Chief executive-elect Leung Chun-ying said yesterday mainland women who have not got a Hong Kong husband will not be allowed to give birth at private hospitals next year.
He also said children born to mainland parents would not be guaranteed residency.
The influx of mainland mothers-to-be, who are accused of squeezing resources available to Hong Kong parents, was a key issue in last month's chief executive election.
Leung's warning that the quota for mainland births at private hospitals next year would be 'zero' shocked hospital bosses.
It also sparked fears that some hospitals which have invested heavily in obstetrics may be forced to close.
In an apparent break with incumbent Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who identified medicine as one of six key industries for the city, Leung said: 'Providing obstetric services to mainland women is not the correct way to develop the medical industry.'
Leung did not specify how he would implement his plan to scrap the automatic right of abode, a right that was upheld in a Court of Final Appeal ruling in 2001.