Preface
Riots, epidemics, lockdowns... Hong Kong has struggled through these years in the storm. Some media have sent out negative news such as the outflow of foreign enterprises and talents in Hong Kong, the economic downturn, and the social slump, so some netizens who are "blind and touching the elephant" believe that Hong Kong is no longer attractive, and some malicious keyboard heroes deliberately scandalize Hong Kong and hype up the negative reports of Hong Kong, but whenever there is news about Hong Kong, they will laugh and satirize in the comment area, and some even go to the comment area to smear it when they only see the headline.
Here Xiaobian does not want to argue with these keyboard men, after all, you can never wake up a person who pretends to be asleep, nor can you let a person with a unified perception bias change the facts that he has set. Xiaobian just wants to show some recently published objective data to experience together: is Hong Kong really no longer attractive?
Is there an exodus of talent from Hong Kong?
The topic of "Hong Kong's attractiveness" has recently become a hot topic, mainly because at the chief executive press conference on March 30, a reporter asked whether Hong Kong is still attractive because the number of immigrants leaving Hong Kong has risen.
Photo| Chief Executive's Answer to Reporter's Question on March 30 (Hong Kong Government News Network)
In this regard, the Chief Executive explained that there has never been a data on the number of people leaving Hong Kong due to immigration, but only the number of people moving in and out of Hong Kong over a certain period of time, and the media often regard the net population migration figure as the number of immigrants, which is not accurate. She also explained that the epidemic that has lasted for more than two years has affected the normal customs clearance between Hong Kong and the mainland and overseas, resulting in a sharp decline in the number of people moving into Hong Kong. For example, there are nearly 55,000 one-way permit quotas per year, but fewer than 20,000 people have come to Hong Kong with one-way permits in the past two years; foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong have also fallen to less than 340,000. Therefore, the inbound and outbound figures cannot be used as an inference about whether there is an immigration boom in Hong Kong, nor is it sufficient to reflect the level of public confidence in Hong Kong's prospects.
On the other hand, the Chief Executive pointed out that the number of talents and students coming to Hong Kong is more valuable as a reference for whether Hong Kong is still attractive, and through these two figures, she is confident that Hong Kong can continue to attract and pool talents, and is full of confidence in Hong Kong's financial development and future prospects.
However, many netizens in the comment area said that they still did not buy it, thinking that they were talking to themselves and talking big, and even some comments were boring and ridiculed that these two numbers should be the number of new crown confirmed cases and the number of deaths...
Exactly the next day (31st), the Hong Kong Immigration Department announced the selection results of the 62nd Hong Kong Talent Scheme, of which 440 people were selected. It is worth noting that the file number applied for by the Talent Program has been ranked at 4711, which is double that of 2205 in the same period last year.
Here, Xiaobian needs to popularize science: The Hong Kong Talent Program is a quota-based immigration absorption plan launched by the Hong Kong government in 2006, and the government will publish a "talent list" to list the talents most needed in Hong Kong, and those who meet the scope of the list will be more competitive. The Scheme aims to attract highly skilled and industry-class talents to settle in Hong Kong, thereby enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness in the global market. Increase the program quota from 1,000 to 2,000 in 2020; This will increase to another 4,000 in 2021.
The figure | the List of Talent Needs for this Year by the Hong Kong Government
According to the Security Bureau, by the end of 2021, a total of 9,131 people will be attracted, of which 88% will come from the Mainland. Among them, there are many well-known public figures who participate in the program because of their achievements in sports or art, such as sports achievements (Li Ning), artistic achievements (Zhou Xun, Tang Wei, Zhang Ziyi, Lang Lang, etc.).
Figure | accounted for the largest proportion of talents engaged in finance and information technology in Hong Kong (screenshot of Hong Kong media report)
Some commentators may say that these are all the previous figures, and go to see if there are so many people coming to Hong Kong in recent years.
However, in the face of the face, 40% of mainland professionals who came to Hong Kong through the Talent Scheme were increased in the past 2 years (2020 and 2021) and then Hong Kong, with 1,624 and 1,860 in 2020 and 2021 respectively, more than 1 times more than the 803 in 2019.
From the above data, it seems that it is not true to say that "Hong Kong is no longer attractive" from Hong Kong talents, if there are still some netizens who are "leveraged", they may wish to refer to the self-assessment form of the talent plan to see if they are qualified to meet the criteria for the selection of excellent talents. (There is a link at the end of the article, please click to read the original article to jump.) ）
Why continue to climb the number of people coming to Hong Kong for further study under the epidemic?
The second figure mentioned by the Chief Executive is the number of students who have come to Hong Kong to study. Similarly, some commentators take it for granted that "Hong Kong is no longer attractive, and who wants to let their children go to School in Hong Kong". However, the facts are based on statistics:
- Since 2017, the number of Mainland students granted student visas to Hong Kong has increased for the fourth consecutive year.
