The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Lee Ka-chiu delivered the Chief Executive's 2023 Policy Address at 11 a.m. on the 25th.
The theme of this year's Policy Address is "Striving for Economic Development, Benefiting People's Livelihood and Increasing Happiness", and the green cover will continue to represent hope, vitality and harmony. He hopes to use green to symbolize Hong Kong's prosperity from governance to prosperity, and to represent the vitality of Hong Kong year after year.
In the latest Policy Address, Chief Lee Ka-chiu mentioned:
1. Establishment of the "Manpower Services Office" – Following the launch of the "Manpower Services Window" online platform last year, the physical "Manpower Services Office" will be officially established at the end of this month to provide support to talents coming to Hong Kong and follow up on the development and needs of talents after entry.
Next year, the "Global Talent Summit and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Talent High-quality Development Conference" will also be held to promote regional talent exchanges and cooperation;
2. Expand the list of universities under the High-end Talent Pass Scheme – broaden the network to attract talents from all over the world, and from November onwards, the list of eligible universities will increase by eight to 184 top Mainland and overseas institutions;
3. Relax visas – From now on, the visa policy for Vietnamese talents to enter Hong Kong for employment will be opened, and the application threshold for Vietnamese people to enter Hong Kong for business and tourism "one visa, multiple trips" will be relaxed. To open up Lao and Nepalese talents to come to Hong Kong for employment, training and study in University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded institutions;
4. Implementation of the Capital Investor Entrant Scheme – Eligible investors who invest $30 million or more in stocks, funds, bonds and other assets (excluding real estate) in Hong Kong can apply to come to Hong Kong through the Scheme to enhance the development advantages of Hong Kong's asset and wealth management, finance and related professional services sectors, details to be announced within this year;
5. Vocational Graduates Retention Scheme – To alleviate the manpower shortage in the technical industry, non-resident students enrolled in designated full-time Higher Diploma programmes admitted by the Vocational Training Council (VTC) from the 2024/25 academic year onwards can stay in Hong Kong for one year after graduation to seek jobs related to their majors. This arrangement will be reviewed on a trial basis for two years.
Now that the investment threshold of the Hong Kong Capital Investor Entry Plan has been determined, the new threshold is at least 30 million, and the specific details of which Chief Li Jiachao said will be announced before the end of the year;
Let's take a look at the advantages of the Hong Kong Investment Immigration Scheme?
Immigrants do not emigrate
Most people immigrate abroad, but the focus of their careers is still in the mainland, and Hong Kong's geographical advantages allow them to travel back and forth between the two places at any time to balance family and work.
Hong Kong's food, climate, language and cultural differences are not much from the mainland, Hong Kong's communication language is Cantonese, Mandarin, English, the written language is all traditional characters, basically there is no language barrier, children's language learning ability and adaptability are very easy to integrate into Hong Kong life.
Freedom of funds
Hong Kong has the largest offshore RMB market, assets can be freely transferred, and funds can be easily circulated. There are no restrictions on currency buying and selling and international capital flows, including dividends or repatriation of funds by foreign investors.
Funds can be entered or withdrawn from Hong Kong at any time. Hong Kong's Instant Payment and Settlement System (RTGS) is the only payment system in the world that supports 4 currencies (HKD, USD, EUR and RMB) at the same time, and can handle transactions of more than one trillion Hong Kong dollars and RMB per day.
Visa-free access to more than 160 countries and regions around the world
There are more than 230 countries and regions in the world, and Hong Kong passports can be visa-free to more than 160 countries and regions, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, most of Europe, Japan and South Korea, which can be said to be greatly convenient for work and travel.
Children's education is preferred
Enjoy 15 years of free international public education in Hong Kong; Hong Kong has provided a bilingual education environment since the compulsory education stage, and children growing up in Hong Kong can adapt well to the English language environment, which lays a good foundation for children with an international vision.
There are a total of eight public universities in Hong Kong, the world's top 100 universities account for 5 easier to enter Hong Kong local universities, 90% of the degrees are reserved for Hong Kong residents, mainland students want to go to Hong Kong prestigious universities, it is very difficult, but with Hong Kong hukou, even intermediate students, have the opportunity to enter the world's QS top 200 famous universities.
With Hong Kong permanent resident status, they can apply to various international schools in the Mainland (foreign schools, international departments of public schools, private international schools), or they can choose to enroll in public schools in the Mainland.
Moreover, Hong Kong identity to study in the mainland can also avoid the fierce competition of the college entrance examination, children can participate in the Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas Chinese students joint examination, starting from 400 points can easily enter Qingbei Fujiao and other famous schools.
You can also pass the Hong Kong DSE examination and apply for 128 211/985 universities in China without examination.
The tax system is simple and the tax rate is low
There is no global taxation, only income earned in Hong Kong needs to be taxed, no inheritance tax, no gift tax, suitable for asset planning and allocation.
The standard tax rate for individuals and the profits tax rate applicable to non-corporate entities are both 15%, the profits tax rate for the first HK$2 million of Hong Kong enterprises is only 8.25%, and the assessable tax rate for the excess is only 16.5%, and there are no sales tax, value-added tax, withholding tax, consumption tax and other tax liabilities under the simple tax system.
In addition, married persons, those with children or dependent parents can receive additional allowances.
Excellent business environment
In Hong Kong's open and free business environment, the procedures for setting up a business are simple and fast, with low fees and low thresholds.
Asset preservation, Hong Kong's high-net-worth asset management system is very complete, and the industry chain providing services is mature. There is a sound legal system to protect private property.
Taking advantage of the free trade port, no foreign exchange control, perfect legal system, excellent business environment, and career expansion, Hong Kong identity can help you seamlessly integrate with the international community in terms of business, education and career advancement.
Those who are following Hong Kong's investment immigration program, now is the time to act!
However, it should be noted that Hong Kong investment immigration does not accept applications only for Chinese nationals, and Chinese nationals need to have permanent residence status in a third country to apply.
Pay attention to [Times Global] to learn more about the latest information on immigration, study abroad and overseas real estate!
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