High school students from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will soon be able to apply for universities in Hong Kong and Macao for the first time, a spokesman from Xinjiang's university enrollment office said Sunday.

Xinjiang students who have registered for this year's national college entrance examination will be qualified to apply for 16 universities in Hong Kong and Macao, the spokesman said.

The 16 universities include 11 from Hong Kong and five from Macao, including the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology and University of Macao.

The universities will conduct separate admission procedures in accordance with prospective candidates' performance on the national college entrance examination and separate interviews, according to the spokesman.

The degrees earned by these students will be recognized by China's mainland educational authorities, the spokesman said.