On 5th June, the Opening Ceremony of the ZJU, UM and HKU Exchange Programme and ZIRC Forum on Talent Nurturing and Innovation Development in the Greater Bay Area had been grandly held in the Multimedia Hall, International Campus, Zhejiang University. Students from Hong Kong University, University of Macau and Zhejiang University had participated in this forum.

ZIRC Master, Prof. Lap-Chee Tsui as the Host

This forum was hosted by the Master of Residential College, International Campus, Zhejiang University, Prof. Lap-Chee Tsui. The Vice Dean of International Campus, Zhejiang University, Prof. K. C. Ting, gave an opening speech for this forum. HKU Lap-Chee College Master, Prof. Yuen Man Fung, UM Choi Kai Yau College Master, Prof. Kevin Zhen and the Dean of ZJU International Business School, Academy of Internet Finance, Dr. Ben Shenglin, had delivered remarkable speeches regarding talent nurturing under the integration of Greater Bay Area and Yangtze River Delta.

The Vice Dean of International Campus, Zhejiang University, Prof. K. C. Ting

Our residential college has several main themes: First, experiencing more pioneering educational institutions; second, respond to the core of globalisation and innovation; third, participate in the development strategy of the integration between the Greater Bay Area and the Yang-Tze River Delta Bay Area. I look forward to hearing your insights on the global sharing of educational resources, we need very active collaboration with all of you. Together, we can provide leadership and global impact on international higher education.

HKU Lap-Chee College Master, Prof. Yuen Man Fung

The college is named after Prof. Tsui to honour his great contribution’s done towards HKU. We want to promote a balanced and mindfulness lifestyle for students, as well as providing a platform for students to learn how to tolerate and adapt well to each other’s culture. The vision and mission of the RC: we strongly support the intellectual and academic development through intra- or inter-college activities. Interactions between students from different culture and social backgrounds is what we emphasised the most, therefore, the local-foreign-student ratio is maintained at a 1 to 1 scale. A combinations of academic, residential, and community events is our signature RC life and we are proud of it.

UM Choi Kai Yau College Master, Prof. Kevin Zhen

China needs to get globalized to turn Vision 2025 into reality. Herein, the Greater Bay Area is a significant central hub for the realization of one-belt-one-road project as well as integrating global interaction. The Greater Bay Area encompasses two central cities: Hong Kong and Macau, which are well developed in terms of economical scale.

An education system that supports future talent nurturing would eventually render a successful Greater Bay Area Plan. The Residential College can shape your value, develop your personal charisma and encourage your thinking. These soft skills are critical for younger generation in such a competitive era. Our RC provides a platform to develop innovative thinking because it is a cross disciplinary environment.

The Founder and Dean of ZJU International Business School, Academy of Internet Finance Dr Ben Shenglin

Technology and financial business have an unique combination called financial technology, or “fintech” in short. The Greater Bay Area and Yangtze River Delta plan is indeed a remarkable project in promoting China’s globalisation. Comparing with the United States and United Kingdom, on average, we are not as economically robust as them, but our hidden potential is beyond our imaginations.

Among global Fintech, the Bay Area has 9 cities and 9 million people, it is thence considered having more economical advantage on the population side. From fintech’s perspective, the Yangtze River Delta has two dominant cities, notably Shanghai and Hangzhou. Shanghai is more financially-based while Hangzhou is like a technology hub. Both cities rendered us a potentially biggest fintech player. What is important is the economy system’s trend to attract talents. We need to make them feel that they can succeed by joining us. We also understand that talent is not about research but also management and application.

I am honoured to work with Zhejiang University to open this academy, ZIBS. We focus on new things such as fintech. We hope that ZIBS can provide wisdom and Chinese experiences to help improve the world and are looking forward for your joining to build the first-class global business school.

Based on the theme “Talent Nurturing and Innovation Development in the Greater Bay Area”.Let’s hear their sharing.

Prof. Lap-Chee Tsui, Prof. Yuen Man Fung, and Dr Ben Shenglin sharing their opinion towards the development in the Greater Bay Area from different perspectives of their expertise.

Q1：What is your point of view on recruiting international talents to the Hangzhou bay area for working?

  We have privilege in Hangzhou to attract net influent talents from the rest of the world. So we keep as number one city in China in regulating the largest net influent talents and helps in the total housing market but most importantly is the ecosystem, entrepreneurship, and liveability. Even in Hangzhou, it is not traditionally considered as an international city, while living more domestic. More importantly, is the ability to attract younger talents like yourself. Of course, attracting international talents are also extremely important as we need diversity to develop more multicultural leadership and critical thinking. In short, Yang-Tze River Delta Area is the most liveable and exciting place that provide opportunities for international talents as many Chinese companies are planning to take their businesses global.

Q2：RC is the best place to promote multicultural, do you agree with this and what are the efforts that RC can actually work together with the students in future?

I totally agree with the statement. RC is the best place that provides opportunities for the students to have the intercultural exchange. For instance, the students in Lap-Chee college propose and organize all kind of activities by themselves under the guidance from the tutors. This required the students to interact with many different people and ultimately promote multicultural during the process of an organization. We always encourage students in the RC to participate in the organization and learn from each other. Students learn to tolerant people, exchange various culture and cultivate the ability to work with different people which may help them in the workplace in the future.

Q3：Can you define what is innovation talent and what can RC do or help to nurture such talents?

Innovation is 99% imitation and 1% originality, and that is good enough for you to succeed. There is no method to teach for innovation, in fact, it is more about to learn from other people. Innovation can be turning the information you get through study into knowledge and synthesize what you have learned from the others and hence come out with your original idea. For instance, Alibaba is one of the most successful businesses, but it is not the first platform for online shopping. In the RC, we encourage students to engage in diverse activities and learn from each other, therefore generate their idea as innovation.

Q4：There are two Greater Bay Area in China: Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and Hangzhou Greater Bay Area, what do you think about the co-evolution between them? Would there be any competition or benefits to each other, from economical and financial aspect?

There would definitely be competition initially, but economic cooperation between the two is a key-point for pushing their revolution to the peak. The future is held within the younger generations and cultivating the global perspective of younger generation is a must. Developing multicultural leadership and critical thinking skills is extremely significant for cultivating younger generations with internationally pluripotent talents.

Q5：In terms of academical capability, how can we ensure that our future career is within the grasp of our hands?

   This is tightly correlated to this take home message: “You learn to use, you learn to ask.”. There is no accurate answer for how to take control over your career. To succeed as a competitive individual, learn broader by cross-field study, make some connections with different expertise from different field, you would eventually succeed by integrating different expertise into your own novel idea.