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Denise Tsang

The next leader of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) must have a fresh mindset, as someone who has spent a decade in the role may struggle to drive change, an insider has told the South China Morning Post, adding that the university is weighing whether to take part in the Northern Metropolis megaproject.
The source, a senior leader at HKU, said the next president and vice-chancellor would also need to know how to deploy technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to help run the university.
The insider also said HKU needed to market itself more effectively around innovation and Nobel laureates, as Hong Kong pushes ahead with its ambition to create a university town for talent in the Northern Metropolis in the New Territories.
“Mentality matters. The new president will have to bring a new mentality to the university,” the insider said.

Incumbent Xiang Zhang is not renewing his five-year contract as president and vice-chancellor when it expires in two years.
By 2028, Zhang will have served HKU for a decade, through two five-year terms. The 62-year-old scientist said last month that he “realised it is time for HKU to embrace fresh ideas and for a new leader to guide this great transformation”.
The university will launch a global search for Zhang’s replacement. Some HKU Court members have said that management skills and personal academic achievement are not enough, and the new leader must keep pace with international and national developments to nurture and attract talent.
“Is it that easy for someone who has kept the same style for 10 years to change? The university needs a replacement, because this is a different world, a different time,” the insider said.
“Why do some companies change CEOs every four to five years? This is because it is a different development at a different time with a different way of thinking.”
The last president and vice-chancellor who had served HKU for more than 10 years was molecular geneticist Tsui Lap-chee who held the post between 2002 and 2014.
Zhang was embroiled in controversies and an internal dispute with HKU’s council between 2023 and 2024, but eventually his name was cleared.
The insider said it would be interesting to know how other elite universities such as Harvard in the United States, and Cambridge and Oxford in the United Kingdom, use technology and AI to run their institutions.
As Hong Kong pushes ahead with the university town project at the technology-led Northern Metropolis megaproject, the insider said a holistic plan was needed.
The university town will occupy 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) – the equivalent of the size of the entire Wan Chai district – as a cluster incorporating elements of education, innovation and technology (I&T), talent, industry and urban development.
As a core component of the Northern Metropolis, the university town reflects a Beijing mandate for Hong Kong to drive economic growth through such development in the coming decades.
Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said earlier that a 22-hectare site in Hung Shui Kiu would comprise three university campus sites, with a 12.7-hectare plot to be developed first, followed later by two smaller sites of 5.3 hectares and 4.4 hectares. She added that the first site tender could begin in September.
The insider said the university town was more than infrastructure, and it would require a combination of offerings – school campuses, accommodation for professors and students, schools for teachers’ children, public facilities, companies of targeted industries, and more.
“The university town [players] need to proactively recruit students, especially from overseas, not just from mainland China, and there will be more cultural exchanges,” the insider said.
“For example, can we offer scholarships for Olympians who have already achieved top results in sports? We cannot just sit and wait for students to come to us.”
The insider added that HKU was considering whether to take part in the university town, pending consolidation of its strategies amid rapid changes in technology, geopolitics and the broader macro environment.
Beyond the city, HKU has expanded its institutional footprint to Shanghai, the Greater Bay Area and Europe.
In Shenzhen, HKU operates through the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital and offers joint postgraduate programmes. The hospital functions as a public tertiary teaching hospital..
Earlier this year, the university expanded its presence in Shanghai in strategic locations to keep it close to technology hubs in eastern China, such as Hangzhou, and act as a bridge between academia and industry.
HKU’s Shanghai facilities now comprise a new headquarters on The Bund, a business school next to the headquarters, a computing and data science base in Zhangjiang Science City, and a hi-tech base for interdisciplinary research institutes at Caohejing Hi-Tech Oasis.
The insider said the new president would also need to take leadership of its operations beyond Hong Kong, especially those in Shanghai.
“One important thing about the Shanghai development is governance,” the source said.
“We need solid governance to ensure how to report the operations to Hong Kong’s headquarters, and clear lines of responsibilities of the management.”
The 115-year-old HKU retained its 11th place in a global league table in 2026, while another top institution, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, ranked 18, according to the UK-based education information firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).
It is the first time that Hong Kong has had two universities ranked among the top 20 in the world league table.
QS earlier said Hong Kong had Asia’s most improved higher education system for the second consecutive year in 2026, with seven of its previously ranked universities improving, two maintaining their positions, and none declining.


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Education in Hong Kong

HKU looking for president with ‘new mentality and clean slate’ to drive change

The 115-year-old HKU retained its 11th place in a global league table in 2026. Photo: Karma Lo

Xiang Zhang has decided not to renew his five-year contract as president and vice-chancellor when it expires in 2028. Photo: Nora Tam

HKU says next leader must have ‘fresh ideas’ for coming ‘transformation’

The HKU campus in Pok Fu Lam. Xiang Zhang announced on Monday he would step down in 2028 after completing a second five-year term. Photo: Dickson Lee

Council members gave a round of applause for Xiang Zhang’s contributions when discussing his departure during the one-hour meeting, according to a source. Photo: Sam Tsang

Next HKU chief will need more than academic stature, administrative skills

The main building of the University of Hong Kong in Pok Fu Lam on June 17. The university’s vice-chancellor has announced he will step down at the end of his term in 2028. Photo: Karma Lo

HKU president Xiang Zhang to step down in 2028 at end of second 5-year term

HKU president and vice-chancellor Xiang Zhang. Photo: Nora Tam

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Hong Kong

Education

People with decade-long mindset struggle to drive change, and HKU needs new blood because ‘this is a different world, different time’, insider says


People with decade-long mindset struggle to drive change, and HKU needs new blood because ‘this is a different world, different time’, insider says.


HKU looking for president with ‘new mentality and clean slate’ to drive change

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}People with decade-long mindset struggle to drive change, and HKU needs new blood because ‘this is a different world, different time’, insider says

People with decade-long mindset struggle to drive change, and HKU needs new blood because ‘this is a different world, different time’, insider says