Hong Kong on course to meet 2023 talent recruitment target of 35,000 high-flyers, Chief Secretary says

Hong Kong can hit its target of recruitment of 35,000 high-flyer talented individuals this year, the city’s No. 2 has predicted.

Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki revealed during an official visit to Beijing that more than 33,000 applications through different visa programmes had been approved by the middle of this month.

Chan highlighted the “very attractive” new Top Talent Pass Scheme and said it has lured at least 15,000 people to the city since it was launched late last year.

“We have set a target of enticing 35,000 talented people to Hong Kong every year, and we are very confident that we can reach the target,” Chan said.

He added that only people who had arrived in Hong Kong would be included as part of the total.

The city offers at least seven programmes designed to bring in talent from the mainland and around the world as part of a bid to reverse a brain drain and tackle problems caused by a shrinking population.

The Top Talent Pass scheme was introduced in Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s first policy address last year.

Applicants who earned at least HK$2.5 million (US$318,474) in the previous year and graduates of the world’s top 100 universities with at least three years of working experience in the last five years are eligible to apply for a two-year visa.

Chan said more than 24,000 applications had been made by April 18 and 15,000 have been approved.

95 per cent of approved applicants for Hong Kong talent scheme from mainland China

He added he had discussed progress on “snapping up talent” as part of the three-day trip in Beijing, when he also met Xia Baolong, the director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Office on Friday.

“My trip to Beijing has been very fruitful. I thank Xia for fully affirming and supporting the government in governing according to law and for his care for Hong Kong,” Chan said.

“I promised Xia that the government must continue to develop the economy, improve people’s livelihood, and maintain the city’s long-term prosperity and stability.”

Chan said that government departments were well-prepared for the “golden week” holiday on the mainland, which starts on Saturday and normally attracts large numbers of tourists from across the border to Hong Kong.

He added extra staff had been allocated to land border checkpoints and that inspections would be strengthened in Kowloon City and other areas popular with mainland tour groups.

Hong Kong talent scheme receives 10,810 applications, half are top graduates

Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan, the civil service chief, who is in Beijing on a separate work trip, said it was planned to gradually resume training courses on the mainland in the second half of the year for middle and senior civil servants.

“This can deepen colleagues’ understanding of national policies and development, as the government is actively integrating into the overall development situation,” she explained.

Senior civil servants will also attend courses on topics related to the “one country, two systems” governing principle and contemporary China, organised by Hong Kong’s Civil Service College and Peking University’s Centre for Hong Kong and Macau studies.

Yeung added there would also be courses designed to boost knowledge of national security for all civil servants amid a complicated geopolitical situation.