HONG KONG, Feb. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Lingnan University welcomed nearly 200 higher education leaders from all over the world at its Tuen Mun campus today (27 February). The visit was one of the main activities of the 2026 Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) Conference and Exhibition. Through campus tours and interactive exchanges, Lingnan showed its internationalised learning environment and innovative teaching facilities, actively highlighting Hong Kong's unique advantages as an international higher education hub. The University also promoted the "Study in Hong Kong" brand, which aims to attract more non-local students to study and work in the city. Lingnan's senior management, academic staff, and students explored opportunities to work with representatives of student exchange programmes, research partnerships, and talent recruitment.

Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science at Lingnan University, addressed the distinguished guests, saying "The University's Lingnan-60 Global Talent Recruitment programme has rapidly assembled a top-tier engineering, artificial intelligence, and data science faculty, excelling in innovation and with great international influence. By adopting a distinctive Liberal Arts + Technology education model, we provide students with opportunities for whole-person development and interdisciplinary academic exchange. We are taking this opportunity to demonstrate Lingnan's position as a leading research-oriented liberal arts university, comprehensive in arts and sciences in the digital era, to foster closer collaborative relationships with the global higher education community, to attract more non-local talents to the Lingnan family, and to nurture future leaders with an ambitious international vision."

There were presidents, senior management, and representatives from many of the world's top 100 universities, as well as highly respected institutions such as Nanyang Technological University, KU Leuven, UC Berkeley, Korea University, and the University of Warwick. Led by Prof Bradley R. Barnes, Special Advisor to President on Internationalization and Director of Global Education at Lingnan University, together with a group of Lingnan students, the delegation toured campus facilities epitomising cultural diversity, and visited the student residences. The visit showed how exchange students from around the world engage with faculty and peers at Lingnan University through shared spaces and residential activities, and learn to appreciate of the spiritual values inherent in Chinese culture.

The delegation also visited the new Wu Jieh Yee Lingnan Hub, a multipurpose complex designed for shared living and contact between faculty and students, and to encourage closer connections within the Lingnan community. They also toured the seven-storey Lingnan Education Organization Building currently under construction, which will be equipped with state‑of‑the‑art teaching and research facilities, and house the School of Data Science and the interdisciplinary research hub, strengthening Lingnan's academic and research excellence.

Seemi NISAR, a Year 4 Economics student from Pakistan, shared her learning experience during the exchange session: "These past few years can be summed up in one phrase—'stepping out of my comfort zone'. Although I initially faced the unknown and challenges when I came to Hong Kong, it was through these experiences that I gained the most valuable opportunities for learning and personal growth. Lingnan's exchange programmes, internship opportunities, and service-learning initiatives have allowed me to accumulate rich international experience beyond academics, and truly feel my holistic development."

Zhansaya MAKHAMBETALIYEVA, a Year 1 Data Science student from Kazakhstan, added: "Lingnan offers a learning environment that combines rigorous academic training with diverse extracurricular experiences, enabling students to challenge themselves and gain a sense of accomplishment in a multicultural setting, beyond the classroom."

Lingnan University supports the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China in making Hong Kong into an international post-secondary education hub, and promotes the 'Study in Hong Kong' brand. The University's international influence has grown, and it came first globally for SDG 4: Quality Education in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Impact Rankings 2025. For the first time, Lingnan was also in the top 301–350 universities worldwide of the THE World University Rankings 2026, and its international outlook placed 47th. Over 20 per cent of Lingnan scholars are on Stanford University's list of the World's Top 2% Scientists.

The APAIE Conference and Exhibition, one of the three most successful international education conferences, is sponsored and hosted this year by the eight Hong Kong universities funded by the University Grants Committee. Themed "Asia-Pacific Partnerships for the Global Good", it will bring together over 3,000 higher education leaders and experts from more than 70 countries and regions to explore critical issues and emerging trends in higher education. The APAIE Conference and Exhibition will also have pre-workshops, keynote lectures, parallel sessions, roundtable discussions, networking functions, and local university campus tours.