Pearl River Delta loses charm with HK businesses as cost of labor goes up

Labor shortage and rising manpower costs on the mainland continue to be major concerns for Hong Kong-based manufacturers in the Pearl River Delta, a leading manufacturing base in China, , a new survey said on Friday.

The labor shortage rate for Hong Kong-based companies increased from 10 percent in March-May of 2013 to 13.6 percent in the same period of 2014, said.the survey conducted by the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong. The survey was conducted for the period from March to May and covered 274 Hong Kong-based companies of which about 55 percent have developed manufacturing businesses in the Pearl River Delta.

Most of the Hong Kong-based companies are engaged in original equipment manufacturing in sectors like garments, electronics and hardware, the survey said. The averaged number of workers in each of the Hong Kong-based companies in the Delta region fell from 703 in 2013 to 599 in 2014, it said.