Ronnie O’Sullivan has been granted residency in Hong Kong, hailing the Chinese city’s food, culture and tax rate.
The Rocket has been given residency through the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, as confirmed by immigration director Benson Kwok in a social media video posted on Thursday.
On being congratulated on becoming a resident, the seven-time world champion was asked why he chose Hong Kong as his new ‘place of residence’.
‘I’ve spent a lot of time in Hong Kong. I’ve had many really nice trips here, got some good friends here, I enjoy my stay here,’ said O’Sullivan.
‘Obviously snooker is very popular here as well. Obviously, like myself, someone travelling from another country, the tax is also a good thing. But your food, your culture, it’s a great place to live, a great place to be.
‘If you want to live a life, a good life, you should come to Hong Kong.
‘My plan in Hong Kong is obviously to do some work, but I love the food, I love just relaxing here in Hong Kong, and maybe go and play some snooker, it’s just really nice to be back in Hong Kong again.’
O’Sullivan also attended a press conference on Thursday for the upcoming exhibition event the Macau Snooker Masters, played from 25-28 December and also featuring Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui, Marco Fu, Si Jiahui, Jak Jones, Stuart Bingham and Jack Lisowski.
Speaking at the launch of the event, he said of his focus on Asia, via MacauBusiness: ‘I probably do about 70 per cent of my work in China and Asia now, so I have to make a life here, I have to make a home.
‘If you work a long time in a certain place you need to make it as comfortable as possible.
‘Hong Kong is just the start for me. I know some people in Hong Kong and they said, “We want to try and make this possible for you”. Maybe Macau will be the next one because obviously I have some friends in Macau that are saying it’s a good idea to do something in Macau as well.’
A ranking event in Hong Kong is back on the World Snooker Tour calendar this season with the World Grand Prix moving to the newly-built Kai Tak Sports Park in March.
The Rocket’s liking of the tax system in the Chinese city is because Hong Kong has no capital gains tax and the highest rate of income tax stands at 16 per cent.
The 48-year-old is back on the baize on Sunday at the International Championship in Nanjing, China where he takes on women’s world number one Mink Nutcharut.
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