Hong Kong graduates of mainland universities are flocking to the Greater Bay Area – with 60 per cent working there or planning to

Survey finds 60 per cent of Hong Kong graduates of mainland universities were working in the Greater Bay Area – or intend to

Median monthly salary on the mainland is HK$9,694, compared with HK$17,320 in Hong Kong

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(L-R): Erin Wong, Henry Ho, Thomas Cheung and Yuan Sin-pang at an event for the One Country Two System Youth Forum in Causeway Bay on Sunday. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 9:36pm, 5 May 2019Updated: 11:05pm, 5 May 2019

A survey has found that 60 per cent of Hong Kong graduates of mainland universities were either already working in the Greater Bay Area – or intend to – even though salaries on the mainland are about half that of Hong Kong.

The survey, which was released on Sunday by the One Country Two System (OCTS) Youth Forum, found that 19 per cent of the respondents said they were already working or studying in mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area, including Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

The area refers to the Chinese government’s plan to link Hong Kong and Macau with nine mainland cities to create an integrated economic and business hub.

Nine per cent said they would consider moving to mainland Greater Bay Area cities in the next year, while another 32 per cent said they would consider relocating there in the next one to three years.

The youth forum polled graduates with a Hong Kong identity card from 63 mainland universities from November to January. A total of 317 valid responses were received.

Forty-six per cent of the respondents said they were currently living in Hong Kong, while about 52 per cent said they were living on the mainland.

The Lo Wu district of Shenzhen, one of 11 cities included in the Greater Bay Area project. Photo: Roy Issa