Beijing-Hong Kong Universities Alliance 2025–26 Council Annual Meeting and Presidents’ Forum ends successfully as Lingnan University takes over as new co-chair

The Beijing-Hong Kong Universities Alliance Council Annual Meeting and Presidents’ Forum 2025–26 was held on 16 April 2026, and attended by officials from the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges (Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs) of the Ministry of Education, the Education, Science and Technology Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong SAR, the Education Bureau of the HKSAR Government, and the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, as well as representatives from all member universities of the Alliance. Prof Xin Yao, Vice-President (Research and Innovation) and Tong Tin Sun Chair Professor of Machine Learning at Lingnan University, led the Lingnan delegation.

There was a smooth handover ceremony, and Beijing Normal University and Lingnan University officially took over as the co-chairs of the fourth term of the Beijing-Hong Kong Universities Alliance. Prof Yao delivered a speech on their behalf, promising to fulfil their responsibilities as co-chairs completely, work with all member universities to deepen cooperation in talent cultivation, discipline alignment, and research collaboration, and raise the Alliance platform to a higher level of quality and efficiency.

Under the theme “Digital Empowerment and Innovative Collaboration: New Paths for the Integrated Development of Higher Education in Beijing and Hong Kong”, the forum held in-depth discussions on talent cultivation cooperation between Beijing and Hong Kong, disciplinary and research innovation collaboration among universities, and the practice and vision of opening-up, charting the course for integrated development of higher education in both regions.

Moving forward, Lingnan University will take the opportunity of serving as new co-chair to play a full bridging role, and to improve the Alliance’s cooperation mechanisms continuously and expand areas of cooperation. Lingnan will also encourage resource sharing and complementary strengths in Beijing and Hong Kong universities, and contribute to their collaborative development in higher education and the national innovation-driven development strategy.