China News Service, July 4. According to Hong Kong's "Ta Kung Pao" report, since the return of Hong Kong 25 years ago, the cooperation with the mainland in higher education has become more and more close, and many Hong Kong universities have successively set up schools in mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
"Now the universities in Hong Kong are coming to run schools one after another. I think it is a very good thing." Xu Yangsheng, president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), said in a recent interview with Ta Kung Pao that it is time for China to build a first-class university with influence in the world. The Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has the opportunity to give birth to such a university, and Hong Kong can play an active role in this process and cultivate more and more top talents in the Greater Bay Area.
Xu Yangsheng was the first batch of college students in the mainland after the resumption of the college entrance examination. In 1986, he went to the University of Pennsylvania to study for a doctorate in engineering. After graduation, he stayed at Carnegie Mellon University to teach and engage in robotics research.
Xu Yangsheng recalled that in 1997, he specially rushed back to Hong Kong before the handover ceremony of Hong Kong's handover on July 1, "in order to witness this unforgettable moment of historical significance." After that, Xu Yangsheng came to the Chinese University of Hong Kong to teach.
In February 2010, the Shenzhen Municipal Government and the Chinese University of Hong Kong signed a memorandum on educational cooperation in running schools, confirming the intention of the two parties to pilot and first cooperate in running schools in education.
In 2014, the school was officially approved for enrollment.
It is not easy to choose a principal for a Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperative university. The principal candidate needs to understand Hong Kong, understand international education, and have a Chinese heart. At that time, Xu Yangsheng, the vice president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and in charge of mainland affairs, was the Eligible candidates.
Looking back on the process of running a school at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Xu Yangsheng said that he deeply felt the cultural differences between the two places, but it is precisely because of the differences that integration is more meaningful, and the two places need more communication.
He admitted that although he has participated in many cooperation affairs with the mainland before, the challenges and difficulties encountered in running a school are greater than expected, "Hong Kong is highly internationalized, but the mainland has the situation of the mainland, both places There needs to be a process of mutual understanding, and it takes a lot of energy to do 'education'." He believes that cultural integration is difficult to achieve overnight, and there is a process that requires patience and mutual respect and understanding.
At present, the top-down promotion of cooperation between the two places is doing well, and the next step is the bottom-up promotion.
"It's important to really let both the mainland and Hong Kong society know about this."
He introduced that the school currently has more than 70 Hong Kong teachers and some Hong Kong administrators, and now they have become a good help for the school to integrate the cultures of the two places.
"They know the situation here and the traditions of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. This has played a big role in the development of the school, whether it is establishing systems or maintaining academic standards."
In the 25 years since the return of Hong Kong, Xu Yangsheng has witnessed the development of education in the two places.
He believes that the future integration of Hong Kong and the Mainland in education is very important. On the one hand, education in the Mainland should be improved and gradually internationalized; The city is a good platform. "Now Hong Kong universities are coming to run schools one after another, which I think is a very good thing."
In Xu Yangsheng's view, after more than 40 years of reform and opening up, the mainland has developed from a poor country to the second largest power in the world, which is very remarkable.
In such a large environment, it is time to build a first-class university with influence in the world, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has the opportunity to give birth to such a university.
As of February this year, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) has recruited more than 470 internationally renowned scholars and researchers from all over the world. They bring world-leading subject knowledge and systems, as well as an open and inclusive international vision and academic culture.
Xu Yangsheng pointed out that the first 10 years of the school's establishment is to lay a solid foundation, and in the next ten years, it must move forward and strive for at least 10 fields to stand in the world and enter the top 5 in the world.