Hong Kong student Huen Chak-ming never imagined his interest in traditional Chinese medicine could develop into a career until he received an admissions letter from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine last summer.

"If I had stayed in Hong Kong, I probably would have had to change my major because there are few universities offering classes in Chinese medicine, and opportunities for clinical practice are also rare," Huen said on Friday after finishing his first semester at the university.

Thanks to the exam-free policy, adopted by the Ministry of Education in 2012, Huen and 25 other Hong Kong secondary school graduates enrolled at the university in autumn 2013 without taking the Joint Entrance Examination, previously mandatory for students from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.