The Journal of Comparative Asian Development, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Fall 2006) 329 Locating Hong Kong in the Global Networks of Professional Migrants Wang Cangbai Centre of Asian Studies The University of Hong Kong Introduction Hong Kong as a migrant society has received considerable attention in migration literature. However, research and policy interests have focused on the new immigrants from Mainland China or the domestic workers from Southeast Asian countries, in particular the female workers from Philippine and Indonesia. The movement of highly-skilled migrants to Hong Kong has attracted much less attention. It is widely assumed that Hong Kong as a global city has a stable pool of professional migrants, and therefore it is never an issue to review the framework on attracting highly- skilled migrants in Hong Kong (Findlay, Li, Jowett & Skeldon, 1996, p. 50). This paper shows that the statement that Hong Kong has a large and stable stock of highly skilled migrants is a misconception. In fact, the landscape of professional migrants in Hong Kong is undergoing significant transformation in both number and types, which provides us with an opportunity to examine the mechanism of talent attraction in Hong Kong. As the case of Hong Kong represents important general aspects of the dynamics of the skilled migrants of a global city, this study is of more than local significance. This paper begins with a description of the demographic change of highly-skilled migrants in Hong Kong before and after 1997. It then compares the effectiveness and limitations of major propositions in explaining this demographic change. The author argues that government policies, which are overlooked by most migration theories, play important roles in steering the movement of skilled migrants in Hong Kong. After a review of Hong Kong’s immigration polices before and after 1997, the