HK, Macao youth eligible for subsidies

Single people from Hong Kong and Macao who are employed in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, will be eligible to receive a subsidy up to 515,000 yuan ($76,900) within three years, under a plan released to support youths from the two special administrative regions who come to work and start businesses.

Companies started by young entrepreneurs from Hong Kong and Macao will be eligible for a maximum 4.5 million yuan bonus and subsidies within three years, under the new measures.

The measures, issued by the Nansha district government on Thursday, followed a recent overall plan to promote comprehensive cooperation between Guangdong and the two SARs by further deepening opening-up in Nansha. The plan was released by the State Council.

The new measures are designed exclusively to support entrepreneurship and employment of youths from Hong Kong and Macao. They cover several areas, including internships, promotion of career growth, exchange activities, building innovation and entrepreneurship demonstration bases, encouraging employment and starting businesses, as well as housing and talent cards.

"We will have an all-around reward and subsidy policy from the aspects of employment, work improvement, housing and medical treatment to reduce the employment concerns of young people from Hong Kong and Macao," said Xie Wei, deputy Party secretary of the Nansha Development Zone Party Working Committee.

Companies and organizations that have employed young people from Hong Kong and Macao will also be eligible for up to 200,000 yuan. Human resources organizations that help promote the employment of young people from the SARs will be eligible for up to 100,000 yuan.

Xie said Nansha will provide at least 1,000 internship positions each year for youths from Hong Kong and Macao, with internship funding of at least 2 million yuan.

A center for facilitating exchanges and integration of youths from Guangdong province and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao was launched in Nansha on Tuesday. It will organize exchange activities and help young people from Hong Kong and Macao start businesses, find jobs, study and travel — or simply live in Guangdong.

Eleven incubators and exchange and promotion centers for Hong Kong and Macao people have been established in Nansha in recent years, with more than 300 youth innovation and entrepreneurship teams already set up in the district.

Additionally, nearly 3,000 enterprises funded by Hong Kong and Macao investors have been established in Nansha, with total investment reaching $117 billion, according to sources with the local government.