Photo: Chen Guoji attended the “Diversity List 2024” press conference yesterday and took photos with a group of guests, list candidates, committees and project teams.

[Ta Kung Pao News]Reporter Gong Xueming reported: The Xiaobin Memorial Foundation published the “Diversity List 2024” yesterday, selecting 21 ethnic minorities who are talented and willing to serve the community to encourage the Hong Kong government to continue to appoint ethnic minorities as members of government advisory and statutory organizations. In his speech, Chief Secretary for Administration Chen Guoji described the selected candidates as Hong Kong’s underutilized resources, which will help the government understand the experiences and international life of non-Chinese Hong Kong people. He also said that eight ethnic minority care teams will provide services from next month, and two ethnic minority support service centers will also be put into service by the end of this year.

Chen Guoji said that Hong Kong has always been a culturally diverse metropolis with more than 300,000 ethnic minority residents, accounting for more than 4% of the total population. The latest census shows that as of 2021, 15.2% of ethnic minorities were born in Hong Kong, an increase of about 2% from 10 years ago, and the population is younger, with a median age of 37.6 years old.

Supporting non-Chinese speaking students to improve their employment opportunities

Chen Guoji said that the Steering Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs, chaired by him, has strengthened support and services for ethnic minorities in a wide range of areas. In last year’s Policy Address, the Chief Executive expanded support for ethnic minority communities, including in education, employment, and community integration, which he believes will inspire more ethnic minorities to succeed.

Chen Guoji pointed out that the SAR government is increasing support for non-Chinese speaking students to help them learn Chinese, and has also adjusted the Chinese proficiency requirements of more than 30 civil service grades to increase employment opportunities for ethnic minorities. In addition, the Labour Department’s “Multi-ethnic Employment Program” has provided services to more than 270 ethnic minority job seekers. In the future, the SAR government will strive to meet the social needs of ethnic minorities and promote community and economic development.