The Executive Council on Tuesday approved a proposal put forward by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to establish the city's third medical school.

Secretary for Health Lo Chung‑mau said a task group conducted a holistic assessment using clear criteria.

He said HKUST’s proposal ranked higher than the other two contenders – Baptist and Polytechnic universities – citing the Clear Water Bay institution's strengths in strategy, funding and research.

"The UST has got a lot of important advantages in terms of, for example, their innovative strategic positioning and building up clinician scientists," Lo said.

"Their university ranking is certainly one of the matters that we consider as we see UST has a more global outlook and the financial model that it proposes is more in line with the policy of having a matching in our subsidy in this important venture."

HKUST is expected to enrol 50 medical students as part of its first batch in 2028, which will then see them graduate in 2032.

Lo said the third medical school would help train more local doctors to tackle shortages amid an ageing population. He added its establishment would lead to synergy with the two existing schools and help promote Hong Kong as an international hub for medical training, research and innovation.

The government has reserved a site in Ngau Tam Mei in the Northern Metropolis for the building of a medical school campus and a teaching hospital, but Lo said it would not be ready before 2034. As an interim move, HKUST will use its own funds and donations to invest HK$2 billion in a medical complex in Clear Water Bay.

Lo added that, before the new teaching hospital was completed, medical students from HKUST would be sent to different public hospitals for training.

"The teaching hospital in Ngau Tam Mei will not be ready for quite a while. We will need to rely on some other teaching hospitals, which is actually included in the proposal by UST," he said.

"This is also the reason that we have to seek support from the Hospital Authority, which is the main healthcare service provider in Hong Kong... so we will coordinate with the Hospital Authority to support the new medical school's clinical teaching."

The third medical school plan was announced in Chief Executive John Lee's Policy Address last year.