“Can China Outcompete the US?”

(Hong Kong SAR, 25 April 2023) The Hong Kong Policy Research Institute and Yew Chung Yew Wah Education Network, jointly organised a luncheon presentation entitled “Can China Outcompete the US?” featuring keynote speaker Professor Kishore Mahbubani.  The event was sponsored by B & P Foundation with Hong Kong Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group News Department Omnimedia Center as the official media partner.

Professor Kishore Mahbubani, a former Singapore Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations, a former President of the United Nations Security Council and Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, delivered an insightful presentation on the relative political, economic, social and cultural strengths of the two superpowers. Professor Mahbubani is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.

Mr Paul Tse, Executive Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute and Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, moderated the event. He praised Professor Mahbubani's vast diplomatic experience and noted that the speaker's profound research and insights on international relations made him a renowned expert and scholar in the field of international geopolitics. 

Professor Paul Yip Kwok-wah, Chairman of the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute and Yew Chung Yew Wah Education Network, and Mr Chan Heng Wing, the Non-Resident Ambassador of Singapore to the Republic of Austria, were acknowledged respectively for initiating and arranging the event and for extending the invitations on behalf of the organisers.       

The event was attended by more than 100 participants from various sectors, including representative office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong SAR, foreign consulates, and local and international media.  Professor Mahbubani fielded questions from the audience during the Q&A session.

About Yew Chung Yew Wah Education Network (YCYW)

YCYW is a global education pioneer with roots in Hong Kong, China. It seeks to combine the best of Chinese and Western cultures to create a truly distinctive spectrum of educational provision. Its mission is to nurture compassionate global citizens for the building of a better world.

Madam Tsang Chor-hang was a visionary and education pioneer who founded the first Yew Chung School and Kindergarten in Hong Kong in 1932. In 1970, her daughter Dr Betty Chan Po-king joined Yew Chung to assist in its management. As a dedicated researcher in early childhood education, Dr Chan put forth an innovative concept of ‘learning through play’. In 1985, Yew Chung organised the ‘Pillars of Tomorrow’, an Early Childhood Education Exhibition in Beijing, which was officiated by Ms Kang Keqing, the then Chairlady of the Beijing Soong Ching Ling Foundation. In 1989, Yew Chung collaborated with UNICEF to organise the world's first academic forum on early childhood education, promoting exchanges between early childhood education communities in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and around the world.

In the 1990s, Yew Chung was invited to Shanghai and Beijing to run schools for expatriates in the mainland. Following in her mother's footsteps, Dr Betty Chan Po-king and her husband, Professor Paul Yip Kwok-wah, later founded the Yew Chung Yew Wah Education Network, nurturing Chinese and expatriate students to contribute to the international stage.

The educational pedigree encompasses the entire spectrum from early childhood to tertiary education including Yew Chung International Schools, Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education, Yew Wah International Education Schools, Yew Wah International Education Kindergartens and Yew Wah Infant and Toddler Discovery Centres in cities covering Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Qingdao, Yantai, Tongxiang, Silicon Valley, USA and Somerset, UK. Each year, YCYW provides quality education and development opportunities for more than 13,000 teachers and students around the world.     

About The Hong Kong Policy Research Institute

The Hong Kong Policy Research Institute (HKPRI) is a non-profit making and independent public policy think tank set up in 1995 in anticipation of China’s resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997.  The primary objective of the HKPRI is to contribute, through conducting public researches and publishing effective and pragmatic proposals and recommendations, towards the successful implementation of the One Country Two Systems in Hong Kong.

About B & P Foundation

The B&P Foundation, a non-profit organization established in February 2010 by Professor Paul Yip Kwok-wah and Dr. Betty Chan Po-king, has a distinguished history of contributing to public welfare initiatives. Professor Yip and Dr. Chan have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to advancing the greater good, and the foundation has provided funding for a diverse range of programs spanning social services, education, policy research, youth development, cultural development, and international exchanges.

The B&P Foundation benefits from the support of the B&P Group, a prominent business entity with operations in various sectors, including education, culture and tourism, social welfare, and science and technology. In education, the group is involved in the Yew Chung Yew Wah Education Network, which supports kindergartens and primary schools, and the forthcoming Hong Kong Yew Wah School, which will be the first school outside of mainland China to offer Mainland China curriculum in 2027. The culture and tourism sector includes the Huang Shan scholars Conference Hotel, Mandarin Plaza Hotel, the Cebu Bohol Island Resort and Bohol Island Beach Resort, and International Scholars Exchange Centre Limited, which operates as a travel agency. To create a positive social impact, B&P has supported organizations such as the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute, the Hong Kong Chinese Cultural Development Association, the Hong Kong Basic Law Foundation, and H.K.F.S. Fund Limited. Finally, the B&P Group holds shares in Rainbow Fish Ocean Technology and Abyss Exploration, demonstrating its commitment to the advancement of science and technology.