THE INFLUENCE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UPON LANGUAGE CHANGE IN HONG KONG (POST―1997).doc

THE INFLUENCE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UPON LANGUAGE CHANGE IN HONG KONG (POST―1997) 　　【Abstract】Since the return in 1997， Hong Kong has been motivated by its economic force in changing its language landscape. English and Cantonese code-mixed in the 1990s and Putonghua rose in the 2000s. Objective economic conditions drive language change in Hong Kong. 【Key words】 Economy，Language change，Hong Kong 1. Financial crisis in 1998 and recovery in the 2000s The connection between Hong Kong and mainland is booming international trade and promoting prosperity. However， Negative economic growth and high unemployment rate indicated that financial crises in 1998 and in 2008 apparently damaged the financial center-Hong Kong. Although central government helped Hong Kong survive the crisis， two main pillars of local economy-stock market and real estate-were so damaged that they failed to get rid of the damage even until today. Industrial hollowing after manufacture industry put the problem of unemployment onto table. High labor price and land price discourage local economy. Because of incomplete industrial transformation， labor-intensive processing trade is still the feature of Hong Kong economy. Its comparative advantage comes from low labor price， which means that compared with Korea， Singapore and Taiwan， Hong Kong does not have competitive emerging industry or famous enterprise or brand. More importantly， its role as a channel is weakened because it is no longer the only medium through which foreign countries cooperate with China. The gap between Hong Kong and mainland is shrinking thanks to fast-growing economy in the mainland. Coastal cities such as Shang Hai and Shen Zhen show signs of fast economic growth. High-end technology and equipment industry in Guang Zhou and Shen Zhen also reduce Hong Kong’s radiation effect as an economic center. Besides， individual visit helps Hong Kong economy recover， and individual visit promotes permeation of mainland visitors int