On November 30th, President Qiu Yong led a delegation to visit the University of Hong Kong (HKU), and with President and Vice-Chancellor Zhang Xiang of the University of Hong Kong, signed a letter of intent for cooperation, announcing that the two universities will jointly launch Four-year Dual Bachelor’s Degree Programs. The first batch of the programs will cover two disciplines: economic management and computer science and technology. Students who have completed relevant courses will receive bachelor's degree certificates from Tsinghua University and Hong Kong University respectively. It is reported that the program will recruit students worldwide, with the first batch of students expected to start study in the academic year 2020 - 2021.

On the basis of long-term friendly cooperation between Tsinghua University and the University of Hong Kong, this letter of intent was signed in line with the principle of “tapping complementary advantages for joint development on the basis of equality and mutual benefit”, aiming to pool the advantageous disciplines and characteristic educational resources of Tsinghua University and the University of Hong Kong, promote the diversification of talent training, upgrade the level of international education, and promote educational exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

President Qiu noted that Tsinghua University and the University of Hong Kong, established in the same year, have a very close cooperative relationship. The University of Hong Kong actively promotes international exchanges and cooperation, which is highly consistent with Tsinghua University’s global strategy. Qiu stressed that openness and innovation are the two key words of university development, and only in a more open environment can major innovation achievements be made.  Tsinghua University developed its first global strategy in 2016 to promote exchanges and cooperation between Tsinghua and universities around the world and speed up the pace of students and teachers going global. “I believe the joint launch of dual degree programs will further promote the development of the cooperative relationship between the two universities, and I hope we can fully leverage each other’s advantages, maintain the momentum and vitality of advancement, and train leaders with global vision to address the challenges of the future world.”

President Zhang Xiang said: “To lead the University of Hong Kong to become a world class university, it is necessary to establish in-depth cooperation with the world’s top universities. I’m very pleased to be able to establish a partnership with Tsinghua University. The dual degree programs will enable students to experience different learning environments and cultures in the course of their academic pursuit.”

In addition, the two sides also conducted in-depth discussions on broader future exchanges and cooperation between the two universities. President Qiu also took part in the first Hong Kong International Artificial Intelligence Summit jointly organized by Tsinghua University and the University of Hong Kong, visited the campus and laboratories of the University of Hong Kong, and gained in-depth understanding of campus construction, laboratory construction and research concepts, among others. Yang Bin, Vice President and Provost of Tsinghua University, and Assistant President and Director of the Academic Affairs Office Peng Gang, formed part of the visiting team. Ian Holliday, Vice President of the University of Hong Kong, among others, attended the signing ceremony of the letter of intent.

The teacher and student exchanges between Tsinghua University and the University of Hong Kong are becoming more and more frequent. The two universities signed an inter-university cooperation agreement in 1993, which was renewed in 2003, when an exchange agreement for undergraduates was also signed, providing that each semester, the two universities can send less than 10 students to study at each other’s campuses. On May 29th, 2017, the University of Hong Kong formally joined the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Education Alliance of China initiated by Tsinghua University.

Writer: Edward He

Editors: John Olbrich, Guo Lili

Source: Tsinghua University News