Hong Kong Plans Three University Towns on 1,000 Hectares Near China Border

Hong Kong wants the world's academics to move in next door to mainland China. The city is building three university towns — San Tin, Hung Shui Kiu and Ta Kwu Ling — inside the Northern Metropolis megaproject, together spanning 1,000 hectares. Roughly 300 hectares are set aside for campuses, with the rest split between tech, industry and housing. The plan was first floated in 2024.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu made the pitch at the Global University Presidents and Leaders Summit in late October, inviting foreign institutions to plant themselves in the border developments, according to the South China Morning Post. He said the hubs are built to draw in top scholars and students, and to push research and industry so close together that they reinforce each other. The offer includes basic research institutes, high-performance computing centers, joint labs and interdisciplinary research centers.

A five-year blueprint published in September gives each town a job. San Tin takes medicine, life sciences, AI, robotics and microelectronics, plus a new medical school and teaching hospital for the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Hung Shui Kiu handles smart manufacturing, applied post-secondary education and international talent, with site allocations starting in 2026 and universities moving in by 2027 or 2028. Ta Kwu Ling mixes arts with sustainable blue-green development and opens sites progressively from 2030.

Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin called the project a core strategy for turning education into an economic engine. The Northern Metropolis, she said, is no longer a plan on paper but a vehicle for tying post-secondary education to innovation and industry and pooling international talent. She added that the towns are meant to be places where research outcomes get financed into commercial and public value, not just conceived.

Interest has been building since the October summit. At the World Class University Presidents Forum on Nov. 4, University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott praised Hong Kong's higher education spending and said he was keen to explore partnerships in the metropolis. Khalifa University of Science and Technology president Ebrahim Al Hajri raised research collaborations, Fudan University president Jin Li said the hubs could bridge mainland China and global academia, and Worldwide Universities Network executive director Dawn Freshwater called it a timely chance to rethink international collaboration. Her network counts 23 member institutions.

The funding is where it gets shaky. Local education representatives warn the government's financial blueprint may not stretch far enough, since the developments are expected to be self-financing, The Standard reported. Hong Kong has earmarked HK$10 billion (US$1.3 billion) in low-interest, extended-repayment loans for campus construction at Hung Shui Kiu, and winning institutions pay a nominal land premium of HK$1,000. To keep public debt down, officials say universities that can build without government loans, or that file highly competitive financial proposals, get favorable treatment when sites are handed out.