The president of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has expressed hopes the institution will rank among the world’s top 10 before his term ends in 2028 after it rose to 11th place in a global league table, saying it was vital for the varsity to contribute to the country’s talent development.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, president Xiang Zhang said he was “very happy” about HKU’s latest advancement in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankings.
He said the achievement was a reflection of the “internal strengths” of the institution, akin to developing internal discipline and dedication in martial arts, as he noted a good ranking was a “by-product” of the university’s efforts to build up its academic excellence over the years.
“When your internal strengths build up, your appearance, muscles and everything show up, so ranking is appearance, but your internal strength is what HKU and I myself really focus on, the academic strengths and the quality, all of these matters,” he said.
Zhang said he liked to read martial arts novels like those by the late Hong Kong wuxia novelist Louis Cha Leung-yung, also known as Jin Yong, which reminded him that internal strengths were critical to building one’s reputation and standing.
Asked whether he was confident HKU could make it to the top 10 during his term, Zhang was optimistic, saying “I hope so” three times.
“I hope so, I hope so, I hope so. But once again, I’m not looking at external appearance but internal strength which I know is hard to measure in the short term. I hope 20 years later, people say this president in that term, he did this, this, this, and that transformed the university, and that has a long, lasting impact,” he said.
HKU was ranked 17th last year and 26th in 2023. The latest result is the institution’s best since the table was launched in 2004.
QS said HKU was the local leader across four indicators, performing particularly well in academic reputation and graduate employability.
Five other universities in Hong Kong also climbed in the rankings, with the Chinese University of Hong Kong rising four spots to 32nd for its best placing since 2010.
HKU also beat two prestigious mainland Chinese institutions, Peking University and Tsinghua University, to become the top varsity in China and second in Asia, after the National University of Singapore, which maintained its eighth position globally.
Zhang previously said HKU should gradually develop into a top university on par with Cambridge and Harvard, but he said his institution had not yet reached the goal.
“We are very good, but we’re not [yet] on par with Cambridge or Harvard and so on,” he said. “How we are going to get ahead of many other universities to be the world leading university, which is an aspiration we want to achieve.”
Harvard and Cambridge ranked fifth and sixth respectively in the latest QS table, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology topped the chart.
Zhang said his staff often misunderstood him, thinking that he was focused on rankings, but he said that was not the case.
“I’m focusing on academics … what kinds of research and discoveries [they have] made that are world-renowned,” he said. “People after 30 years still talk about it. It’s timeless.”
He added the university’s performance was also the result of contributions by students and graduates, as well as their impact on society.
Zhang said he hoped that after 20 years people would still remember what he did to transform the university.
Last Thursday, Zhang and other universities’ heads met Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) director Xia Baolong when Xia had a five-day fact-finding visit to the city, his third since taking office.
Asked what he would tell Xia if he got a chance to speak to him in the meeting, Zhang said HKU wanted to contribute to the country’s advancement, especially aiming to become a strong nation in education.
“We, University of Hong Kong, now being a leading university in China, we want to contribute, and also we want to maintain this momentum. We also want the government to continue to support HKU,” he said.
Zhang said universities helped groom talent who may be able to make an impact on Chinese education, research, economy and technology one day.
In 2018, HKU had about 15 world-leading scholars, and the number jumped to 53 in 2024, Zhang said.
The university ranked 10th globally among all institutions last year in the “Highly Cited Researchers 2024” by Clarivate Analytics, which measures the number who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their fields of study through the publication of multiple papers.
Hong Kong was ranked 8th globally among countries and regions, with 40 per cent of the scholars rated being affiliated with HKU, marking the highest representation among local tertiary institutions.