Nearly 10,000 mainland talents enter Hong Kong through "exit endorsement for talents"

HONG KONG, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 10,000 talents from mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) had traveled to Hong Kong with the exit endorsement for talents as end of 2023, Secretary for Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Tang Ping-keung said on Wednesday.

Tang said in a meeting at the Legislative Council of the HKSAR that the HKSAR government has been in close discussion with the mainland on the facilitation measures to promote the "southbound and northbound" flow of high-end talents in the greater bay area.

In February 2023, the mainland introduced the "southbound" exit endorsement for talents, facilitating the travel of six categories of GBA mainland talents, namely outstanding, scientific research, education, healthcare, legal and other talents to Hong Kong, Tang said.

Among the nearly 10,000 talents who had traveled to Hong Kong with the exit endorsement for talents, there were 347 talents under the "outstanding" category with exit endorsement valid for five years, 5,872 talents in the fields of scientific research, education or healthcare with exit endorsement valid for three years, and 3,739 talents under legal and other with exit endorsement valid for one year, Tang said.

The 2023 Policy Address announced that foreign staff of Hong Kong-registered companies could make applications in Hong Kong for "northbound" multiple entry visas to the mainland for two years or more with priority processing, Tang said, adding that there has been a significant increase in the number of "multiple-entry" visas issued for two or five years in Hong Kong, with about 9,000 applications approved.