More HK people work on mainland ( 2004-01-02 08:54) (China Daily)
The number of Hong Kong
residents working on the Chinese mainland has grown 20 per cent from a year ago,
according to the latest survey of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(SAR) government.
Tuesday's South China Morning Post reported that 238, 200 Hong Kong residents
worked north of the border at some point in the 12 months leading up to the
poll, which was carried out from January to March.
That amounts to 7.4 per cent of the Hong Kong workforce.
In 2002, 198,100 people said they worked on the mainland.
The latest figures illustrate the growing integration between the two.
Terrence Chong Tai-leung, associate professor of economics at Chinese
University of Hong Kong, was quoted by the newspaper as saying that it is
unavoidable that people will go to the Chinese mainland because the two
economies are integrating.
"Especially those in the banking and accounting industry, they have to go to
the mainland to check the firms," said Chong.
The Hong Kong SAR government surveyed 11,000 households for its report, but
did not count people who travelled to the mainland for meetings or inspections
or to attend trade fairs or work-related entertainment.
The figures show that the typical cross-border worker is male, highly
educated and relatively well paid.
Nearly 80 per cent of those who said they had to work on the mainland are
men. About 35 per cent have a post-secondary education, compared with 28 per
cent for the total Hong Kong workforce.
The median rate of pay is 15,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$1,923) a month,
compared with 10,000 Hong Kong dollars for the entire workforce.
The median age for Hong Kong residents working over the border is 41 years,
compared with 38 years for the workforce as a whole.The SAR government
attributes this to the fact that older workers have "more substantial working
experience."