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LCQ4: Situation of Mainland women giving births in Hong Kong closely monitored
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    Following is a question by the Hon Li Fung-ying and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, in the Legislative Council today (October 25):

Question:

     It is learnt that an increasing number of Mainland women come to Hong Kong to give birth in order to enable their new born babies to have the right of abode in Hong Kong or evade the family planning policies of the Mainland authorities.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the number of Mainland women who gave birth in Hong Kong in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by the sectors (i.e. public or private) of the hospitals which provided the obstetrics services; and

(b) whether it has conducted any study on the impact, of such Mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong and their babies returning to settle in Hong Kong in the future, on various public services in Hong Kong; if it has, of the study results; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

     We have consulted the relevant bureaux and departments on the Hon Li Fung-ying's question. Our reply is as follows:

(a) According to the statistics collated by the Immigration Department, the number of babies born to Mainland women in Hong Kong in the past five years are as follows:

Year         Number of babies born
----         --------------------
2001                7,810

2002                8,506

2003                10,128

2004                13,209

2005                19,538

     The Government does not specifically keep the breakdown of the above statistics by public hospitals, private hospitals or other places.  Nevertheless, for public hospitals, the Hospital Authority (HA) has kept figures on the number of births by Non-entitled Persons (NEPs), which means persons other than Hong Kong Identity Card holders.  Such figures for 2003, 2004 and 2005 are 8,692, 11,116 and 13,917 respectively.  HA does not have the breakdown for those by Mainland women.  Besides, HA revised the definition of NEPs in early 2003; hence, it may not be appropriate to compare the above figures with those of 2002 and before.

(b) The Government is very concerned about the issue of Mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong, but has not come to a conclusion on its long-term impact at this stage.  We believe that many of such babies will return to the Mainland soon after birth with their mothers who are not Hong Kong residents.  If these babies remain in the Mainland for a long period, statistically they will not be counted as part of Hong Kong's population.  If they come to Hong Kong to live afterwards, they will be counted towards our population figures.  In assessing the short-term demand for services, relevant government bureaux/departments will examine the actual latest population figures.  On a long term basis, the Census and Statistics Department updates the population projections of Hong Kong once every two to three years.  This facilitates the Government to ascertain the demand for services in areas such as housing, education, social welfare, and medical and health.  

     In any case, the relevant bureaux and departments will continue to closely monitor the situation of Mainland women giving births in Hong Kong.

Ends/Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:17

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