Home is where the heart is

It did not surprise many when Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying told us on TV on Tuesday that about 300,000 Hong Kong people, or nearly 10 percent of the city's overall working population, now live and work on the mainland.

When almost every member of the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest companies has either established or is struggling to secure a strong foothold on the mainland in order to have a fair share of the large economic pie created by decades of robust growth, it is only natural and reasonable for Hong Kong entrepreneurs and professionals, who enjoy advantages in terms of both cultural and geographic proximity, to make inroads into the expansive mainland market.

In fact, Hong Kong entrepreneurs are pioneers in tapping into the mainland market and have gained huge business benefits as a result. As early as the mid-1980s, a few years after the central government implemented the policy of reform and opening-up, Hong Kong factory owners started to move their manufacturing bases to Guangdong province to take advantage of the much lower labor and land costs there. Thanks to the first-mover advantage, many of them have made great fortunes before foreign multinational companies realized the business potential there.

The ever-expanding economic activities on the mainland in recent decades have also provided Hong Kong's professionals with vast career opportunities. After the signing of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) agreement in 2003 and several supplementary agreements subsequently between Hong Kong and the mainland that have greatly loosened market access restrictions, professionals from Hong Kong who are familiar with both the mainland market and international practices have found insatiable demand for their services on the mainland.

Convincing evidence of the abundance of career opportunities available on the mainland is the proliferation of haigui communities - circles of overseas returnees who have studied or been trained abroad - in almost every major mainland city. Some years ago, these learned people would have tried every effort to gain permanent residence or citizenship in their host country after finishing their study or professional training there. But now many have chosen to return to the mainland, with the belief that they can find greener pastures at home.

Many youngsters in Hong Kong have been complaining about the lack of career opportunities and upward social mobility. This is true and largely blamed on the mature market and narrow economic base of the city. Moreover, there is simply no way for any city, including Hong Kong, to generate enough and suitable opportunities for everyone. That is why it is commonplace in Western countries or even on the mainland for young people to leave their hometowns to work in other cities.

Young people who are upset by the relative lack of career opportunities and living space here can learn from their peers elsewhere and start setting their sights and feet northwards where living space and career opportunities are more abundant. After all, home is where the heart is.

(HK Edition 04/26/2017 page8)