The initiator of economic reforms Deng Xiao Ping supposedly said (I didnt find the exact source) to get rich is glorious, and many in China have espoused this phrase. The skyrocketing development of China in recent decades made many Chinese rich and many foreign rich got involved and richer.
And today I found this piece:
MSNBC*|*Top of Chinese wealthys wish list? To leave China
Chinas wealthiest are investing more abroad, as a way to get away
Excerpt:
Quote:
China's richest are increasingly investing abroad to get a foreign passport, to make international business and travel easier but also to give them a way out of China.
The United States is the most popular destination for Chinese emigrants, with rich Chinese praising its education and healthcare systems. Last year, nearly 68,000 Chinese-born people became legal permanent residents of the U.S., seven percent of the total and second only to those born in Mexico. Canada and Australia are also popular.
It is a bothersome trend for Chinas communist leaders who've pinned the legitimacy of one-party rule on delivering rapid economic growth and a rising standard of living. They've succeeded in lifting tens of millions of ordinary Chinese out of poverty while also creating a new class of super rich. Yet affluence alone seems a poor bargain to those with the means to live elsewhere.
Many reasons are given:
Quote:
In China, nothing belongs to you. Like buying a house. You buy it but it will belong to the country 70 years later, said [Peking construction billionaire] Su, lamenting the governments land leasing system.
But abroad, if you buy a house, it belongs to you forever, he said. Both businessmen and government officials are like this. They worry about the security of their assets.
Leo Liu, marketing manager at Beijing emigration consultants Goldlink, said the company has noticed an increasing trend of rich Chinese wanting to emigrate, particularly to Canada, in the 15 years since it was founded.
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The main reasons people want to move abroad, he said, are their childrens education and for better healthcare. Some want to leave because they got their money illegally, such as corrupt government officials and businesspeople, while others are inspired by friends who have already emigrated to the U.S.
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A millionaire who works in the coal industry, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the main push behind his plans to emigrate is Chinas test-centric school system, often criticized for producing students who can pass exams but who lack skills for the world of work.
He will take his 7-year-old to the U.S. as soon as the child graduates from junior high at an international school in Beijing where pupils are instructed in English.
Not necessarily taking MSNBCs word for it, Ill watch that space.
Yet, if this article is even partly accurate, many among those who profit the most from the so-called Chinese miracle, voting with their feet, envisage a better future elsewhere, particularly in decadent, declining Western countries.
We are all familiar with the reality of poor people leaving failed countries with little opportunity.
Here we have an example of wealthy people leaving a rising country said to offer great get-rich opportunity (as many Western individuals and companies flock there with that endeavour).
The Chinese Communist party may believe it avoided losing power (as happened in Russia) by introducing market-oriented reforms while keeping complete authoritarian political control, I think it only delayed it some.
Well see how that goes.
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