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Policy Measures Facilitating Hong Kong Residents

Q&A

What facilitation measures were announced after the plenary meeting of the Leading Group for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area on 1 March 2019?

The facilitation measures announced after the plenary meeting of the Leading Group on 1 March 2019 include:

  • the method for calculating “183 days” for paying individual income tax on the Mainland: any stay of less than 24 hours on the Mainland will not count as a day of presence
  • providing tax relief by municipal governments to non-Mainland (including Hong Kong) high-end talents and talents in short supply by offsetting the tax differential between the two places
  • supporting the open recruitment of Hong Kong and Macao residents by public institutions in the Greater Bay Area
  • encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in the nine Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area by the youth of Hong Kong and Macao
  • supporting higher education institutions and scientific research institutes from Hong Kong and Macao to participate in projects under Guangdong technology programmes
  • introducing immigration facilitation reform pilots schemes in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area
  • facilitating vehicles from Hong Kong and Macao entering and exiting Mainland ports
  • expanding the implementation scope of the connection with the Speedy Customs Clearance between customs administrations
For details, please refer to the press release on the eight policy measures announced by the Central Government for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Press release on eight measures (Chinese only)
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201903/01/P2019030101005.htm

The facilitation measures announced after the plenary meeting of the Leading Group on 6 November 2019 include:

Policy measures benefiting the general public

  • facilitating property purchases by Hong Kong residents in the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area
  • supporting the use of mobile electronic payment by Hong Kong residents on the Mainland
  • pilot scheme for Hong Kong residents to open Mainland personal bank accounts in the Greater Bay Area remotely by attestation
  • ensuring that the children of Hong Kong and Macao residents enjoy the same education as those of Mainland residents
  • exploring the establishment of a cross-boundary wealth management scheme
  • facilitating non-Chinese Hong Kong permanent residents to travel to and from the Mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area
  • permitting the use of Hong Kong-registered drugs and common medical devices in designated Hong Kong-owned healthcare institutions in the Greater Bay Area
Supporting professional services
  • measures on partnership associations by Hong Kong and Mainland law firms, legal consultants and special examination
  • further extending the scope of mutual recognition of qualifications for construction professionals
  • expanding the scope of liberalisation measures for construction professionals from Hong Kong and Macao to practise on the Mainland
  • preferential treatment on insurance regulation
  • removing the requirement on years of operating experience for Hong Kong service suppliers to provide insurance loss adjusting services on the Mainland
  • supporting bond market development in Hong Kong and Macao (catastrophe bonds)
Innovation and Technology
  • supporting the development of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Cooperation Zone
  • facilitating customs clearance of imported animal-derived biomaterials
  • relaxing the limitation on exporting Mainland human genetic resources to Hong Kong and Macao
For details, please refer to the press release on the 16 policy measures announced by the Central Government for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

16 Measures
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201911/06/P2019110600764.htm?fontSize=1