All the green, green grass of home
In the 23 years since Hong Kong’s return to the nation, the opportunities up for grabs for the city’s budding entrepreneurs have never been more distinct.
The mega Guangdong-Hong KongMacao Greater Bay Area, born with the vision of taking on the world’s famous bay areas, has emerged as the springboard for aspiring entrepreneurs from the nation’s two special administrative regions.
A host of preferential policies for young people from Hong Kong and Macao to do business, travel or settle down in the Bay Area have been rolled out, with more in the pipeline, as the region transforms into a cradle for carving out startups.
Chan Sing from Hong Kong was among the first to jump on the bandwagon, turning himself into a veteran entrepreneur on the Chinese mainland in five years as he weaved his way into the business arena, while showing newcomers the ropes about how to make the grade.
Chan’s taste of success didn’t fall from the sky. After being at his wit’s end trying to raise funds in Hong Kong, he made a bold move in 2015, shifting his technology startup dealing in international trading software to an incubator at Shenzhen’s Qianhai freetrade zone. The result was heartening — he managed to secure an investment of 50 million yuan ($7.1 million) in just six months.
In addition to beefing up his company, Chan has triumphed from a pioneer to a mentor, having successfully convinced more than 200 budding enterprises from Hong Kong to seek out greener pastures across the boundary.
He also put in place an incubator in partnership with a district government in Shenzhen, leveraging his expertise in the Bay Area’s business ecosystem.
“Having benefited from the excellent entrepreneurship environment and enormous development potential in Qianhai, I’d like to share my experiences with more Hong Kong youths and invite them to build up their career here,” he said.
The Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub, launched in 2014, provides onestop entrepreneurial support for young people in the Bay Area, including seed-fund investments, rent-free office space, housing subsidies, and an industrial network.
The E-hub has incubated more than 400 startups, with about half of them from Hong Kong. While the incubator is expanding, a new startup zone is expected to be established in Qianhai this year, covering 93,000 square meters.
Vast opportunities
Witman Hung Wai-man, principal liaison officer for Hong Kong, Shenzhen Qianhai Authority, believes the Bay Area’s development is a boon for many industries with abundant career opportunities for Hong Kong youths.
He cites not only the pool of professionals bred in Hong Kong’s backbone financial and trading sectors, but also that of application-oriented graduates from vocational schools and colleges of engineering.
Some of these youths could encounter hurdles in securing jobs in their respective fields in Hong Kong due to the dearth of manufacturing businesses in the city. The answer is in the Bay Area, with its vast opportunities on offer, Hung said.
Other member cities of the Bay Area cluster, including Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Dongguan and Huizhou, are also setting up innovation and entrepreneurial bases for Hong Kong and Macao youths, in line with the goals laid out in the blueprint for the region’s integrated development unveiled by the central government last year.
The plan proactively takes forward the development of youth entrepreneurship and employment bases for Hong Kong and Macao, and encourages young people to play more important roles in the national innovation system. To achieve the goal, many mainland entrepreneurship subsidies and support policies have been extended to cover eligible entrepreneurs from Hong Kong and Macao.
In addition, the Bay Area’s broad hinterland presents an ever-wider range of industries and resources for Hong Kong youths to chase their dreams.
Lei Zi-hou, a Hong Kong youth in his 20s, had changed jobs several times after graduation, but failed to land one that’s relevant to what he had majored in — electronic science and technology.
A career opportunity in Guangdong offered him a glimpse of the province’s economy and local governments’ appetite for suitable professionals.
Lei is convinced that Guangdong is the place to be for his future career and even for starting a business — something that has always been his dream.
He’s now putting together a project involving intelligent household gear in Jiangmen — a manufacturing base of electronics household products that’s also seeking to upgrade and transform.
An incubator provides him with rentfree offices and, more importantly, links him up with local manufacturers and potential business partners. “I believe my dream is about to come true,” said Lei, beaming.
Another Hong Kong entrepreneur, Dang Man-zeon, launched his startup engaged in augmented-reality products in Dongguan, with an eye on the city’s abundant industrial design and manufacturing providers.
He’s upbeat the company’s profits can go up fivefold, thanks to Dongguan’s preferential policies, a comprehensive industrial chain and a convenient delivery system that has been the hallmark of the province’s industrial hub.