Chinese University of Hong Kong is seeking a bank loan of around HK$4 billion ($510 million) to refinance a facility supporting its private hospital, according to people familiar with the matter. CUHK has invited banks to submit loan proposals, as local universities increasingly turn to debt financing for major projects. The university obtained the original HK$4.03 billion loan from the Hong Kong government about a decade ago to help develop the CUHK Medical Centre, Hong Kong's first nonprofit private teaching hospital wholly owned by a local university.

The loan market can be an easy way for local universities to raise funds, as they are generally considered high-quality borrowers. CUHK and the medical centre proposed repaying the government loan principal by March 2027, one year before a revised deadline after CUHK reported an improvement in its financial position. Apart from the loan market, the University of Hong Kong became the city's first university to tap the bond market this year, selling three bonds totaling HK$2 billion to help finance campus development projects.