The Dream Factory of China

Source :Shenzhen Daily

Almost every Tuesday evening, members of a Hong Kong youth soccer team gather at Qianhai Sports Park to play soccer at their booked venue. Spending time together after work has become a routine for them, which is helpful for those young people to build up their own network and create a sense of belonging in Qianhai, a new land that is regarded as an ideal landing pad for young entrepreneurs, especially for Hongkongers who expect to live on the mainland.

Cheng Cheuk-pan is one of the 60 members of the soccer team. Cheng, a veteran educator who started the soccer team, said he wanted to help connect Hong Kong people working and living in Qianhai, as the area has become his personal base.

“Leisure plays an important part in retaining talents. Qianhai is dynamic, that’s why it attracts people,” he said.

Like Cheng and his teammates, Xu Xin, a senior associate from a Hong Kong-based architecture firm, said he and his colleagues have regarded Qianhai as their home after several years’ staying in the area.

“Qianhai is our community. We can look at our project (Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Fund Town complex) through the window while working here. We have built the connection with it as we all grow with it,” Xu said.

Xu is confident about the company’s future, as it has offered more opportunities in Qianhai for young people like him.

“Those Hong Kong architects in my company can now directly participate in our Qianhai projects, which has also given them a career boost on the mainland,” he said.

To Sun Lecheng, head of the KPMG Digital Ignition Center, Qianhai is a great place for entrepreneurs to accelerate their businesses’ development. Sun’s company is a testament to this as the business has doubled in the last 12 months.

“Owing to Qianhai’s connection to Nanshan Science Park and Hong Kong, and its preferential talent policy, we have easy access to the human resources and tripled the number of employees. Some of them have enjoyed the personal tax relief,” Sun said.

Talents, especially IT technicians, are important for Sun’s branch, as it provides clients with digitization products and services.

“Different from KPMG’s traditional business, we provide IT-based solutions to win clients. As a new focus in southern China, Qianhai is ideal for enterprises like us,” Sun said.

According to the latest data, as of the first quarter of this year, over 6,000 talents from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and other overseas regions had worked in Qianhai. Among them, over 800 were recognized as top or urgently needed talents.

To support the career development of young Hong Kong and Macao people, over 150 million yuan (US$) worth of funds was given out.

The authority has allowed 16 types of professionals, including tax experts, architects and tour guides, to work directly in the area after registration.

When Xu’s firm started to work on the project near Yueliangwan Boulevard, the building in the Guiwan area they are now located in was still under construction. Now, Xu has to stand in a long line during lunch time in the underground shopping and often see new faces from offices around in the eatery area.

Cheng said his peers were content with the environment in Qianhai. “As far as I know, Hong Kong residents have received many benefits here in addition to various subsidies and low-rent apartments. For instance, entrepreneurs were exempted from six months of rent due to the latest wave of the pandemic,” he said.

“What Qianhai has done is far more than what people in Hong Kong have heard of,” Cheng said. “We and the authorities need to do more to let people there know the detailed stories.”