Hong Kong has launched a HK$30bn (US$3.8bn) fund alongside a package of measures to attract international businesses back to the city after strict coronavirus pandemic controls and a security crackdown crippled its status as a global financial hub.

Chief executive John Lee on Wednesday introduced visa and tax concessions for skilled foreign and mainland Chinese workers in his first policy address, including a move to make it cheaper for long-term expatriates to buy houses.

Lee is seeking to reverse the effects of government policies that sparked an exodus of residents, reducing the workforce by at least 140,000 in a city of 7.5mn. As security secretary, Lee oversaw a crackdown that wiped out dozens of civil society groups and filled the city’s jails with those charged after pro-democracy protests in 2019.