Why are millionaires suddenly moving out of China?

China is one of the biggest economies in the world. However, it appears the number of millionaires living in the country is in rapid decline and quickly seeking a way to get their money out of the country.

The New York Times has reported that the wealthy Chinese elite have moved billions of US Dollars (or their equivalent) out of their home country.

Chinese millionaires have been investing hundreds of millions in stocks and real estate overseas, such as London, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, and many other global cities.

Bloomberg highlights that wealthy Chinese are even recurring to unusual and outright illegal methods to take their money out of the country.

Many people are wondering why rich people in China seem so eager to move out in what has been described by CNBC as the world’s biggest millionaire migration.

According to The New York Times, the outflow of money could be an indicator about a pressing concern on the current state and possible future of the Chinese economy.

Meanwhile, Business Insider explains that the Chinese economy has failed to properly rebound since the Covid-19 pandemic.

This can be seen in the real estate market, with some of the largest corporations such as Country Garden facing big problems and fears of defaulting its debts.

For the longest time, real estate was seen as a safe, booming business in China, with many rich families using it as a way to store wealth. This is no longer the case.

Not helping the case is the United States Federal Reserve raising interest rates in the face of a weak yuan.

However, CNB argues that China’s wealthy migration has been going on since 2012, long before the Covid-19 pandemic. Others believe there’s a more political reason.

The Guardian claims that the government crackdown on China’s wealthy elite is also motivating the rich to move elsewhere.

In 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a call for “common prosperity”, which has been understood as something of a warning to Chinese millionaires to contribute more to society.

The year before, in 2020, Alibaba Express founder Jack Ma reportedly got into trouble with Chinese authorities after opening questioning what he labelled as their “pawnshop mentality”.

More recently, The Guardian reports that billionaire Chinese banker Bao Fan was reportedly missing for 10 days in March 2023, after resurfacing claiming that he was helping Chinese authorities with an investigation.

Al Jazeera writes that Bao was looking at the time into moving his company to Singapore. It seems that for many, moving their assets is just the first step before getting out of China.