Hong Kong faces brain drain as talent flees ‘zero COVID’ controls
International financial center has seen a net outflow of almost 157,000 residents since the beginning of 2022. Hong Kong, China — When Francis Lee returned to the UK with his wife this week after a two-year stint at a top investment bank in Hong Kong, the portfolio manager felt sad to leave the city behind. But Lee’s sadness was far outweighed by his sense of relief. “If the COVID policy wasn’t so harsh we would still be there, it’s the only reason I started looking for another job back in London,” Lee told Al Jazeera. “With all the unknowns about mass testing and quarantine facilities in Hong Kong, it’s anxiety inducing. Without a roadmap, without any kind of timeline, you just don’t know how long it’s going to go on for.” Lee is far from alone in voting with his feet after more than two years of strict pandemic policies in the international financial hub. While the world outside China has pivoted to living with the virus, Hong Kong has held onto some of the strictest social di...