The Belt and Road Scholarship and HKU’s Southeast Asian Student Pipeline — The National Narrative Behind the Doubling of Quotas

# The Belt and Road Scholarship and HKU’s Southeast Asian Student Pipeline — The National Narrative Behind the Doubling of Quotas

This article belongs to Module 09 (Internationalisation) of the HKU Unofficial History / HKU Wild History archive. It examines the government’s Belt and Road Scholarship policy and how its implementation at HKU is reshaping the University’s non-local student demographics. Data current as of June 2026. Quota and funding figures follow official announcements from the government and the Education Bureau; this site does not extrapolate allocation details not yet publicly disclosed at the institutional level.

Verdict in one sentence: From the 2024/25 academic year, the Hong Kong SAR Government injected HK$1 billion^※ into the scholarship fund, raising the citywide annual Belt and Road Scholarship quota from 100 to 150^※ (a 50% increase). As a beneficiary institution, HKU awards full-tuition scholarships to students from six designated countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan—making this scholarship the government's core channel for expanding the Southeast Asian student pipeline via financial incentives.

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# What Is the Belt and Road Scholarship? How Does HKU Participate?

The Belt and Road Scholarship falls under the HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund, established by the government in the 2016/17 academic year^※. It targets outstanding students from countries and regions along the Belt and Road, supporting them to pursue publicly funded full-time undergraduate or research postgraduate programmes in Hong Kong. Participating institutions cover all ten eligible bodies^※: the eight University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded institutions, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), and the Vocational Training Council (VTC). As one of the UGC-funded institutions, The University of Hong Kong (HKU) maintains a dedicated "HKU Belt and Road Scholarship" admissions page and awards the scholarship to eligible applicants from Belt and Road countries. The scholarship covers the full non-local tuition fee^※ for the entire duration of studies, subject to satisfactory academic progress for renewal.

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# Why Did the Quota Rise from 100 to 150 in 2024/25?

According to the government’s written reply to the Legislative Council (May 2025)^※, the government injected HK$1 billion into the scholarship fund in 2024, using this financial base to raise the annual Belt and Road Scholarship quota by half: from 100 per year in 2023/24 to 150 starting from the 2024/25 academic year. Here is the full trajectory of quota changes:

Note on figures: The quota represents the government-approved citywide cap; the final number of recipients depends on institutional nominations and assessment outcomes. The HK$53.3 million for 2024/25 is a pending audit figure as stated in the government’s written reply.

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# How Are the Scholarships Categorised? Which Six Are the "Designated Countries"?

Since the 2019/20 academic year^※, the Belt and Road Scholarship has been divided into three categories:

The six "designated countries" all belong to Southeast Asia or Central Asia—Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar are ASEAN members, while Mongolia and Kazakhstan are Central Asian nodes—reflecting a policy orientation that prioritises Southeast Asia as the primary recruitment region. As of the cut-off date for this page, the above list of six countries is officially published by the Education Bureau; this site records the official position and does not speculate on distribution ratios.

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# What Are the Requirements for Applying for the HKU Belt and Road Scholarship?

According to the HKU Admissions Office scholarship page^※, applicants at the HKU level must submit:

• A motivation letter (one page): outlining reasons for applying and post-graduation plans;
• A current curriculum vitae (CV) with supporting certificates;
• Four short essays, respectively addressing academic achievements, contributions to one’s institution/community, leadership and communication skills, and willingness to integrate into Hong Kong and contribute to its development;
• Malaysian applicants must add an extra paragraph stating their commitment to Malaysia-Hong Kong relations.

The assessment dimensions align with the Education Bureau's requirements: academic performance, contributions to institution/community, leadership and communication skills, and willingness to integrate into Hong Kong society. The government’s written reply cites selection based on "outstanding" academic and all-round quality as the threshold, with no publicly stated minimum grade requirement. The scholarship takes effect from the year of admission, is subject to annual renewal review, and covers the entire period of study. Application deadlines vary by academic year; the HKU deadline for the 2025/26 intake was 31 January 2026^※.

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# How Is the Scholarship Shaping HKU’s Non-Local Student Mix?

