University students from Hong Kong visit Lhasa as part of a cultural exchange program. (Photo by Li Lin/provided to China Daily)
"Even if I returned to Hong Kong tomorrow, becoming familiar with the mainland has been advantageous."
A growing number of Hong Kong residents are moving to the mainland to work, live and study.
In April, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying revealed around 300,000 Hong Kong people like Cheung are working on the mainland on long-term contracts. The figure is equivalent to 8 percent of the city's total labor force.
Many recent arrivals are young entrepreneurs.
The Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub－aka the E Hub－in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone had incubated about 50 entrepreneurial projects by people from Hong Kong as of the end of October.
The number is expected to grow.
Seizing opportunities
University of Hong Kong alumnus Dazza Hui was among the E Hub's first entrepreneurs.
Mainland investors encouraged him to launch his travel startup in Shenzhen's Qianhai economic zone in late 2014.
Hui admires self-made entrepreneurs, such as Alibaba's Jack Ma and Tencent's Ma Huateng.
So, he decided to take the offer as a learning opportunity.
"We saw so many successful cases, business models and experiences originating from the mainland," Travel to Success' founder says.
"Hong Kong has abundant expertise in industries like service and finance but much less related to the internet."
In Shenzhen, Hui received free working space and entrepreneurship consulting, which eased the company's financial burden.
He was also inspired by mainland entrepreneurs' passion and audacity.