- In 2017-2018, 20,361 Mainland students studied in Hong Kong;
- 24,922 in 2018/2019;
- 28,911 in 2019/2020;
- In 2020/2021, a record 32,332 people were reached.
As for why there are still a large number of mainland students coming to Hong Kong for further study, Xiaobian believes that it is inseparable from the advantages of Hong Kong's own educational resources. On April 6, the 2022 QS World University Rankings, one of the world's most notable university rankings, were officially released, and Hong Kong's universities performed well, with a total of 178 courses in 9 institutions in Hong Kong on the list, 5 academic fields, and Hong Kong universities entering the world's top 100. (See QS article 2022 QS World Subject Rankings for details). Also in the earlier QS World University Rankings 2022, 5 universities in Hong Kong also entered the top 100, compared with 6 in the mainland.
The figure | screenshot of the QS official website
"Under the epidemic, many mainland universities, especially 985 and 211 students, will choose Hong Kong universities for further study, which has also led to the fact that in the past, there were very few cases of double non-ordinary students counterattacking the top three in Hong Kong this year, because it is really internal!" Teacher Lu, who studied in Hanlin in Hong Kong, told this reporter.
Talking about the hong Kong customs closure and the epidemic that netizens think will affect the mainland students coming to Hong Kong, she said that the epidemic in the world is now very serious, especially in the Past, the United States, the United Kingdom, etc. that have applied for popular places, compared with Hong Kong, which is better, coupled with the support of the central government behind it and the geographical advantage of being at the "doorstep", so in recent years, the number of students who choose Hong Kong for further study has not decreased but has increased.
Hong Kong's status as an international financial centre is not guaranteed?
When it comes to Hong Kong's attractiveness, it will involve Hong Kong's status as an international financial centre that has been praised. However, some voices alluding to "Hong Kong's status as an international financial center are not guaranteed" have been fermenting in the comment area.
In the 31st edition of the Global Financial Centres Index, jointly released by Z/Yen Group and China (Shenzhen) Comprehensive Development Research Institute on March 24, it was clearly pointed out that Hong Kong's overall ranking remained in the third place in the world (Remarks: The Global Financial Centres Index is an evaluation index of the competitiveness of global financial centre cities). In early March, the IMF released an assessment report reaffirming Hong Kong's status as a major international financial centre.
Of course, even if there is an evaluation report of a professional organization, it is difficult to change the facts that have been identified in the brain of some people, thinking that this is just a cold report, so from the internal logic to explore.
Combining multiple expert perspectives and international experience, market liquidity, regulatory environment and talent are the three main factors that make up an international financial centre.
In terms of market liquidity, Hong Kong has long maintained its position as the freest economy in the world, and even in the fifth wave of the epidemic, Hong Kong's financial market has remained stable. On March 30, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Hui Zhengyu, said that since March, the average daily trading volume of the stock market has been HK$180 billion, and the average daily trading volume of Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect in the northbound and southbound directions has exceeded 100 billion yuan and HK$42 billion respectively, all of which are close to or higher than the data of the fourth quarter of last year.
Second, Hong Kong's regulatory environment is a leader in the entire Asia-Pacific region and even the world, and this competitive advantage has never changed. Hong Kong's common law-based legal framework has not changed, and it still maintains market fairness and efficiency to the greatest extent possible, and promotes financial innovation and development; the existing financial regulatory framework and its strict supervision methods have not been weakened; the economic policies of the SAR Government are still flexible and have the ability to adjust in a timely manner in response to changes in the objective environment; the administrative management system is conducive to commercial activities, and the cost of financial supervision is relatively low.
E Zhihuan, chief economist of Bank of China (Hong Kong), said that Hong Kong's financial regulatory system and business infrastructure are mature, the business environment is fair and just, the tax system for enterprises and individuals is simple and transparent, and it encourages business development and investment, with a large number of cross-cultural and multilingual professionals.
Finally, as the chief executive said, the number of talents coming to Hong Kong and the number of non-local university students have increased significantly, and the departure of a small number of talents will not fundamentally affect Hong Kong's original role and status. In fact, under the epidemic, all parts of the world are facing the problem of talent mobility.
The above points mentioned are only part of the data, more aspects have not been mentioned, in this small editor does not want to just based on the above points to make a conclusion on "whether Hong Kong is still attractive", I believe that every reader will have their own ideas.
As the chief executive mentioned, "at present, no economy or city in the world can have central support in the financial field like Hong Kong, and the confidence of foreign investment should be based on Hong Kong itself, one country, two systems and the central government's attitude towards Hong Kong", from the feedback of a number of data, it can also be seen that Hong Kong's attractiveness, in addition to Hong Kong's inherent advantages and characteristics, is also inseparable from the support of the mainland and integration into the overall situation of national development, and the stability brought about by the national security law and the improvement of the election system.
(Article/Reporter Han Qi)
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