The President of City University of Hong Kong (CityU), Professor Freddy Boey Yin Chiang, led a delegation from CityU to meet with Mr Lu Zhiyuan, Deputy Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Committee and Secretary of the Qingdao Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC), on 2 August.

The two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the CityU-Qingdao Innovation Research Institute in Qingdao’s West Coast New Area and to strengthen cooperation in new materials, new energy, biomedicine, marine science and AI.

The MoU was signed by Professor Chen Fu-Rong, Associate Vice-President (Mainland Collaboration), at CityU, and Mr Wang Qingyuan, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Working Committee and Mayor of the Qingdao West Coast New Area, and witnessed by President Boey and Mr Lu.

According to the MoU, CityU and Qingdao West Coast New Area will offer “3+1+1” degree programmes and jointly establish a platform for postgraduate cultivation, build major scientific and technological infrastructures, promote the application of scientific research results by setting up joint laboratories and university-enterprise cooperation, among others, and explore establishing a dedicated support fund for enhancing industrial development.

“Qingdao has a strong innovation atmosphere and a good industrial base,” President Boey said. “CityU will make full use of its strengths to boost cooperation in areas such as biomedicine and the marine environment, as well as human resources training, to help the city’s development in the light of Qingdao’s development needs.”

Mr Lu introduced Qingdao’s economic and social development to the visiting CityU representatives. “CityU is a renowned tertiary institution in Hong Kong, home to a pool of talents and innovative resources,” he said. “The MoU will help strengthen coordination in multi-disciplinary fields and deepen cooperation in the cultivation of high-end talents, research into key technologies and collaboration among industry, academia and research institutes.”