The Hong Kong Talent Service Office recently released details of the international talent event “Global Talent Summit Week”. The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Sun Yuhan, revealed that over the past three years, the HKSAR Government has attracted more than 270,000 talents from around the world to settle and develop in Hong Kong, of which about 100,000 (nearly 40%) belong to the “High Talent Programme”.
Hong Kong‘s official newsletter reported on March 3 that Hong Kong will hold the second round of “Global Talent Summit Week” in March, and will hold a press conference on related activities on March 2. Sun Yuhan said that this year is the beginning of Hong Kong‘s “15th Five” planning and engagement plans. Talent is a precious resource and a core driver of competitiveness. Hong Kong will better integrate into the national development landscape and actively attract and nurture world-class outstanding talent. Since the end of 2022, the HKSAR Government has launched a series of “talent snatching” plans, achieving encouraging results. According to Sun Yuhan, as of the end of January this year, more than 270,000 talents from around the world have arrived in Hong Kong to settle and develop. Among them, about 100,000 have arrived in Hong Kong to settle and develop through the “High Talent Program”, accounting for about 40% of the total. Sun Yuhan said she hopes to further send a strong signal to “thousand-mile horses” around the world through events such as the “Global Talent Summit Week” – “Hong Kong is your hometown, a stage for international talents to showcase their skills and develop their strengths”.
In January this year, the Hong Kong Labour and Welfare Bureau introduced that the majority of talents who come to Hong Kong have a bachelor’s degree or higher education. Seventy per cent of them are under 40 years old, and about a quarter of them have foreign passports. They are mainly engaged in industries such as finance, innovation and commerce in Hong Kong. About 95 per cent of the “high talents” who have successfully renewed their contracts earn monthly incomes higher than the median income of Hong Kong, which is more than HK $ 20,000. According to the HKSAR Government‘s estimate, “high talents” can contribute about HK $ 34 billion annually to the economy of Hong Kong.
In addition, according to the Hong Kong media report on 2, the “New Capital Investor Immigration Scheme” has continued to be favored by high-net worth individuals globally since its launch in March 2024, attracting capital flows to Hong Kong. As of the end of February 2026, the Investment Promotion Department received a total of 3,166 applications, with 1,762 applications having completed investment and received official approval from the Immigration Department. All applications are expected to bring about HK $ 95 billion in investment to Hong Kong, further consolidating Hong Kong‘s leading position as an international wealth management center. Guo Junfeng, Director of the Immigration Department of Hong Kong, said that Hong Kong actively promotes a diversified talent immigration plan and is pleased to see the market‘s enthusiastic response to the new plan. This plan completes other immigration plans, exerting a synergistic effect, attracting outstanding talent and funds from around the world to Hong Kong, and injecting new dynamic energy for Hong Kong‘s sustainable development and long-term competitiveness.
The Director of Hong Kong Investment Promotion, Liu Kaixuan, said that after investors come to Hong Kong through the “New Capital Investor Immigration Scheme”, in addition to bringing considerable capital in itself, it will also have a chain effect in areas such as real estate, dining, retail, education and living services, driving consumption and indirectly creating economic benefits for local SMEs and service sectors. At the same time, the “New Capital Investor Immigration Scheme” will also inject new momentum into the local innovation industry, further promoting Hong Kong to become an Asian innovation hub.