HKUST and Wuxi EDZ to Establish Wuxi-Hong Kong Collaborative Innovation Center to Promote Innovation and Technology | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and the Wuxi Economic Development Zone (Wuxi EDZ) have signed an agreement to deepen exchanges and collaboration on areas spanning innovation, entrepreneurship, talent training and policy research. 

Witnessed by HKUST President Prof. Nancy IP, Secretary of Wuxi Municipal Party Committee Mr. DU Xiaogang and other representatives from both sides, Prof. Tim CHENG, HKUST Vice-President (Research and Development), and Mr. YANG Jianping, Secretary of CPC Working Committee and Director of Management Committee of Wuxi EDZ, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). 

Under the MoU, the two parties will jointly establish the Wuxi-Hong Kong Collaborative Innovation Center (Center) at HKUST. Through organizing activities such as entrepreneurship competitions, the Center will identify and incubate research teams and innovative start-ups in microelectronics, big data, cloud computing, fintech, precision medical equipment as well as life and health sciences – areas where the unique strengths of HKUST lie.  For more established research teams and companies, the Wuxi EDZ will offer policy support to facilitate their collaboration with the industry and academia in promoting knowledge transfer.

Secretary of Wuxi Municipal Party Committee Mr. Du said, “Wuxi and HKUST have enormous potential for collaboration. We hope the University will set foot in Wuxi EDZ so that we can deepen exchanges in academic research and education. We look forward to organizing innovation and entrepreneurship competitions together, and developing think tanks with policy experts to facilitate our exchanges in innovation, talent cultivation and resource mobilization.”

HKUST President Prof. Ip said, “HKUST is delighted to forge partnership with the Wuxi EDZ.  Combining HKUST’s strength in education and innovation and Wuxi’s edges in economic and industrial development, I believe the Wuxi-Hong Kong Collaborative Innovation Center will contribute to the pooling of resources from Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau and the Yangtze River Delta Region. With these joint efforts we hope to promote translational research and industrial development in frontier technologies.”

HKUST and Wuxi EDZ will organize competitions and other activities on talent grooming, including annual trips for HKUST faculty members, students and alumni-entrepreneurs to visit Wuxi, where they can exchange on technological advancements with local stakeholders. A new technology and innovation exchange fund will be set up by Wuxi EDZ for such visits.  The two sides will also explore ways to creating synergy for research projects on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, among other research topics. 

HKUST President Prof. Nancy Ip, HKUST Vice-President (Research and Development) Prof. Tim Cheng, HKUST Vice-President for Institutional Advancement Prof. WANG Yang, HKUST Associate Vice-President for Research and Development (Knowledge Transfer) Dr. Shin Cheul KIM, Secretary of Wuxi Municipal Party Committee Mr. Du Xiaogang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Wuxi Municipal Party Committee and Director of the United Front Work Department Mr. ZHOU Changqing, Vice Mayor of Wuxi Municipal People's Government Mr. QIN Yongxin, and Secretary of CPC Working Committee and Director of Management Committee of Wuxi Economic Development Zone Mr. Yang Jianping, unveiled the foundation plaque of the Wuxi-Hong Kong Collaborative Innovation Center at the ceremony.

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 research intensive university that focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. Over 80% of our research work were rated “Internationally excellent” or “world leading” in the Research Assessment Exercise 2020 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee. We were ranked 3rd in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2022, and our graduates were ranked 30th worldwide and among the best from universities from Asia in Global Employability University Ranking and Survey 2022. As of 2022, HKUST members have founded 1,645 active start-ups, including 9 Unicorns and 8 IPO companies, generating economic impact worth over HK$400billion. InvestHK cited QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021 to demonstrate the performance of five world’s top 100 local universities in several innovation-centric areas, among which HKUST ranked top in four engineering and materials science subjects.