As it was a colony, some of them became purchasers and administrators for Western firms. Some became businessmen themselves, providing goods from the mainland to the local Chinese market. Still more became manufacturers and sellers of their own handicrafts. They gradually accumulated wealth and began to form a Chinese business class.
這些移民中勤勞秀異者，在香港不能像在其他移居地那樣購併土地當地主，便因應殖民地獨特條件，有的在洋商洋行裡當買辦和文員，有的從商為華人市場供應南北百貨，更多手工業者自製自賣，積累財富，逐漸在香港形成華人紳商階級。