HKUST Annual Report 2023-2024

42 Local to Global 130+ Mainland and International Delegations hosted Collaborations to Fast Forward Innovation and Talent Development Forging partnerships and strengthening interaction with Mainland institutions, government organizations, and businesses enables HKUST to share our expertise and step up our contributions to discovery and societal development. Indicating the flourishing interest in such collaborative endeavors, we hosted diverse delegations and organized visits to many Mainland cities. Over the year, we hosted more than 100 delegations from Mainland government and leading corporations, including notable visits from China Manned Space Program, Prof. CAO Xuetao, Vice-Minister of the National Health Committee, Dr. ZHOU Lidong, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft, and many others, to HKUST. Additionally, an MoU to establish the HKUST Shanghai Center was signed with Shanghai’s Xuhui District government, deepening innovation connectivity with the flourishing hi-tech Yangtze River Delta and our alumni there. Talent development included a strategic Cooperation Agreement with Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University. This will propel ahead HKUST’s medical and health goals by nurturing expertise in both research and clinical practice to speed forward translation of research and frontier technologies into clinical applications. Industry Bridge-Building for Economic Vitalization A pioneer in both knowledge transfer and higher education, HKUST is well placed to serve as a bridge between academia and industry. President Prof. Nancy IP, in her role as Council Chair of the Greater Bay Area Association of Academicians, was thus proud to host the Second Global Innovation & Technology Summit at the Hong Kong Science Park. The summit, focusing on “Fostering Global Partnerships in Higher Education”, was attended by over 200 participants from renowned universities, government, and industry across the region and beyond. Meanwhile, the HKUST DeepTech Project Roadshow & Investment Matching Tour, organized in Shenzhen, effectively widened investor awareness of the exciting research being conducted at the University.