At a press conference at this week’s Going Global conference in London, Hong Kong’s undersecretary for education, Kenneth Chen Wei On, said the country was now seeking to diversify its international student base.

“At this point the bulk of demand comes from mainland China, understandably so… What we’re hoping to do is to open this up, to attract more students from around Asia, such as Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and Korea. And we hope the UK and Europe will come into the mix as well.”

The Hong Kong government has implemented a basket of measures since 2008 to boost internationalisation such as doubling the non-local quota of overseas students at public universities to 20%; establishing a HK$1.25 billion scholarship fund for domestic and foreign students; and increasing part-time and post-study work rights.

It is also helping increase capacity for more universities in the crowded region through favourable land deals. Government trade arm Invest Hong Kong has also launched a the Study in Hong Kong website, which promotes the region’s ‘gateway to Asia’ status and its universities, a number of which are world leading.

Representatives of some of Hong Kong’s biggest universities said they were now proactively to trying to internationalise their campuses.

“We have quite bit more room to go in terms of attracting non-local students, and we are aggressively doing this…” said Tim Tong, president of the Hong Kong Polytechnic. His institution has built additional accommodation for overseas students and ramped up exchange programmes. “In order to make sure we’re on track in all these things we have appointed a vice president to give leadership on internationalisation,” he added.

“Pathways and language schools work in other jurisdictions, less so in our Hong Kong system”

Despite its strong prospects, the region is not seeking the student volumes pursued by fellow Asian hubs Singapore and Malaysia. It only wants to attract students who already have a high level of English and is not planning to use language schools or pathway operations as recruitment channel.

“Pathways and language schools work in other jurisdictions, less so in our Hong Kong system…” said Dr Richard Armour, senior advisor to the president at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

“Our local universities are popular for exchanges with Australia, North America and Europe where English standards are high, and I don’t think there’s any intention to use language schools to improve students’ English to come to our institutions.”

International students will also need to adjust to the region’s new degree structure, launched this year. Hong Kong degree programmes now last four as opposed to three years – something set to raise the cost of degree study, which is currently priced at HK$80,000 to $120,000 a year (£6,550 – £9,831).

That said, the new system – which promises a revamped curriculum unique to Hong Kong – has already gained recognition from Canada, the US, the UK, Europe and South East Asia. In addition, a new secondary level qualification, the HKDSE, has been introduced which is offers better compatibility with foreign university admissions frameworks, auguring well for the region’s outbound students.

In a way, Hong Kong in the past learnt from others and now we are ready to implement our own system

One university head said the structure showed the country’s growing confidence in its education system, which would benefit Hong Kong’s reputation.

“In terms of internationalisation there is a lot to be learnt among countries. In a way, Hong Kong in the past learnt from others and now we are ready to implement our own system, taking reference from others… Similarly the UK and other countries can also share their experiences with us,” he said.