Hong Kong is set to base its overseas talent trawl around its safe, stable socio-economic environment amid rising geopolitical uncertainty, head of the office for attracting talents told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

Director of Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE) Felix Chan Hoi-king said the city’s global talent trawl could be maximized by joining forces with others in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, breaking the bottleneck of its limited market size.

To spice up the game, Chan said its promotional efforts this year will draw more heavily on personal narratives from international talent already settled in Hong Kong, with more video content to showcase individuals and their accounts of building rewarding careers and lives in the city.

Speaking only hours after a closed-door meeting with officials and business attendees from Chinese mainland cities at the Global Talent Summit Week on Thursday, Chan said they had a “great discussion” on how the special administrative region — now formally a state-back global high-caliber talent hub under the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) — can bolster the rest of the country’s effort to attract and retain international talent.

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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government’s efforts over the past three years have paid dividends. Hong Kong has approved over 410,000 applications under various talent admission programs introduced since late 2022. Of the more than 270,000 individuals who had arrived in the city by the end of February, approximately one in four holds a foreign passport, official data showed.

Moving forward, Chan suggested that special attention should be directed to professionals who are critical — yet locally in short supply — to consolidating the city’s state-backed strategic hub roles across assorted fields laid out in the 15th Five-Year Plan.

Guangdong and Hong Kong have already been scouting for talent side by side, he added, citing a trip last year, where representatives from over 40 enterprises based in Hong Kong and its neighbor joined an HKTE delegation to Malaysia for showcase and recruitment activities.

Chan said visits to both Hong Kong and other Greater Bay Area cities would be arranged for talent who are highly valued by the nation, such as young tech innovators. He noted that existing Shenzhen-Hong Kong talent cooperation measures are already facilitating joint recruitment efforts, citing the Shenzhen-Hong Kong 72-Hour Experience Pass launched last August.

Chan said partnering with other Greater Bay Area cities could strengthen Hong Kong’s appeal to global talent. International top-tier talent in strategic fields such as I&T are attracted to Hong Kong’s research and financial strengths, but often view its limited market size as a bottleneck, he noted.

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Unlocking greater access to the Greater Bay Area market — and the mainland’s broader economic landscape means Hong Kong’s appeal for talent can be boosted by deepened ties with world-leading enterprises and mature industrial chains in cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou, he said.

Hong Kong is busy ironing out its first five-year plan — expected by year-end. Chan expressed hopes for the action plan to help encourage more integrated collaboration in talent recruitment across the Greater Bay Area.

Key enablers, Chan noted, would be Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis development and the dedicated legislation being tailored to the 30,000-hectare economic powerhouse and housing hub in the making. He called the megaproject “of great importance to Hong Kong’s talent attractiveness for the next five years, and beyond”.

Chan said Hong Kong’s talent admission initiatives must now be more “exact and precise” across fields, spanning established pillars like finance, shipping, trade, and aviation to the innovation and technology sector.

Last year, HKTE went to Malaysia for IT and Islamic economy talent, Switzerland for tourism management, and the United Kingdom for engineering; it will visit the Netherlands next month for high-tech expertise.

Contact the writer at wanqing@chinadailyhk.com