The 11th Council of the Cooperative University Union was held at City University of Hong Kong (Dongguan) (CityUHK (Dongguan)) on 6 November 2026. Guided by the Ministry of Education's Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office), the Council brought together leaders from all 11 universities under the theme "Collaboration through Diversity, Innovation through Action".

The Executive President of CityUHK (Dongguan), Prof LU Chun, welcomed the participants with an address and elaborated on the meeting's theme. 

Opening remarks were then given by Ms LI Jun, Vice Mayor of Dongguan; Mr XU Shimin, Chief Inspector of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education; and Ms YANG Ling, Deputy Director of the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange of the Ministry of Education. Mr ZHAO Lei, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office), delivered the keynote address.

In the thematic presentations, leaders from Beijing Normal–Hong Kong Baptist University and New York University Shanghai addressed technological change and the opening-up of education, exploring diversified, personalised talent development and innovative pathways for cooperative education. 

The first of two parallel forums focused on diversified approaches to nurturing students, with leaders from Beijing Normal–Hong Kong Baptist University, Xi'an Jiaotong–Liverpool University, Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, Guangdong Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) and Dongguan Institute of Materials Science and Technology of CAS introducing their practices.

The second forum focused on collaboration between academia and industry, with leaders from The University of Nottingham Ningbo China, New York University Shanghai, Duke Kunshan University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Wenzhou-Kean University introducing their approaches to industry partnerships and research commercialisation. The HR Director of Direct Drive Technology shared industry perspectives.

At the end of the meeting, the University of Nottingham Ningbo China assumed the rotating secretariat from CityUHK (Dongguan). The transfer marked the start of a new rotation cycle. The Union will continue to promote collaboration and international exchange in higher education.

About Cooperative University Union

Established in June 2014 under the guidance of the Ministry of Education's Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges, the Union is a non-profit exchange mechanism comprising 11 cooperative universities, including institutions established through Chinese mainland–Hong Kong–Macao cooperation. Its regular meetings address shared challenges, strengthen exchange and support higher education reform and the development of collaborative education in China.

Source: Communications and Public Relations Office, Administration Office