Cross-border cooperation in tertiary education policy and action: a study of Hong Kong-Shenzhen relationships

Abstract

Since Hong Kong's reunification with China, there has been more cooperation between Hong Kong and the Mainland in tertiary education, with Hong Kong-Shenzhen partnership being particularly active. This dissertation examines cooperation in tertiary education between Hong Kong and Shenzhen from the perspective of collaborative governance. It is found that the initiation of the collaboration is driven by leadership of the HKSAR Government, the Shenzhen Municipal Government and the Central People’s Government, interdependence between the cities in educational resources, productivity and information as well as consequential incentives for the Hong Kong institutions. To look into how the cooperation may advance to the next level, the plan for the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) to establish campuses in Shenzhen are analyzed in details, taking into account their early stage of development. Recommendations on how similar setups can be done in the future have been come up, and they include putting formal memorandum of understanding and agreements in place, having long-term commitment to the project, identifying shared objectives with the counterparts, retaining a large share of discretion, adopting suitable approaches to managing the policy networks and managing risks. It is considered that such recommendations may be taken as reference for other means of cooperation in tertiary education between the two cities as well as that between Hong Kong and other mainland cities.