Children of Hong Kong emigrants eyed to fill city’s talent gap

Hong Kong will seek to lure the children of emigrants to the city as part of a wider drive to attract outside talent announced in yesterday's policy address.

But Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying also sprung a surprise by suspending the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme from today. Some 24,000 people had moved to the city under the scheme since it was created as part of a drive to revive the economy after the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak. The scheme was intended for people living overseas, but 90 per cent of those who took advantage - in return for a HK$10 million investment in local markets - were mainlanders with permanent residency in another country.

Leung devoted a significant portion of his speech to the question of population policy, repeating warnings by government statisticians that the city's workforce will decline in 2018. A third of the population will be over 65 in 30 years.

A government source said after the speech that some 800,000 people had left the city since the 1980s.

"We want the second generation to come back because they have an overseas network," the source said. "They can fill the shortage of talent in Hong Kong."

Under the pilot scheme, the children of permanent residents will be able to apply for a one-year visa to come to the city to look for work. Applicants must also be aged 18 to 40, have a university degree, understand English or Chinese and prove they can afford to live in the city.