Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee arrives to deliver a political speech at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong in October. 19, 2022.
Paul Yeung | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee on Wednesday announced plans to attract talent and investment to the city.
In his first policy address since taking office in July, Lee said the government would allocate billions to attract businesses to the city and launch a so-called top talent transition scheme to “encourage talents to pursue their careers in Hong Kong”.
Hong Kong has lost thousands of residents since the pandemic began. deterioration of the brain drain from the international financial center.
“Over the past two years, the local workforce has declined by approximately 140,000 people. In addition to actively cultivating and retaining local talent, the government will actively scour the world for talent.” according to the official transcript of his speech.
People with an annual salary of about $318,000 or more and graduates from the world’s top 100 universities with three years of work experience in the last five years will be eligible for a two-year pass to explore opportunities in Hong Kong. “
Foreigners who enter Hong Kong through talent attraction schemes, purchase residential property and become permanent residents will be able to apply for a refund of the buyer’s stamp duty and new residence tax for their first property, Lee said.
“The agreement applies to any sales contract concluded from today (October 19, 2022) and thereafter,” he added.
Housing prices in Hong Kong have seen a quarterly decline since the third quarter of last year. Rating and evaluation department.
The Hang Seng index It advanced slightly in early trade before giving up those gains in Hong Kong. Before the exit, it went down more 0.8%. Down more than 1% at exit.
Shares of Hong Kong-listed real estate companies gave up earlier gains as Lee spoke. during lunch break China Foreign Land and Investment increased by 2.25%, CK Active It gained 2.42% and Bell Land It increased by 1.11%. Village garden also added 0.71%.
Lee, loyal to Beijing, was the only candidate to replace his predecessor Carrie Lam in May’s election. About 1,500 members of the largely pro-Beijing election committee voted, and Lee won 1,416 votes to become Hong Kong’s supreme leader.
Hong Kong was a British colony before it was handed over to China in 1997 to be governed under “one country, two systems”. Hong Kong has been promised 50 years of autonomy and has freedoms not found in other Chinese cities, including limited voting rights.
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