary institutions are encouraged to introduce more branded programs, research collaboration and exchange projects with renowned mainland and overseas institutions.

To kickstart the project, the government has already designated about five hectares of land for a self-financing institution to construct its new campus in Hung Shui Kiu, neighbouring Yuen Long. Site formation works are expected to be completed by next year, following which eligible institutions will be invited to submit proposals for development.

Those studying in Hong Kong will gain access to tech hubs, manufacturing bases, and the vast talent networks in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area that will provide graduates with superior career opportunities while accelerating research commercialization.
Associate vice president of Lingnan University and a Hong Kong legislator, Prof. Lau Chi- pang, summed it up nicely: "Once universities produce unicorn startups, their competitiveness will go beyond rankings and solidify their role as true innovation engines."

Mark Pinkstone

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Hong Kong's first 5-year plan, presented by the Chief Executive John Lee is an ambitious roadmap aiming to solidify its position as a global hub while deeply integrating with mainland China's development, particularly the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The plan was devised after extensive consultation with the people of Hong Kong. More than 8,000 suggestions were submitted from all walks of life – from chambers of commerce and captains of industry to the grass roots represented by the district councils.

In the Legislative Council chambers on Wednesday, Lee presented both the very detailed 5-year plan as well as his policy plans for 2026-7. They are complementary. While the comprehensive 5-year plan is the roadmap for the future, his policy statements provide the tools as to how this will be achieved.

The plan is multi-faceted, touching upon economic diversification, talent cultivation, urban development, social welfare, and enhanced governance. It is designed to dovetail with the Central Government’s 15th five-year plan so that the development of the whole of China works in tandem with the Central Government’s thinking.

Economically, Hong Kong seeks to bolster its status as an international financial, trade, and maritime center. Key initiatives include expanding offshore RMB business, enhancing its commodity trading hub, and promoting green finance. In the meantime, Hong Kong will actively promote the use of RMB to settle government expenditure, and further enhance the capacity of the offshore RMB market in supporting the economy for the expansion and enabling of trade, investment, financing, and cross-boundary business dealings. Hong Kong will also support the wider use of RMB in cross-boundary businesses and facilitate the exchange between RMB and other regional currencies.

Significant emphasis is placed on developing high-value-added services in logistics, e-commerce, and aviation, including new air routes and an aviation ecosystem for aircraft parts. The plan also targets attracting international companies and family offices to establish regional headquarters in Hong Kong, leveraging its "going global" platform for mainland enterprises and a "two-way platform" for overseas businesses.

Innovation and technology are central to the future vision. The plan commits to increasing research and development (R&D) expenditure to 3 per cent of GDP after 2030, focusing on core areas like life and health technology, AI and robotics, microelectronics, and advanced manufacturing. Special funds – an industry oriented fund of $10 billion and a venture fund enhanced scheme of $2.5 billion are being set up to assist the innovation and technology industry.

University towns within the Northern Metropolis, along with expanded innovation parks like the Loop, Science Park, and Cyberport, are envisioned as crucial for nurturing talent and commercializing research. A dedicated effort to promote AI adoption across various sectors (finance, healthcare, legal, transport, etc.) is coupled with a robust governance framework to mitigate risks like deepfakes and ensure ethical use.

The Northern Metropolis is a cornerstone of the urban development strategy, envisioned as a vibrant hub for living, working, and studying. This includes developing three university towns, industrial parks, and high-end professional service areas. The plan aims to significantly increase housing and economic land supply, with a focus on improving living standards and transport connectivity within the Metropolis and the broader GBA.

Social well-being is addressed through enhancements in education, healthcare, and social protection. This includes strengthening AI literacy in schools, expanding higher education capacity, and fostering interdisciplinary programs. Healthcare reforms aim to improve primary healthcare, disease prevention, and the integration of Chinese and Western medicine. Measures to address an aging population, support young people, women, and families, and enhance labor protection are also detailed. Housing supply targets are set to reduce waiting times for public housing and promote home ownership.

The plan emphasizes strengthening governance, city resilience, and national security. This involves digitalizing public administration, setting up an "AI City Brain" for integrated urban management, enhancing disaster prevention, and upholding the "patriots administering Hong Kong" principle. Real time perception, risk alert, instant prediction, and synergised processing will be realised in the management and operation of the city, thereby creating an intelligent hub for city management and security governance. Deepening GBA integration extends to mutual recognition of professional qualifications, cross-boundary data flow, and collaborative projects in various sectors.

In essence, Hong Kong's five-year plan is an ambitious blueprint for transforming the city into a more innovative, integrated, and resilient hub, aligning its development with national strategies while addressing key domestic challenges.