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William Yiu

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) will revamp its mandatory education courses for all undergraduates to include national and global perspectives and focus on innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainability.
The initiative was announced on Thursday as part of the university’s new five-year strategic plan, which charts its direction and development from 2026 to 2030.
It is the first five-year plan under the leadership of CUHK president Dennis Lo Yuk-ming, a distinguished molecular biologist, who assumed the role in January 2025.
In a booklet introducing the plan, the city’s second-oldest university said the reformed general education programme – which is mandatory for all undergraduates – would broaden students’ knowledge by “enhancing national education and a systematic understanding of modern China, complemented with a robust global outlook”.
Professor Isabella Poon Wai-yin, CUHK’s provost, said the reformed general courses would ensure all students could learn more about the wider nation.
“We will consolidate our general education to integrate national development and global vision, enabling students, regardless of whether they are local or mainland or students from other countries, to learn about Chinese development,” she said.
“We will include elements on innovation, entrepreneurship and the concept of sustainable development into the general education at the college level.”

At CUHK, the only university in Hong Kong with a collegiate system for full-time undergraduates, the general education programme is composed of university- and college-level elements.
The university-level elements focus on broadening students’ knowledge base through structured exposure to different aspects of fundamental human concerns, while the college-level materials aim to ensure students become responsible citizens of the world.
Under its five-year plan, CUHK said it would focus on five strategic areas: talent attraction and development, institutional development, global and alumni engagement, education and student experience, and research and innovation.
The university added that it would strengthen cooperation with its Shenzhen campus and other institutions in the Greater Bay Area, expand its internship programmes and “support students’ physical and mental development and lifelong learning”.
The plan also covers starting a flagship international undergraduate programme and developing initiatives to nurture talent in various fields.
“CUHK will continue to leverage Hong Kong’s unique advantage of enjoying strong support from the motherland and being closely connected to the world, not only to drive breakthroughs in fields such as life and health technology, artificial intelligence [AI], and quantum science, but also to actively participate in national scientific research tasks,” university president Lo said.
He said the university would look beyond academic achievements and seek to develop knowledge and talent that would benefit Hong Kong, the wider nation and the rest of the world.

Lo highlighted various global challenges, such as talent acquisition, complex geopolitics, climate change, public health, communicable diseases and the AI revolution.
“For these uncertainties, our strategic plan adopts a forward-looking approach to turn these challenges into opportunities,” he said.
“We will strive to build a top-tier academic and research hub, create more valuable social benefits and innovative achievements, propose solutions for sustainable development, and expand our international cooperation capabilities.”
Under the plan, CUHK will also establish a college for postgraduate students, bringing its total number of colleges to 10.
CUHK’s collegiate system emphasises holistic, or what it calls “whole-person”, education. Undergraduate students are placed at one of its colleges, which provide accommodation, dining halls and pastoral care for their members.
Lo said he had experienced a similar holistic education system during his time at postgraduate colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, adding that the collegiate learning environment was crucial for master’s and doctoral students.
CUHK also said it would seize on opportunities offered by the Northern Metropolis megaproject, the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone and the bay area.
The university said it would focus on frontier fields such as life and health technology, artificial intelligence, quantum science and green technology.
Other goals included taking part in major scientific research projects in aerospace, the polar regions and the deep sea to help develop world-class innovative technologies.


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Curriculum of mandatory general education programme for undergrads to be reformed as university maps out development strategy


Curriculum of mandatory general education programme for undergrads to be reformed as university maps out development strategy.


CUHK to add national, global perspectives to mandatory courses under 5-year plan

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Curriculum of mandatory general education programme for undergrads to be reformed as university maps out development strategy

Curriculum of mandatory general education programme for undergrads to be reformed as university maps out development strategy