1. Introduction
3.1 A Continuous Population Inflow from Mainland China
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CHAPTER THREE
3. A Case Study on Hong Kong
3.1 A Continuous Population Inflow from Mainland China
Hong Kong became a British colony in 1842 and was returned to mainland China in 1997. As one of the world‘s financial centers, Hong Kong enjoys a real GDP growth rate of about 6.8% (Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 2011). Hong Kong‘s economic success is due in large part to the human resources of its immigrant population. According to data from the Hong Kong Census, about one-third of its population was born in mainland China in 1996, 2001, and 2006 (Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, 2006). As of 2006, ethnic Chinese made up 95% of Hong Kong‘s Population. Other ethnic groups comprised of 1.6% Filipinos, 1.3% Indonesians, and 2% of a variety of ethnicities, including Caucasian, Indian, Nepalese, Japanese, Thai, Pakistani, and other Asian countries (Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, 2006). Hong Kong has attracted a two-tiered migrant population: low waged laborers and highly mobile professionals (Wong, 2008).
Due to its geographical and historical factors, Hong Kong has had a continuous population inflow from mainland China: refugees in the 1950s and 1960s, ―new immigrants‖ in the 1970s and 1980s, and now the ―new arrivals‖30 since its reunification with China in 1997 (Siu, 1999). Early Chinese immigrants supplied Hong Kong with low-cost labor for its labor-intensive manufacturing industries in the 1950s and 1960s. By the mid-1950s, Hong Kong‘s population had swollen to 2.2 million from 1.8 million in 1947. It had continued to rise despite a low fertility rate, reaching 4 million in 1970. The
30 In recent years, the government has used the term ―new arrivals,‖ which in fact, may be very different from the public‘s perception of ―new immigrants‖. The official term is based on legal and administrative criteria – and refers to those who have used one-way permits to enter Hong Kong and who have not resided in the territory for more than seven years.
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Hong Kong government finally changed its liberal immigration policy in 1974 and adopted instead a ―touch base‖ policy – those who illegally entered Hong Kong without being arrested at the border could legally stay (Wan, Alan T.K., 2006). The touch-base immigration policy was finally abolished in 1980, whereby all illegal immigrants would be repatriated immediately regardless of where they were caught, including those illegal immigrants from mainland China. On the other hand, the government also set a strict quota for legal immigration from China. In 1983, with consent from the Chinese government, Hong Kong sealed its border with China, enforced deportation of illegal immigrants, issued Hong Kong identity cards, and imposed fines on businesses who hired illegal workers (Lam
& Liu, 1998). Since 1983, Hong Kong has been admitting legal immigrants daily from China, and the status of Chinese immigrants has changed from being primarily illegal to primarily legal.
From 1997 to 2001, new arrivals from the mainland admitted under the One Way Permit31 (OWP) Scheme made up some 93% of Hong Kong‘s population growth. In the period between 1983 and 2001, a total of over 720,000 mainland new arrivals were admitted under the scheme, which was equivalent to about 11% of the population of 6.72 million in 2001. Among them, more were of working age (20-59) than aged 19 and below.
The adult new arrivals were generally not well educated and possessed little working experience. They provide a steady supply to the labor force, contributing to some 30% of the annual growth from between end-1999 and end-2001 (Report of task force on population policy, 2003).
Like Singapore, Hong Kong had long been a city of migrants with massive outflow
31 The HKSAR Government‘s immigration policy on the entry of mainland residents into Hong Kong for residence is provided for under Article 22 of the Basic Law. Residents from the mainland may come to Hong Kong for settlement through the One-way Permit Scheme. The scheme, mainly to facilitate family reunion, has a daily quota of 150.
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and inflow of people and has undergone a rapid fertility decline32. In terms of ethnic composition, Hong Kong is essentially a Chinese community. According to Census and Statistics Department, out of the 88,000 babies born in the city in 2010, about 47 % came from mainland Chinese mothers. In 2001, the figure was only 16 %. According to Asia Pacific Migration Research Network (APMRN), its‘ inflow of immigrants is mainly from the following sources:
1. Legal immigrants from mainland China:
Since 1980, immigration from mainland China to Hong Kong was subject to tight control.
One way permit scheme33 for mainlanders is more restrictive. The scheme adopted a strict quota to set on the number of mainland Chinese permitted to settle in the territory. The number was originally limited to 75 per day. It was gradually increased to 105 in 1994, and then 150 in 1995. Therefore at present, there is an annual inflow of about 55,000 legal immigrants from China, most of whom are actually dependents of Hong Kong residents living in the mainland and coming to the territory for family reunion. After 1997, as stipulated in the Basic Law, these dependents will have a legal right to live in Hong Kong.
