Half a year has passed, Hong Kong has taken away sixty thousand people.

In six months, Hong Kong lost 60,000 people.

“Do I need a Hong Kong ID card?”

Do you know where I heard this sentence? It was at the entrance of the subway station when I finished work.

I had heard that Hong Kong has been implementing various policies to attract talents this year, but I didn’t expect that news about Hong Kong residency would even reach Shanghai subway stations.

So I quickly looked up some information and realized that without noticing, Hong Kong’s talent attraction plan has already taken a big lead over many other cities.

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Data compiled from: Immigration Department

Not only has the approval number for various talent plans been steadily increasing

By February of this year alone, it had already reached 1.6 times the number from last year, and this wave of approvals is still heating up.

Image source: Hong Kong Labour and Welfare Bureau

As of June 30th this year, Hong Kong has received over 100,000 applications for various immigration talent plans.

Among them, approximately 61,000 applications have been approved.

Keep in mind that last year Hong Kong could only bring in about 35,000 people, and now, in just half a year, they have already exceeded their own KPI.

When we focus more on first and second-tier cities, how did Hong Kong manage to attract so many people?

Where did the extra 60,000 people come from?

If we talk about Hong Kong’s talent attraction this year, the biggest contributor is the talent import plan.

The most recent one is the High-Capacity Talent Scheme, which was launched at the end of 2022. There were also earlier programs such as the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme and the General Employment Policy.

Among them, the most active one is the “High-Capacity Talent Scheme”.

In just six months, they have received 36,500 applications, especially for Class B applications, which received 18,900 applications.

Of course, here I can briefly introduce to you what the so-called Class B application is.

Image source: Immigration Department

There are two main criteria:

1. Graduation from one of the top 100 universities in the world.

2. At least three years of cumulative work experience in the five years prior to the application.

In other words, Hong Kong is more attracted to those who graduate from top universities and have at least three years of work experience.

In addition, there is another unexpected program, the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme.

It has the lowest approval rate, only about 21.6%.

Don’t think that this number is low. You should know that when the program was first implemented in 2006, the approval rate was only 14.1%.

And now the approval rate has greatly increased.

According to data released by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Immigration Department officials during the Q&A session of the 2023-24 budget briefing in April, from 2022 to the end of February 2023.

Data compiled from: Immigration Department

Total number of applications is 6550, with an approval rate as high as 54.3%

This is also the first time the number of approved applications exceeds the number of rejected ones

In addition to the above methods, I have also compiled the number of introductions through other channels

Data compiled from: Immigration Department

As can be seen, although the numbers are only counted up to March, the total is already close to the number for the first half of 2022

And under this trend, through various talent introductions, 60,000 people can be attracted in half a year, and it can reach 120,000 people in a year

It is worth noting that in 2022, Zhejiang Province, which has the highest increase in permanent resident population nationwide, only increased by 370,000 people

What’s more important is that besides the sharp increase in quantity,

Most of the talents attracted are of high quality from mainland China

First of all, we need to know that, taking the most popular High-level Talent Scheme as an example, the most attractive this year

Nearly 95% are talents from mainland China

By the end of May 2023, more than 20,000 people from mainland China were approved for the High-level Talent Scheme

And the talents introduced are also very young and outstanding

Take the Outstanding Talent Scheme for example, in the 2022-23 fiscal year (as of February 2023)

Image source: Immigration Department

The age group of 18-44 accounts for the largest proportion, nearly 90%

In terms of education,

Data compiled from: Immigration Department

From the data, it can be seen that the proportion of approved applications with an education level above “Bachelor’s degree or equivalent” is the highest, accounting for 86.8%

So you see, under the slogan of attracting talents in various provinces this year

I only saw that Zhejiang took the lead in canceling the restrictions on settling outside Hangzhou, and now Jiangsu can’t sit still

So why is it that Hong Kong, starting from the same talent attraction policy, can attract so many outstanding talents?

It’s also because they execute it well enough

In fact, taking this opportunity, I carefully studied Hong Kong’s talent attraction policy, and I found that the difference from other regions is

Hong Kong is really strong in the execution of later-stage policies

First of all, the standards are clear and transparent enough

Every time I used to browse the talent system, I either felt that some restrictions were not clearly stated, or I had to flip through several web pages to know all the information

But when searching for Hong Kong’s policy page, the process was very smooth

Take the popular “Gao Cai Tong Plan” as an example.

When you want to know which are the top 100 universities in the world,

Image source: Immigration Department

You don’t need to search through web pages, just click lightly and it will automatically redirect you to the list of schools.

For example, when you are not sure how to prove that your annual income exceeds 2.5 million Hong Kong dollars,

Image source: Immigration Department

It will directly tell you how to submit it to the local authorities (such as the tax office or the tax department) or the applicant’s employing company to solve it.

