CUHK chief calls for more funds for campuses in Northern Metropolis university town

The leader of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Dennis Lo Yuk-ming, has called for increased financial support to develop a proposed 300-hectare university town near the border with mainland China. Lo, a globally renowned scientist and molecular geneticist, argued that the expansion will help navigate future challenges and provide significant advantages for Hong Kong institutions.

He highlighted that Hong Kong universities' main weakness is their small size and limited scale, making them like boutique hotels compared to the large campuses of their international competitors. The proposed university town, part of the Northern Metropolis megaproject, will include innovation and technology business parks, housing estates, and the university town itself.

Land will be developed in phases, with the first tender set to be launched next month. The town will be self-financing, but Lo criticized the Hong Kong government's HK$10 billion commitment for loans as insufficient, given that construction costs in Hong Kong are high. He urged the government to provide a "big number" investment over several years to support the town's development.

Lo emphasized that Hong Kong's unique status, with its high international standing, top universities, and vast hinterland in the Greater Bay Area, makes it unique and sets it apart from other cities of similar size.