[antelope123]

I'm a Canadian expat who has lived in HK for a few years. Looking at setting up a business, primary work would be mobile phone software development (Java/J2ME), website development (Adobe Flex/Actionscript), and IC development.

I am contemplating an office in either Shenzhen or HK:

HK Advantages
- Less problematic employee turnover and security of IP
- I want to remain in HK for as many days/week as possible (family lives here). HK office therefore fits better into my lifestyle.
- Job market too hot in Shenzhen to find and retain quality people?

Shenzhen Advantages
- Much cheaper for office space + salaries. Can hire more people, presumably get things done faster + cheaper

Some questions:
- Is it practical / possible for a foreigner to set up an engineering office in Shen Zhen (not a problem for HK)? Advisable to hire a manager?
- Cost of office space in Shen Zhen (ideally close to Lo Wu) vs. HK (in HK 6-10K/month gets you something decent)
- Average salary for software engineer with 2-5 years experience in Shenzhen vs. HK? My guesstimate: 5K/month vs. 15K/month (factor of 3)? Maybe the difference is not as significant as it used to be due to the hot job market in Shen Zhen? If the difference is not substantial, it makes my decision to base in HK much easier (and practical).
- Obviously 'theft' of company IP / source code from employees leaving is a risk for any company. However, is this as rampant as I understand it may be in Shenzhen? What about HK - I would think not as bad?
- How to I track down good engineering talent in Shenzhen? Is the market too hot right now - too difficult to find good quality people and retain them?
- What other major considerations am I missing?

Thanks in advance