For what it's worth, here is my general experience about job finding in London vs HK:
Things do seem different between the UK and HK to me- I think HK in general prefers a personal approach. Email doesn't seem to work- there's often no reply in HK (in London, you at least get a "no" or "holding" reply). Telephone is a step better, but people really want to see you in person. I also find a real "box ticking attitude" by HR here- possibly because of an oversupply of good candidates. If you don't tick all the boxes, you don't get a reply- which means "no" in a face-saving way! In London, being an excellent but unusual candidate may actually be a plus but it'll put you on the "reject" pile here because an HR person is ticking boxes to whittle down the list. This is frustrating if you're a great candidate and the "box" isn't actually needed (like your case of being unable to go through the same interview process, and often language requirements seem like this too).
The best general advice is to meekly jump through the hoops and fit the "standard format" and things get a lot easier!
ps this post is full of loads of generalisations, which are always dangerous, but I speak as I find to try and be helpful!