Internationalization of Higher Education in the Greater Bay Area: The Role of World-Class Universities and Regional Innovation

Impactful innovations in higher education are increasingly dependent on concepts generated through global engagement and international collaborations.Internationalisation of higher education tends to grow in complexity when universities from different jurisdictions are driven by dissimilar governance approaches and developmental goals. Yet, this complexity enhances opportunities for creativity, innovations and collaborations at the same time. In this paper, we examine how world-class universities in Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong have worked to overcome incongruities and asymmetries inside the Greater Bay Area (GBA), a new and ambitious regional construct of China, by drawing on disparate legacies and capacities in internationalisation of research, education, and service in their jurisdictions. We explore the impact of international dynamics on the universities' efforts to create a more coherent agenda with respect to international partnerships in the region. The study contributes to conceptualisation of world-class universities' roles in shaping bridges and synergies regionally and globally, and infuses the rationales of internationalization in higher education with new perspectives.