Many of China?s wealthiest chose to emigrate

Over 76,000 Chinese millionaires emigrated or were granted citizenship of another country between 2004 and 2013 as the country’s biggest companies expanded globally.

Australia was one of the most popular destinations among the wealthy Chinese, with more than 90 per cent (1,384) of applications for its significant investor visa in the past two years coming from Chinese citizens. The US and the UK also received a high number of applicants from China for their high-net-worth visas.

Liam Bailey from broker Knight Frank LLP said there was a strong desire from affluent Chinese citizens to emigrate. He explained that some of them worked for a company that was seeking to expand globally and needed key players in cities such as New York Los Angeles and London.

From January to September last year, more than 300 Chinese investors applied for Britain’s Tier 1 visa, which states that a minimum investment of £2m must be put into UK assets. In total, the UK received 703 applications, with 160 of them coming from Russia.

After China, India has the highest number of millionaires seeking to move overseas, with 43,400 emigrating or acquiring citizenship for other countries in the same 10-year period.