Electricians, lift technicians, seafarers, aircraft maintenance workers and AI specialists who move to Hong Kong under a planned expansion of a talent programme will have to be under 40, and not under 35 as previously suggested.

The planned "new channels" under an existing talent scheme were announced in John Lee's chief executive policy address last October.

Labour Secretary Chris Sun on Friday said officials have changed their minds about an age limit of 35 for such workers.

"In the beginning, we thought about using the age of 35 as the cut-off. But during an extensive consultation process, we realised that if we want a certain number of people to come to Hong Kong and work in these types of jobs, it would be more ideal to set the limit at 40," he said.

"If you think about it, we expect someone to work until 65 years old. So if they come here at or by the age of 40, they can still have at least 25 years to contribute to Hong Kong's economy," he added.

Sun said revisions to the city's talent schemes will be announced soon.