Talent knocking on Bay Area door
Proposed policies show Guangdong’s open, inclusive attitude toward Hong Kong professionals
If the mega Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is the stepping stone for Hong Kong people who make the foray into the vast expanse of Chinese mainland business, professional talents are seen to hold the aces.
Significant breakthroughs have been made for the integration of professional services in the nation’s budding economic powerhouse, notably in the legal, architectural and accounting fields, although stringent cross-boundary travel curbs forced by the coronavirus blow have hampered the flow of people between Hong Kong and the mainland since the start of the year.
Hong Kong’s lawyers, architects and accountants, with a wealth of experience behind them, are ready to win the relevant qualifications through customized examinations that would entitle them to set up shop in the Bay Area, bypassing national tests and other restrictions and leveraging their global exposure in future mainland practice.
National regulations have so far barred professional talents from practicing directly on the mainland, apart from allowing them to take a sip of the Chinese market as consultants, minus their masterly titles and ranks.
The curtailment has made it difficult to meet mounting demand for cross-boundary professional facilities and services, prodding the mainland authorities to step in with a series of reform plans rolled out this year.
Industry pundits believe easing the recognition of qualifications reflects the shared goals of both sides to deepen exchanges, and they look forward to the dismantling of other barriers along the way.
Previously, legal practitioners from the special administrative region eyeing the mainland market would need to register themselves as lawyers as the first step to taking a national judicial examination for the certificate — the same as mainland law graduates. But it is an uphill battle for Hong Kong residents in view of the vastly different legal systems and languages adopted on both sides.
The days of chasing rainbows may soon be over. The central government is all set to give the nod for lawyers from Hong Kong and Macao to sit for a special examination that will open the door for them to practice in the Bay Area, according to a decision unveiled in August by the Standing Committee of the nation’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress.
The content of the test would be different as the chief aim is to gauge the competence of experienced practitioners to work in the region, compared to the national examination taken by mainland law students, said Maggie Chan Man-ki, founding president of the Small and Medium Law Firms Association of Hong Kong.
Moreover, the right to practice obtained through the new program will not be in conflict with their Hong Kong eligibility, explained Chan. “One
of the vital breakthroughs is that a lawyer could have a chance to take up cases directly in the Bay Area, motivating more medium-sized and smaller law firms to explore the new market,” she said.
Barrister Lawrence Ma Yan-kwok, chairman of Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation, agreed that the special exam to be introduced in the Bay Area should be geared to luring experienced specialists and making good use of their talent, rather than strictly assessing their professional standards.
In his view, the form of interviews should be adopted as an evaluation approach for lawyers with more than 15 years’ experience.
“The pilot program is just the first step,” Ma told China Daily. “And adapting to a new legal system is fraught with challenges ahead, such as having to deal with different languages and the modus operandi of law firms.”
Chan suggested that closer attention be paid to preferential policies on taxation and cross-boundary fund transfers, which are fundamental to a successful business operation in Guangdong province.
For architects, special examinations have been arranged for mutual recognition of qualifications since 2003 when the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement was signed, granting Hong Kong enterprises and residents preferential access to the mainland market. However, architects need to be employed by an organization qualified for construction engineering and design in order to use the title in practice.
The requirements for obtaining the above qualification are also high, including a registered capital of 60
million yuan ($8.85 million) and the stipulated hiring of more than 500 specialists.
Ian Pang, head of the Guangdong office of Hong Kong-based architectural firm Ronald Lu and Partners, obtained the mainland Class One architect qualification through the mutual recognition program in 2011, but has yet to use the title in Guangdong so far because he is not working for a firm with the required qualifications.
The good news is that the restriction may soon be removed. The Guangdong authorities proposed a draft guideline in July this year that would introduce a new registration system for eligible Hong Kong architects to work directly in the nine Guangdong cities of the Bay Area’s 11-city cluster, such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai.
Hong Kong architectural companies could also independently participate in mainland projects, including those initiated by local governments, according to the guideline.
Pang said the architecture industry’s pilot registration system has carved out a novel model for Hong Kong professionals to practice on the mainland.
Pang, who is working on several key building projects in Foshan, Zhuhai and other cities in Guangdong, is upbeat about his company’s future as the southern province recently announced up to 1,230 core projects with total investments of nearly 6 trillion yuan.
He urged Hong Kong firms to be better prepared for stiff competition ahead as the standard of mainland architectural companies has risen by leaps and bounds.
Kenneth Lo, direc tor of LWK+Partners — a Hong Kong-based,
world-class architectural enterprise — is confident that the proposed mainland policies will encourage more Hong Kong companies and professionals to tap into the Bay Area.
More importantly, he said the moves demonstrate Guangdong’s open and inclusive attitude toward Hong Kong professionals.
Lo recalled that when he entered the mainland market 12 years ago, he could barely speak Mandarin, but now he is an experienced architect there and LWK+Partners has set up offices across the country.
He noted that the markets for green environment and transit-oriented development projects bode well for Hong Kong architectural firms as they are particularly adept in both sectors.
Lo reckons that the mainland incentives will lure new talents to the Bay Area, especially young professionals, while his company plans to up the ante in its mainland foray.
He called for the provincial measures to be expanded to other mainland cities to facilitate the Hong Kong construction industry’s operations there.
Besides the professional and company qualifications, a requirement of residency time on the mainland is another tough nut to crack for Hong Kong professionals.
Accountant Michael Lam, head of southern mainland and Hong Kong assurance markets at global auditing firm PwC, said Hong Kong accountants are required to have stable mainland residency and live on the mainland for no less than six months every year to qualify as signing partners for practice in Guangdong, after passing examinations conducted by the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
A Hong Kong accountant is also required to have lived on the mainland for at least five years consecutively before becoming a signing partner.
Becoming a signing partner is an important step in an accountant’s career as only partners can sign reports, explained Lam.
He said young accountants and managers could now be more motivated to work on the mainland as they could be promoted to partner after five years of working in a company, but it is impossible for existing Hong Kong partners to immediately practice in the country.
Convenient cross-boundary transportation pre- COVID-19 and facilities have offered many people the expediency of living in Hong Kong and working in Shenzhen, Lam said, pointing out that current regulations have made it impossible for Hong Kong accountants to live south of the boundary in the long term.
“Our ultimate goal is securing mutual recognition of each other’s qualifications,” he said, suggesting that the practical way for now is to relax the residential requirement.
He believes that increased crossboundary exchanges of financial professionals are mutually beneficial for Hong Kong and Guangdong. Hong Kong accountants are familiar with international standards and markets, while tremendous opportunities abound on the mainland.
Hong Kong accountants, whose professionalism is widely acclaimed, also stand to gain from the current trend of Chinese companies going public in the special administrative region, as well as the importance domestic enterprises attach to environmental, social and governance criteria, said Lam.