China, the world's second largest economy, has the highest number of millionaires after the United States. But, according to several studies, the numbers are going to dwindle in the next five years as more than half of them are planning on immigrating to other countries.
The fact that a large number of the Chinese wealthy are looking to shift to another country has been proven by several recent studies.
One research by Barclays PLC and Ledbury Reasearch polled 2,000 respondents worth $1.5 million or more across 17 countries and found that 47 percent of the Chinese millionaires plan on immigrating or moving to another country in the next five years and another 20 percent want to, but aren't sure about the decision.
Another study by Hurun Research Institute found that 64 percent of the Chinese millionaires have either already immigrated or plan to move.
But why are they leaving?
There are a bevy of reasons for this mass exodus. The lack of real investment and growth opportunities and unhealthy living conditions are two of the main reasons the wealthy of China want to move.
The Chinese rich are growing worried about their children's education, health and financial security as the economy and environment of the country spirals downward.
Of all the countries that the Chinese are moving to the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand are most popular. The Chinese are willing to pay a fortune for a citizenship in these areas, sometimes paying $1.5 million or more for just five years of residency in the U.K., according to USA Today.
But, the Barclay's report shows that many Chinese want to stay closer to their country with more than 30 percent of the polled people saying they want to move to Hong Kong. Latin America and Qatar were other famous areas.
"The reality is that most ultra-high net worth individuals in China are probably making money in China right now," Liam Bailey, researcher at Knight Frank explained in the report adding "So, for business reasons, they need to be relatively close. That might prevent some of them going further afield."
Moving to another country is profitable for the Chinese because "foreign markets rebounding from recession can sometimes provide profitable opportunities. They boast an investment environment free from corruption, patronage and government control, at least relative to China," Ben Hadler explains.
But if you thought China is poised to become a ghost country altogether, that is far from the truth. The Wall Street Journal notes that if the Chinese wealthy are leaving, it is also receiving high net worth individuals from Singapore and other Asia Pacific regions.
In June, the Urban Land Institute released a report that showed foreign investors flocking to some major Chinese cities even during its economic turmoil.
"...investors remain confident on the outlook for Mainland China's Tier 1 cities. The survey shows that people are comfortable operating in the major cities including Shanghai and Beijing which have strong underlying market fundamentals...," the survey noted.
