The first group of mainland students admitted to Hong Kong universities have made outstanding achievements in their academic study and will graduate this summer.

Despite the intense competition in the job market, a third of those mainland students have got employment offer by large companies in Hong Kong, and many of them will continue study in prestigious universities abroad.

The first group of mainland students came to study in Hong Kong in 1999 under the Mainland Students Scholarship Scheme sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

The 150 mainland students were admitted to the eight institutions in Hong Kong, including the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Polytechnic University and City University.

Mainland graduates were not allowed to work in Hong Kong until the governments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) announced in March last year that those studying in local universities would be allowed to work in Hong Kong after they had graduated.

Ruan Zhongjing, who is studying the law in the University of Hong Kong, said that she used to perform very badly in her first year study, due to her poor English proficiency.

Ruan, from the Tsinghua University, was very upset and even wanted to give up studying in Hong Kong.

Thanks to the encouragement of her teachers and her painstaking efforts, Ruan became one of the top students in the second year, she said.

Because of her outstanding performance in academic study, Ruan has been employed by a renowned law firm in Hong Kong. But Ruan said that she would take a postgraduate program in Cambridge University after graduation, before taking the job offer in Hong Kong and the law firm will reserve the position for her.

Yang Zheng, who studied at Fudan University in Shanghai before coming to Hong Kong, has been offered a job as an accountant with Ernst & Young.

"I will work in Hong Kong for the next three or four years," she said. "Hong Kong has a lead over the mainland in the field of accounting."

Yang Jie, a Shanghai student studying economics and finance in the University of Hong Kong, said, she would study for a doctoral degree at the UCLA from September.

She said she would be interested in working in Hong Kong after completing the five-year program.

Zhu Liyan, also from Shanghai, has decided to take a position with the Shanghai General Electric Corporation after graduation.

She believes that Shanghai is in potential of economic development and there must be golden opportunities for her career.

( April 15, 2002)