The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) on Thursday said it hopes to attract more undergraduates from Belt and Road countries now the government is allowing institutions to bring in four non-local students for every 10 locals they have, up from two previously.

Emily Nason, director of undergraduate recruitment and admissions, said the university aims to recruit an extra 100 students from outside the SAR in the next academic year, on top of the usual figure of around 500.

"We will not double the non-local intake in just one year. We will do it step-by-step to make sure we have enough resources to take care of both the new students and also all our current students," Nason said.

"In terms of housing, we already have four blocks of new undergraduate housing that are in the final stage of construction that will be ready to open in the coming academic year in September."

The four new blocks will provide an extra 1,500 beds, Nason added.

HKUST said around 50 percent of its non-local students come from the mainland, but it intends to increase recruitment efforts in countries under the Belt and Road Initiative, such as Vietnam, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.

In Wednesday's Policy Address, Chief Executive John Lee said that various scholarship schemes will be expanded to get talented graduates to stay in the city for further studies or to conduct research.

George Tan, an HKUST undergraduate from Malaysia who receives a scholarship, said the university itself could be a good enough reason for him to stay on in Hong Kong.

“Other than the scholarship itself, it’s the environment and quality of education that HKUST provides that makes us reconsider whether to continue for a postgraduate programme,” Tan said.

Another student with a scholarship, Park Jungjin from South Korea, said the city’s openness to researchers is what attracted him to stay.

“I’ve been here for over nine years…. I don’t think there are many places in the world where you can find students doing a PhD and also pursuing entrepreneurship in a completely different field,” Park said.