Since return of Hong Kong to the motherland, universities in the city have been keen on striving for building strong ties with organizations of various types in the Chinese mainland.

The scope of cooperation has been wide which includes the training of talents, establishing study centers, and even running a university together.

The setting up of Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC) jointly by Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) and Beijing Normal University (BNU) has become an eye-catching item among the higher education circle in the past half year.

HKBU and BNU signed an agreement in March 2004 to establish UIC, the first large-scale collaborative project of its kind between the Mainland and the Hong Kong higher education sector. Formal approval by the Ministry of Education was given in early April, 2005.

With an area of 136,000 square meters, UIC is located at Zhuhai of the mainland. UIC will cater for students from both Hong Kong and the mainland.

UIC offer five four-year undergraduate degree programs in Environmental Science, Computer Science and Technology, Statistics, Finance and Applied Economics starting this September. Design of programs will be based on HKBU's courses and graduates will be awarded the HKBU degree.

As commented by vice-president designate of UIC Professor Edmond Kwok Siu-tong earlier in a briefing, the new venture marked a "major milestone" in the development of higher education in Hong Kong and the mainland.

Offering programs and running academic training center together are also popular modes of cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland institutes.

The MBA Program in Finance jointly started by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Tsinghua University, for instance, has brought up in the past five years more than 220 graduates from this program, and become senior executives of listed companies, multinationals or large enterprises.

According to the Professor Director of the MBA Program in Finance He Jia, the launch of the MBA Program in Finance in 2000 aimed to cope with the huge market demand in the future.

Financial globalization is an essential part of economic globalization, the reform and development of the financial market plays a significant role in the development of China's economy.

The two institutes have been aiming at nurturing more senior financial management talents who are well-equipped with theory and practical experience of international financial management and are familiar with the situation in China through their cross-century co-operation and synergy.

In May, The School of Business and Management of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) opened its Beijing Center in Financial Street in Beijing to provides the much-needed international executive training to the burgeoning financial industry following China's accession to the WTO.

According to source of HKUST, the center would not only provide us with the facilities to teach and develop the human capital working in Beijing and its neighborhood, it will also be an important base to facilitate HKUST's professors in their pursuit of research related to Chinese Mainland.

President of HKUST Paul Chu expressed his delight that HKUST has the chance to provide continuous contribution to the development of the financial hub of the capital city of China.

Editor: Wing