Lingnan University President S. Joe Qin attends 2026 Hong Kong-Macao-Shandong Week

The 2026 Hong Kong-Macao-Shandong Week began today, 18 May, and Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science at Lingnan University, attended the symposium for distinguished representatives from the Hong Kong SAR and the Macao SAR to discuss cooperation and development. The following is the full text of Prof Qin’s speech:

As a native of Rizhao in Shandong Province, I am especially delighted and honoured to join all of you today at an event connected to my hometown. China has entered the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, which clearly sets out the strategic direction for advancing the integrated development of education, technology, and talent, while deepening reform in these interconnected areas. Shandong, and the Hong Kong and Macao SARs now have valuable opportunities to strengthen cooperation and jointly explore new prospects for development. Lingnan University is eager to seize this chance to use its considerable strengths in international talent cultivation and liberal arts education in the digital era, while actively contributing to closer collaboration.

A leading liberal arts research university comprehensive in arts and sciences in the digital era, Lingnan University was the first in the Hong Kong SAR to provide free AI services campus-wide in August 2023, and the first to make generative AI a compulsory subject for all undergraduate students. Since then, the Lingnan’s digital education reforms have progressed rapidly and achieved remarkable results.

1. Lingnan University has made notable advances in teaching, research, and international influence in recent years. In its first-ever participation in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the University was placed in the world’s 301 to 350 band. And in the latest THE Asia University Rankings, Lingnan came 84th, making it one of Asia’s top 100 universities.

2. In the 2025 THE Impact Rankings, Lingnan came first globally for United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4): Quality Education, the only higher education institution in Hong Kong SAR to do so in any SDG category.

3. In the University Grants Committee’s University Accountability Agreement, Lingnan came first of Hong Kong SAR’s eight publicly funded universities in both “Undergraduate satisfaction with the quality and value gained from their teaching and learning experience” and “Student engagement in start-ups and entrepreneurship”.

4. In the first round of applications under the 2025 Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS), Lingnan recorded the highest increase in Band A applications of all universities in the Hong Kong SAR for the third consecutive year, with a cumulative increase of 88%.

5. According to University Grants Committee data for 2023–24, Lingnan’s undergraduate employment rate was 99.3%, the highest of all UGC-funded universities in the Hong Kong SAR. In the 2024/25 academic year, the University recorded the fewest undergraduate student withdrawals and the lowest academic staff turnover rate of the publicly funded universities in the Hong Kong SAR.

6. This year, the University introduced its first Nobel Laureate Elite Class. Named after Nobel Prize winner Prof Samuel C. C. Ting, it will continue to nurture internationally minded innovative talent with particular strengths in the arts and sciences.

In talent development, more than 20 per cent of Lingnan University scholars were included in Stanford University’s 2025 list of the World’s Top 2% Scientists. These leading scholars have actively transformed academic research into innovative inventions, and, at the Silicon Valley International Invention Festival 2025, Lingnan won 14 awards, making it the Hong Kong SAR institution with both the highest number of awards and the highest number of gold medals. The University also won 14 awards at the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva 2026. These strong research capabilities provide a solid foundation for future collaboration with Shandong in cultivating innovative talent.

Lingnan University and Shandong have developed multidimensional and in-depth collaborative partnerships since the 2024 Shandong-Hong Kong Technology Innovation Cooperation Conference when, witnessed by Mr Lin Wu, Secretary of the CPC Shandong Province Committee, Lingnan signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the Rizhao Municipal Government and Shandong Hi-Speed Group.

In education and cultural exchange, Lingnan University has signed several memoranda of understanding with Shandong University to encourage practical collaboration in talent cultivation, and the Shandong University of Finance and Economics, the University of Jinan, and Qufu Normal University have visited Lingnan. I myself have gone to universities and secondary schools in Shandong, including the Ocean University of China and Rizhao No.1 High School, on many occasions to conduct academic lectures and exchanges.

Shandong has a strong industrial foundation and a broad range of application scenarios, while the Hong Kong SAR is rapidly building momentum in artificial intelligence and big data. Combining the strengths of both places will unlock limitless potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in industrial AI and green low-carbon transformation. During the 15th Five-Year Plan, Lingnan University hopes to continue to increase cooperation and collaborative development between Shandong and the Hong Kong and Macao SARs.