A recent survey conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has revealed mixed public opinions on Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
The telephone survey, which was carried out between 26 February and March 11, saw interviews conducted with 711 Hong Kong residents aged 18 or above.
The survey revealed respondents’ concerns about the competitive advantage of Hong Kong people in mainland GBA cities – 61.7 percent viewing their competitive edge as either “quite little” or “none.”
A substantial proportion of respondents (62.9 percent) remained hesitant to relocate to mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area. Meanwhile opinions on encouraging young Hongkongers to relocate were quite evenly split: 41.4 percent said they would and 41.9 percent said they would not.
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The survey also assessed perceived attractiveness of the innovation and technology sector in Hong Kong to overseas talent, with 62.1 percent viewing it as “quite small” or “very small.” For mainland talents, however, 52.3 percent viewed the appeal of Hong Kong as “quite large” or “very large.”
The survey found that 42.3 percent of respondents saw Hong Kong and Shenzhen’s cooperation in innovation and technology as equally beneficial to both places, however more respondents viewed the cooperation as mostly benefiting Shenzhen (36.1 percent) compared to Hong Kong (16.5 percent).
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Opinions were meanwhile canvassed on the Hong Kong government’s development plan for the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and its impact on the city’s key industries and overall development.
The survey found that 39.4 percent of respondents agreed the GBA plan would be an opportunity for Hong Kong, but over half of the respondents (54.9 percent) believed that Hong Kong’s participation in the plan would bring challenges as well as opportunities.
Some 44.4 percent agreed the GBA plan would benefit Hong Kong’s transport and logistics industry – a significant increase of 5.7 percent from last year’s survey. Views on the impact on the finance sector were more divided: 29 percent of respondents agreed and 31.5 percent disagreed that the GBA plan would reap benefits.
On the city’s innovative technology industries, 40.7 percent of the respondents believed the GBA plan would be beneficial – a statistically significant increase of 5.9 percentage points.
