New immigrants in Hong Kong

New immigrants in Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港新移民) generally refers to migrants from mainland China (Mainlanders). Despite its literal meaning, the term is rarely ever used to describe newly arrived immigrants other than the aforementioned one. Since the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong to Communist Chinese (PRC) rule, increasing numbers of migrants from mainland China have been coming to the territory.

Immediately after the handover of Hong Kong back to Chinese rule, Hong Kong's Legislative Council passed an amendment to the Basic Law that would restrict immigration to children born outside of Hong Kong that were born to Hong Kong residents. The constitutionality of this amendment came to be challenged in court, and in January 1999, the Court of Final Appeal ruled against the amendment. This ruling immediately granted up to 300,000 people in mainland China the right of abode in Hong Kong, and it was estimated that within the next ten years, about 1.6 million people in mainland China would become eligible for right of abode in Hong Kong.

Hei Hang Hayes Tang (2003) gave the following account: after the first influx of refugee capitalists and workers from Mainland China in the late 1940s, Hong Kong experienced another influx in the late 1970s. The migrants of this second wave were mainly young male mainlanders who made their living by working in the manufacturing industry. Being less attractive in the eyes of Hong Kong local born women, many of these young mainlanders generally had to find spouses in Mainland China. Soon after the Mainland government opened its door for economic development and after the signing of Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984, there was a massive relocation of industrial activities from Hong Kong to the Pearl River Delta. Such industrial relocation has accentuated the trend of marriage between Hong Kong working-class men and Mainland women (So, 2002). According to the General Household Survey 1991, some 95,200 Hong Kong residents who were married in Mainland China had spouses still in Mainland. It was estimated that 149,500 had children living in China and the total number of children was around 310,000 (fung,1996).

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