About 74 percent of Hong Kong professionals currently have duties or responsibilities related to Chinese mainland business or operations and over half of them are actively seeking career opportunities in the Chinese mainland, according to a sample survey released in Hong Kong Monday.

The survey, titled Hong Kong Professionals' Move into Chinese Mainland" Trend & Challenges", was conducted by the Continuing Professional Development Alliance (CPD Alliance, the largest group of professional bodies in Hong Kong.

The on-line study, with the objective to keep track on the trend and intention of Hong Kong professionals working in a moving into the Chinese mainland, was conducted during December, 2004 to January, 2005, with a total of 204 responses received.

In terms of job content, the survey revealed that up to 74 percent of the respondents currently have duties or responsibilities related to business or operations in the Chinese mainland. Although the majority respondents (54 Percent) reported that the Chinese mainland related responsibilities account for only 10 percent or less of their job content. And nearly a quarter of the respondents reported that half of their job contents or above are Chinese mainland related business.

In terms of working days, majority of respondents (71 percent) reported that they spent 10 percent or below of their working days in the Chinese mainland and about one tenth of respondents reported that they spent over 50 percent of their working days in China, mainly in first tier of cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

For the coming two years, majority of the respondents believed that the proportion of their Chinese mainland business-related job contents will increase and 49 percent of them also expect an increase in their working days spent in the Chinese mainland across different tiers of cities.

Virginia Choi, chairperson of the CPD Alliance, said "China accession into the WTO has accelerated her need to bridge up with the international practices on various aspects, including its professional services in China. The implementation of Chinese mainland/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement has also provided Hong Kong professionals with an expressway to enter the Chinese mainland market."

She added that that there are plenty of professionals in Hong Kong who have international exposure. One of their edges in rendering their services in China is that they are familiar with both the Eastern and Western cultures.

They are also experienced in providing integrated services ranging from project development, legal-financial consulting to project markets. These are services much needed in China at present in view of its rapid growth.

Source: Xinhua