A record number of millionaires are projected to leave China in 2024, a development that could impact the Asian major’s already struggling economy, according to a new report.The Epoch Times reported, citing a June 18 report by British investment immigration consultancy Henley & Partners, that communist China is on track to lose at least 15,200 millionaires this year, more than any other nation in the world and eclipsing the country’s previous record of 13,800 set in 2023.
According to the report titled “Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024”, the traditional top destinations for wealthy Chinese seeking a better life include the United States, Canada, and Singapore. In recent years, however, a growing number of affluent Chinese have been considering Japan.
“China is again on track to be the biggest millionaire loser globally, with an anticipated net exit of 15,200 HNWIs [high-net-worth individuals] this year, compared to 13,800 in 2023,” as per the report.
Noting that the year 2024 is shaping up to be a watershed moment in the global migration of wealth, the group head of private clients at Henley & Partners, Dominic Volek, said, “An unprecedented 128,000 millionaires are expected to relocate worldwide this year, eclipsing the previous record of 120,000 set in 2023.”
“As the world grapples with a perfect storm of geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, and social upheaval, millionaires are voting with their feet in record numbers,” Volek said.
“In many respects, this great millionaire migration is a leading indicator, signalling a profound shift in the global landscape and the tectonic plates of wealth and power, with far-reaching implications for the future trajectory of the nations they leave behind or those which they make their new home,” he added.
Slowing economic growth and geopolitical tensions are among the major factors that drive Chinese millionaires to seek new horizons, Volek said in the report, adding that the unprecedented exodus of affluent Chinese and their assets could exacerbate the country’s economic challenges.
Henley & Partners noted in the report, citing immigration analysts, that the general wealth growth in China has been slowing over the past few years, which means that these outflows could be more damaging than usual.
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The Epoch Times reported, quoting Chinese analysts, that Xi Jinping’s country’s economy is experiencing an unbalanced post-pandemic recovery, while the nation’s exports and manufacturing sectors improved, domestic demand remains weak, stoking tensions with its trade partners.
As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to focus on boosting production in its alternative energy sector, the United States announced in May that it plans to impose a 100 percent tariff on electrical vehicles (EVs) imported from China in 2024.
The European Union (EU), earlier this month, imposed extra import levies on China-made EVs, and in response, the CCP regime’s commerce ministry on June 17 initiated an anti-dumping investigation into pork imported from the EU, escalating tensions between China and the EU bloc’s 27 member states, following which some analysts warned about a potential trade war between Brussels, Washington, and Beijing that could further dampen China’s economic growth.
The report shows that China’s real estate sector, which was once one of the pillars of the country’s economic growth, continues to deteriorate.
According to a report by The Epoch Times, American credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, in April, revised its outlook on China’s economy from stable to negative, though it kept sovereign bonds at an A+ rating.
The credit rating agency cited the rising risks to China’s public finances sector as the Chinese authorities cope with mounting local government debt and transition from a growth model that relies heavily on the troubled property sector, as reported by The Epoch Times.
Not only China, the United Kingdom (UK) is expected to see an unprecedented net loss of 9,500 millionaires in 2024 — second only to China worldwide, and more than double the 4,200 who left the country last year, which was itself record-breaking following the exodus of 1,600 HNWIs in 2022, the Henley & Partners report read.
However, the report stated that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remains the world’s leading wealth magnet, for the third year running.
With its zero income tax, golden visas, luxury lifestyle, and strategic location, the UAE has entrenched itself as the world’s number one destination for migrating millionaires and is poised to welcome a record net inflow of 6,700 this year alone, as per the report.
With consistent high inflows from India, the wider Middle East region, Russia, and Africa, the anticipated influx of larger numbers of Brits and Europeans looks set to see the Emirates attract nearly twice as many millionaires as its nearest rival, the US, which is projected to benefit from a net inflow of 3,800 millionaires in 2024, according to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024.
