But Mr Yeung said the plan had been shelved because of the lack of support from Hong Kong, such as subsidies.

Hong Kong education officials said earlier the government did not subsidise students to receive education outside the city.

Executive councillor Cheng Yiu-tong urged the government three years ago to offer subsidies to the children of Hong Kong residents studying in Shenzhen.

He said the move could encourage low-income families to settle in the special economic zone and ease the social welfare burden borne by the Hong Kong government.

The Shenzhen Education Bureau once planned to ask Hong Kong to offer subsidies to the growing number of Hongkongers studying there.

Mr Yeung said his group was still keeping an eye on the possibility of running Hong Kong-style schools in Shenzhen and other cities in Guangdong.

According to a survey conducted by Shenzhen in 2002, there were 7,242 Hong Kong children studying at mainland government schools.

A few hundred are studying at three private schools in Lowu, Futian and Baoan districts that have adopted a Hong Kong-style curriculum.

'We believe there is an urgent need for Hong Kong-style schooling for children of Hong Kong people living on the mainland,' Mr Yeung said, adding that about 3,000 children who lived in Shenzhen crossed the border every day to attend schools in Hong Kong.

'I think the governments of Hong Kong and Shenzhen should join hands to resolve the problems of schooling of these children, including subsidies for their education,' he said.