More HK People Want to Migrate NorthwardsHong Kong people have always complained about the unbearable high housing price and living cost, but now they have new choices to live much cheaper but comfortable outside the city.Just few miles away and cross the border, there is the newly rising city of Shenzhen, where the housing price is only about 10 percent of that in Hong Kong and living expenses there are also much lower than that in Hong Kong. A recent sample survey conducted by the Shenzhen city property development department in individual interviews with over 1,000 Hong Kong residents showed that about 15 percent of Hong Kong residents intended to resettle in Shenzhen. The survey also indicated that many of the giant Hong Kong property developers have made their plans to invest in Shenzhen's property market. Among the buyers, there were also many young people. The improved customs services and short distance enabled the working population to travel easily between the two cities. "We can work or do business in Hong Kong in the daytime and enjoy our life at night and weekends in Shenzhen," said Anita Cheung, a public relations manager in Hong Kong. A total 50 property projects were on display at the fair and the preferential policies were formulated to lure investors, according to the organizer of the fair. As China's first special economic zone, Shenzhen has made great achievements in every aspect including urban construction and living conditions with an average GDP per capita of 4,300 U.S. dollars in 1999, ranking the first in the nation. In 1999, the city sold a total 559,300 square meters of commercial houses and flats to outsiders including Hong Kong people, an increase of 54.1 percent compared with that in 1998. However, Shenzhen is not the only choice for Hong Kong people to resettle. Many of them would like to migrate further northward or to move into other inland cities to live since commodities in further inland areas are much cheaper than in Shenzhen. |
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