Dream Big: Youth Internship and Employment
in the Greater Bay Area to Fulfil Dreams

“Aim high and achieve big!” Mr Lung Chee-ming, knowledgeable about Hong Kong youth affairs, heartily encouraged local young people to “dream big” by seeking opportunities such as internship and employment in the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area to unleash their potential and pursue their aspirations. Mr Lung also invited Angela, a third-year student from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School, and Ella, a first-year student from the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, to share their interesting internship experiences in Guangzhou.

To support Hong Kong young people in grasping the opportunities in the Greater Bay Area, the HKSAR Government has continuously introduced and enhanced various schemes for exchange, internship, employment and entrepreneurship in the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area. Starting from January 2025, new enhancement measures have been implemented under the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme, including increasing the allowance limit to HK$12,000 per month per young person, relaxing the eligibility requirements for joining the scheme to include young people aged 29 or below with sub-degree or higher qualifications, and allowing enterprises participating in the scheme to apply for Mainland young people to work in Hong Kong so as to foster talent exchange in the Greater Bay Area.

As the Founding Chairman and Permanent President of the Hong Kong Youth Exchange Promotion United Association, Mr Lung Chee-ming has been dedicated to promoting youth development. The Association has been actively liaising with different youth groups and Mainland institutions to seek for more internship opportunities for Hong Kong young people in the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area. This helps broaden their horizons and deepen their understanding of the country’s development.

Regarding the new enhancement measures under the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme, Mr Lung considered them as win-win initiatives that benefit both the enterprises as well as the young people in Hong Kong and the Mainland. He opined that enriching local young people’s understanding of the Mainland is indispensable for cultivating their sense of national identity, thereby encouraging them to serve the country’s needs with Hong Kong’s strengths. The various schemes introduced by the HKSAR Government to support local young people’s development in the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area have indeed enabled young people to learn more about the Mainland’s latest developments, workplace culture, work environment, etc. He also pointed out that in recent years, the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area have become attractive to local young people in terms of geographical location, transportation, technology, sense of security, etc., while Hong Kong young people, with their international perspectives, would be able to contribute to Mainland enterprises in “going global”. As such, there is vast scope for Hong Kong young people to pursue development in the Greater Bay Area.

The Hong Kong Youth Exchange Promotion United Association founded by Mr Lung has been collaborating with the HKSAR Government and the Guangdong Provincial Government to organise the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Hong Kong Youth Internship Scheme (the Scheme), which provides Hong Kong young people aged between 18 to 30 with internship opportunities in the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area. Angela, a third-year student from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School, and Ella, a first-year student from the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, are among the participants in the Scheme.

Through the Scheme, Angela worked as an intern at the Administration and Public Relations Division of the HKSAR Government’s Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong (GDETO) in 2023. Her main duties were collecting and collating news materials about the Guangdong Province for internal use, and accompanying GDETO officials to various major events and meetings. With family members working in Guangzhou, Angela is interested in pursuing development in the Mainland. She said that her internship at the GDETO enabled her to gain work experience and meet more friends in the Mainland, which will greatly benefit her long-term career there in the future.

Ella worked as an intern at Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical General Factory of the Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings in 2023 and 2024 consecutively. She primarily assisted in the research and development of Chinese medicine. During her internships, she even witnessed the process of bringing a new product from development stage to market launch. As a Chinese medicine student, Ella is impressed by the Mainland’s strong commitment to Chinese medicine development, and the enormous growth potential of the Chinese medicine industry across the Greater Bay Area. Thus, she is actively planning to develop her career in this field in the Mainland in the future.

Mr Lung remarked that these two students’ internship experiences in the Greater Bay Area are good examples to demonstrate that Hong Kong young people should spend more of their time in the Mainland and even try out internships there, so as to experience the Mainland’s tremendous changes and achievements in different aspects, such as economy, technology and even poverty alleviation. He encouraged young people to “tell good stories of Hong Kong” in the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area through opportunities such as internship and employment, thereby contributing to a better tomorrow for Hong Kong.