City University of Hong Kong (Dongguan) — aka CityUHK (DG) — incorporates internationalization and industry-university-research cooperation as signature goals for its development.

As a key project of the City University of Hong Kong, CityUHK (DG) in Dongguan city is striving to replicate the former's internationalization success in faculty, students' learning experiences and curriculum.

City University of Hong Kong, also known as CityUHK, has made remarkable achievements in internationalization, with 70 percent of its faculty members recruited from more than 40 countries and regions. At CityUHK (DG), 80 percent of the teachers are from CityUHK.

CityUHK (DG) is also recruiting academic staff and teachers internationally and attracting overseas Chinese scholars to return and work in the dynamic Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Students are another priority in the university's internationalization. The school is carrying out exchange plans with many overseas universities, aiming to provide students with richer international learning experiences. It plans to ramp up recruitment of students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as international students.

With the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative, 200 students from Kazakhstan are sent to study at the CityUHK annually. "We also hope that these students can cross the boundary to Dongguan for short-, medium- or long-term study," said Lu Chun, executive president at CityUHK (DG).

Lu said the university plans to launch more student and teacher exchanges with countries involved in the BRI. "I worked in the Middle East for eight years and we have many contacts there to promote the projects," he added.

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On Feb 28, the Industry-University-Research Cooperation Matchmaking Conference of City University of Hong Kong (Dongguan) was hosted by the university and the Dongguan science and technology bureau. The event aimed to build a bridge for in-depth integration of university research with local industries, accelerate the application of scientific and technological achievements, and support the upgrading and innovative development of sectors in Dongguan.

More than 120 representatives from enterprises and research institutions visited CityUHK (DG) to meet with the university's research team, focusing on areas such as artificial intelligence and cutting-edge new materials to explore cooperation opportunities.

The location of CityUHK (DG) is ideal for serving the Greater Bay Area, especially the surrounding enterprises. Many local companies are facing industrial upgrading challenges, and CityUHK (DG) hopes to apply its scientific research achievements and cooperation projects with professors from CityUHK to enhance development of those companies.

Liu Zishun, vice-president (research and innovation) at CityUHK (DG), and his professorial team have visited many enterprises in the Greater Bay Area to understand their needs. They plan to learn more about the technology and talent needed by the businesses and drive the close integration of their research with practical industry applications.

Meanwhile, CityUHK (DG) is co-hosting the Dongguan segment of the third HK Tech 300 National Startup Competition, which aims to promote the application of research achievements of the university and CityUHK and build a more robust start-up ecosystem involving Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

Besides prize money, start-up winners will benefit from support policies. They can run in the incubation space of CityUHK (DG)'s scientific and technological innovation center, preferentially use intellectual property rights of CityUHK, CityUHK (DG) and related research institutes, and connect with investment organizations.

On Jan 15, CityUHK (DG) hosted a media day and signing ceremony with partners to strengthen industry-university-research collaboration. It signed agreements with more than 20 scientific research institutes and well-known companies and potential donors at the event.

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The signed projects cover fields such as discipline development, industry-university-research cooperation and talent cultivation, aimed at promoting the school's programs and providing more research and practice opportunities for students while expanding employment channels.

Zheng Guohong, director at Dongguan's university preparation and construction office, said CityUHK(DG) is a powerful measure of the city's ability to deepen higher education cooperation and development in the Greater Bay Area.

"We will leverage Dongguan's advantages of 'technological innovation and advanced manufacturing', actively introduce Hong Kong's high-quality international first-class educational resources, and strive to build the CityUHK (DG) into a world-class institution of excellence in research, education and innovation, so as to better serve the high-quality economic and social development of Dongguan," Zheng said.

Wang Weihua, director of the Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, said CityUHK (DG) is truly a "good neighbor" and he hopes to achieve in-depth cooperation in materials science, AI and talent training.