Getting away from a weighty tax regime or seizing the opportunity to live surrounded by nature on Lamma Island? Eric Masson cannot quite decide which reason finally convinced him to leave France and settle in Hong Kong in 2002.
The 45-year-old entrepreneur, who used to run bookshops in Paris and in the northern French city of Rouen, has since devoted most of his time to his passion: the Gallic game of p?tanque, or boules. In 2007 he created Hong Kong's first p?tanque association, and he also co-runs Les Boules, the city's only indoor p?tanque cafe. 'I don't see myself going back to France,' Masson said.
Whatever their reasons for leaving France and starting again in Hong Kong, it seems more and more French citizens are taking that leap. This Friday, French Consul General Arnaud Barthelemy will officially celebrate the 10,000th French citizen to register at the consulate.
This number represents a 60 per cent rise in residents from France since 2008. Hong Kong now has the biggest French community in Asia, with about 15,000 people, and between 100 and 150 people register at the consulate every month. The French consulate said the French community in Hong Kong was the second-largest among the European countries, after Britain. At the French International School, the trend is clear. The school, which caters for children aged three to 18, has about 9 per cent more students each year, and in the past six years pupil numbers in the French section have doubled, to reach 1,666.
The financial meltdown in 2007 and the current woes of the euro zone have played their part in spurring about 1,000 French people to move to Hong Kong every year. While France is struggling with near-zero economic growth, Hong Kong is seen as a dynamic place and a golden gateway to China.
Orianne Chenain, from the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that as French companies turned to more export-based activity, they often chose to first settle in Hong Kong and then penetrate the mainland market. For example, in September, electrical engineering and power management company Schneider Electric relocated its top management, including its chief executive, to Hong Kong.