Shenzhen to hire from HK for civil service

Shenzhen will hire four Hong Kong residents as civil servants, the municipal government announced on Tuesday.

In December, Shenzhen held its civil servant enrollment examination to fill 1,069 jobs, five of which were reserved for residents of the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

The jobs cover administrative management, financial supervision, urban planning, foreign personnel management and medical security.

It is the first time Shenzhen has hired young talent from Hong Kong and Macao to fill official posts and participate in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The move attracted 446 applicants — about 90 people for each open position on average.

According to the Shenzhen Information Office, Lai Yuhui is one of the four Hong Kong civil servants to be recruited. With work experience in both Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Lai managed to stand out in the fierce competition to fill the post in the municipal financial supervision bureau.

"Many local employees in Hong Kong companies are actively learning Mandarin to understand mainland culture, hoping to integrate quickly into the development of the mainland. Now younger adults from Hong Kong and Macao have opportunities to be officials on the mainland, which enables us to rethink, understand and serve our country," Lai said.

Huang Keyi, another Hong Kong person to be recruited, graduated from a university on the mainland. He applied for a post in the Fubao subdistrict in Futian, a district of Shenzhen that borders Hong Kong.

The post attracted 244 candidates and was the most popular one. Huang's wish came true.

Shenzhen recruited civil servants from Hong Kong and Macao to provide more development space for younger workers who are interested in promoting themselves in the Greater Bay Area. Huang said the move will further the country’s innovation and opening-up.