In August that year HKUST board chairman Andrew Liao and then-HKUST president Wei Shyy visited Guangzhou.

[1][2][3] In September 2019 the project received preparatory approval from the Ministry of Education.

In the same month, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in Nansha to mark the start of the project's construction.

[3][4] On 29 June 2022 the Ministry of Education announced that it had formally approved the establishment of HKUST (GZ).

Its opening ceremony was attended by several high level party officials which included Li Xi, Huai Jinpeng, Wang Weizhong.