Why mainland Chinese flocked to Hong Kong’s new global visa

For some foreign expats, Hong Kong has lost its appeal as an international city and no longer feels like home since Beijing took a heavier hand in its governance. But for many former mainland Chinese, like Angelina Wang, it has become a more attractive place to live and work.

Ms. Wang, in her early 30s, felt stuck in her job at a state-owned finance company in Shenzhen, a mainland city just across the border, when she read about a Hong Kong visa for professional workers. She quickly applied. As soon as she got a job in Hong Kong – at a higher wage – she told her boss she was quitting her job and moving there.

“The salary in Hong Kong is higher than that in Shenzhen,” Ms. Wang said. “Much higher.”

Ms. Wang was among about 55,000 mainland Chinese who have been granted this new “top talent” visa since December 2022. Hong Kong’s semi-autonomous status within China means that Chinese citizens need a visa to live and work in the city.

Among visa holders now working in Hong Kong, many worked in financial, information technology and commercial services, according to a survey by the city government in November. They had a monthly average income of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars, or about $6,400, more than twice the median income in Hong Kong.

Mainland Chinese, interviewed by The New York Times, cited several reasons for applying for the visa. Some said Hong Kong offered better pay and career opportunities, as well as better schools, greater freedom and greater respect for women and people who are LGBTQ

The wave of working professionals is a welcome development for Hong Kong. Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the city in 2020 in response to pro-democracy protests, and on Tuesday Hong Kong’s government passed a new security law that gave authorities even more power to punish dissent. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Hong Kong imposed some of the strictest travel restrictions in the world, hurting its economy. According to city figures, about 200,000 people left the city from mid-2019 to the end of 2022. The population has since increased by about the same number to 7.5 million.