No one can deny the significant impact of developments in China on Hong Kong. Before 1978, the effects were felt without much direct interaction between the territory and the mainland. In the reform era, the two economies have become more and more closely integrated; and since July 1997, Hong Kong has become a Special Administrative Region (SAR) under Chinese sovereignty.
As a Chinese SAR, Hong Kong people seem to have a strengthening identification with China. A survey by the Department of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in September 1997 indicated that 32.1 per cent of the respondents identified themselves as 'Chinese', compared with 25.7 per cent in a survey in August 1996; 23.2 per cent identified themselves as 'Hongkongese', compared with 25.2 per cent in the earlier survey. Those who claimed to be 'Hongkongese as well as Chinese' decreased slightly from 32.9 per cent to 31.8 per cent, while those who claimed to be 'Chinese as well as Hongkongese' dropped from 14.7 per cent to 11.6 per cent.
In a survey conducted in the summer of 1988 by the social scientists of local tertiary institutions, 63.6 per cent of the respondents chose 'Hongkongese' as their primary identity, while only 28.8 per cent considered themselves as 'Chinese'.
While identification with China strengthened in Hong Kong, young people's knowledge of China was still unsatisfactory, though improving slightly. In September 1998, a youth group conducted a survey among people aged 18 to 41. Fifteen per cent of respondents could not identify Jiang Zemin as president of the People's Republic of China, 45 per cent could not name Zhu Rongji as premier, and 81 per cent could not identify Li Peng as chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
The establishment of the People's Republic of China brought a paradigm shift to the life of the Chinese people. The scale of political mobilisation and the introduction of a planned economy were unprecedented; and there was much enthusiasm for the building of a new China. The anti-rightists' campaign, the failure of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution gradually brought much disillusionment to the population.
Economic reforms since 1978 represented another paradigm shift, and another outburst of energy for economic growth. The Chinese people have been absorbed in the improvement of their living standards. They grasp every opportunity to get rich.