Hong Kong eyes mainland tax exemption for small group of professionals, boost for biotech industry

Efforts to secure a broader exemption would be “very difficult” to achieve in the near term, Chan said in an interview on the sidelines of the four-day Big Data Expo in Guiyang, capital of the southwestern province of Guizhou, over the weekend.

The proposed tax exemption marks the latest development in discussions between Hong Kong and mainland officials since November last year to push forward the free flow of tech talent across the border. Chan said discussions with mainland authorities are still under way.

A check with the office of the financial secretary on Monday confirmed that the mainland was unlikely to make a broad exemption any time soon, but a small group might be able to.

On the mainland, Chan said the rapid transformation of Guizhou, once China’s poorest province, into the country’s hub for big data and cloud services, is proving a valuable lesson for Hong Kong’s own technology ambitions.