Hong Kong talent drive: as expats trickle in, wave of mainland Chinese sparks concern about city’s diversity, international status

Mainlanders made up more than nine in 10 of all approved to come under various talent schemes this year

Foreigners arriving from UK, US and Australia from January to July comprised only a fifth of 2018 figure

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Published: 9:00am, 20 Sep 2023Updated: 11:10am, 21 Sep 2023

Hong Kong pulled out the stops to woo talent, but foreigners who left during the Covid-19 pandemic have been slow to return. In the first of a two-part series, Laura Westbrook and Lars Hamer describe the influx of mainland Chinese and what it might mean for the city. Read part two here.

Sichuan-born business analyst Wang Yu, 30, counts the ways life has turned out better for her since she moved to Hong Kong in January.

“I do not need VPN for YouTube, Twitter or Facebook, I get paid HK$15,000 [US$1,900] more and the tax is lower,” she said.

The workplace was also an improvement on the rigid office hierarchies and “rigorous overtime culture” in mainland China, she added.

Wang was based in Shenzhen before moving to Hong Kong on a work visa for mainlanders, the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals.

She recalled that on visits to the city before the Covid-19 pandemic, she would worry about speaking Mandarin rather than Cantonese. Now, however, she has found Mandarin being spoken much more widely.

Hong Kong talent drive: as expats trickle in, wave of mainland Chinese sparks concern about city’s diversity, international status

Mainlanders made up more than nine in 10 of all approved to come under various talent schemes this year Foreigners arriving from UK, US and Australia from January to July comprised only a fifth of 2018 figure

Mainlanders made up more than nine in 10 of all approved to come under various talent schemes this year

Foreigners arriving from UK, US and Australia from January to July comprised only a fifth of 2018 figure