The increase in the daily quota is a policy decision taken in anticipation of that situation, with the aim of smoothing the flow and preventing a sudden influx after the change in sovereignty. In addition, in the past decade the number of mainland women crossing the border to give birth has soared34. Ethnic Chinese babies born in Hong Kong automatically
32 Its‘ birth rate is one of the lowest in the world.
33 In Wong Siu-lun‘s study, he noted that the quota‘s preference was given to the younger mainland children as they may have better chance of integrating into Hong Kong society. The importance of the Scheme for Hong Kong‘s future development was acknowledged by the Report on the Task Force on Population Policy (2003), which stated that the OWP has been an ―immigration policy that continues to shape Hong Kong‘s demographic growth and composition‖.
34 Starting from 1 April 2011, ―adult mainland-born children‖ can apply for a single-entry permit, a document that allows them to stay in Hong Kong for a family reunion. This classification refers to mainlanders who were under 14 years of age when they applied for right of abode and whose father or mother become a Hong Kong resident before 1 November 2001, but whose cases were disqualified as they passed 14 during the period of application which took years.
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receive the right to live and work here, as well as the right to carry a Hong Kong passport, which makes international travel easier. Some mainlanders also choose to give birth in Hong Kong to skirt the one-child policy, which can result in heavy fines for violators.
2. Foreign professionals:
These are foreigners who come to Hong Kong with employment visas to work as professionals and managers in the private sector, or to take up senior positions in the civil service and other public organizations. They are not subject to quota restrictions. Many of them are still drawn from Western countries such as United Kingdom, the United States, and European countries. But there are increasing numbers coming from Australia and various parts of Asia such as Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Thus the expatriate community in Hong Kong is growing in size as well as complexity.
3. Foreign domestic helpers (FDHs):
The Government has permitted FDHs to work in Hong Kong since the 1980s under the Supplementary Labor Scheme. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Filipinos formed the largest foreign community in Hong Kong. Indonesian laborers formed the second largest group of FDH, and the third FDH group hailed from Thailand. Migration of foreign domestic helpers is gender specific – FDH are predominantly female – a practical manifestation of the latest theories on the feminization of migration (Castles, 2003). Today, roughly 20% of Hong Kong households can afford to employ FDH. Although local workers must be given priority, there has been little interest among local women to engage in full time paid domestic work, which is associated with low social status (Constable, 1997). The numbers of foreign domestic workers are not restricted, and they have been increasing steadily. The great majority of them were women from the Philippines, with an expanding minority from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. These FDHs do not have the right to remain in Hong Kong indefinitely and their stay is completely dependent on their work.
They are bound to work for a specific employer and they are not allowed to find any other
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bring their dependents. Furthermore, it is worth noting that Hong Kong does not legislate a minimum wage for its own workers, but does so only for FDH35.4. Imported labor:
With a sharply declining fertility rate, strict control on illegal immigration, and a booming economy, Hong Kong faced an acute shortage of labor in the second half of the 1980s.
Since then, the government began to introduce various labor importation schemes to allow employers to apply for permits to bring in technicians, craftsmen, and experienced operators. The great majority of this imported labor comes from China.
Table 8: Population by Nationality, 2001, 2006 and 2011
Nationality 2001 2006 2011
35 Employers must pay FDHs a salary that is not less than the prevailing the Minimum Allowable Wage (MAW) at the time of signing the contract. In the light of the general economic and employment situation in Hong Kong, the Administration has decided that with effect from 20 September 2012, the MAW for FDHs should be increased by $180 from $3,740 to $3,920 per month. The new MAW applies to employment contracts signed on or after 20 September 2012 (source: Labour Department of HKSAR, retrieved 9 July 2013, from
http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/plan/iwFDH.htm).
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Source: 2011 population census (retrieved 9 July 2013, from www.census2011.gov.hk/pdf/summary-results.pdf)
Table 9: Statistics on Visas Issued under the General Employment Policy *
Profession 2011 2012
Investors 493 475
Lawyers 453 339
Medical / Dental Professionals 66 81
Administrators, Managers and
Executives 10,273 9,052
Chefs and Professionals in Food
& Beverage 342 336
Teachers / Professors 2,366 2832
Other Professionals 7,616 6,661
Sportsmen and Entertainers 4,312 5,120
Others 4,636 3,729
Source: http://www.immd.gov.hk/en/facts/visas-control/visas-issued-under-the-general-employment-policy.html, accessed on 9 July 2013.
* Excluding persons admitted to take up employment under schemes or arrangements catering for Mainland residents, foreign domestic helpers, imported workers admitted under the Supplementary Labour Scheme as well as those admitted under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates.
Table 10: Statistics on the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme Breakdown of the Applicants under CIES (as at 31-12-2012)
Nationality Received Approval-in-
principle granted
Formal Approval granted
Foreign nationals 2,618 80 1,685
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Nationality Received Approval-in-
principle granted
Formal Approval granted
Macao SAR residents 417 15 311
Chinese nationals with
permanent residence overseas 22,933 1,621 14,568
Stateless persons with permanent
residence in a foreign country 3 0 3
Taiwan residents 521 8 348
Total 26,492 1,724 16,915
Source: http://www.immd.gov.hk/en/services/hk-visas/capital-investment-entrant/statistic.html, accessed on 9 July 2013.