Residence, job rules eased for HK people
Chinese nationals of HK, Macao, Taiwan hail mainland’s offer of residence and plan to abolish work permits
One year after President Xi Jinping’s inspection tour of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region last year to mark the 20th anniversary of the city’s return to the motherland, Hong Kong people living and working on the Chinese mainland have now been rewarded with greater convenience in going about their daily lives and in developing their careers.
The State Council announced earlier this month that Chinese nationals from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will no longer need a permit to work on the mainland and can also seek residence permit cards from Sept 1.
The residence permit cards, with similar functions as the identification cards issued to mainland residents, can be automatically read by electronic devices in various places.
Lau Chi, a 29-year-old Hong Kong resident working in a hotel in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, said scrapping the work permit rule will make it much easier for the company to hire Hong Kong people.
He said the new measure means he will no longer face the hassle of having to renew his work permit with the assistance of the hotel’s human resources department.
Besides the relaxation of the work permit policy, the China National Arts Fund said in July it will begin accepting applicants for grants from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan arts practitioners in the first half of next year.
Artists from the three regions, aged below 40 and who have been studying or working on the mainland for more than a year, will be eligible for the grants.
Hong Kong resident Kwok Siu-ching, 38, has been working as a teacher at the Music and Dance School of Guangzhou University in Guangdong province for five years.
Kwok said she had previously given up opportunities to proceed with her own projects as some national- and provincial-level arts funds were not open to Hong Kong people at the time.
This had made her feel there were “invisible” limits to her career while working on the mainland.
She called the grants a “good sign”, saying she now feels being treated on an equal footing with her mainland counterparts and offered a level playing field to compete with her peers.
The National Social Science Fund of China will also be open to Hong Kong and Macao residents working in higher educational and scientific research institutions.
A policy promulgated by the central government in December last year stipulates that Hong Kong people working on the mainland can also join the Housing Provident Fund and enjoy the same treatment as mainland residents.
Equal treatment covers broad-ranging aspects, including making basic deposits, processing procedures, withdrawing money from the Housing Provident Fund, and applying for personal housing loans under the fund.
Lau and Kwok hoped that the details of the relevant rules and regulations will be unveiled as soon as possible.
Moses Mo-yung Chi-fai, 28, who has worked in Shenzhen for the past four years, recalled that when he wanted to buy a car to expand his business on the mainland in 2014, he was told he wasn’t qualified for an installment payment plan because of his Hong Kong identity.
To his delight, this would not happen again after the Measures for the Management of Auto Loans were issued on the mainland in October last year. As a result, residents from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and foreign countries who have lived on the mainland for a year or more will qualify for such loans.
Mo-yung said the measure will make it more convenient for Hong Kong people with long-term plans to live and work on the mainland.
Lau said he appreciates the nation’s care for Hong Kong people, and believes the new policies would make mainland-based Hong Kong residents integrate into national development easily.
The new policies introduced in the past year are all good news in addressing Hong Kong people’s worries about developing their careers on the mainland, said Witman Hung Wai-man, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress.
He hopes that all Hong Kong residents holding Home Return Permits will be allowed to apply for mainland residence permit cards in future. This would promote a sense of national identity among Hong Kong people, and help the SAR and its people further integrate into the nation’s overall development.
The new policies introduced ... are all good news in addressing Hong Kong people’s worries about developing their careers on the mainland.” Witman Hung Wai-man,