In the era of globalization and digitalization, artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the form of education at an unprecedented speed. This is the first year of the 15th five-year plan. In the report on the work of the government, we proposed for the first time that we should foster a new form of intelligent economy and take“Deepening and expanding artificial intelligence plus” as the key to fostering new drivers of growth. During the two sessions, Li Zijian, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and President of the Hong Kong University of Education, gave an exclusive interview to a reporter from the global times, we share our insights and thoughts on the improvement of China’s universities in the global rankings, what China can do to retain its“Top brains” in the era of AI, and the opportunities and challenges of Hong Kong’s construction of an international education hub. According to Li, the progress of China’s universities is the inevitable result of the system, from the continuous investment at the national strategic level to the hard work of researchers.
Be both a“Super contact” and a“Super value-added person”
Global Times: eight of the top 10 universities in the 2025 Leiden World College and university rankings are from China. Have you noticed any recent changes in the global rankings of Chinese universities?
Li Zijian: according to my observation, in fact, in different international university rankings, Chinese universities have made obvious progress in recent years, and the rankings are also constantly improving. Over the past few years, the country’s investment in scientific research and support for researchers have been increasing. Top universities such as Tsinghua and Peking University are not only well-funded but also produce a lot of research of their own. But in the 2025 Leiden World College and university rankings (traditional edition) , the number of mainland universities in the list is far more than I expected. It also shows that, in addition to investment, researchers’ efforts are paying off.
Global Times: in recent years, Hong Kong universities have launched a series of new initiatives to attract international students. Have more foreign talents flocked to Hong Kong universities in recent years?
Li Zijian: in recent years, there have been many more foreign talents coming to Hong Kong universities. There are eight public universities in Hong Kong, and they have attracted a lot of good foreign scholars. The main reason why they chose to go to China is that they are facing greater financial pressure at home. Both the United States and the United Kingdom are cutting research funding. In addition, some countries are increasingly restricting some high-tech fields, especially in some sensitive fields, the degree of freedom of research is affected. By contrast, China has provided more space and support in these areas, as well as introducing some new policies and resources to attract the attention of foreign scholars. I think this is a positive sign.
The Hong Kong special administrative region government is promoting“Studying in Hong Kong” as it seeks to build the city into an international education hub. Hong Kong has always had two roles, a“Super contact”, and a“Super value-added person”, if these resources can be combined well, can produce a 1 + 1 greater than 2 effect. I am very optimistic about this trend and hope it will continue.
The key to attracting and retaining talent
Global Times: How Will China become a global hub for talent during the 15th five-year plan period? What more does China need to do to become a world-class university?
Li Zijian: I think it’s very possible. Now countries are trying very hard to master the leading technology and take advantage of market influence as soon as possible. I think, many foreign scholars are concerned about China, now is an opportunity, we should seize the opportunity, welcome them to China development. China’s growing economic strength has laid a solid foundation for the development of scientific research.
To become a world-class university, there are many factors to be considered, such as curriculum, talent training system, government support, financial investment and so on. I believe that the combination of education and science and technology will eventually translate into national innovation, which is an important engine of national development.
We must promote the integration of education, science and talent, and continue to invest. At this year’s CCTV Spring Festival Gala, everyone was very impressed by the performance of the robot. This shows that the leading scientific research achievements have landed where we can see them. I am very confident about the future, we can take advantage of China’s rapid development in AI and other advanced scientific and technological fields to build a world-class university.
Global Times: for these talents, what can we do to make them not only“Come in”, but also“Stay”?
Li Zijian: I pay special attention to the sentence in this year’s government work report, “Improving the level of public services for lifelong learning”. The report also makes it clear that“Investment in goods and people must go hand in hand”. In my opinion, this statement illuminates the key to attracting and retaining talent.
In the past, we attracted overseas talent by offering high salaries, research funding and good salaries. But for really top academics, especially young ones, these are just the basics. They’re more worried about the future — can you stay in one place for five, 10 years and still keep up with the global frontier? Will their children have access to a quality education? Can families really fit in here?
This leads to the central proposition of investing in people. “Lifelong learning in public service” is more than just a few training courses. It is a complete ecosystem: first, for scholars themselves to provide continuous growth of the soil. We should help them build academic networks connecting the mainland, Asia and even the world, so that they can participate in the world’s most cutting-edge academic cooperation and connect with the world’s top scientific research resources at any time. This kind of academic“Open-endedness” is in itself the most advanced form of lifelong learning. The second is to provide all-round support for the scholar’s family. Everything from visas and housing to the education of their children needs to be properly arranged. We need to make scholars feel that this is not only a place to work, but also a place to settle down and develop in the long run. Third, we need to create a“Comfortable” atmosphere. This includes a friendly academic environment, an open and inclusive community culture, and the space to develop to their full potential.
When this“Investing in people” climate is established, it creates a positive cycle: good public services attract talent, and talent clusters create a good academic climate, a good climate improves local education and research. It’s a win-win — help them and help us. As they become integrated into our education and talent system, they will eventually have a positive“Ripple effect.”.
There is an urgent need for AI applications in co-building countries along the belt and road
Global Times: you have just finished your research in the Middle East. How concerned are local universities about AI?
Li Zijian: more than two weeks ago, I went to a summit in the Middle East. I got a lot of experience in this business. Middle Eastern countries, including the United Arab Emirates, are now paying great attention to AI development. They have no shortage of funds and are eager for Chinese universities to help them with training.
The quality of a country’s AI is the key to its future development. The demand from the Middle East is very clear, that is, they want us to help them do AI training and meet the needs of their different industries. For example, journalism needs AI applications, engineering needs risk assessment, and so on. They are keen for Chinese universities to help them with exploratory courses.
Our School, for example, has established educational partnerships with universities in Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Cambodia and other belt and road countries. Some countries hope to greatly improve the level of AI application in the shortest possible time, and accelerate the application of AI technology with the help of China’s technological strength.
Global Times: What Lessons and suggestions do you have for applying AI in your daily work?
Li Zijian: The Hong Kong University of Education has integrated a variety of generative artificial intelligence tools for use by colleagues on campus. Hong Kong is also exploring and developing some of its own big models. In the use of the process, I have a relatively deep experience, the answer to the output of large models, largely dependent on its training data sources. If the cases and data on which its study and training are based are mostly from the west, then its output will naturally take on a western perspective, sometimes even with some bias.
This leads to a thoughtful question: can we use our own data, our own cases, to build our own data model based on our position and perspective? The reason why I am concerned about this issue is that my research field is education, and educational issues often have a strong“Context”? it grows in a specific cultural soil and social traditions. What works in the west may not work in the east. We need to embrace AI while remaining culturally conscious. This is a bottom line that should be held when Chinese education embraces AI in the future.