A new immigration plan next year will allow qualified professionals from the mainland and overseas to reside in Hong Kong for a long duration of time without authorization from their employers, Lee Siu-kwong, head of Hong Kong's Security Bureau said on Wednesday.

The plan, which is expected to be released in the first half of 2006, aims at bringing highly skilled personnel from around the world to Hong Kong.

From November 2003 to October 2005, Hong Kong had attracted 497,972 qualified people worldwide, including 7,665 from the mainland, who were given residential permits on the basis of an immigration plan launched by the Hong Kong Government.

(Shenzhen Daily November 25, 2005)