HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's Top Talent Pass Scheme has received enthusiastic responses with nearly 59,000 applications approved, Chris Sun, secretary for labor and welfare of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on Wednesday.

In replying to a lawmaker in writing in the HKSAR Legislative Council, Sun said that till the end of February, the authorities had received over 72,000 applications in total under the Scheme. About 44,000 of the applicants approved have arrived in Hong Kong.

The Scheme, launched by the HKSAR government in December 2022, is intended to attract the top talent with high income, good academic qualifications and extensive work experience to pursue development in Hong Kong.

Along with the other talent admission schemes, around 108,000 applicants approved have arrived in Hong Kong since last year, Sun said.

Based on data related to the Top Talent Pass Scheme, the HKSAR government has put the Scheme's direct contribution at an estimated 34 billion Hong Kong dollars (4.35 billion U.S. dollars) per year to the local economy, or about 1.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), according to Sun.

Sun said the Scheme entrants and their spouses are generally younger, with more than half of them aged under 40, who, along with their children after settling in Hong Kong, will add new impetus to the local labor force and bring about positive impact on Hong Kong's demographic structure.