Mrs Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive and Professor Bai Chunli, the President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Establishing Affiliated Institution by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Hong Kong (MoU) on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government and the CAS on November 8.

The MoU confirms that the CAS will establish an affiliated institution in Hong Kong with a view to facilitating its Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health and Institute of Automation to respectively establish their presence in the research clusters on healthcare technologies and on artificial intelligence and robotics technologies to be set up by the HKSAR Government at the Hong Kong Science Park. The institution will also promote transfer and translation of scientific research results, coordinate collaboration between the CAS and local universities, and undertake technological education and promotion activities.

In Mrs Lam’s speech at the MoU signing ceremony, she said that the signing of this MoU heralded an important new page in the technological collaboration between Hong Kong and the Mainland. She said, “the establishment of the affiliated institution of the CAS in Hong Kong will take forward the development of Hong Kong's technological innovation, bringing new opportunities for the innovation and technology (I&T) sectors in the two places. At the same time, the affiliated institution will serve as a significant landmark in the building of an international I&T hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Welcoming the two CAS research institutes' participation in the two research clusters, the HKSAR Government will continue its publicity and promotion efforts to encourage more top-notch research centres and technology talent to join the research clusters.”

At the ceremony, Mrs Lam also announced the setting up of the Joint Laboratory Funding Scheme by the University Grants Committee with the provision of one-off grants up to $30 million for the academic year 2018/19 as a research subsidy to joint laboratories approved by the CAS.

The affiliated institution of the CAS in Hong Kong will also serve as the Secretariat of the Greater Bay Area Academician Alliance to be set up in Hong Kong and provide support for its daily operation. The Alliance will help encourage academicians of the CAS and the Chinese Academy of Engineering based in the Greater Bay Area to actively participate in developing the Area, as well as bringing prominent scientific talent to contribute to the country's technological advancement.