Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun on Wednesday said he had had useful discussions with mainland authorities on the SAR's labour shortage problem.

During his trip, Sun visited the country's top ministries, care home facilities, and met the head of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Xia Baolong.

The labour chief quoted Xia as saying the SAR should do more to attract talent, and cope with its ageing population by making use of opportunities in the Greater Bay Area.

Sun also said he briefed Xia about a special scheme to import care home workers, which will open for applications in the middle of this year.

The secretary was asked by reporters about a new heatstroke warning system that is about to be launched, after concerns were raised that some companies will find it hard to follow the accompanying guidelines for outdoor workers.

"Like any other new guidelines, there will be a transition period. When the government first introduced the rainstorm warning system, people needed time to adapt to it as well. Summer is coming soon, that's why we introduced the guidelines at this point in time to allow time for transition," he replied.