The Establishment of HKU Beijing Centre Strengthens Academic Exchange & Collaboration with China
On April 9, 2021, the HKU Beijing Centre (or the Centre) was officially established. An opening ceremony was held at the Asia Financial Centre in Beijing, with over 170 participants, including HKU faculty, alumni and students from MBA and DBA programmes, as well as other distinguished guests.
At the ceremony, Mr. John Leung Chi-yan, Director of The Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing; Professor Erik Berglof, Chief Economist of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); Professor Zhenmin Wang, Dean of Tsinghua University School of Law; Professor Haipeng Shen, Associate Dean of HKU Business School; Professor Li Ma, Deputy Director of the School Council of Peking University Guanghua School of Management; and Professor Zhiwen Yin, Associate Dean of Fudan University School of Management, shared their insights on business education and latest economic development during their thought-provoking speeches.
Professor Xiang Zhang, HKU President and Vice-Chancellor, delivered a speech on “New Era, New Development & New Landscape”. He believes that the Centre will become the bridgehead between Beijing and Hong Kong while upholding rigorous scientific attitude and innovative academic spirits, and creating an innovative learning platform with a cross-sectoral and global vision. Professor Hongbin Cai, Dean of HKU Business School also remarked that the establishment of the Centre sets a good example in empowering academic exchange and collaboration between Hong Kong and the mainland.
Located in Asia Financial Center where the AIIB is headquartered, HKU Beijing Centre is at a prestigious location that attracts different international financial, commercial and cultural institutions to set foot on. It offers the ideal environment for quality teaching, interactive learning, networking and research activities. In addition, the design concept of “interconnectivity” of the Asia Financial Centre, echoes perfectly with the Centre’s vision, i.e. to be deeply rooted in Beijing, fully engaged with China, and embrace the changing world.
Leveraging on the unique environment and the state-of-the-art facilities at HKU Beijing Centre, HKU Business School strives to become the cradle for high-end talent development in China, nurturing human capital and leaders that cater to market needs. Courses tailor-made for Chinese executives will be offered at the Centre, so as to equip them with cutting edge knowledge and practical experience, and to sharpen their strategic insights into today’s ever-changing business world.
The Centre will also serve as a platform to foster collaboration between HKU Business School and other top-tier universities in China. Together, we will promote and facilitate the enhancement of fundamental capabilities of China’s scientific innovation to new heights. Moreover, we will utilise our unique advantages in international academic exchange, global talent recruitment and international perspective development, aiming to become the bridge between China and the world in academic and cultural exchange. We strive to create an ideal platform for integrating international education in China.
Capitalising on our extensive teaching resources and experience, the establishment of HKU Beijing Centre will enable HKU Business School to further enhance its reputation and influence in China, to strengthen academic and industry collaboration between the two regions, to nurture the global perspective of talents in all sectors, and to offer them a lifelong learning platform. We believe that the Centre will become a hallmark example of Hong Kong’s academic institution collaborating with China.