Hong Kong universities attract record number of mainland Chinese students amid rising geopolitical tensions and Covid-19
- Mainland students worried by tension between Beijing and US, UK choose to avoid Western universities
- City’s eight publicly-funded universities drew record 8,622 students from mainland China last year
The number of undergraduate students from mainland China studying in Hong Kong universities rose to a record high in the last academic year, after growing at the fastest pace in nearly a decade.
Intensified geopolitical tensions between China and the US and United Kingdom were among the reasons mainland students decided against pursuing their studies in Western countries, some university representatives said.
According to the University Grants Committee, 8,622 mainland students were enrolled in undergraduate programmes at Hong Kong’s eight government-funded universities in the last academic year.
That was the highest number since figures became available in 1996-97, when there were only five mainland students.
Last year’s total was up 13 per cent from 2020-21, the sharpest rise since 2013-14.
Non-local students pay about HK$140,000 (US$18,000) a year in academic fees, three times more than Hongkongers. The business and management programme is the most popular choice for non-local students.
A spokesman for Chinese University’s business school said the sharp increase in mainland students was caused partly by the pandemic and heightened geopolitical tensions.
“We also hear that more mainland students come to Hong Kong because studying in the US or UK is perceived to be more difficult. This could be due to the Covid-19 pandemic or the geopolitical conflict between China and the US or UK,” she said.
