A new research report in China shows that China’s wealthy are emigrating overseas.
According to the figures, which were released in the first annual Report of Chinese International Migration, which was co-compiled by the Center for China and Globalization and the Beijing Institute of Technology, up to one third of Chinese people who have an accumulated net worth of over 16 million USD are now opting to move abroad, with better overseas education begin cited as the number one reason for this migration. Furthermore, 50% of those high-net-worth individuals that have remained in the country are considering relocating.
In 2011 alone, more than 150,000 Chinese emigrated to destinations such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the report disclosed and, of these, the United States was the most popular destination with 87,000 residents permits being granted in the US in 2011 alone. Of these, 3,340 were granted through the investment program. As such, it seems, not only are the citizens relocating to foreign lands, but they are also investing their money there. According to the report, approximately 50 percent of investment immigration projects each worth $ 500,000 in US were being pitched by agencies in China, Qi Lixin, chairman of the Beijing Entry and Exit Service Association, was quoted as saying in the report.
The results of the research has raised concerns that significant amounts of capital are moving out of China and that the country is also losing some of its most promising human resources as a result of the exodus of the country’s wealthy and talented population, which they termed a “brain and capital” drain. Approximately 45 million Chinese people have immigrated abroad so far, the report said.
The result indicates that the Chinese government must now turn their attention from keeping the wealthy rich, to keeping the rich on home soil.
