Chief Executive Carrie Lam today met the President of Tsinghua University and the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) Prof Qiu Yong, as well as the heads of AUA member universities at Government House.

At the meeting with Prof Qiu, Mrs Lam welcomed further co-operation between Tsinghua University and higher education institutions in Hong Kong, particularly in innovation and technology, to contribute jointly to the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Mrs Lam also hosted a lunch after the meeting for the 15 heads of AUA member universities who will attend the annual AUA Summit in Hong Kong on April 14.

Addressing the lunch, Mrs Lam said the Government highly supports the strengthening of co-operation among universities in Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas.

The AUA brings together top universities in the region and provides an effective platform to promote professional exchanges, enabling the enhancement of the quality of higher education and the capability in technological innovation in the Asian region, she said.

Mrs Lam added the Government is committed to promoting the development of I&T and establishing two world-class research clusters at the Hong Kong Science Park on healthcare technologies and artificial intelligence and robotics technologies.

She encouraged the AUA to continue deepening regional co-operation, including boosting exchanges among scientific researchers.

Pioneered by Tsinghua University, the AUA was established in Beijing in 2017 with 15 universities from 14 Asian countries and regions.