HK not a dream destination for mainland graduates

HONG KONG - The low employment rate of Chinese mainland youths, who have graduated from Hong Kong universities, is driving talents away from Hong Kong, although most of them would want to work in the city.

A survey by Hong Kong Association of Mainland Graduates in 2008 shows the employment rate of mainland graduates in Hong Kong was about 18 percent. The survey was conducted after the Hong Kong government relaxed restrictions on mainland youths studying and working in the city. In 2008, the Hong Kong Immigration Department started extending visas of mainland students who had earned at least a bachelor's degree from a Hong Kong university by one year.

Association president Geng Chunya says about half of the mainland graduates have chosen to get their visas extended in the past two years, but only about 50 percent of them have stayed back for the entire extension period.