London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

‘China’s Miami’ in Huizhou beckons to Hong Kong retirees 90 minutes away from border

Huizhou in Guangdong province is 90 minutes from Kowloon, is being pitched as an option for elderly citizens seeking escape from Hong Kong’s hardships. The city is riding on the crest of Beijing’s blueprint to transform the bay area into an economic powerhouse on its own

Huizhou, whose coastline in China’s southern Guangdong province is only a 90-minute drive from Kowloon, is being touted as the country’s own Miami. It’s also being pitched to Hong Kong’s elderly citizens seeking to retire and escape from the city’s hardships.

Better cross-border transport linkages, greater subsidies for elderly health care, and lower care facility costs across the border would attract more Hongkongers to the Greater Bay Area (GBA) city, according to Gary Lam Kwok-hung, chairman of CP Senior Care (Shenzhen).

“Hong Kong has the most expensive real estate in the world and some of the worst living conditions for elderlies in care homes,” Lam said in an interview. Access to hospitals and locally-registered drugs are some of the concerns that have pained retirees in the city, he noted.

The southern coast of Huizhou “truly has the Miami feel” given its subtropical location and long beaches on the southeastern US state of Florida, he added. At just HK$1,000 per square foot, local properties are much more affordable, giving it an edge over the Asian financial hub.

Lam’s business is part of his Dallas, Texas-based CP Holdings, which operates aged-care, assisted living residences and real estate in the US. His group has a 90 per cent stake in CP 18, a venture with developer Country Garden to provide similar services in the mainland market.

The CP 18 project, part of Cogard’s “Ten Mile Silver Beach” resort and residential development, is an 18-storey complex offering 565 beds, leisure and rehabilitation facilities and a medical centre. Only about 100 beds are currently occupied, a third of them by Hongkongers, Lam said.

Stan Group, which controls Hong Kong-listed high-end elderly care home operator Pine Care Group, also recognises the market potential. Last May, it signed a preliminary agreement with Zhongshan-based Dasin Real Estate to build senior care facilities in the bay area.

“Private sector operators in Hong Kong struggle to provide quality services that are affordable to most because of the high land and operating costs,” he added. “We can provide the space and level of services that Hong Kong operators cannot for the same price.”

Some 31 per cent of Hong Kong’s 76,343 elderly care home places were run by non-governmental organisations as of the end of March, while private owners run the rest, according to the Social Welfare Department. About 37 per cent of them are subsidised by the government.

At the end of May, some 39,119 applicants were on the waiting list for subsidised residential care. The average waiting time for a place was over two years, according to official data.

Runaway property prices over the past decade turned Hong Kong into the least affordable residential market on earth, leaving many residents in a quandary. Unemployment in the virus-afflicted economy is at a 15-year high, and about a fifth of the population struggled below the breadline.

Huizhou, which is about 10 times the size of Hong Kong, is just another option for Hong Kong retirees. It borders Guangzhou, the provincial capital, to the west and highly industrialised Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest. The local dialect shows characteristics of both Cantonese and Hakka, according to a Chinese University of Hong Kong Journal of Chinese Studies research paper in 2008.

Almost 21,900 Hongkongers are now living in the Guangdong and Fujian provinces, drawing on social security payments without needing to return to Hong Kong.

Another 250-odd have taken up the option of settling in two facilities operated by Hong Kong charities in the Greater Bay Area cities of Shenzhen and Zhaoqing. These facilities are offered to those on the waiting list for subsidised homes.

Huizhou is riding on the crest of Beijing’s blueprint to transform the bay area into an economic powerhouse on its own. The cluster of nine cities in Guangdong province plus Hong Kong and Macau has an estimated gross domestic product equivalent of US$1.65 trillion, equivalent to the 11th largest in the world.

The newest border checkpoint linking Liantang in Shenzhen and Heung Yuen Wai in Hong Kong will shave 30 minutes off the current two-hour taxi journey between CP 18 and Kowloon in the former British colony, Lam said.

Enhanced “portability” of Hong Kong’s social security programmes for the elderly is one of the policy objectives highlighted in the GBA plan issued by the State Council in February last year. Investment in elderly care facilities by Hong Kong investors in bay cities will be supported, it added.

“As costs are much cheaper in Huizhou, the potential for elderly care facilities there serving Hongkongers is huge,” Lam of CP Senior Care said. “But more government policy support is needed.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
×