The government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced Friday more outstanding students from China's mainland will be allowed to pursue undergraduate studies in the institutions funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC) and seek employment in Hong Kong upon graduation.

The new scheme will be implemented with effect from August 1.

A government spokesman said, "this will pave the way for more private scholarship schemes or self-financed students from the mainland to come to Hong Kong."

"The overall number of non-local (including mainland) students pursuing undergraduate studies in the UGC-funded institutions will be kept within the existing ceiling for non-local students, which is four percent of the approved first-year first-degree intake of individual institutions," the spokesman said.

"Mainland students pursuing undergraduate-level exchange programs shorter than a year will not be subject to any quota restriction," he added.

"To strengthen our pool of talents for the technology-intensive and knowledge-based economy, we will allow degree or above level mainland students graduating from UGC-funded institutions in 1990 or afterwards to re-enter Hong Kong for employment without recourse to any specific scheme," the spokesman said.

(People's Daily 07/07/2001)