Most Hong Kong youths have no interest in working or studying across border in mainland China’s Guangdong province, survey finds

Biggest obstacles are a lack of personal connections, unfamiliarity with the working environment and separation from family, survey finds

Local youngsters who have experience of the mainland are more willing to make the move

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Just 23.4 per cent of young Hongkongers said they were willing to work in Guangdong province. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 8:34pm, 26 Jan 2019Updated: 6:07pm, 27 Jan 2019

Fewer than one in four Hong Kong youths are willing to work in mainland China’s Guangdong province, a survey has found.

The results, published by the Hong Kong Guangdong Youth Association and the Proactive Think Tank on Friday, also showed that less than one-fifth of respondents were willing to study across the border.

The association’s executive chairman, Eric Fok Kai-shan, said the results showed that local youngsters who had experience of the mainland were more willing to make the move.

“On one hand we have to provide more opportunities for exchange, and at the same time encourage them to start businesses and live on the mainland,” Fok said.

The Futian district of Shenzhen, one of nine mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area project. Photo: Roy Issa

In August last year, the two groups surveyed 809 people aged 15 to 39 to learn about their views on the “Greater Bay Area” – an initiative by Beijing to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine Guangdong cities into an innovation hub rivalling Silicon Valley.