On April 24, SUSTech hosted the Symposium for High-Level Talents from Leading HKSAR and Macao Universities. Attendees included Guangdong Province Education Department Director Jing Lihu and Deputy Director Xing Feng, along with representatives from other provincial departments, leading HKSAR and Macau universities, and Guangdong universities. SUSTech Vice President Tang Tao hosted the meeting.

Jing Lihu emphasized that the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area is among China’s greatest priorities, and top-notch education resources are vital to its development. Representatives from Guangdong universities expressed their enthusiasm to collaborate with high-level talents from leading Hong Kong and Macau universities. The Education Department of Guangdong Province will coordinate with other provincial departments to introduce favorable policies for the GD-HK-Macau Greater Bay Area and assist universities in the three regions in overcoming obstacles.

Universities from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau will work together on developing innovative technologies, reforming academic disciplines, facilitating communication among high-level talents, nurturing extraordinary talents, building a high-quality platform for shared education resources, and designing a sustainable system for innovation and entrepreneurship. The GD-HK-Macau Greater Bay Area can only achieve its ultimate goals by implementing these measures and living up to the standards of the Silicon Valley San Francisco Bay Area and the Tokyo Bay Area.

Discussions at the symposium also revolved around the latest provincial plan for education – “striving for first-class, compensating shortcomings and emphasizing distinctive features.” The plan aims to push top universities in Guangdong (including SUSTech) for “Double First-Class” status within the country. Those universities that achieve Double First-Class status would be required to help relatively lower ranked universities to make significant progress in discovering their distinctive features by taking the local economy and geography into consideration.

Despite differences of opinion, attendees reached the consensus that there is no better time to develop the education across the Greater Bay Area, given the significance of the development scheme. The three regions should make full use of the favorable policies offered by the central government and ask for more support regarding reform, collaboration, integration, and innovation.