Wealthy Chinese People Not Quite So Keen To Leave As In Recent Past - Report

Tom Burroughes

25 January 2017

There has been an exodus of high net worth investors leaving China in recent months but new figures show that emigration has reached the lowest rate for five years, a report by Luxury Daily has said.

The report quoted data from the Chinese organisation , which tracks the fortunes of HNW and ultra-high net worth individuals. Among the findings of its report was that 90 per cent of Chinese millionaires are more confident of their nation’s economic development than in the past.

China has 1.34 million high net worth individuals, defined as individuals with at least $1.5 million in wealth, Hurun said in a separate report in October.

With Chinese mainland markets proving volatile in recent years and concerns about the fragility of its financial system, there has been some focus on how many HNW persons are leaving the country and taking advantage of citizenship-by-investment programmes in countries such as the UK, the US, Malta and Spain.

After a steady increase in emigration since 2013, this year 44.5 per cent of consumers are not considering leaving the country, the lowest rate in five years, but more than half of such citizens are still considering an exit, the Luxury Daily report of the Hurun study (only available at the time in Mandarin Chinese) said.

Wealthy Chinese consumers have a very high travel rate, with an average of eight days per month away on business, as well as 10 days for vacation. The super wealthy take an average of 15 days for vacation and both go abroad 3.4 times a year.

Hurun has also recently reported that almost half of high net worth Chinese individuals put stock into overseas investments. The Hurun Research Institute and Visas Consulting Group in late October 2016 jointly published a 28-page report on immigration and investment partners of Chinese HNW individuals. It found that the US West Coast is the most attractive destination for Chinese HNW individuals to settle in, particularly Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

Among the findings was that 60 per cent of HNW individuals in China are planning to buy real estate in other countries over the next three years, seeking to get at least a third of their wealth out of the country.

This publication noted in March 2015, for example, that there is a seeming paradox between the fact of China’s economic prowess and a desire of so many wealthy people to leave. To see that editorial, click here.