Story re-posted from September 22,2014 http://eb5news.com/categories/9-general/posts/332-survey-says-wealthy-chinese-heading-overseas
A recent global survey of high net worth individuals by Barclays Wealth discovered that 47 percent of the wealthy Chinese questioned plan to move overseas within the next five years.
The report, “Wealth Insights, The Rise of the Global Citizen?,” is the 18th volume in the Barclays Wealth Insights report series, which tracks the international movements of the world's high net worth individuals, exploring where they live, work, retire and are planning to move to. Respondents were drawn from 17 countries around the world, across Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. More than 750 of the respondents identified themselves as entrepreneurs.
The Barclay’s report references a recent report from international consultancy New World Wealth, which found that China had the largest proportion of high net worth individuals emigrating in the decade up to 2013. The majority of those emigrants went to Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, the U.S. and the UK. Liam Bailey, Head of Residential Research at global real estate consultancy Knight Frank, puts the Chinese preference for Hong Kong and Singapore down to convenience of doing business.
“The reality is that most ultra-high net worth individuals in China are probably making money in China right now. So, for business reasons, they need to be relatively close...” Bailey said.
More information on the results specific to China are in an article in The Economic Times of India titled “Half of wealthy Chinese planning to leave the country: survey,” which states that for the Chinese, their top destinations are Hong Kong (30 percent) and Canada (23 percent) with top reasons for leaving being better educational and employment opportunities for their children. Additionally, China’s economic expansion has come at great environmental cost, especially in the big cities, which is helping drive migration.
Migration Drivers from Barclay’s Survey
35 percent of respondents are planning a move to another country simply because they desire a better climate. Twenty percent are looking to move in order to experience another culture. For the younger high net worth individuals (under 45), the top priorities when considering a move to another country are better education for their children (37%), economic opportunity (29%), and career development (29%) For older generations (over-65), retirement and economic security are of greater importance.