Hong Kong: Losing Its Luster?

For half a century, millions of hopeful mainland Chinese escaped strife, famine and persecution at home by fleeing across the border to Hong Kong, a city of comparative peace, stability and opportunity. But today Hong Kong’s haven looks less attractive, as its unemployment hovers around 7% while China’s economy steams ahead at nearly 10% per year. The result: according to statistics released last week, only 38,100 mainlanders moved to Hong Kong in 2004, the fewest since the present immigration quotas were set in 1996. This may be bad news for the territory. With a fertility rate of 0.91 per woman, just a third of what it was 30 years ago and the lowest in the world according to the U.N., Hong Kong has come to depend on a steady influx of mainlanders to keep its work force growing. Without these new migrants, the entrepreneurial financial center is in danger of losing its edge. “Immigrants keep the population young and ambitious and help drive Hong Kong’s competitiveness,” says Dr. Wing Suen, a University of Hong Kong economist. But not if they stay home.