By Zhang Pan
The prospering Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is getting more and more
attractive for young talents from Hong Kong.
Nearly 1,100 graduates from Hong Kong universities have been hired in mainland cities in the
Greater Bay Area under the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme launched by the
government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in 2021.
The scheme aims to encourage and support enterprises with businesses in both the HKSAR and
the Greater Bay Area to hire Hong Kong university graduates and station them in the area’s
mainland cities.
A total of 689 among the nearly 1,100 graduates chose to work in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.
A recent KPMG report indicated that the willingness of Hong Kong respondents to relocate to
other Greater Bay Area cities has consistently increased each year, reaching 72 percent in 2022
from 52 percent in 2019.
Besides, the HKSAR government has also launched a Funding Scheme for Youth
Entrepreneurship in the Greater Bay Area under the Youth Development Fund, which aims to
provide capital subsidy to about 230 youth start-ups involving more than 800 young people and
render entrepreneurial support and incubation services to more than 4,000 young people.
Pun Chi Ho is a young entrepreneur from Hong Kong who currently runs an HD visual and
acoustic technology company that employs over 100 people in Shenzhen.
“The HDMI, wireless control and intelligent speech products of our company have been exported
to 13 countries,” said Pun, who had already started two companies in Hong Kong before he went
to Shenzhen. The man is quite optimistic about the future of the Greater Bay Area.
“The future of Hong Kong is inseparable from the national development. The Greater Bay Area is
exactly an opportunity for the special administrative region to integrate itself into the national
development,” said Tommy Yuen, Commissioner for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong
Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area under the HKSAR government.
He said young people are the future of national development and the HKSAR government will
keep supporting the youths of Hong Kong to work in mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area.
Bright industrial and career prospects, convenient transportation, as well as broader horizons are
all important reasons for Hong Kong talents to work in other cities in the Greater Bay Area.
“You see rapid changes in every city in the Greater Bay Area. It took over an hour to travel
between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, but now it only costs less than 20 minutes by the high-speed
railway. A ‘one-hour’ circle has taken shape, and it brings me a sense of belonging and makes me
proud,” said Cai Jialin, a Hong Kong employee of the Chinese tech giant Tencent headquartered in
Shenzhen.
Cai, born in 1997, is responsible for youth development and charity affairs in the company.
Through the exchange activities he organized, he has gained an increasingly deeper understanding
of the Chinese mainland.
Jason Choi, President of the Sunwah Global Youth Innovation Center in Guangzhou, capital of
Guangdong province, is working to bring more entrepreneurs from Hong Kong and Macao to the
Greater Bay Area.
Choi came to work in Guangzhou’s Nansha district less than a year ago. He said Nansha district is
a great choice for young people from Hong Kong, as it has piloted many favorable policies and
offered a number of special funds.
The Sunwah Global Youth Innovation Center has so far attracted over 20 Hong Kong enterprises
and business associations.
Complementary advantages are what drive the integrated development of the Greater Bay Area.
“The mainland, especially Shenzhen, enjoys a prominent advantage in human resources, and it has
a complete ecological chain. As an international city, Hong Kong is able to make products global.
Together, these two advantages will accelerate the development and launch of products,” said Pun.
The Hong Kong entrepreneur said he would present the potential of the Greater Bay Area to more
young people from Hong Kong and attract more young talents from the special administrative
region to the Greater Bay Area, so as to make the Greater Bay Area a world-class bay area.
