Hong Kong hopes to trawl the world for tech talent to build IT city
- Reference: 1666242211
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/10/20/hongkong_tech_talent_trawl/
- Source link:
The Special Administrative Region's plan was outlined yesterday in a speech by John Lee, who was elected chief executive of Hong Kong in May.
Lee was the only candidate, but had the blessing of Beijing. That carries enormous weight in Hong Kong politics since China moved in the late 2010s to reduce autonomy and outlaw opposition parties. Those actions were seen as contrary to the agreement Beijing struck before the 1997 handover of the territory from Britain: to allow a high degree of autonomy for 50 years.
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China's government is unrepentant on the matter, and its position is that the "One Country, Two Systems" plan it devised to let Hong Kong enjoy limited independence remains in place.
USA warns Hong Kong government may demand business and customer data, run surveillance without warrants [2]READ MORE
Lee's [3]speech addressed that matter. The chief executive declared that "The more firmly the 'One Country' principle is upheld, the greater strength the 'Two Systems' will be unleashed." Well. OK then.
The chief executive intends to use what he called Hong Kong's "distinctive advantages of enjoying strong support of the Motherland and being closely connected to the world" to attract strategic enterprises in the fields of "life and health technology, artificial intelligence and data science, financial technology, and advanced manufacturing and new energy technology."
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Lee added that Hong Kong's government will "proactively trawl the world for talents" with a visa that targets those who have graduated from the world's top 100 universities or already earn salaries over $315,000.
A scheme that requires Hong Kong businesses to match jobs given to imported workers with roles for locals will be lifted, which will make hiring people from abroad easier. Work visas for mainland Chinese with desirable skills will be streamlined.
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Workers who come to Hong Kong from overseas to work will also be spared stamp duty on property purchases.
[7]Chinese city of Shenzhen offers free money to boost chip industry
[8]Hong Kong Watch says its website suddenly can't be seen in Hong Kong
[9]Lenovo to form venture with Hong Kong comms conglomerate PCCW
[10]China upgrades Great Firewall to defeat censor-beating TLS tools
Plenty of those jobs and properties will be in a "Northern Metropolis" Lee plans to build and has labelled "a new international I&T city". The site of the Metropolis abuts the Sham Chun River that serves as the border between Hong Kong and mainland China. The city of Shenzhen occupies the northern bank.
Lee envisions the Metropolis as integrating with [11]Shenzhen's electronics manufacturing hub to the mutual benefit of both cities.
The Metropolis will also include many new housing projects – addressing a shortage in Hong Kong.
Another housing-related initiative Lee announced is a minimum size of 26 square meters for subsidized apartments. That's a very modestly sized dwelling by global standards, but an increase on Hong Kong's norms.
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We mention that as one indicator of the lifestyle Hong Kong offers its citizens and the skilled tech workers Lee hopes to lure. the Special Administrative Region is infamously crowded and house sizes small, with bigger digs attracting head-spinning prices (often for apartments at head-spinning heights).
So there you have it, reader: Hong Kong wants you. Life in the shadow of China and a very bustling city await those of you bold enough to seize the opportunity. ®
Bootnote
Hong Kong's chief exec has competition for mainland talent – China's Ministry for IT this week [13]outlined its plans to grow the local IT workforce. Boot camps, online learning, mentoring, and acknowledgement of top talent's achievements have all been suggested as tactics State and City governments should adopt.
Get our [14]Tech Resources
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[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/19/usa_hong_kong_data_privacy_warning/
[3] https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202210/19/P2022101900147.htm
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y1EcOUNh-pziBcCIFR-ozwAAAFA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/12/chinese_city_of_shenzhen_chip_funds/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/15/hong_kong_watch_inacessible_in_hk/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/15/lenovo_pccw_solutions_services_company/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/06/great_firewall_of_china_upgrades/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/21/shenzhen_relaxes_covid_restrictions/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y1EcOUNh-pziBcCIFR-ozwAAAFA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.miit.gov.cn/zwgk/zcwj/wjfb/yj/art/2022/art_0d1537074ae140aaaf57af6d0948df1d.html
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Good luck with that
Also the serious risk to your personal safety should you speak out against the CCP or mention Tiananmen Square, etc.
Of course the numerous restrictions on internet access that goes with that but also hampers any international business.
Re: Good luck with that
Or even have criticised the regime in the past!
Hong Kong Autonomous Region
Hong Kong is a Chinese city under Chinese government.
It's ridiculous to try and claim it is somehow different from mainland China ("connected to the world").
They should just call it "Hong Kong Autonomous Region" like they have with Tibet. Which is CCP-speak for "just another part of China".
For sure, some people will come who just want the money and benefits. But I doubt they will be overwhelmed with recruits.
Re: Hong Kong Autonomous Region
It is a bit bigger than a "city". In terms of size, it is more like a county, with (arguably) two cities, a load of towns and villages, and a surprisingly large amount of countryside.
Re: Hong Kong Autonomous Region
Geographically, it's about the size of London. If you picture two Landranger maps cover London, two Landranger scale/size maps also cover Hong Kong.
Getting out while they can
I thought they had a brain drain situation with people getting out of there while there's still a chance. At least that's what some of the people I've met recently who've recently moved from HK to the UK. A friend was looking to rent out their house while they were abroad for a while and said that an estate agent in Reading was telling them that they had more people from HK on their books looking for accommodation than there were rental properties in the whole town.
I know this is just anecdotal but I could easily understand why people might be keen to leave, the guys I've worked with from HK over the years haven't exactly been the sort who were easily kowtowed.
Sadly
Hong Kong is a beautiful city, the more so if you can dig beneath the surface.
In previous decades I've known friends and family from around the world travel to, live and work there for the fantastic opportunities it presented. Sadly under the current regime, it would be very hard to justify a move there given the restrictions being imposed both on personal lives and businesses.
Until China has properly faced up to it's economic and health crisis, and stepped back from a needlessly aggressive and confrontational international stance, Hong Kong will remain too unsettled and uncertain a place to want to build a future. From it's remarkable history, that's a huge shame.
If you’ve got IT, flaunt it, for it is worth ten fortunes at least ....
For those made of the right stuff, and with something attractive and unique to offer a troubled and troubling situation, is Hong Kong/China/the Special Administrative Region a rich vein of opportunity to provide with future services presenting novel programs and projects launching and entertaining prosperity and supplying profit to that and those in need of, or even simply desirous of a great deal more of it.
And an incredibly valuable immaculately resourceful asset for export/import to any similarly pioneering jurisdiction/territory
An example of something attractive and unique to offer would certainly surely be the provision of future services presenting novel programs and projects launching and entertaining prosperity and supplying profit to that and those in need of, or even simply desirous of, a great deal more of it.
"or already earn salaries over $315,000."
Odd that. Normally you import foreign talent because it's cheaper than the local talent, or because the local talent is absent *regardless* of price.
Not sure anybody earning that much money elsewhere is going to want to go and live in an apartment the size of a cupboard in a dictatorship.
Taking up this offer would put the biggest security red flag on your CV this side of being Putin's IT manager
Good luck with that
A non-Chinese would have to be crazy to move to Hong Kong to start a business, between potential escalation in the trade war with the US and China making arbitrary decisions that have already taken $1 trillion off tech market caps in China. Or worse, just deciding at some point that your business is going to become the property of the state.