Opening of HKUST Shanghai Center in Xuhui District | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) celebrates the opening of the HKUST Shanghai Center today at the Shanghai AI Tower in the West Bund of the Xuhui District in collaboration with the District’s Government, and the Caohejing Hi-Tech Park Development Corporation. Leveraging its strengths in chips, artificial intelligence and biomedicine, the Center is set to enhance collaboration on innovation and entrepreneurship between Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The HKUST Shanghai Center marks the University’s first industry-academia-research base in the Yangtze River Delta, complementing HKUST's existing hubs in the Greater Bay Area to further enhance its whole strategic development. Focusing on “nurturing talents for integrating industry and academics” and “incubating innovations for industrial acceleration”, the HKUST Shanghai Center will collaborate with universities and enterprises in Shanghai and beyond to create an international ecosystem that fosters talent development as well as innovation and technology.

Over 20 renowned tech companies in Shanghai pledged collaborations with HKUST during the opening ceremony, covering a wide array of sectors including information technology, finance, biomedicine, internet, manufacturing, media and tourism, some companies will even station at the Center. Notably, under the witness of representatives from the Ministry of Education, the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and Lingang Group, a tripartite agreement was signed among HKUST, the Xuhui District People's Government, and the Caohejing Hi-Tech Park Development Corporation to implement collaboration across five areas, namely education, research and innovation, entrepreneurship, alumni outreach, and higher education policy initiatives.

Meanwhile, HKUST has also formed medical-related strategic partnerships with four leading universities in Shanghai: Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Tongji University School of Medicine, and ShanghaiTech University. HKUST is now actively planning to establish the third medical school in Hong Kong. These new partnerships will benefit all five parties in terms of medical education, research collaborations, talent development and global exchange, advancing frontier research in future medicine, accelerating clinical studies and translation, as well as cultivating future-ready medical professionals. 

After the ceremony, Shanghai Party Secretary CHEN Jining met with the HKUST senior management and faculty members. Meanwhile, Shanghai Vice-Mayor Xie Dong highlighted the strength of the three parties, noting that HKUST is an internationally renowned university, while the Xuhui District of Shanghai stands as a leading IT and educational hub, and the Shangahi Caohejing New Technology Development Zone has a world-famous Hi-Tech Park. The signing of the agreement signified a closer co-operation between Hong Kong and Shanghai on various fronts, allowing both sides to leverage their comparative advantages in striving for excellence and achievements. She believed that under this tripartite partnership, the three parties will seize every opportunity to promote development, technological exchanges and cooperation, fostering the growth of Shanghai and Hong Kong’s I&T ecosystem, while driving technological advancement in Shanghai, the Yangtze River Delta Region, and the nation.

HKUST Council Chairman Prof. Harry SHUM expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Shanghai government for their trust. "Promoting the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta is a pivotal strategy of our country, given the region’s key position in the nation’s overall economic development, and Hong Kong has significant potential to collaborate with this region. With the establishment of the new HKUST Shanghai Center, I am confident that we can leverage our unique strengths in different research fields to promote further cooperation between Hong Kong and Shanghai on innovation and technology. Through this new platform, we look forward to yielding reciprocal outcomes while instilling new impetus for technological breakthroughs in both areas," he said.  

HKUST President Prof. Nancy IP said, "The new Shanghai Center not only signifies a deeper collaboration between HKUST and the Yangtze River Delta, but also marks a further enhancement of the 'HKUST Innovation belt' building on our strong foothold in Greater Bay cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Foshan. I am delighted that the Shanghai Center has already garnered strong support from numerous prestigious universities, enterprises and startups, enabling the University to gather collective resources and develop impactful innovative research for the betterment of our country." 

Overseeing the planning of the HKUST Shanghai Center, HKUST Provost Prof. GUO Yike introduced the "One Center, Two Bases" development model adopted by the Center, which consists of two bases: one located at the Shanghai West Bund AI Tower (Western Base) and another one in the Caohejing Beiyang AI Town (Northern Base). The former primarily focuses on the cultivation of a vibrant industrial ecosystem and consolidation of industrial resources, while the latter emphasizes building a high ground for industry-academia-research collaborations to foster the translation of research outcomes.

Xuhui District boasts a high level of technological and industrial innovation, providing a fertile ground for HKUST Shanghai Center to cultivate a vibrant I&T ecosystem and foster technological advancements. The district is a home to over 100 national and local research institutions, such as the Shanghai branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and 15 higher education institutions including Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Fudan University. Xuhui District also tops in Shanghai in terms of its number of high-value invention patents owned, with 95 patents per 10,000 heads. With its vibrant environment for industrial innovation, Xuhui actively fosters the development of large models, blockchain, and embodied intelligence. It has created multiple high-quality incubators targeting niche industries, continuously nurturing the "future curve" of urban development.

Following the Center’s opening, HKUST will offer new learning pathways for students studying designated two-year master's programs. Selected students can choose to spend one year studying in Shanghai, and will also have the opportunities of participating in cutting-edge research, internships and entrepreneurial initiatives at the HKUST Shanghai Center. Meanwhile, in order to help boost the conversion rate of technological achievements, a new Yangtze River Delta Innovation Fund will be launched to offer technical support, shared equipment, experimental facilities and other services to reduce operational costs among start-ups. The HKUST Shanghai Center will also serve as a vital hub for engaging the University’s alumni within the region, further fostering collaboration and synergy.

During the ceremony, HKUST also signed strategic cooperation agreements with 9 companies, including Shentong Metro, Shanghai Healthcare Capital and Baidu AI Cloud, which will provide resources, industry insights and support for faculty and students at the Shanghai Center.  Additionally, 11 companies including Yunzhou Intelligence Technology, ShenzhenNED Optics and Kayja-Optics, have committed to establishing operations at the center while 18 companies, including Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Baoshan Iron & Steel and ByteDance, have pledged to provide internship opportunities to students at HKUST. In the future, the Shanghai Center will strengthen its role as a national-level collaborative platform through comprehensive cooperation, establishing joint laboratories with universities and businesses, and exploring new avenues for co-development between Hong Kong and Shanghai.

About The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology  
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (https://hkust.edu.hk/) is a world-class university committed to innovative education, research excellence, and impactful knowledge transfer. Our holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy approach is recognized globally. HKUST placed 3rd in the Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2024, 19th Worldwide and No.1 in Hong Kong in Times Higher Education’s impact Rankings. Twelve of HKUST’s subjects were ranked among the world’s top 50 in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024. Of these, "Data Science and Artificial Intelligence" ranked first in Hong Kong and 10th in the world. Our graduates are highly competitive, consistently placing among the world’s top 30 most sought-after employees. Our research and entrepreneurship endeavors are also innovative and impactful. Over 80% of our work was rated “Internationally excellent” or “world leading” in the latest Research Assessment Exercise 2020 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee. As of November 2024, HKUST members have founded 1,800 active start-ups, including 10 Unicorns and 16 exits (IPO or M&A).

About Shanghai’s Xuhui District (Please refer to the Chinese version)