Greater Bay Area offers jobs, career opportunities, lower living costs, but will young Hongkongers bite? Many need to be persuaded.
- Negative perceptions of working culture, regulations in mainland China put off many from moving
- Those working across the border say it is a chance to learn, burnish credentials, get ahead
It took Hongkonger Jerry Chan Chun-lai some time to adapt to life across the border in Shenzhen, going cashless everywhere and speaking Mandarin instead of Cantonese. He missed his parents and brother back home too.
Chan, 31, who is single and manager of assurance of multinational professional services network PwC, says half his clients are from the mainland.
He used to make cross-border business trips every month before the Covid-19 pandemic, then had to resort to videoconferencing.
When his company offered employees the opportunity to relocate to the bay area this year, he took it right away.
He believes being raised in Hong Kong’s multicultural society, his command of English and global perspective give him an edge over his mainland counterparts.
Over the past four months, he has been seeing clients in emerging industries such as financial technology and medical technology, and start-ups.