The Belt and Road Scholarship, as a student-recruitment policy tool, interacts with HKU’s own internationalisation drive to produce a visible effect on the composition of non-local students. According to HKU’s 2023/24 student enrolment data^※: the total student body was approximately 39,166. Among non-local undergraduates, students from mainland China dominate (accounting for roughly 63% of the non-local undergraduate cohort), while "Other Asian countries" represented about 28%^※ of non-local undergraduates. Across all UGC-funded institutions in Hong Kong more broadly, mainland Chinese students account for roughly 70–80% of non-locals. The "Other Asian" category largely comprises international students from Southeast and South Asia—precisely the target audience of the Belt and Road Scholarship.

Meanwhile, in the 2024/25 academic year, HKU admitted over 1,200 new non-local students^※ for the first time (an increase of roughly 50% on the previous year), from around 60 countries and regions. The government had already raised the cap on non-local students at UGC-funded institutions from 20% to 40%^※ of the locally-funded student total (effective 2024/25), with plans to further lift it to 50% by 2026/27. Within this expansion framework, the Belt and Road Scholarship uses a full-tuition incentive to steer "outstanding" students from Southeast Asia and other Belt and Road countries towards Hong Kong—a structural steering mechanism, not a set of scattered honorary awards.

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# The Government's National Narrative: "Study in Hong Kong" and Talent Retention

The policy language of the Belt and Road Scholarship has been closely intertwined with a national narrative from the start. The Education Bureau stated in its May 2025 LegCo reply^※ that the scholarship has "yielded positive results in attracting students from Belt and Road countries to study in Hong Kong," helping "enhance Hong Kong's international standing and build a global talent pool."

Officials’ remarks point more directly to retention goals. As reported by news.gov.hk^※, Jerry Ji, Principal Assistant Secretary of the Education Bureau, noted: "Students from ASEAN and Belt and Road countries often maintain close ties with Hong Kong after graduation, creating valuable international networks." Deputy Secretary Jeff Sze stated: "If we can attract students to study at Hong Kong's universities... the chance of them staying after graduation is higher." Together, these remarks sketch out the policy logic: the scholarship is the "entry ticket," while post-graduation employment and settlement is the ultimate objective. The government provides the "Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates" (IANG), which allows graduates a 24-month post-study work visa^※, forming a complete "attract-and-retain" policy chain with the scholarship.

This narrative framework positions HKU as the higher-education executor of Hong Kong's alignment with the national Belt and Road policy: the institution recruits students from partner countries and cultivates their sense of belonging and commitment to Hong Kong society, while the government lowers candidates’ cost barrier through financial subsidy (full tuition fees). At the Education Bureau’s scholarship award ceremony in April 2024, Secretary for Education Christine Choi described the scholarship as "embodying the HKSAR Government's commitment to nurturing talent"—the official line has already woven the programme into the narrative architecture of external image-building.

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# Cumulative Impact: From 2016 to 2025

Since its establishment in the 2016/17 academic year, the Belt and Road Scholarship has now been in place for nearly a decade:

The total scholarship value grew from HK$23.8 million in 2020/21 to HK$53.3 million in 2024/25, more than doubling, in step with quota expansion and non-local tuition fee increases.

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# Remaining Uncertainties and This Site’s Position

This site records the following verified facts: the government’s citywide annual quota (150), the classification structure (three categories), the designated countries (six), the injection amount (HK$1 billion), and the total number of recipients (approximately 700 as of November 2024). The following information currently has no official public disclosure, and this site will not extrapolate:

• The specific number of quotas allocated to each institution (including HKU);
• The actual proportion of recipients from each designated country at HKU;
• The breakdown of quotas among the three categories.

Readers seeking the above details should contact the Education Bureau ([email protected]) or HKU’s Admissions Office directly for the latest official position.

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# See Also

• HKU’s global partner network and international alliances → global-partnerships.md
• Student exchanges, dual degrees, China Vision → exchange-and-joint-programs.md
• Greater Bay Area and national role → greater-bay-area-and-national-role.md
• Overseas offices and global outposts → overseas-presence.md

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