Greater Bay Area: Guangzhou lures young Hong Kong entrepreneurs to start businesses with rent waivers, subsidies

The city is attracting young Hongkongers by offering generous subsidies on business costs, access to trade officials and a favourable environment to raise capital

The Guangzhou government has been at the forefront of establishing incubation hubs for young entrepreneurs from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan

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Adam Lai Ka-chi, general manager of Swallow Education, teaching a group of schoolchildren about responding to natural disasters. Photo: SCMP Handout

Published: 12:58pm, 24 Jan 2021Updated: 10:59pm, 24 Jan 2021

Adam Lai Ka-chi, the general manager of Swallow Education, pays no rent for his start-up’s 300-square-foot office in the Nansha free-trade zone in Guangzhou, a southern Chinese metropolis.

The 34-year-old Hongkonger has also received a 1,500-yuan (US$232) monthly government subsidy to cover housing rental and transport expenses for a year.

Guangzhou is luring young Hong Kong entrepreneurs by offering generous subsidies on business costs, access to trade officials and a favourable environment to raise capital.

For every company in Nansha, the government can cover half of the costs for exhibitions every year, up to a maximum of 100,000 yuan. It also offers a one-off 5,000-yuan award for companies that hire young workers from Hong Kong and Macau.

Guangzhou is well positioned in the Greater Bay Area economic hub to foster collaboration in the technology sector between its nine mainland cities and Hong Kong and Macau.

The rent for Lai’s office has been waived for three years. The office is located at Chuang Hui Gu, a business incubation hub specially for Hong Kong and Macanese entrepreneurs, set up by the Guangzhou Nansha Youth Federation, another name for the local Communist Youth League.

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