Even the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate is taken into consideration.

And the approval results are also very transparent.

Image source: Immigration Department

The results will be directly announced and a written notice will be issued on the relevant website.

From the definition of the conditions at the beginning of the approval process, to the problems that may arise during the process, and to the public announcement of the final results,

It is these details that make us feel that Hong Kong’s attitude towards talent recruitment is very clear:

As long as the criteria are met, anyone can apply.

But this alone is not enough. If it is only about setting criteria, I believe that many cities can also be meticulous enough.

What surprised me even more is that Hong Kong is also superior in terms of efficiency.

Secondly, the process is fast and convenient enough.

In terms of approval time,

Image source: Immigration Department

The fastest processing time is about four weeks.

Among the process optimizations, the most significant change is the Talent Admission Scheme.

Table compiled from: Galaxy Group

The main changes are two-fold.

On the one hand, the application process has been simplified as much as possible.

The previous interview process has been cancelled, and even the provision of documents can be submitted electronically. The proof of criminal records has also been cancelled.

Previously, the entire cycle of applying for Hong Kong’s talent scheme took about 9-12 months. Now, the shortest time is only 5 months.

In addition, there is an unlimited quota for two years.

Starting from January 1, 2023, the annual quota limit will be abolished, and it will last for 2 years.

In other words, you can apply for talent admission more conveniently and without being limited by quotas.

Thirdly, it even tries to help you expand the criteria.

For those who want to enter Hong Kong through outstanding professions, an updated talent list was announced on May 16th this year.

@Honghu Immigration Expert Ivy

The number of professional types covered has been increased from the original 13 to 51

As long as you belong to the industry on the talent list, you can get an additional 30 points in the comprehensive scoring system when applying for the Hong Kong Talent Scheme

including as early as July this year

Image source: Internet

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam openly called for further relaxation of the application threshold for the “High-end Talent Admission Scheme”:

Graduates from non-global top 100 universities can also apply

If this adjustment is implemented, it is believed that the future influx of people into Hong Kong will be more crowded

So why is Hong Kong desperately recruiting talent this year

It is also related to the current population changes in Hong Kong

Let me show you a very critical point in time, 2020

Data compiled from: Hong Kong Government Census and Statistics Department

By the end of 2020, the temporary figure of Hong Kong’s population was 7.4742 million

Since then, the population of Hong Kong has continued to decline for three consecutive years

For example, in terms of Hong Kong’s current birth rate, the number of births has dropped significantly from 52,900 in 2019 to 32,500 in 2022

It hit a record low since 1961

The decrease in population has also brought about a shortage of labor force

Image source: Hong Kong 01

Especially in the aviation industry, the vacancy rate is the highest in March 2023, reaching 13.3%, which means that there is one vacancy for every 10 positions

Followed by residential care services (9.1%) and accommodation services (7.4%)

Not only that, mainland China’s attraction to Hong Kong is also increasing

According to the latest figures from the Hong Kong Immigration Department, the number of Hong Kong people traveling to the mainland reached 4.68 million in July

In other words, more than 160,000 people go north every day

Image source: Real Hong Kong

Not only the number of people is almost twice that of mainland Chinese people going to Hong Kong in July (2.75 million), it is estimated that they also spent a total of HK$4 billion in mainland China

Especially for friends from Shenzhen

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Whether it’s shopping at the mall, dining at a restaurant, or drinking milk tea, you can see many Hong Kong people with suitcases

In the past, everyone loved to buy from Hong Kong, but now‍‍

Instead, it is the people from Shenzhen who have started to buy from Hong Kong in reverse

On the one hand, the population is decreasing, on the other hand, the attractiveness of Hong Kong to the mainland is increasing. Can you say that Hong Kong is not in a hurry to attract talent?

Of course, it’s not just Hong Kong that is so urgent

including recent relaxation of household registration in Zhejiang and Jiangsu

In the future, for every city, talent recruitment will definitely be the main theme

But when we are overwhelmed by many talent policies

When we look back, those cities that can stand out, such as Hong Kong, are really showing their policy openly

First, various talent plans are launched

High-level Talent Scheme, Professional Talent Scheme, Excellent Talent Scheme…

Then continuously adjust the restrictions, cancel interviews, cancel quotas, even the browsing of the webpage is very clear and clear

I remember when I was browsing the information, I also found a quite special case

Image source: Hong Kong 01

It is a Shenzhen mother over the age of 35

At 3 am on January 5, 2023, she submitted the High-level Talent Scheme application online, and two days later she received approval from the Hong Kong Immigration Department

Then in mid-March, she obtained a Hong Kong identity card, and in May, she received an unexpected offer

We say that policies and their implementation are two different things, and now Hong Kong can receive more than 100,000 applications in half a year

I believe it is also because this city of Hong Kong has shown enough sincerity.

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