Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said on Friday there are no plans to cap the number of people arriving under various talent admission schemes.

Sun said people of talents are welcome to stay in Hong Kong as long as they contribute to the city's economic development.

“Broadly, talent schemes here in Hong Kong could be divided into two categories," he said.

"One is work related. So first of all, you have to have a job; your application is processed by your employer. So for this group of talents you can rest assured they are needed by us because there are jobs waiting... to be filled.

“The second one is talent specific. So it's based on the talent individuals – either that they are earning a lot of money or they are a graduate from the top universities all over the world. It's through the visa renewal that we are sure that they either have a job or they have set up a company on their own.

"So the more we have, that means the more they're contributing to our economy and the better for our community.”

His comments came after Eric Fong, director of the University of Hong Kong's Research Hub of Population Studies, suggested in a newspaper interview that the city should consider setting a cap on immigration based on society's capacity.

Fong also recommended regular industry evaluations be made in order to address talent shortages in a more targeted manner.

According to official data, around 530,000 people – including dependents – had moved to Hong Kong under various talent schemes over the past three-and-a-half years as of June.



Edited by Edmond Fong