HK residents see benefits of Bay Area's development, survey finds

Residents in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have a positive attitude toward the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and believe it will benefit businesses as well as people, a survey by Our Hong Kong Foundation found.

Most respondents recognized the economic benefits brought by the development of the Greater Bay Area, with 72 percent agreeing it will increase the potential market size and create more opportunities for Hong Kong businesses, according to the survey, which was released on Thursday.

Fifty-five percent of the respondents believed that more multinational corporations will be attracted to expand their business operations in Hong Kong, creating more job opportunities for the local market.

The findings were based on interviews in April and May with more than 1,000 Hong Kong residents aged 18 and older.

Hong Kong residents' willingness to live on the Chinese mainland is also growing. Sixty-six percent of the respondents believed that the number of people who are interested in living in the Greater Bay Area has increased. While policies related to cost-of-living were the most attractive factors for them in deciding whether to live on the mainland, having access to Hong Kong's medical services and social and housing benefits in mainland cities in the area were also incentives.

Sixty-three percent of the respondents said they had been to at least one of the nine Guangdong cities in the Greater Bay Area in the past five years, but their major form of interaction with mainland cities was touristic sightseeing.

"The survey shows that most Hong Kong residents, regardless of their backgrounds, are aware of the opportunities brought by the Greater Bay Area and recognize the economic benefits it could bring," said Stephen Wong, senior vice-president of the foundation.

He suggested that a specific department should be set up in Shenzhen and Hong Kong to deal with cross-border recognition of professional qualifications and to further promote the mobility of talent in the Greater Bay Area.

Apart from business opportunities and cross-border living, the foundation also surveyed how Hong Kong residents view Hong Kong's economic development under the blueprint of the Greater Bay Area. Fifty-eight percent of the respondents said they believe the joint development of Hong Kong and nine mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area will help to diversify Hong Kong's economy, which they say relies heavily on real estate and finance.

Integrated development between Hong Kong and other cities in the 11-city cluster will help the special administrative region nurture more talent and explore emerging industries, thereby creating new engines for its growth, according to the survey.