Hong Kong remains magnet for talent, leader says, after data shows 90,000 residents have left in single year
- Chief executive stresses city will continue to lure people from around the world
- Residents are always leaving and returning for variety of reasons, such as education, she says
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor also cautioned on Tuesday that the census figures, which showed the population had decreased by the greatest number of people since 2003, did not give a complete demographic picture.
The trend was described as “alarming” by Paul Yip Siu-fai, chair professor in social work and social administration at the University of Hong Kong, and he explained the decline could be partly attributed to a sharp increase in net migration combined with a low birth rate.
Asked whether the decrease was a concern for her, Lam stressed that residents always enjoyed the right to leave and return.
“My stance has always been that Hong Kong people have freedom of movement, they have a free mind, they can decide where and when to leave Hong Kong or come back to Hong Kong, particularly for families with young children who may want children to have another form of education,” she said.
Lam asserted the number of people departing the city must be evaluated as a “net figure” that subtracted inflow from outflow.
“This figure released regularly on the so-called net inflow and net outflow has stirred up some debate … I do not want to sound defensive, but one has to look into how this figure is arrived at,” she said.
“There may be an increasing number of outflows, but you will also notice that we have a significant reduction in the number of people coming in.”
In releasing the data last Thursday, the census department specified the decrease was mainly caused by a large negative net movement of 75,300 residents during the period. Only 13,900 people came from mainland China to the city as one-way permit holders, while 89,200 residents left.
Population decline warning, as provisional figures show more deaths than births
The one-way permit allows mainlanders to move to Hong Kong for reasons such as family. The daily quota is capped at 150, or 54,750 people each year.
“The number of one-way permit holders … has significantly reduced because of the travel restrictions,” Lam said, referring to border restrictions enacted to control the spread of the coronavirus. “We are nowhere near the figure, which used to be about 150 on average a day. That is a factor that one should look into.”
The large number of residents leaving had prompted concerns about economic growth. But officials dismissed such concerns the next day with a forecast that gross domestic product would expand by between 5.5 per cent and 6.5 per cent this year, on the back of stabilisation of the pandemic and a rise in domestic consumption.
Hong Kong’s foreign residents say they have no plans to leave
Lam stressed Hong Kong was committed to nurturing talent through programmes such as the government’s quality migrant admission scheme.
“I was told … that there was a significant increase in the successful applicants under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme. In other words, more talent is now coming to settle in Hong Kong,” she said.
Lam also said the government had started to lure academics to move to the city through the global STEM professorship scheme, and more than 40 scholars from around the world were named as the first batch of successful nominees.
