(About the author: National Excellent Teacher, Distinguished Expert of "College Admissions", focusing on the college entrance examination for 20 years, and publishing more than 20 monographs).
After deliberation by the Council of the Association of Chinese University Presidents, the University of Macau officially joined the "Association of Chinese University Presidents" (C9 Alliance+).
C9 Alliance is the abbreviation of China's first university alliance among top universities.
The form of the C9 alliance is similar to the Ivy League in the United States and the Russell University Group in the United Kingdom, aiming to strengthen cooperation and exchanges in the fields of talent training and scientific research, and complement each other's advantages. Since its establishment, the alliance has carried out a number of substantive activities, such as sending students to each other and holding summer camps.
The C9 Alliance has a long history.
In 1997, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, the Association of Chinese University Presidents was established.
The founding institutions include Peking University, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Nanjing University, Fudan University, Zhejiang University, The University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
In 2009, the association added new members: University of Science and Technology of China and Harbin Institute of Technology.
In the same year, nine Mainland institutions of the Association established the "C9 Alliance".
To put it simply, China's nine-university alliance schools are: Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Nanjing University, University of Science and Technology of China, Harbin Institute of Technology, abbreviated as C9.
Previously, it was called C9+3 because of cooperation with the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Now the University of Macau has also joined C9, so it is called C9+3+1.
In order to promote the construction of first-class universities and improve the level of higher education in China and its international influence, in March 2003, the Alliance of Nine Universities held the first "Series of Seminars on the Construction of First-class Universities".
The symposium was held at Tsinghua University and has since been held annually on a rotating basis.
Since 2010, the University of Hong Kong, the University of Hong Kong, the University of Chinese and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have been invited to participate in the symposium.
In 2023, the University of Macau and Macau University of Science and Technology participated in the symposium for the first time.
On 5 September 2021, the Communist Party of China (CPC) issued the Master Plan for the Development of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin. In this proposal, there are two references to universities in Macau.
As mentioned in the first place, the Hengqin Campus of the University of Macau and the Macao jurisdiction of the Hengqin Port are under the authority of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to be managed by the Macao Special Administrative Region**, and the relevant systems and regulations of Macao shall be applied, and they shall be physically fenced off from other areas. It's like a unique oasis where Macau's higher education institutions thrive in the hot land of Hengqin.
The second is the planning of the construction of scientific and technological infrastructure in the cooperation zone, including the organization and implementation of international major science programs and projects, as well as the construction of industry-university-research demonstration bases of the University of Macau and Macau University of Science and Technology with high standards. These measures will build a technological innovation and transformation center, and promote the cooperation zone to become an important fulcrum of the international science and technology innovation center in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. This is like giving Macao's universities the wings of science and technology, allowing them to spread their wings in the field of innovation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. 
The University of Macau, known as "China's smallest university", was founded in 1981 as the private University of East Asia, the first modern higher education institution in Macau. In 1988, it was renamed as a public university after the acquisition, and in 1991 it was renamed the University of Macau. After 40 years of development, it has developed into the best international and the only comprehensive public university in Macau. In the QS World University Rankings 2020, the University of Macau is ranked 387th. The university may be the smallest in China, with more than 9,000 students and faculty sharing a campus the size of a football field. The stacked academic buildings are stacked like pavilions in the sky, and the most common means of transportation on campus is the elevator. Even the experiments had to be carried out in the dormitories. In order to expand the campus area, in 2009** the University of Macau was approved to build a new campus on Hengqin Island in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province. The Macao SAR** implements the legal and administrative system of Macao in the new campus, and this authorization is valid for 40 years. In December 2010, the construction of the new campus of the University of Macau officially began. The new campus was inaugurated in July 2013 and put into use by the end of the year. The Hengqin Campus of the University of Macau, which covers an area of about 1 square kilometer, occupies about 1 30 square meters of Macao's area and is 20 times the area of the original campus. For the students of the University of Macau, the change from a narrow 21 buildings to more than 80 buildings every day is undoubtedly earth-shaking. In the new semester of 2014, the Hengqin Campus of the University of Macau welcomed its first batch of students. They left the cramped old campus on Taipa Island, took a bus through the casino-lined road, crossed the 500-meter-long undersea tunnel, and entered the new campus in about 2 minutes. The new campus not only provides a wider Xi and living space, but also demonstrates the University's commitment to excellence and innovation. 
The University of Macau is a comprehensive university with four faculties of business, law, social and humanities, and science and technology, providing mainland students with a wide range of professional choices, such as accounting, finance, management, marketing, gaming management, international business, Chinese law, journalism and public communication, English, Portuguese, civil engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, software engineering, etc. The annual tuition fee is MOP122,600 and the accommodation fee is MOP16,500. Recently,The University of Macau (UM) has taken the lead in releasing the 2024 Mainland Undergraduate Admissions Guide, for the 2024 college entrance examination candidates from 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country. It is worth noting that when recruiting students in the mainland, the University of Macau has different preferential bonus policies for candidates from different provinces and cities. For example,Candidates from Beijing will be given 5 points, candidates from Guangdong Province will be given 5 points, candidates from Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province will be given 15 points, and candidates with household registration in Hengqin, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province will be given 20 points. In response to this policy, the University of Macau's "Admissions Guide" explains that it is "to implement and reflect the long-term plan for regional cooperation and development". This explanation has sparked attention and discussion about this policy. Personally, I believe that this policy has a certain degree of rationality and necessity. First of all, candidates in different regions face different competitive environments and exam difficulties in the college entrance examination, so adding points to candidates in different regions can better reflect fairness and reasonableness. Secondly, as a comprehensive university, the University of Macau needs to provide more opportunities and choices for students from different regions, and this policy can also promote inter-regional exchanges and cooperation. What are your thoughts and thoughts on this article?
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