The Emigration of Wealthy Chinese Is an American Conspiracy

Published in Sohu
(China) on 5 July 2011
by Qiu Lin (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Liangzi He. Edited by Hoishan Chan.
In 2010, the United States approved more than 4,200 immigrants worldwide, among which 70 percent come from mainland China. In the wave of wealthy Chinese immigrants, a large amount of Chinese private capital has flocked to the U.S.

China should transform itself from being just a big economic power into a livable big country in order not to lose both talent and money in the context of globalization.

As long as local law permits, China’s wealthy people seem to be able to buy houses in the U.S. This is not bragging, but China’s rich are continually forming house-buying groups in the U.S., chartering flights to every big city in the U.S., making locals exclaim whenever they go. In Beijing, compared to the deserted scene in many housing sales offices, one after another overseas house-buying consulting sites are unusually hot. A company named Gao Li International continuously publishes large ads in many financial and airline magazines, selling villas or apartments in big cities in the U.S. including New York, Washington, Boston, Los Angeles, etc.

An agency in China estimated that the investment fund squeezed from the recent new regulation to control the property market was over 400 billion RMB. How much of this fund went to America’s property market still cannot be counted. A person who’s back from purchasing a house in the U.S. expressed that his house in Texas is worth $450,000, which can only buy an apartment of 100 square meters in the fifth ring in Beijing. In the U.S., the ratio of individual house prices and individual income levels is only four, which is much lower than that in China. Some people think that the reversed performance price ratio in China is an important reason for the overseas house-buying of wealthy Chinese.

Of course, this is only half right. In fact, the immigration of wealthy Chinese to the U.S. has become a trend. This April, the 2011 China Private Wealth Report released by China Merchants Bank showed that about 60 percent of “high net worth individuals” in China — people with over 10 million RMB in assets — either considered investment immigration or have almost completed their immigration procedure. Among those billionaires, about 27 percent of them have completed investment immigration. The survey result indicated that among people who own 100 million RMB, about 27 percent have completed emigration and 47 percent are considering leaving China.

Apart from that, another important factor for the phenomenon is that America has lowered the migration threshold greatly to absorb wealthy Chinese. One is that the application threshold has been lowered from $1 million to $500,000. With respect to the difficulty of application, the criteria for U.S. investment immigration only require that the private assets are “legally obtained,” and do not insist that the assets be earned from business.

Second, in December 2010, the Startup Visa Bill that helps foreign entrepreneurs come to the U.S., proposed by Democratic Senator John Kerry and Republican Senator Richard Lugar, has won bipartisan support and will be passed before long. This bill advocates the establishment of a “startup visa”; as long as foreign entrepreneurs can raise $100,000 or obtain a total of $250,000 in equity financing to set up a company in the U.S., they can get a green card.

The change in those policies is perceived as the only immigration method that is faster than marrying a U.S. citizen. Little wonder after the new policy been put forward, wealthy Chinese people were so happy, as if they found buried treasure, and the related immigration organizations were filled with rich Chinese. Over the past year, the number of rich Chinese who migrated to the U.S. increased; in 2010, the U.S. approved the entry of 4,200 immigrants worldwide, among which about 70 percent come from mainland China.

Analysts think that America’s absorption of rich Chinese is nothing less than the initiation of an invisible financial war against China. In the past, the U.S. “robbed” Japan, South Korea and wealthy Middle Eastern countries, but now it has targeted China and laid out a big plot. On the one hand, to contain the Chinese government’s large foreign exchange reserves, the U.S. has been pushing China to buy U.S. Treasury bonds instead. As of this March, China holds $1.1449 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds. On the other hand, another breach has been opened against Chinese private wealth, absorbing the migration of rich Chinese individuals to the U.S.

The surprising result is that the large private capital flow from China to the U.S. is consistent with the monitoring report of illegal money flow published by the U.S. Treasury Department. From the summer of 2010, the amount of cash transferred secretly out of China has increased greatly. According to the non-profit organization Global Financial Integrity, China’s illegal funds transfer flows are second to none in the world. Between the year 2000 and 2009, the outflow of funds from China was up to $2.18 trillion. In other words, if calculating based on the large population in China on average, this outflow reached $1,600 per person.

If the situation goes on, it will be very unfavorable to China. Not long ago, a report expressed thoughts on the new wave of immigration to the U.S. — “Calmly Examining Immigration: Why immigrate? How much is its impact on China?” This article directly pointed out that China’s wealthy class and intellectual elite were becoming the main force behind the new immigration wave. As to whether the immigration heat would cause a large scale outflow of talent and capital, the article held that China should move from just being a great economic power to transform itself into a livable country, which would prevent it from being a net exporter of talent and capital, in the context of globalization.

Looking back, the U.S. has been truly welcoming toward rich Chinese immigrants. Whether it’s an American conspiracy or overt scheme is self-evident. A conspiracy is always full of mystery. Many people think that sucking in rich Chinese is the product of an American conspiracy. In other words, by adjusting policy, America attracts rich Chinese to immigrate to the U.S., further absorbing all the wealth in China. This is a powerful tool wielded by the U.S. to contend with China.


