HK youths support cultivation of career opportunity with mainland

A positive attitude will help young people from Hong Kong embrace opportunities from the development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, according to participants in a symposium.

Eight young people from Hong Kong who work and live in Shenzhen spoke about the issue at the symposium in Shenzhen on Friday, which was attended by about 100 Hong Kong youths studying or working in the city.

Young people in Hong Kong should continue to innovate in order to contribute to the special administrative region and the country's prosperity, said Fu Zhenbang, secretary of the Secretariat of the Communist Youth League Central Committee, who spoke at the event.

He said he hopes for increased consensus on the "one country, two systems" principle and for the young to promote Shenzhen-Hong Kong exchanges.

"I hope Hong Kong youths will grasp opportunities from national development and continue to write outstanding and successful stories," Fu said.

Tsang Yee, a Hong Kong entrepreneur who founded a coworking space in Shenzhen, said Bay Area development creates a promising environment for setting up businesses, given the availability of policy and capital support.

"Since I began my career in Shenzhen several years ago, I can see that the city is developing very fast. What impresses me is Shenzhen's entrepreneurial environment, which is very inclusive," he said. "The city has also launched a series of policies to facilitate us to work and live there."

A recent guideline on building Shenzhen into a pilot demonstration area says increased support will be given to help Hong Kong and Macao residents enjoy "citizenship" in the city.

"More open environment and preferential policies open a door for Hong Kong and Macao young people to develop their career on the mainland. This is a great support for us", Tsang said.

Iris Leung, who works in catering in Shenzhen, said the Bay Area has vast job opportunities needed by Hong Kong youths, who are anxious about jobs and career development, she said.

To help them better integrate into the mainland, Leung called for more internships and support policies for those from Hong Kong such as housing or living subsidies.

Terence Lin, another attendee who established a platform for trading secondhand cars on the mainland, said more government coordination is needed.

"There are a number of young people in Hong Kong who have thoughts of setting up their business on the mainland. But most of them don't have backgrounds in working in large enterprises like Alibaba and Tencent, or connections with alumni from prestigious mainland universities, like their mainland counterparts do. This makes it more difficult for them to get funding," Lin said. He said he hopes government will help connect venture capital institutions and Hong Kong startups.

The event was sponsored by the Communist Youth League of China's Shenzhen committee and the Shenzhen Youth Federation.