Since 2019, the net outflow of Hong Kong's population has exceeded 250,000. Most of the parliamentarians are expected to be immigrants and not study abroad.

According to the statistics of the Immigration Department, after the turmoil of the amendments in 2019, Hong Kong recorded a net outflow of population for two and a half consecutive years.

Under the epidemic, Hong Kong people need to be quarantined for a period of time when they go abroad. Are these 250,000 people permanently immigrating, studying abroad or temporarily leaving Hong Kong to avoid the epidemic?

Lai Tung-kwok, former Secretary for Security and member of the Legislative Council of the New People's Party, said that due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, population movement has been hindered, and it is difficult to determine the reasons for the departure of Hong Kong people.

However, he believes that as long as Hong Kong's economic development is attractive, it will still attract talents to stay in Hong Kong, and he is not worried about brain drain.

At the end of 2020, the net outflow of more than 90,000 people has greatly exceeded the norm

According to the data of the Immigration Department, the net outflow of Hong Kong people was 10,100 at the end of 2019, 49,100 in 2020, 96,400 at the end of the year, 69,200 in 2021, and 27,300 provisional at the end of the year, totaling 252,100.

There are opinions that some of the Hong Kong people who left have immigrated due to political reasons, and there are also professionals who have left because of the epidemic and epidemic prevention policies.

When the government released the data, it stated that “net migration covers the movement of Hong Kong residents in and out of Hong Kong for various purposes such as work, study and immigration, but there is no breakdown of the figures. Hong Kong residents are not required to declare the purpose of their outbound travel to the government when they leave the country. Therefore, the government has not Direct statistics of Hong Kong people emigration. Hong Kong, as an international city, has always been highly mobile. In the past decade, Hong Kong residents excluding OWP holders have recorded a net emigration in most years.”

Looking at the mid-year and end-of-year statistics from 1997 to the present, 44 of the 50 statistics were net outflows, and the situation of net outflows is indeed very common.

However, the net outflow of 96,400 people at the end of 2020 is significantly higher than the past normal, and the 69,200 people in 2021 is also the second highest since 1997. Such a number is unusual at the time of the outbreak.

Looking at the recent data from the Immigration Department, there were 5,082 people leaving Hong Kong on Sunday (6th), a new high after the fifth wave of the epidemic, and 4,238 people left the country through the airport.

As for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, 288 people left the country, and another 556 people left the country through the Shenzhen Bay Port.

Number of corporate offices in Hong Kong dropped by 20,000

Under the new crown epidemic, the government has tightened social distancing measures. After the outbreak of the fifth wave of the epidemic, the government has tightened it significantly. For example, the ban on dine-in in the evening market and the mandatory quarantine of inbound tourists have seriously affected the business environment of catering, retail, hotels and related supporting industries. .

As for the financial industry, a pillar industry in Hong Kong, according to "Bloomberg", Hong Kong is becoming less attractive to talents due to immigration restrictions. It is extremely difficult for companies to persuade traders and bankers to relocate to Hong Kong, and some talents have already planned to leave Hong Kong.

The related challenges can also be seen in terms of the number of offices established by enterprises in Hong Kong.

In 2019, the number of regional headquarters, regional offices and local offices established by enterprises in Hong Kong reached 493,000, but it will reach 483,000 in 2020 and further reduce to 473,000 in 2021, a decrease of 20,000 in two years.

During this period, mainland companies still increased, but Japanese companies decreased by 25 to 1,388 in two years, British companies decreased by 46 to 667, and American companies decreased by 77 to 1,267.

Divided by the main business in Hong Kong, 47.5% of the above-mentioned foreign companies that have established departments or offices in Hong Kong are in the import and export, wholesale and retail industries. In recent months, the import of goods to Hong Kong has experienced serious delays, and it is believed that the relevant companies are facing considerable challenges.

Lai Tung-kwok says Hong Kong is attractive as a magnet, not worried about brain drain

Li Dongguo said that on the surface, there is a trend of population outflow, and it is difficult to judge the reasons for the departure of Hong Kong people, because since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2019, traffic around the world has been hindered, and the real population flow can only be seen after customs clearance.

However, he pointed out that looking at the data released by the UK on the issuance of BNO residence visas, at least 80,000 to 100,000 people have moved to the local area, and it is believed that immigrants or immigrants account for a large proportion of the population leaving Hong Kong.

He mentioned that Hong Kong's epidemic prevention requirements are higher than those of other parts of the world, which has led to the situation that foreigners are unwilling to stay or come to Hong Kong, and also exacerbated the situation of population outflow.

However, he believes that the problem of population exodus is not serious at present. He described Hong Kong as a "magnet". After the development of the northern metropolitan area in the future, it will become more attractive. As long as they can do business in Hong Kong, they can attract talents.

He also pointed out that the brain drain is not necessarily a trend to worry about, but instead gives Hong Kong people more opportunities and can supplement the workforce by attracting overseas talents.

Hong Wen pointed out that Hong Kong's international function will be difficult to recover in the short term and advocates the development of local economy

Hong Wen, a member of the election committee, pointed out that there are two trends in Hong Kong's population at present. The first is the migration of the middle class, which leads to the loss of middle management personnel. The second is the mismatch of grass-roots positions. , while industries such as tourism and retail are underemployed.

She expects that industries such as tourism will find it difficult to return to the peak in 2018 in the next few years, and the Hong Kong economy needs to undergo structural adjustment.

Hong Wen believes that regardless of middle-level or grass-roots industries, local manpower should also be trained first, but in emergencies, when it is too late to train local talents, you should be open to the introduction of foreign labor.

Hong Wen believes that the reduction in the number of offices of multinational companies in Hong Kong must be related to Hong Kong's epidemic prevention policy. Because Hong Kong's epidemic prevention is relatively strict, it will cause inconvenience to enterprises mainly in overseas markets. She believes that when the risk is controllable, such as the level of vaccination in Hong Kong When there are sufficient isolation facilities, the government will gradually open to the outside world, including reducing the quarantine time for those arriving in Hong Kong.

She mentioned that the cost of relocating offices for companies is high. I believe that even if Hong Kong opens up to the outside world, it may not be relocated back to Hong Kong in a short period of time. The impact will be longer. Take the opportunity to develop the local economy.

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