Hong Kong's 12 universities have recruited more than 1,400 Chinese mainland students this year, most of whom got best grades in their regions in the mainland's university entrance examination.

Among the recruited mainland students, most of them achieved good results in "Gaokao," the college entrance examination. For instance, in the test of the English language, average score of these students was 137 points, with the hihest standing at 148 out of the full 150 points.

Some students had won gold medals in the national Olympics competitions or China Adolescents Science and Technology Contest.

"This year, those students who have been recruited by us did well in both Gaokao and the interview," said Tsui Lap-Chee, President of the University of Hong Kong.

"Mainland students are eager to learn, and they also get along quite well with local and international students. Outside the campus, they are getting more passionate towards public welfare and are actively involved in Hong Long society," he told Xinhua.

Mainland students have been admitted to Hong Kong universities since 1998. At present, 12 Hong Kong universities are allowed to recruit mainland full-time bachelor-degree pursuers.

Among these universities, both the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the City University of Hong Kong recruit the candidates through "Gaokao," while other universities select their candidates by interview and consulting their high school academic performances.

This year, more than 10,000 students applied for the University of Hong Kong and eventually the admission rate was about 3 percent.

The University of Hong Kong recruited 286 students, the Chinese University of Hong Kong admitted 270 students, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology admitted 161, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University recruited 241 students, 148 students for the Hong Kong Baptist University and another 195 students admitted to the City University of Hong Kong.

In recent years, some top Gaokao candidates tended to choose Hong Kong's universities instead of such mainland top universities as Peking University and Tsinghua University, which underlined competition among Hong Kong and mainland's universities for talents.