Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki yesterday led a delegation of the Working Group on Planning & Construction of the University Town under the Committee on Development of the Northern Metropolis as they began a visit to Germany.

The visit aims to provide a solid reference for planning and development of the Northern Metropolis University Town (NMUT) through site visits to local higher education and innovation and technology infrastructure.

The delegation first visited RWTH Aachen University yesterday to exchange views with university representatives and stakeholders, as well as tour campus facilities.

Founded in 1870, RWTH Aachen University is Germany's largest technology university and a leading European institution in engineering and applied sciences.

As a member of the TU9 alliance of leading German technology universities, it houses numerous national research centres and maintains close ties with industry.

The delegation toured WZL, an institute renowned for its deep industry co-operation and status as one of Europe's largest production technology facilities. They also visited an operational demonstration factory that integrates industry partners while serving research and training purposes.

Through the site visits, the delegation studied the university's experiences in campus planning, industry-academia-research integration, innovation ecosystem development, technology transfers and interdisciplinary collaborations. The insights gathered will serve as practical references for developing the campus ecosystem and industry-academia co-operation at the NMUT.

Mr Chan noted that RWTH Aachen University is widely recognised for translating fundamental research into real-world applications through an exceptionally strong industry-led model and deep corporate collaboration.

He expressed hope to draw on this successful model to ensure higher education and cutting-edge research jointly drive technological breakthroughs and industrial advancement at the NMUT.

Mr Chan added that learning from the university's ability to nurture long-term fundamental research while fostering close industry partnerships will help deepen the integration of industry, academia and research at the NMUT.