Permanent residency for Hongkongers may be worth £4bn to UK economy, says thinktank

The China Strategic Risks Institute says residence rights for Hongkongers in the UK would have ‘a significant economic rationale’. Photograph: Reuters/Alamy

Allowing Hongkongers who have moved to the UK to stay permanently after five years could net more than £4bn for the Treasury by 2029, according to a thinktank.

The analysis by the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI), which was sent to the Home Office before the budget, suggests the move could raise almost as much revenue as a year’s worth of air passenger duty by enabling Hongkongers to move their pension savings here.