“Each of the cities in the Greater Bay Area boasts different edges and is positioned differently. There’s a wide spectrum of possibilities for collaboration.”

The bay area refers to Beijing’s ambitious plan to transform Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland Chinese cities into an integrated hi-tech, economic powerhouse by 2035.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han also spoke at the conference, stressing the need for Hong Kong to engage in “more innovative and bolder approaches” to tackle obstacles facing the recruitment of talent.

“The world is seeing increasing competition for talent as we face difficulties presented by an ageing population and shrinking labour force in Hong Kong,” he said.

“[We] look forward to working with cities in the bay area to promote the cluster to our target markets to attract top talent from the world to work and settle in the Greater Bay Area.”

The city’s various talent policies had garnered about 290,000 applications as of the end of April, with nearly two-thirds or 180,000 having been approved, he said.

Sun added that 66 per cent, or 120,000, of the approved applicants had already moved to Hong Kong, exceeding the government’s target of bringing in 35,000 candidates every year.

The minister also said the influx of talent had injected some vitality into Hong Kong’s ageing population, as many brought their families with them.

Two-thirds of incoming professionals were aged 40 and below, he noted.

Sun said 43 per cent of those who have secured a visa under the Top Talent Pass Scheme had settled in Hong Kong, while 90 per cent of the remaining 57 per cent hoped to come to the city and work in the next year.

The Post earlier learned that the language barrier and high living costs were among the reasons some visa holders were apprehensive about moving.

Anthony Lau Chun-hon, director of Hong Kong Talent Engage, said that attendance for the two-day Hong Kong summit had exceeded expectations.

A spokesman for office said about 4,900 people attended in person, while more than 130,000 viewed the live webcast. The parallel CareerConnect Expo attracted more than 8,600 attendees.

Du Minqi, director general of Guangdong province’s Human Resources and Social Security Department, said: “The Greater Bay Area is tasked with becoming a strategic fulcrum of the new development pattern and a demonstration force for high-quality development.”

Du highlighted the need to take the initiative to cultivate talent “to better grasp opportunities of innovation and development”.

“We have a fervent desire for talent,” he said.

Also speaking at the summit was Dai Kebin, the chairman and chief executive officer of Tongdao Liepin Group, which runs one of the largest recruitment platforms in China. Dai said the bay area had already attracted a large pool of talent that was both mobile and young.

“For talents from first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, they would rank Hong Kong as the No 1 place for work and living,” Dai said. “Foshan and Dongguan may not be as well-known, but [because] they focus on high-end manufacturing, there are also talents from Guangzhou, Shenzhen [moving] to Foshan, Dongguan.”

In the past, professionals flowed in the direction of Guangzhou to Hong Kong and not among different bay area cities, he noted.

“[Another] feature is that the talents are getting younger. This is even more apparent when compared to talents in Beijing and Shanghai. Over 80 per cent of the talents are aged between 20 and 45,” he said.

“For those graduating from the QS 100 universities, many of them would choose Hong Kong as a very nice place for work and for living, and for furthering their development,” he added, referring to the top schools in the QS World University Rankings.