Legal system a challenge for HK young people working in Bay Area
The differences between Hong Kong and the mainland’s legal systems are the biggest challenge young people from the special administrative region face when working or running businesses in Guangdong province, the city’s largest youth service organization revealed in a survey on Tuesday.
According to the survey done by Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, the differences are many — including the process of court procedures, regulations on intellectual property and confidentiality agreements.
The organization conducted the survey in January, interviewing 522 Hong Kong young people to find out obstacles facing Hong Kong youth working in the GuangdongHong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Denis Huen Yin-fan, founder and CEO of the Employment and Economic Development Sub-group of Youth IDEAS — a youth think tank established by the HKFYG, said due to the legal differences, Hong Kong young entrepreneurs occasionally found them ignorant about how to file appeals when they encounter disputes.
Huen said the Bay Area should set up a platform to provide Hong Kong entrepreneurs with detailed law information. This could include what legal departments do and things which SAR people need to be aware of when signing contracts.
The same day, Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, the SAR’s secretary for justice, told reporters she hoped to promote Hong Kong’s laws as a strong basis for businesses and other organizations to make contracts within the Bay Area.
Ernest Chan Ho-sing, project manager of the Employment and Economic Development Sub-group of Youth IDEAS, said new startups have encountered difficulties in obtaining operation licenses on the mainland.
One respondent told the survey that for two months he couldn’t get a license for his business information and training company in Beijing. He ended up registering his firm in Hong Kong despite the fact its main business was on the mainland.
Some respondents said they have consulted the Hong Kong government’s offices on the mainland, but even they are not sure about some procedures.
Youth IDEAS suggested Guangdong province establish a one-stop interconnection system. This would help Hong Kong entrepreneurs to acquire materials and handle procedures for different Bay Area cities.
Huen said they hope to promote the “Qianhai model” in the Bay Area. Under this, law firms from Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland may respectively contribute lawyers and capital to establish law firms together in Qianhai, Shenzhen. They have provided legal services to customers in these three places and even abroad since 2013.