News
Mainland Exchange Programme for Secondary School Students (2025/26)
Summary
This circular memorandum invites secondary schools (including special schools) to nominate Secondary 1 to 6 students and teaching staff (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) organises “Mainland Exchange Programme for Secondary School Students (2025/26)” (the Programme). In line with the school curriculum, the Programme aims at providing different learning experiences for students to enhance their understanding of the history, culture, technological and economic development, etc. in the Mainland (including Beijing, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hainan, Hunan, Hubei, Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Xian, Fujian, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shaoxing and Shanxi), thereby enhancing their sense of national identity.
EDB has commissioned service providers to organise 13 tours outside the Guangdong Province, ranging from four to five days, between November 2025 and July 2026 for Secondary 1 to 6 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 the tours.
Schools should proactively encourage students who have not joined any Mainland exchange programmes before to participate in at least one subsidised Mainland exchange programme in their secondary stage. 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/).
Schools may apply for more than one tour in the 2025/26 school year. Schools intending to participate in the Programme should download the application form from the website of respective service providers. The completed application form should be submitted to respective service providers by the specified deadline (refer to Annex 2 (Chinese version only)) prior to departure.
Starting from the 2024/25 school year, schools will receive the latest itinerary information and application details of MEPs for students via the SMM. During the transitional period, the EDB will continue to issue individual Circular Memoranda on MEPs and adjust relevant arrangements based on actual circumstances.
Enquiries
For enquiries about the enrolment and itineraries, please contact respective service providers. For general enquiries about the Programme, please contact the Life-wide Learning and Mainland Exchange Section 2 of EDB at 2892 5762 or 2892 5734. For more information about the Mainland exchange programmes for students, please visit the “Passing on the Torch” website (https://www.passontorch.org.hk/en/index.html).
For further details of the Scheme, please refer to the Education Bureau Circular Memorandum No. 157/2025. (Download)