News
Mainland Exchange Programme for Junior Secondary and Upper Primary Students (2025/26)
Summary
This circular memorandum invites primary and secondary schools (including special schools) to nominate Primary 4 to Secondary 3 students and teachers (including principals) to participate in the captioned programme. Relevant information will also be sent to schools via the “Fast Information Transmission System - School Messaging Module” (SMM).
Details
The Education Bureau (EDB) will continuously provide more opportunities for students to participate in the Mainland study tours. The targets include reserving adequate places for all students in publicly‑funded schools to participate in at least one subsidised Mainland exchange programme each in their primary and secondary stages under the Mainland Exchange Programme for Junior Secondary and Upper Primary Students and the Mainland Exchange Programme for Secondary School Students.
The EDB organises “Mainland Exchange Programme for Junior Secondary and Upper Primary Students (2025/26)” (the Programme). The Programme aims at providing different learning experiences for students to enhance their understanding of the history, culture, custom, urban and rural developments, economic development, technology and nature conservation in the Mainland (including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Sichuan, Xi'an, Nanjing and Wuhan), thereby enhancing their sense of national identity.
The EDB has commissioned service providers to organise 6 tours outside the Guangdong Province and 16 tours in the Guangdong Province, ranging from one to four days, between September 2025 and August 2026 for Primary 4 to Secondary 3 students. Please refer to Annex 1 (Chinese version only) for details of the Programme and application procedures and Annex 2 (Chinese version only) for the itineraries and other information of these 22 trips.
Schools may apply for more than one tour in the 2025/26 school year. Schools should proactively encourage students who have not joined any Mainland exchange programmes to participate in at least one subsidised Mainland exchange programme (MEP) in their primary and secondary stages. In addition, starting from 10 July 2024, non-Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of Hong Kong may apply for the “Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Permanent Residents (Non-Chinese Citizens)” from the China Travel Service Entry Permit Service Hong Kong Limited. Schools should remind eligible students to complete the application procedures soon so that they can use the E-channels at ports of entry for immigration clearance and need not fill in the Arrival Card when entering the Mainland, thus enhancing clearance efficiency. For details, please refer to the respective webpage (https://www.ctshk.com/mep/zh/nrep_notice_mep/).
Interested schools are requested to download the application form from the websites of the respective service providers. The completed application form should be returned to the respective service provider by fax within the specified period of time [Please refer to Annex 2 (Chinese version only)] before the planned departure date of the trip.
Starting from the 2024/25 school year, schools will receive the latest itinerary information and application details of MEPs for students via the SMM. The EDB will continue to issue individual Circular Memoranda on MEPs and adjust relevant arrangements based on actual circumstances.
Enquiry
For enquiries on the enrolment and itineraries, please contact the respective service providers. For general enquiries about the Programme, please contact the Life-wide Learning and Mainland Exchange Section 2 of EDB at 2892 6543, 2892 6432 or 2892 5936. For more information about the Mainland exchange programmes for students, please visit the “Passing on the Torch” website (https://www.passontorch.org.hk).
For further details of the Scheme, please refer to the Education Bureau Circular Memorandum No. 104/2025. (Download)