Lingnan University deepens GBA Inter-University exchanges and expands science-education collaboration network

Lingnan University continues to increase its involvement as an active contributor to the Greater Bay Area (GBA)’s growing higher education ecosystem, encouraging cross-border academic synergy and sustainable cooperation, and welcoming delegations from the South China Agricultural University (SCAU) and Zhaoqing University. It has also taken an active part in the 10th anniversary celebratory events of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao University Alliance (GHMUA).

On the morning of 23 July, a delegation led by Prof Xue Hongwei, President of South China Agricultural University, visited Lingnan University, and was warmly received by Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science of Lingnan University, Prof Xin Yao, Vice-President (Research and Innovation) and Tong Tin Sun Chair Professor of Machine Learning, and other Lingnan representatives.

President Qin offered a comprehensive overview of Lingnan’s educational positioning as a research-oriented liberal arts university comprehensive in arts and sciences in the digital era. He also explained the University’s latest advancements in its digital transformation initiatives, and the deep historical roots and shared academic heritage that bind Lingnan and SCAU, and he pointed out that the former College of Agriculture of Lingnan University stands, as one of the founding predecessors of SCAU, at a key historical intersection between the two institutions. Going back further, he observed that pioneers from both universities settled in the Lingnan region in the early 20th century, sowing the seeds of modern higher education and jointly writing a lasting chapter of scholarly affinity between Guangdong and the Hong Kong SAR.

President Xue reviewed the solid exchange foundation that has existed between the two universities since they signed the 2024 cooperation memorandum. He announced SCAU’s latest progress in emerging discipline development, and expressed the hope that both institutions would take this opportunity to elevate bilateral cooperation to new heights, and expand it to new dimensions. During the symposium, the two universities held in-depth discussions on core cooperation priorities including digital and intelligent innovation for smart agriculture, food and health research, joint bachelor-master-doctoral talent cultivation, and joint research platform development. Going forward, they will apply for regional research grants and look into setting up Guangdong-Hong Kong laboratories together.

Also present were: Ms Su Dihua, Deputy Director of the Office of Scientific Research of SCAU, Ms Zhou Yanhua, Director of the Office of External Liaison, Mr Xu Zhenlin, Dean of the College of Food Science, Mr Gao Wei, Deputy Dean of the College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Ms Zhu Ling, Deputy Director of the Office of External Liaison, Mr Wang Xuedong, Staff Member of the Office of External Liaison; Prof Li Liangliang, Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) and Associate Professor of the Wu Jieh Yee School of Interdisciplinary Studies (WJYSIS) at Lingnan University, Prof Paulina Wong Pui-yun, Head and Associate Professor (Presidential Early Career Scholar) of the Division of Science, Prof Li Jia, Director of the Lingnan University Shenzhen Research Institute and Associate Professor (Presidential Early Career Scholar) of WJYSIS, and Ms Shen Tingting, Head of the Office of National Engagement (ONE).

The same morning, President Qin, Prof Sam Kwong Tak-wu, Associate Vice-President (Strategic Research), J.K. Lee Chair Professor of Computational Intelligence and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, and other members of Lingnan University received a delegation led by Prof Li Qin, President of Zhaoqing University. They discussed cooperating on faculty and student exchanges, sharing course resources, expanding  postgraduate pathways, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Ms Li Yan, Director of the Academic Affairs Office of Zhaoqing University, Mr Xu Shihe, Director of the Department of Science and Technology, Ms Li Sainan, Director of the Office of Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Foreign Affairs, Mr Wu Qing, Director of the Development Planning Office; Ms Shen Tingting, and Ms Li Zhuoyu, Senior Administrative Officer of ONE were also there.

On 24 July, the 2026 GHMUA 10th Anniversary Annual Meeting and Presidents’ Forum was held at The Chinese University of Hong Kong on the theme of “Ten Years of Solidarity, Integrating Wisdom for the Bay Area”, and attended by representatives from the Ministry of Education, the education authorities of Guangdong, the Hong Kong SAR, and the Macao SAR, and heads of the Alliance member universities. Prof Raymond Chan Hon-fu, Vice-President (Academics) cum Provost and Lam Man Tsan Chair Professor of Scientific Computing, headed the Lingnan delegation.

At the same time, the Alliance held their 10th Anniversary Achievement Exhibition, where Lingnan, an Alliance member, displayed the University’s educational and collaborative achievements over a decade of close mutual development in digital-era liberal arts education. Leveraging the Alliance platform, Lingnan will increase exchanges and links with universities throughout the Bay Area, and consolidate its foundation for pragmatic inter-university cooperation.

Looking ahead and building on its particular digital liberal arts education advantages, Lingnan will align with the goal of “strengthening synergy between science, technology and humanities education”, following the Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan, deepening collaboration with GBA universities, and jointly developing innovative talents with both technological capabilities and humanistic literacy to support the improvement of higher education in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.