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HKUST

HKUST Attracts Nearly 100 New Scholars to Drive Strategic Development

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has welcomed nearly 100 accomplished scholars from a dozen countries and jurisdictions since the launch of its global recruitment campaign in October 2022, boosting the University’s efforts in teaching, research and innovation across different strategic areas. HKUST Provost Prof. GUO Yike (second left, front) and new scholars who have joined HKUST in recent years, including Prof. Julien de TROULLIOUD de LANVERSIN (first left, front), Assistant Professor in the Division of Public Policy

South China Morning Post

Faculty Insights: Prof. Naubahar Sharif Discusses Chinese Investment Trends in Mexico

Condolences on the Passing of Raly Lofamia Tejada

Prof. Masaru Yarime Awarded Research Grant by the US Social Science Research Council (SSRC)

Prof. Masaru Yarime has been awarded a research grant by the U.S. Social Science Research Council (SSRC) in the amount of US$20,000. The project is Data Governance for Innovation for Sustainable Smart Cities: A Comparative Analysis of Japan, the United States, and China. 

Prof Alex Jingwei He wins best policy research award by CPSG

Professor Alex Jingwei He of the Division of Public Policy has recently won with the 2023 Best Policy Research Award by the Chinese Policy Scholars Group (CPSG, 留美公共政策學會). Entitled “Unpack the black box of pilot sampling in policy experimentation: A qualitative comparative analysis of China's public hospital reform”, Prof He’s research article was published in Governance, a reputable international journal in public policy.  The authors adopted a novel research design, combining the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) technique with illustrative case studies, to explain the choice of pilot sampling in large policy experimental programs, a significant question in policy process theories that has gained little scholarly agreement. This article stood out from multiple nominations with its theoretical significance and methodological novelty. CPSG is an international research association of overseas Chinese policy scholars. The award committee this year consists of scholars from Florida State University, Purdue University, Tsinghua University, and Peking University.

Prof. Naubahar SHARIF Newly Appointed to the Chief Executive's Policy Unit Research Strategy Expert Group

The Hong Kong government has recently appointed Prof. Naubahar SHARIF, Acting Head and Professor of the Division of Public Policy (PPOL), as a member of the Chief Executive's Policy Unit (CEPU) Research Strategy Expert Group. This appointment, with effect from May 30, 2024 for a one-year term, is a significant acknowledgment of Professor SHARIF's expertise and contributions in the field of public policy. It also underscores his standing as a leading expert and advisor shaping Hong Kong's long-term research strategy.

CNA

Analysis: China is one of the costliest places to raise a child, and it’s not all about the money

China has the highest cost of raising a child in the world relative to its GDP per capita and education cost is the outsized contributor to the overall cost of child raising in China. Professor Stuart Gietel-Basten attributed this phenomenon to small families, pressure for children to succeed, and the narrow pathway to success, which have proven to be a moneymaker for the institutions. He also pointed out the lack of support for mothers in China is due to a lack of balance in gender roles, to change the situation is about changing the working hours, the way we work, companies changing attitudes about parents and men changing their attitudes at home and at work.

AL Jazeera News

‘Obstetric winter’: Why are China’s hospitals shutting delivery wards?

Professor Stuart Gietel-Basten attributed China's continuous decline in newborns and the resulting ‘obstetric winter’ experienced by the maternity departments across the nation to fundamental challenges of getting started in life for young people in China, as in many other parts of the world, in particular, the myriad risks to Chinese young women's career and economic well-being from having a family, including the great costs of "uneven burden of care". The demographic changes being reflected in the health sector, Professor Gietel-Basten noted, also means that the services required for an ageing population will increase.

TIME

Marriages Tick Up in Asia but Long-Term Demographic Challenges Persist

Although the number of marriages in Asia showed a seeming uptick after COVID, Professor Stuart Gietel-Basten pointed out that the broader marriage downtrend remains, the uptick only reflected an accelerated decline during the pandemic, and the birth rate still declines despite the increase in the number of marriages due to the simultaneous trend of having fewer or no children. He said, instead of rejecting marriage, the reason for decline of marriage is the rejection of marriage package (social expectations around caring for in-laws, loss of freedom and autonomy, high cost of child-bearing), the effect of downward demographic shift is very hard to reverse, and governments must learn to adapt.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

China’s technical expertise touted as new vehicle for progress on embattled, global belt and road

Professor Naubahar Sharif shared his insight into China's departure from massive infrastructure-dominated Belt and Road Initiative projects to prioritizing technology transfer exchanges and technical expertise sharing in African and ASEAN countries, that this kind of move into more value-added exports represents a safer way of extending the belt and road. He remarked that China has shifted away from using cheap labour to build roads and lay down tracks in these Belt and Road countries to sharing value-added knowledge; however, as China is better known for its technical expertise, it should expect the same criticisms from the West as it has taken for other parts of the Belt and Road.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

China investors eye Africa’s tiny island of Mauritius as it goes green and tries to sweeten trade deals

As Chinese investors eye the relatively wealthy and politically stable Mauritius as a gateway to the African market and for solar energy, Professor Naubahar Sharif gave insight into this approach by remarking that with the shift of the Belt and Road Initiative from megaprojects to smaller and more profitable projects, including green energy, overseas investments by private companies fit into this Belt and Road push; and for Mauritius, Chinese energy investment is a means to curry favor with China to get in their good book, while it is relatively safe from a business perspective because private Chinese firms are going to be careful with what they do.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

Covid-19 deaths drag down Hong Kong life expectancy, but population experts say no cause for alarm

With Hong Kong's loss of the top spot for longevity to Japan in 2022 ever since 2011, Prof. Stuart Gietel-Basten cautioned against reading too much into the sharp rise in death rate in 2022 and overemphasizing the data since more deaths during the peak of the pandemic, primarily at older age skewed the life expectancy at birth, he expected the city's mortality rate to return to its previous downward trend with the world's gradual return to normality and vastly reduced Covid-related deaths.

BBC News

China records population decline for second straight year

Prof. Stuart Gietel-Basten provided insight into China's first population decline in 60 years on BBC News. He remarked that China is following in the footsteps of other rapidly deindustrialized countries, and it is not a surprise that China has one of the lowest fertility rates and a declining population. With China's simultaneous aging population and increased pressure on healthcare and pension systems, Prof. Gietel-Basten commented that China has time and resources to manage as it is going through a workforce transition into the service sector, having a more educated, skilled, and healthy population.

TVB News

Prof. Julien de Troullioud de Lanversin on the Environmental Impact of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Plant Coolant Water Spill-over

World's Top 2% Scientist by Stanford University

Professor Alex Jingwei He Ranked as the World’s Top 2% Most-cited Policy Scholar by Stanford University 2024

Professor Alex Jingwei He ranked among the world's top 2% most cited scientists by Stanford University in the field of Political Science and Public Administration based on 2023 single-year impact. He is also ranked the second highest-ranked scholar in public policy in Hong Kong.