Hong Kong’s got talent: John Lee says 84,000 people have applied to worker admission schemes, city is ‘value-added super-connector’

City well on way to attracting nearly double the 35,000 workers annually targeted by admission schemes, Chief Executive John Lee tells Post’s China conference

Hong Kong must maintain international status and connections, while telling positive stories amid ‘growing volatility and tensions in geopolitics’, he says

Reading Time:4 minutes

Published: 5:58pm, 20 Jun 2023Updated: 1:48am, 21 Jun 2023

Hong Kong’s leader has underscored the city’s role as a “value-added super-connector” now on a global mission to win business deals and lure talent, revealing it is well on its way to attracting nearly double the 35,000 workers annually targeted by admission schemes.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday told the South China Morning Post’s China Conference: Hong Kong 2023 it was important to maintain the city’s international status and connections, while also telling positive stories in light of “growing volatility and tensions in geopolitics”.

About 84,000 people had applied to talent admission schemes as of the end of last month, and roughly 49,000 had been approved, Lee said.

“This is solid proof of Hong Kong’s attractiveness for global talents to come and settle, live and work,” he said, adding the numbers suggested the city would attract nearly double its initial target of 35,000 workers annually.

Chief Executive John Lee says his administration has gone all-out in promoting the city following the end of the pandemic. Photo: May Tse

Lee said his administration planned to convince at least 1,130 companies to either set up in Hong Kong or expand their local operations by 2025.