专家:中国大批富人移民美国 是美国吸富的阴谋

来源:中国网 作者:邱林 2011年07月05日07:50

2010年美国全球总共批准了4200多人移民,其中70%来自中国大陆。在中国富人移民潮中,中国民间资本大量涌向美国。

  中国应该从一个“经济大国”进一步建构“宜居大国”,才可能在全球化的趋势中,不致成为人才与资金的净输出国。

  只要当地法律允许,中国的富人似乎能买下美国的房子。这不是吹牛,中国的富人们正在源源不断地组成赴美购房团,包机杀往美国各大城市,所到之处无不让当地人惊叹。在北京,与很多售楼处的冷清景象相比,一场接一场的海外购房咨询现场火爆异常。一家名为高力国际的公司,在多家财经或者航空类杂志上接连刊登大幅广告,推销包括纽约、华盛顿、波士顿、洛杉矶等美国各大城市的别墅或公寓。

  国内一家中介机构预估,政府近期调控楼市新政挤出来的投资资金,保守估计超过4000亿元。这些钱有多少杀向了美国楼市,还无法统计。一位刚从美国置业回国的人士表示,自己在美国德克萨斯州的房屋总价45万美元,该价格仅相当于北京五环一套100平方米左右的公寓。在美国的个人房价收入比仅4倍,远远低于国内的城市。有人认为,性价比倒挂,是中国富人扎堆跑境外买房的一个重要原因。

  当然,这只说对了一半。实际上,中国富人移民美国正成为一种倾向。今年4月,中国招商银行发布《2011中国私人财富报告》显示,中国约60%的“高净值人士”——即那些拥有人民币1000万元以上可投资资产的人士——不是在考虑投资移民,就是已经快完成移民手续了。而亿万富翁中,约27%已经完成了投资移民。调查结果还显示,那些拥有人民币1亿元可投资资产的人群中,有27%已经完成移民,47%正在考虑离开中国。

  除此之外,还有一个重要因素,就是美国为猛吸中国富人赴美移民,已大大降低了移民门槛。一是从申请美国移民门槛来看,由原来的100万美元以上降低为50万美元。从申请的难易程度来看,美国投资移民仅仅要求个人资产来源是“合法所得”,并不强求资产必须是经商所得。

  二是2010年12月,美国国会民主党参议员柯瑞和共和党参议员鲁加提出的帮助外国企业家顺利来美的创业签证法案,并获得两党议员的支持,不久将获通过。这项法案主张设立“创业签证”,外国出生的企业家只要能筹措到10万美元创投资金或获得总额25万美元的股权融资,在美国创立公司,即可获得美国绿卡。

  美国这些政策的变化,被认为是唯一能与美国公民结婚比速度的移民新方式。难怪美国新政策公布之后,中国富人如获至宝,相关移民受理机构被中国富人踏破了门槛。近一年来,移民美国的中国富人越来越多,2010年,美国全球总共批准了4200多人移民,其中70%来自中国大陆。

  分析人士认为,美国猛吸中国富人移民,这一招不亚于向中国发动了一场看不见的金融战争。过去美国打劫的对象是日本、韩国或中东富裕国家,如今美国将打劫的目标对准了中国,而且在布局一盘非常大的阴谋。一方面围堵中国政府的巨额外汇储备,推动中国购买美国国债,截至2011年3月,中国持有1.1449万亿美元的美国国债。另一方面打开另外一个缺口,对中国民间财富釜底抽薪,猛吸中国富人移民美国。

  令人吃惊的结果,在中国富人移民潮中,中国民间资本大量涌向美国。这与美国财政部的非法钱款流向监控报告相一致:自2010年夏季以来,从中国向外秘密转移的现金大幅增加。据非营利组织“全球金融诚信”称,中国的非法资金转移在全世界首屈一指。2000年至2009年间,从中国流出的款项总额达到2.18万亿美元。也就是说,即使按照中国庞大的人口基数平均计算,也可以达到人均1600美元。

  这种现象长此下去,对中国相当不利。前不久,一家媒体刊出《新移民潮冷思考:为何移民?对中国影响多大?》的报道中,直指“中国的富裕阶层和知识精英正成为新一轮移民的主力军。移民热会不会引发人才、资金大规模外流”,该文章指出,中国应该从一个“经济大国”进一步建构“宜居大国”,才可能在全球化的趋势中,不致成为人才与资金的净输出国。

  回过头来看,对那些移民美国的中国富人,美国着实是张开手臂欢迎。这是美国的阴谋还是阳谋,大家不言而喻。阴谋永远都是充满神秘色彩的。对待中国富人也是一样,许多人认为猛吸中国富人就是美国的阴谋产物,通过政策的调整,吸引中国富人大批移民美国,进而把中国的财富吸空,这正是美国对付中国的一个有力手段。

(责任编辑:沈燕妮)
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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