Some Hong Kong citizens who had moved to Guangdong Province due to its cheaper living costs are now returning as prices and the yuan rise.
During the Spring Festival, more Hong Kong citizens were seen heading south at major border crossings along with Guangdong natives, who regularly purchase daily necessities in Hong Kong, Yangcheng Evening News reported on Monday.
A Hong Kong native surnamed Li, who has been living with his family in Shenzhen for eight years, plans on taking his family back to Hong Kong.
The truck driver has a monthly salary of HK$15,000 (US$1,924) and used to commute daily between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The family moved to Shenzhen because living costs were then cheaper on China's mainland. But growing inflationary pressure on the mainland, led by higher food prices, made him decide to move back to Hong Kong after Chinese Lunar New Year, the report said.
No official figure is available on the number of Hong Kong citizens returning home. However, Hong Kong media reports have said the number of Hong Kong people working on the mainland declined 10 percent in 2010.
The majority of the returning Hong Kong people are aged 50 and above.
A 93-year-old woman surnamed Pan decided to move back to Hong Kong after she almost used up her life savings in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province.
She was admitted to a nursing home in Hong Kong and her daily expenses will be covered by the local government.
More senior people returning from the mainland are applying for government subsidies. The number increased from 90 in 2008 to 110 in 2009 and was set to top 200 in 2010, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions said.
But these elderly people face difficulties in qualifying for subsidies when they return, a Hong Kong Society for Community Organization official said.
By Wang Qingchu
