Christine Choi, Director of the Education Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, said on the 7th that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has actively promoted the cooperation in higher education between Hong Kong and the mainland. As of November 2022, there were 2320 ongoing academic research cooperation projects between Hong Kong and mainland universities. Christine Choi said at the Legislative Council of the SAR on the same day that the SAR government has always maintained close contact with the mainland in such fields as scientific research cooperation, student exchange, talent cultivation, and cooperative school running. So far, six Hong Kong universities have established industry, academia, and research bases or research institutes in Shenzhen, further strengthening cooperation with mainland universities in scientific research and leveraging Hong Kong's role as an international innovation and technology center. Christine Choi introduced that many Hong Kong universities, benefiting from the policy support provided by the state, have successively launched different forms of cooperation in running schools in mainland cities in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. Among them, Hong Kong Baptist University and Beijing Normal University jointly established the Beijing Normal University Hong Kong Baptist University Joint International College in Zhuhai in 2005; The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Shenzhen University jointly founded the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) in 2014; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) will open in September 2022. In addition, the first phase of the construction project of City University of Hong Kong's Dongguan campus is expected to be completed this year, and the University of Hong Kong is also preparing to build its Shenzhen campus. In terms of supporting the alliance between Hong Kong and mainland universities, Hong Kong universities have established four alliances with mainland and Macao universities, namely, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao University Alliance, the Beijing Hong Kong University Alliance, the Shanghai Hong Kong University Alliance, and the Jiangsu Hong Kong Macao University Cooperation Alliance, bringing together more than 80 elite universities, and deepening the cooperation of member universities in scientific and technological innovation, talent exchange and other fields through complete cooperation mechanisms. Christine Choi said that in the future, the Education Bureau of the Special Administrative Region Government will continue to actively participate in and promote the cooperation of higher education between Hong Kong and the mainland. Through the establishment of multilateral and interdisciplinary cooperation relations, the characteristics and international advantages of Hong Kong's higher education sector will be brought into play, while creating favorable conditions for the development of scientific research, knowledge transfer and industrialization to achieve complementary advantages. (New News Agency)