Hong Kong universities 'face bigger challenge from mainland campuses'
HKUST vice chancellor warns city could lose its place as first choice for the best students and should seek greater support from businesses
Hong Kong universities have been warned to prepare for stiffer challenges from elite mainland institutions that have more money and bigger pools of talent.
While attention has focused recently on how the city's position as China's primary financial centre may be under threat from Shanghai, a leading academic said it was also in danger of losing its standing as top choice for the nation's brightest students.
The vice chancellor of the University of Science and Technology, Tony Chan Fan-cheong, said the likes of Peking University and Tsinghua University were working hard to raise their standards.
"They have global ambition and great students. That's the long-term competition we're up against. We have to keep running to stay in place."
His warning comes ahead of the release tomorrow of a new global ranking of universities by Times Higher Education.
Chan said Hong Kong's universities cannot compete with the mainland on money or talent. "These I think they have in abundance. But how to use them efficiently and in a proper way so that you don't corrupt your core values? That is another question."
Chan, giving his first interview since renewing a contract that will run until 2019, said Hong Kong must play to its unique strengths: free flow of information and a robust rule of law.