HKU plans AI-driven campus in Northern Metropolis, president Zhang Xiang says
University of Hong Kong president Zhang Xiang outlined plans for an AI-focused campus in the Northern Metropolis, including HK$1 billion first-phase costs and a partnership with Peking University. HKU also aims to raise its non-local student ratio to 1:1 and expand overseas, with Zhang set to step d
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is bidding for land in the Hung Shui Kiu University Town in the Northern Metropolis to build an “AI-driven modern campus,” president and vice-chancellor Zhang Xiang said on 16 November. The campus would complement HKU’s main site in Pok Fu Lam by moving some faculties in “non-traditional disciplines of the AI era” to the new location, where they would be “cross-fertilized” with traditional disciplines to create “AI+” programmes such as “AI+ medicine, AI+ robotics, and even some of our humanities,” Zhang said.
Zhang estimated the first phase of the Northern Metropolis development would cost roughly HK$1 billion. The university plans to tap the government’s HK$10 billion interest-bearing loan scheme for campus expansion in the university towns. HKU has also issued HK$1.5 billion in fixed-rate bonds through its Euro medium-term note programme, part of a US$1 billion medium-term note programme established earlier this year, and may consider further bond issues depending on how much land it is awarded.
Zhang said HKU’s main campus is relatively small, at one-third the size of Chinese University’s and one-sixth that of Tsinghua University. Eight years of expansion at Pok Fu Lam has 20 buildings under construction, with up to 65 per cent expected to be completed by the end of 2026 and the remainder within two to three years.
Earlier in November, HKU signed a partnership agreement with Peking University (PKU) to establish a joint centre in the Northern Metropolis. Building on existing dual-degree programmes including law, the pact could expand the “2+2” framework – two years at HKU and two at PKU – to disciplines such as STEM and innovation, and create integrated undergraduate-to-postgraduate pathways. Zhang said PKU is interested in gaining more international exposure through Hong Kong, “a global city – not to mention that the Northern Metropolis will be a global landscape.” He expects the Northern Metropolis industrial base to take shape in five to ten years, with collaboration with Shenzhen’s mature industries driving Hong Kong’s technological development.
Beyond Hong Kong, HKU has broadened its presence in mainland China and overseas. Its Zhangjiang base in Shanghai, led by the School of Computing and Data Science, opened teaching, research and residential facilities earlier this year under a “one school, two teaching sites” model. Zhang said the base is surrounded by about 3,000 high-tech companies, many specialising in AI and chips, allowing students easier access to internships and faculty to benefit from Shanghai’s greater computing power. Last summer, HKU established its first European campus in Barcelona, Spain, for joint programmes involving the HKU Business School, and Zhang said the university will continue expanding collaborations in Europe, including in France and the United Kingdom.
HKU is working to further internationalise its student population, Zhang said. He noted the desirability of raising the ratio of non-local to local students from 1:2 to 1:1, aligning with the government’s 50 per cent cap for non-local enrolment. Mainland students accounted for roughly 65 per cent of undergraduates and 95.1 per cent of taught postgraduates in the last academic year. Zhang said HKU has sought to foster an “intellectually stimulating environment” by hiring top global scholars – including two Nobel laureates and a Fields medalist – and maintaining a professoriate with over 70 per cent drawn from overseas. The university has sent recruitment teams across Asia, Europe, the Americas and Africa and plans to step up those efforts, while also seeking more funding for international student scholarships.
Zhang Xiang announced earlier this year that he will step down as HKU president and return to research in July 2028, ending a decade-long tenure. Under his leadership, HKU ranked first in Asia and 11th globally in the 2026 and 2027 QS rankings. He highlighted three major reforms: strengthening research and teaching through changes to evaluation and promotion systems; overhauling pay to a flexible, performance-based system; and improving the health insurance scheme. “Any good leader … must be bold,” Zhang said. “Reform will inevitably upset some people, but we must act in the broader interests of the university and its development.”