Health secretary Lo Chung-mau said language isn't the only factor determining whether graduates from a non-local medical curriculum can practise in Hong Kong without taking a licensing exam, after more programmes offered by mainland universities are to be recognised by the SAR.

Authorities on Wednesday announced that 25 more medical programmes from universities outside of the territory have been added to a list of recognised qualifications compiled by the government-appointed Special Registration Committee, raising the total to 100.

Seven of the newly added programmes are offered by five mainland institutions, including Tsinghua University in Beijing and Fudan University in Shanghai.

"I'm quite confident that this addition will be able to facilitate more non-locally trained doctors to return to Hong Kong and come to Hong Kong to support our healthcare services, and to create a positive cycle for more healthcare workers to work in the Hospital Authority and/or public healthcare service and improve the care for the citizens of Hong Kong," Lo told reporters.

He also said most of the medical school curricula on the mainland are bilingual, and "language is not the sole consideration" for the authorities in deciding whether a programme is to be recognised.

The health secretary said the quality of programmes on the list should be comparable to those provided by the two medical schools in the SAR.

Other programmes included in the latest batch are offered by universities in Australia, Britain and the United States.