The Greater Bay Area Role and Alignment with National Strategies

# The Greater Bay Area Role and Alignment with National Strategies

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is a regional development plan of national strategic importance. In February 2019, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with Hong Kong and Macao, released the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area^※, whose objective is to develop the GBA's 11 cities into an international innovation and technology hub with global influence.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) plays several roles in this strategic landscape: it is one of the representative Hong Kong institutions taking part in the GBA's development, it is the only Hong Kong university with a full-fledged partner campus — HKUST(GZ) — in Nansha, Guangzhou, and it has also established multiple research platforms in Shenzhen, Foshan, and elsewhere, forming a GBA innovation-and-technology footprint of "Hong Kong main campus + Guangzhou campus + multi-city research institutes."

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# 1. Nansha, Guangzhou: HKUST(GZ) and the GBA's Geographical Centre

# 1.1 Strategic Location

HKUST(GZ) is sited in Nansha District, Guangzhou, an area at the geographical centre of the GBA that has been designated by the central government as the principal hosting area for the GBA Comprehensive National Science Centre and a special talent zone^※.

HKUST(GZ) is the first Mainland–Hong Kong cooperatively-run institution to be legally approved as an independent legal entity since the implementation of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area^※; its symbolic significance and policy-demonstration value are considerable.

# 1.2 Transport and Locational Advantages

The campus is immediately adjacent to Qingsheng High-Speed Rail Station on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. From Hong Kong's West Kowloon Station, the journey takes around 30 minutes. Cross-border commuting costs are thus substantially lower than those for other mainland Chinese universities, creating a uniquely convenient "Hong Konger studies on the mainland" condition.

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# 2. Shenzhen: A Multi-Platform Innovation-and-Technology Footprint

# 2.1 Shenzhen Research Institute (SRI)

The HKUST Shenzhen Research Institute (SRI) is HKUST's core technology-transfer platform in Shenzhen, positioned as "a key platform on the mainland and a conduit for Shenzhen–Hong Kong development"^※.

According to official records^※, as of June 2018 the Shenzhen Research Institute had undertaken 203 research projects (133 government-funded, 70 non-government-funded) and secured total funding of approximately RMB 160 million.

The Institute's focus areas — big-data applications, smart-city development, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and next-generation information technology — align closely with Shenzhen's "Dual-District Drive" national strategy (the GBA + the Shenzhen Pilot Demonstration Area).

# 2.2 Shenzhen-Hong Kong Collaborative Innovation Research Institute (SHCIRI)

In December 2019, the HKUST Council approved the establishment of the HKUST Shenzhen-Hong Kong Collaborative Innovation Research Institute (SHCIRI). The institute completed its registration in Shenzhen in May 2020^※. SHCIRI is located in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone (the Lok Ma Chau Loop Shenzhen-side campus). Its initial plans call for three research hubs — Biotech, Infotech, and Fintech (the "3T" research centres) — focusing on frontier research, knowledge transfer, industry collaboration, and executive education.

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# 3. Nansha: The Fok Ying Tung Research Institute and the Innovation Ecosystem

# 3.1 Fok Ying Tung Research Institute (FYTRI)

The HKUST Fok Ying Tung Research Institute (FYTRI) in Nansha, Guangzhou, was established in January 2007^※, funded by the Fok Ying Tung Foundation. It was HKUST's first research institute on the Chinese mainland, and was also Guangzhou's first research institution with a Hong Kong background and one of the first batch of pilot "new-type R&D institutions" in Guangdong Province.

The Institute concentrates on the Internet of Things (IoT), advanced manufacturing and automation, advanced materials, green building and the environment, while also housing functions for technology-transfer commercialisation, talent cultivation, and innovation-and-entrepreneurship incubation.

In September 2007, during its early phase, the Institute added four specialised research centres in Nansha^※:

• Applied Genomics Center
• Center for Bioengineering and Biomedical Devices
• Center for Polymer Processing
• Center for Green Products and Processing Technologies

With the addition of those four centres, the Institute's total rose to 10, alongside two shared research facilities.

# 3.2 Nansha Youth Entrepreneurship Hub (NSYEH)

The Nansha Youth Entrepreneurship Hub (NSYEH), launched by HKUST in Nansha in 2015^※, aims to create an integrated demonstration platform and international industry-research base for students and young people worldwide, helping early-stage sci-tech ventures from around the globe — particularly those from outside mainland China — to enter the GBA market.

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# 4. Foshan: Foshan Research Institute (FRI)

The HKUST Foshan Research Institute (FRI) was established in March 2012 in Nanhai District, Foshan, on the basis of a cooperation agreement between HKUST and the Nanhai District government^※. The Institute focuses on technological innovation,成果轉化, and start-up incubation, serving the Pearl River Delta's needs for manufacturing upgrading and transformation.

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# 5. Provincial-Level Research Collaboration: The "1+1+1" Joint-Funding Mechanism

# 5.1 Agreement with the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology (2024)

On 21 May 2024, HKUST, HKUST(GZ), and the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology (GDST) signed a tripartite Work Plan for Jointly Supporting In-Depth Science and Technology Collaboration in Hong Kong^※, establishing a "1+1+1 Joint-Funding Scheme" to support joint research teams from the two campuses, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao joint laboratories, and R&D tackling key problems in priority GBA fields.

The agreement explicitly promotes:

• Accelerating the development of the GBA as an international innovation and technology centre;
• Leveraging the distinctive strengths of Hong Kong universities and their cooperatively-run partner institutions in Guangdong Province;
• Deepening Guangdong–Hong Kong cooperation in science and technology, talent, and industry across multiple dimensions.

# 5.2 First Batch of Provincially Recognised Projects (2025)

In November 2025, GDST formally recognised the first cohort of projects under the Guangdong-Hong Kong Universities "1+1+1" Joint-Funding Scheme. The 24 collaborative projects supported by the "HKUST–HKUST(GZ) 20-20 Joint Research Scheme" were designated as Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Plan projects^※. This made HKUST and HKUST(GZ) the first case among Guangdong-Hong Kong partner universities to complete such a designation process, carrying policy-demonstration significance.

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# 6. Cooperation with the Guangzhou Municipal Government and Transport Authorities

HKUST signed a cooperation agreement with Guangzhou Metro to jointly nurture talent in the smart-transport field^※. The partnership brings HKUST's research strengths in intelligent systems, artificial intelligence, and engineering together with the operational needs of Guangzhou's urban rail transit network, exemplifying the deep collaboration model between HKUST and GBA municipal-government bodies at the interface of talent, industry, academia, and research.

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# 7. Overview of HKUST's GBA Footprint

Note: Despite multiple rounds of searching, no authoritative primary document has been found that records the precise year of establishment of the Shenzhen Research Institute (SRI). "No precise official text verifiable" is noted here; the entry will be supplemented once a well-sourced record becomes available.

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# 8. Brief Background on GBA Strategy

The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area positions the GBA as a major plank of the national "innovation-driven development strategy" and the "deepening of reform and opening up." Within that framework, HKUST simultaneously serves as a Hong Kong node of international higher education and a Guangdong-based centre for nurturing innovative and technological talent, and, through HKUST(GZ), has become one of the first demonstration cases of a Guangdong-Hong Kong cooperatively-run educational institution.

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