Birmingham in Hong Kong

The University of Birmingham's connection with Hong Kong goes back decades.  

Records suggest that our first student from the city graduated in 1962. Currently, more than 200 students are on campus. They enrich the intellectual, social and cultural experience for all at the University, and in the wider community.

We were one of the first British Universities to offer an MBA in Hong Kong with PolyU. We continue to build partnerships with universities in Hong Kong, including HKU, through our membership of Universitas 21, a leading global network of research-intensive universities. These partnerships are ultimately about research that will have an impact in Hong Kong. As an example, working together, researchers at HKU and Birmingham have found that long-term exposure to environmental pollutants in Hong Kong was associated with increased risk of mortality for many types of cancer in the local elderly population.

We are currently working with colleagues at EduHK on a Hong Kong Jockey Club funded project to empower young people in Hong Kong through sports coaching. The programme will help coaches to develop their own strategies for creating a more empowering climate to improve young people’s motivation, and participation, in sport. Our vision is to make sport, education, and other activities more engaging, enjoyable and empowering for every person taking part.

Dr Frank Mussai has been partnering with a local Hong Kong company, Bio Cancer Treatment International (BCTi), to set up international clinical trials. These trials are using a drug that has demonstrated in the lab that it can reduce and even kill certain cancer cells by starving them of a particular nutrient that they need in order to survive.

With more than 3,000 Birmingham alumni resident, Hong Kong represents our largest concentration of graduates anywhere outside of the UK. You have made a vital contribution to its status as ‘Asia’s world city’, impacting all fields and walks of life, from business, the legal profession, to government and religion. Your achievements, and upholding of Birmingham’s values and vision, have made us proud.

Our current students’ experience is enhanced by your volunteering and our Hong Kong alumni have been more generous with their time than alumni anywhere outside of the UK. 150 of you have volunteered hundreds of hours to support current students in the last decade with many participating in the Hong Kong mentoring programme, set up by Jonathan Wong, alumnus and President of the Birmingham University Hong Kong Alumni Association (BUAAHK). This has provided dozens of students with mentoring opportunities.