Two decades heading north
First across the boundary, yielding a hundred incubated enterprises to serve the nation’s development
16 July 2026
Long before the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) came into being as we now know it, CUHK had already embarked on its journey north, becoming the first Hong Kong university to set up an industry-academia-research base in the Chinese Mainland.
Two decades on, that early vision has grown into a full innovation ecosystem across the GBA: research, talent development, knowledge transfer and startup incubation, all working in concert. Hong Kong as the source of research, the GBA as the stage where it comes to life – that is a repeatable and scalable model CUHK has spent twenty years building.
Moving ahead of the trend
In 2006, CUHK partnered with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government to establish the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology. This made the University the first institution from Hong Kong to set up an industry-academia-research base in the Chinese Mainland and formally begin its northern expansion.
A year later, the CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute (SZRI) was founded, creating a bridge between Hong Kong’s research capabilities and the GBA’s capacity for application and commercialisation. In the two decades since, this relationship has crystallised into a unique model: “Hong Kong discovers, the GBA delivers”.
Playing to complementary strengths
Hong Kong and the GBA have always complemented one another, says Professor Allen Chan Kwan-chee, CUHK’s Associate Vice-President (Knowledge Transfer). “Our city is home to world-class research, while the GBA offers extensive industrial capacity and a vast market.”
He cites non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) as an example. Hong Kong records around 30,000 births a year, against nearly 10 million across the Chinese Mainland. The gap means more than market size. It brings richer clinical data and broader applications. Research born in CUHK’s laboratories can contribute to greater social good when it travels north.
Charting new ground in half a decade
For CUHK, heading north 20 years ago meant starting from scratch. The first five or six years were devoted to learning by doing, recalls Professor Yam Yeung, Director of SZRI.
“The Institute had to understand the systems, regulations and funding environment of the Chinese Mainland while guiding CUHK’s academics to adapt to a research, innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem that was nothing like home.”
That early investment enabled CUHK to forge partnerships with government, industry and research institutions across the Chinese Mainland, secure the infrastructure and support needed for growth, and lay the foundations for the rapid expansion that followed.
Breaking down barriers for cross-boundary medical data transfer
One of CUHK’s most significant breakthroughs has been in advancing cross-boundary medical research. Following years of negotiation and coordination, in 2020, SZRI became the first among Hong Kong universities’ mainland units to be approved to pilot the transfer of human biospecimens and medical data from the Chinese Mainland to Hong Kong for research within a strict compliance framework, opening an entirely new channel for cross-boundary medical science.
The breakthrough addressed a long-standing challenge of how human biospecimens and medical data could cross the boundary safely and legally. It also brought together the Chinese Mainland’s extensive clinical caseload with Hong Kong’s strengths in biomedical research and data analysis.
For health technology teams relying on large-scale clinical datasets to train algorithms and validate new technologies, the arrangement has unlocked richer research resources and a broader range of applications while safeguarding privacy and data security – standing to benefit patients across the GBA and beyond.
In 2024, Professor Chan’s team secured approval to use research data from a collaborative study with Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University across the boundary for a new phase of NIPT research.
From lab to market: nearly 150 CUHK ventures take root in the GBA
Two decades of sustained investment have brought CUHK’s innovation and enterprise ecosystem in the GBA to maturity. SZRI has undertaken nearly 600 government-funded research projects; its Entrepreneurship and Innovation Hub (InnoHub) has nurtured close to 150 enterprises and attracted RMB 2.3 billion in social investment, translating CUHK’s strengths in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and biomedicine into products and services with tangible impact.
Innovation achievements from CUHK’s incubated enterprises:
Several of these companies have been recognised as National High-Tech Enterprises; others have grown into firms valued at more than RMB 1 billion. Beyond entrepreneurship, CUHK’s GBA teams have contributed to major national initiatives, among them the Science and Technology Innovation 2030 – Major Projects, underscoring the role Hong Kong universities play in advancing the nation’s innovation agenda.
From then to now: swipe to see how SZRI has evolved
Integrating education, research and entrepreneurship
CUHK’s work in the GBA has never been a series of standalone initiatives, says Dr Lin Huangquan, Executive Director of SZRI and Director of the CUHK Office for Greater Bay Area Developments. Rather, the University has pursued a long-term strategy, one that weaves education, research and entrepreneurship into an ecosystem where the three elements reinforce one another.
Established in 2014, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK–Shenzhen) has become a leading model for cooperation in running schools in the Chinese Mainland. Operating under the “One Brand, Two Campuses” framework, it has recorded the highest university entrance scores in Guangdong in the National College Entrance Examination for ten consecutive years. More recently, CUHK and CUHK–Shenzhen have launched Collaborative Double Major Programmes, equipping a new generation with fluency in the systems of both places, global perspectives and an instinct to innovate.
“Our goal is to extend the impact of CUHK’s excellence in research and education across the GBA,” Dr Lin says.
Driving the nation’s new quality productive forces
Building on two decades of work in the region, CUHK was invited by the Qianhai Authority in 2024 to establish its InnoHub for New Quality Industries (hereafter “the Centre”) at the Qianhai Shenzhen–Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub (Ehub), which opened in March this year. This new platform enables the University’s staff, students and alumni to bring their innovations to the GBA market while contributing to the nation’s development of new quality productive forces.
First introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2023, the concept of “new quality productive forces” emphasises high technology, high efficiency and high quality as key drivers of the country’s future development. Against this backdrop, the Centre builds on the University’s decades of research and knowledge transfer experience to help connect the GBA’s industrial strengths – accelerating advances in areas such as AI, robotics and biomedicine.
Manufacturing and services have long operated separately, with limited exchange between firms. “New quality productive forces are about bringing manufacturing and services into a connected ecosystem,” says Dr Lin. “That makes manufacturing smarter and more efficient while giving the service sector a stronger industrial foundation.”
Professor Yam illustrates the idea with embodied AI robots. Today, an advanced robot manufacturer does not stop at delivering a product. It analyses the data its robots generate across different operating scenarios, then refines its algorithms accordingly to enable the continuous improvement of the robots in the field. To go a step further, a manufacturer who pools learning algorithms from across its customer base can develop robots that are smarter still, and far more capable.
Professor Yam mentioned this is the trend of “synergised manufacturing and service industries”. “By breaking down information barriers between enterprises and industries and integrating intelligent technology across platforms, we can bring general-purpose robots with diverse capabilities into being,” he envisions.
The Centre’s mission extends beyond supporting individual CUHK startups that excel in either sector, Dr Lin adds. It serves as a platform linking manufacturers, service providers, researchers and entrepreneurs across the GBA while nurturing companies that span the full journey from research to production to service, thereby raising the quality of what the region makes and delivers.
All-round support for CUHK founders heading north
The Ehub, home to the Centre, offers preferential tax policies, accommodation support and other incentives designed for Hong Kong entrepreneurs. Backed by these measures, the new base camp for CUHK innovators and entrepreneurs has so far welcomed 19 startups founded by the University’s staff, students and alumni, working in areas ranging from AI and robotics to health technology and new energy.
Startups entering the GBA market often face one obstacle after another: unfamiliar regulations, intellectual property and patent procedures, and limited access to funding, suppliers, customers and business networks.
The Centre is establishing a dedicated team offering one-stop support, handling everything from company registration, bank account opening and recruitment to customer profiling, market expansion, investor and supply-chain matching, with guidance on taxation, regulations, legal matters and innovation competitions. The aim is to lower the barriers substantially to setting up and scaling across the Chinese Mainland.
In its first two months alone, Dr Lin notes, three companies in the Centre have raised more than RMB 10 million in funding, with one securing over RMB 100 million.
The Centre also hosts networking events to bring in leading academics, industry figures and entrepreneurs to share the latest research and industry trends with startup teams.
“Which investors are reputable? Which suppliers are worth working with? Where is an industry heading? Practical information keeps flowing through our network,” Dr Lin says. For startups with limited resources, that kind of know-how is invaluable.
“We want to help young entrepreneurs avoid costly mistakes and unnecessary detours, so that more research reaches the market and genuinely serves society,” he adds.
Staying true to CUHK’s values
Looking back on the pioneering years, Professor Yam says the region has provided an ideal setting for CUHK’s research to make a tangible difference.
“The GBA gave us a vast canvas to work on. The University’s strengths align closely with the GBA’s drive for industrial upgrading and innovation, allowing our work to create real change.”
What he is proudest of, however, is that amid rapid expansion, CUHK has held fast to its values and standards of governance.
“For 20 years we have stayed true to why we began. From finance and personnel to administration, we have kept to the same standards as the Hong Kong campus, with every task approved and handled properly,” he reflects. That discipline is what allows the CUHK extension to respond nimbly to society’s needs while remaining anchored in the University’s academic values and institutional responsibilities.
Bridging East and West: from the GBA to the world
Over the past 20 years, CUHK has made the most of Hong Kong’s role as a bridge between East and West, helping GBA innovations reach overseas markets.
Through a partnership with university partners in Hungary built over the past two years, SZRI has helped 14 of its startups make inroads into the European market while bringing promising Hungarian innovation teams to the GBA – fostering closer collaboration on talent, technology and industry.
For Dr Lin, the partnership reflects CUHK’s founding mission in action: “to bring together China and the West”, serving the nation’s development while strengthening international ties. Step by step – through Singapore, Thailand and beyond – CUHK is now looking to extend the model by expanding its global innovation network.
Taking a proven model further
Two decades in, CUHK is building on hard-won experience to shape the next phase of its development. On the industry-academia-research model it has established in Shenzhen, Professor Chan says, the University will keep contributing its strengths in health and life sciences and AI, while moving into emerging industries such as the low-altitude economy, embodied AI, green energy, and exploring opportunities in the creative industries and digital technology to mobilise more research to tackle the challenges facing society and industry.
When the time is right, he believes, CUHK’s proven model of knowledge transfer in the GBA could travel to more cities across the country, giving the CUHK community a wider stage on which to make its mark.
By Jessica Chu
Photos by Steven Yan, the CUHK Office for Greater Bay Area Developments and the CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute
