(ECNS) – Many wealthy Chinese want to invest abroad, with 40 percent setting their sights on overseas properties, says a report published Monday by the Hurun Research Institute.
With the slowdown in China's market, overseas properties are becoming increasingly attractive, with the most desired destination being North America, especially the United States and Canada, according to the report.
Of those surveyed, 60 percent prefer the U.S., 22 percent Canada and seven percent Europe. The most attractive cities are Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver, with another four North American cities also appearing on the top 10 list.
Hu Run, the chairman of the Hurun Report, says investing in overseas properties is the trend this year. He attributes it to a strong yuan, high housing prices in first-tier cities on the Chinese mainland and restrictions on the Chinese property market.
Wealthy Chinese are investing an average 6 million yuan ($966,900) in overseas properties. In the survey, 70 percent said they are buying homes to live in and one-third said they are buying for investment purposes, the Shanghai-based agency said.
Interest in overseas properties by wealthy Chinese offers new opportunities for Chinese developers expanding their overseas businesses, the Beijing Times said on Tuesday.
According to data provided by Hurun, the number of high-net-worth individuals on the Chinese mainland, whose personal assets exceed 10 million yuan, has reached 1.09 million; the number of those whose personal assets top 100 million yuan is about 67,000; and another 17,000 have personal assets exceeding 500 million yuan.
Among them, 80 percent want to invest overseas in the future, and more than half already have experience making such investments at enterprise or individual levels. Properties, fixed income investments and stocks are the top three options for them.
The survey has found that high-net-worth individuals invest overseas predominantly for asset allocation/risk diversification purposes, accounting for 19.8 percent, followed closely by facilitating children's education, taking up 19.4 percent.
