CUHK chief calls for more funds for campuses in Northern Metropolis university town
The leader of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has called for greater financial support to develop a proposed 300-hectare (741 acres) university town near the border with mainland China, including funding for local institutions to build campuses, arguing that expansion will help navigate future challenges. In a wide-ranging interview with the South China Morning Post, CUHK president…
Dennis Lo Yuk-ming, president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has urged the government to provide greater financial support for the development of a proposed 300-hectare university town near the border with mainland China. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Lo argued that the expansion would help the university navigate future challenges and make a greater impact on a global scale.
He highlighted that Hong Kong universities are constrained by their small size and scale, which limits their capacity and prevents them from competing with international institutions. Lo stressed that the Northern Metropolis university town offers a unique opportunity for Hong Kong universities to expand, given the limited land availability in Hong Kong.
The proposed town, which is expected to cover 300 hectares of core campus areas, will be developed in phases, with the first tender set to be launched next month. Lo urged the government to provide more substantial funding, arguing that the cost of construction in Hong Kong was high and that the existing HK$10 billion loan scheme was insufficient.
He also pointed out that the government's loan scheme would only cover 22 hectares of the town, far less than the overall size of the proposed development. Lo defended the current tuition fees for international students, stating that they were not excessively high compared to other universities in the United States. However, he acknowledged that the high tuition fees could deter international students and that the university was exploring ways to accommodate more non-local students.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.