HONG KONG - Hong Kong needs a vast number of talents and its Immigration Department will work to attract talents worldwide through continuously optimizing the immigration policy, Hong Kong's Director of Immigration Chan Kwok-ki said.

"Sufficient and high-quality talents is the primary condition of Hong Kong's social and economic development," Chan told Xinhua in a exclusive interview, "but due to the low birth rate and long average life, Hong Kong's population is aging rapidly."

It is estimated that Hong Kong's labor force will decline around 2018, which will directly influence the competitiveness of this region, he said. "In order to attract more talents and professionals from all over the world, the Immigration Department will strive to optimize the immigration policy."

According to the director, the department has tailored different policies to attract different talents, including the General Employment Policy (GEP), Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP), Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS), Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates ( IANG) and Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents (ASSG).

GEP mainly targets people from overseas and China's Taiwan, which receives 30,000 applications per year; ASMTP, just as its name implies, offers chances to talents and professionals from the Chinese mainland; QMAS aims at attracting high-tech talents or high-quality ones.

Since QMAS was introduced nine years ago, it has attracted high- quality talents from all over the world including the Chinese mainland, Chan said, and the government is planning to adjust the General Points Test in order to bring more talents here.

About 10,000 non-local graduates choose to stay in Hong Kong each year, and most of them are from the mainland, he added. "I hope those young people could settle down here."

"Since 1980s, about 800,000 Hong Kong people have moved overseas. Though their children do not have Hong Kong permanent residence, they have international visions and are familiar with our culture. We welcome them home," Chan said.

"The conditions of some policies have been relaxed," he said, citing that under GEP and ASMTP, the first duration of stay has been relaxed from one year to two years, so as to save the applicants' trouble of repeat applications.

Chan also noted the continued decrease in the number of visitors from the Chinese mainland, which was caused by recent local anti-parallel traders protests, as well as the economic slowdown in the mainland market and yuan's depreciation.

Chan stressed that the citizens have the rights to give opinions, but those protests may send the wrong message to the visitors. "Most Hong Kong people welcome the tourists," he added.