Study assesses challenges for the city's manufacturers
More Hongkongers' positions in Pearl River Delta enterprises have been taken up by mainlanders, and the trend is continuing, a study by the University of Hong Kong has found.
The study showed that the ratio of Hong Kong staff to mainland employees in companies interviewed in the delta had dropped from 1:120 in 2003 to 1:170 last year.
More than a quarter of the companies said mainlanders had replaced Hong Kong staff in their research and development departments, while 20 per cent said the replacements had occurred in the accounting, marketing, sales, financial and legal affairs sectors.
The study also found the Pearl River Delta was believed to be less attractive compared with the Yangtze River Delta in terms of infrastructure, policy support and cultural and natural environment.
The findings are part of a study commissioned by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, aimed at understanding the opportunities and challenges facing the city's manufacturing industry.
It collected opinions from more than 2,500 Hong Kong-funded enterprises in nine cities in the Pearl River Delta - Shenzhen, Dongguan , Huizhou, Guangzhou, Zhuhai , Zhongshan , Jiangmen , Foshan and Zhaoqing from September 2005 to March last year.