(Ecns.cn) – A total of 63 mainland universities will pilot open admission programs for Hong Kong students starting next year, according to a notice released on Monday by the Ministry of Education.
The universities are located in 11 provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hubei, Guangdong, Chongqing, Sichuan and Yunnan. Among them, 17 universities are in Guangdong Province and 9 in Beijing. Peking University and Tsinghua University are both on the list.
Under the program, as of 2012 Hong Kong students will be exempt from the Joint Entrance Examination for universities in the mainland. Participating universities will be entitled to directly enroll Hong Kong high school graduates based on their test results from the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) or the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE), as well as performance in interviews.
According to the Ministry of Education, each Hong Kong student can apply to four universities, but no more than four fields of study at each university. The enrollment will not be incorporated into the national enrollment plan for mainland students, and each of the 63 universities will accept 30 to 50 Hong Kong students a year.
Students from Hong Kong must take physical examinations after being admitted, and can apply for exemption from mainland military training and political theory courses.
In August 2011, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang announced trials of open admission for Hong Kong students while delivering a speech at the Forum on the 12th Five-Year Plan and Mainland-Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Financial Cooperation in Hong Kong.
The new policy will help facilitate academic exchange between Hong Kong and the mainland in the long term. For Hong Kong students, studying in mainland universities will give them a good opportunity to broaden their horizons and set up a social network.
