Call to attract mainland mums
The government has been urged to come up with measures to lure mainland mothers who gave birth in Hong Kong to return with their children to slow the drop in population.
In the first six months of this year, 10,567 babies were born in the city to mainland couples. In the whole of last year, 18,816 were born, and in 2006 there were 16,044 such births, Census and Statistics Department figures show.
Paul Yip Siu-fai, of the University of Hong Kong's department of social work and social administration, said attracting those children to settle in Hong Kong should be the government's top priority.
'Many mainland parents who gave birth in Hong Kong are quite well off and have relatively high educational attainment,' Professor Yip said.
'They and their babies would definitely not be a burden on social welfare ... The injection of such new blood is conducive to improving the quality of the population.'
Executive Council convenor Leung Chun-ying said he had recently come across mainlanders staying in serviced apartments and in luxury hotels such as the Four Seasons while waiting to give birth.
A Census and Statistics Department survey last year found that 91 per cent of mainland mothers giving birth in Hong Kong intended to take their babies back to the mainland.
Mr Leung said schemes targeting mainland and overseas talent - the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme and the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme - should be able to attract mainland parents.
Lau Siu-kai, head of government think-tank the Central Policy Unit, said a growing number of educated Hongkongers worked on the mainland and gave birth north of the border. 'There is a need to consider ways to attract these parents and their babies back to Hong Kong,' Professor Lau said.
