Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a largely self-governing territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south. The territory's 1,104 km2 (426 sq mi) land area consists primarily of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories as well as some 262 other islands.  The city's population is 95% Chinese and 5% people of other ethnicities.  The official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English.  Cantonese, a Chinese language originating from Guangdong Province to the north of Hong Kong, is spoken by 95% of the population as a first language while English is spoken by 3.1% of the population as an everyday language. Hong Kong is frequently described as a place where East meets West, reflecting the culture's mix of the territory's Chinese roots with the culture brought to it during its time as a British colony/territory.

 

Hong Kong is a global metropolitan and international financial centre.  Its highly capitalist economy has been ranked the freest in the world for 15 consecutive years.  It is an important centre for international finance and trade, with one of the greatest concentration of corporate headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region.  Hong Kong's largest export markets are mainland China, the United States, and Japan.  Much of Hong Kong's exports consist of re-exports, which are products made outside of the territory, especially in mainland China, and distributed via Hong Kong.  Even before the 1997 handover, Hong Kong had established extensive trade and investment ties with mainland China, and its autonomous status now enables it to serve as a point of entry for investment flowing into the mainland.  Hong Kong's economy is dominated by the service sector, which accounts for over 90% of its GDP, while industry now constitutes just 9%. 

This is quota-based program and seeks to attract highly skilled or talented persons who are fresh entrants not having the right to enter and remain in Hong Kong to settle in Hong Kong. Successful applicants are not required to secure an offer of local employment before their entry to Hong Kong for settlement.  All applicants are required to fulfill a set of prerequisites before they can be awarded points under one of the two points-based tests, namely the General Points Test and Achievement-based Points Test, and compete for quota allocation with other applicants. 

 

Permanent residents can sponsor family members to immigrate to Hong Kong. The family member sponsored by the Permanent Resident must be either "their spouse, or an unmarried dependent child under the age of 18, or a parent aged 60 years or above".