Further to a generous donation totaling HK$180 million in the two previous years, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) received another HK$100 million donation from Yuexiu Group (Yuexiu) in support of the University's efforts in teaching, research and talent grooming. Meanwhile, HKUST and Yuexiu signed a framework agreement to step up cooperation in technology innovation, talent nurturing and research commercialization.

The donation presentation cum agreement signing ceremony was conducted via video conferencing in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The ceremony's officiating guests included: Ms. YE Liping, Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Department of The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in HKSAR; Ms. Michelle LI Mei-Sheung, Permanent Secretary for Education, HKSAR; Mr. LU Yixian, Municipal Committee Member of Guangzhou and Party Secretary of Nansha District; Mr. GU Zhongpeng, Deputy Director of Guangzhou Education Bureau; Mr. CUI Yanlun, Deputy Director of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Guangzhou Municipal Government; Mr. ZHANG Zhaoxing, Chairman of Yuexiu; Mr. Andrew LIAO Cheung-Sing, HKUST Council Chairman; Prof. Lionel NI Ming-Shuan, President of HKUST(GZ), and Prof. WANG Yang, HKUST Vice-President for Institutional Advancement.  Mr. Alfred SIT Wing-Hang, Secretary for Innovation and Technology, HKSAR also addressed the audience in a video.  

While it is the third consecutive year that HKUST received donations from Yuexiu, a framework agreement was also signed to mark the University's deepening partnership with Yuexiu. According to the agreement, HKUST and Yuexiu will explore building joint research platforms in areas such as transportation and infrastructure, FinTech and population ageing to foster technological innovation and industry-academia collaboration, as well as to facilitate knowledge transfer.  Meanwhile, the two parties will also enhance their efforts in talent nurturing.  HKUST students will be offered internship opportunities of Yuexiu and its subsidiaries, while the University will also develop innovative graduate programs and promote interdisciplinary academic and research work with Yuexiu's donation.   

Mr. Zhang Zhaoxing, Chairman of Yuexiu, said that Yuexiu has been actively participated in the development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA), and HKUST is a powerhouse of talent grooming in the area. He hoped Yuexiu can further support the course of HKUST(GZ) with this third donation. "We look forward to building a collaborative relationship with the HKUST, a prestigious and world-renowned research university, so that we can forge further integration between the industries and academia and achieve a win-win situation in which both sectors could complement each other in terms of resources and expertise," he said.

HKUST Council Chairman Mr. Andrew Liao Cheung-Sing expressed his gratitude about the donation, "Industry-academia collaboration is an integral part of the Greater Bay Area (GBA)'s development into an international innovation and technology hub.  HKUST and Yuexiu shared the common goal of driving innovation, and we have been in active partnership with different sectors on breaking new grounds.  The tremendous support from Yuexiu will continue to steer the frontier development of HKUST in education, science and technology, business and management as well as knowledge transfer," he said.

HKUST President Prof. Wei SHYY said, "This is the third donation made by Yuexiu, I am both grateful and delighted to see our partnership rising to the next level. This collaboration exemplifies what a joint effort of research capability from the academia sector and experience from the industry sector can do. I hope HKUST and Yuexiu together can inject impetus into Hong Kong and GBA and make an impact on the region's talent nurturing and development in innovation and technology."