More HK Residents Buy Housing in ShenzhenSince Hong Kong was handed over to China on July 1, 1997, more and more residents of Hong Kong have been buying housing on the Chinese mainland, especially in Shenzhen of Guangdong Province.Statistics for the year 2000 show that the home-buyers spent from five billion yuan (about 602 million U.S. dollars) to six billion yuan (723 million U.S. dollars) to buy nearly 14,000 housing units, half of which are in Shenzhen, which faces Hong Kong across a local river. It is estimated that HK residents' purchases of housing in Shenzhen will go up by 30 percent this year, said experts. The experts explained that previously, Hong Kong residents were restricted from buying housing in Shenzhen for a number of reasons, including the higher prices charged to them. With the lifting of restrictions on overseas people buying open- market housing in the Chinese mainland, the number of Hong Kong residents buying property and settling down in Shenzhen has risen dramatically, according to the experts. The experts predict that Hong Kong residents will purchase as many as 18,500 units of housing in the Chinese mainland this year, 9,000 of which will be in Shenzhen. HK residents who buy property in Shenzhen are mostly working people who make money in Hong Kong and spend it in Shenzhen, said the experts. Observers here are confident that one million of Hong Kong's six million people will eventually buy housing in Shenzhen. They urged more study on the social implications stemming from the influx of Hong Kong residents to Shenzhen, commercial opportunities caused by such phenomenon, and greater efforts being made to improve services related to open-market housing in Shenzhen. |
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