Wealthy Chinese are smuggling gold and pouring billions into high-interest bank accounts in US, UK and Japan as fears grow over communist nation’s stalling economy and President Xi’s anti-business stance

• Affluent Chinese families are seeking ways to send their money offshore as the mainland’s economy sees some turmoil 
• Chinese buyers have become the dominant market force buying luxury apartments in Tokyo, and numbers are ticking up elsewhere too 
• A report suggests affluent families are getting creative in their methods of moving investments across borders 

Chinese citizens with cash to burn have been moving hundreds of billions of dollars out of the country this year and tying up the money in investments like foreign property and gold bars.

According to a New York Times report, affluent Chinese citizens are investing their savings in overseas apartments, stocks, and bank accounts.

The upper-middle class of China have plunked down millions on apartments in Tokyo, London, and New York. Foreign bank accounts that pay higher interest rates have also become a popular landing spot for Chinese dollars.

China has maintained extremely tight border controls since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. 

Private investors deciding to send their money out of the country may be a reflection of continued unease with the Chinese economy as it slowly recovers from the pandemic.

In particular, the country has experienced a tangible slow down in the real estate market, a place where many wealthy Chinese families stored a good amount of their capital.

The Times suggests the outflow of money may also be a response triggered by fear for the direction of the Chinese economy under the thumb of President Xi Jinping, who has implemented harsher government controls over business and in other parts of life.

To get around some of those stricter controls on moving money out of China, the outlet reports that some Chinese have purchased small gold bars, petite enough to be tossed into a carry-on suitcase without notice.

For this reason, the price of gold in China is on its way up. 

Luxury apartments in foreign markets are another option for those moving cash overseas.

Chinese, according to the Times, have become the primary purchasers of Tokyo apartments that cost more than $3million. Often, they are paid for in cash.

One real estate professional said: ‘It’s really hard work to count this kind of cash.’

In the US as well, Chinese home buyers accounted for 13 percent of all foreign buyers last year – a number that remains lower than pre-pandemic figures, but has more than doubled since 2021.

Some $50billion a month has been moved out of China this year, primarily by private households and companies.

The country’s economy is so famously massive that even those number don’t really pose a threat, but the outflow of capital has been devaluing Chinese currency, which could eventually become a problem.

The Chinese renminbi is currently the weakest it’s been in 16 years. Eight years ago, the Chinese government was forced to spend about $100billion a month to prop up the currency’s value after a mass exodus of Chinese currency from the domestic market.

At the  moment, the government has spent just about $15billion doing the same. 

Chinese are still searching for ways to exchange their local currency for American dollars and in some cases have resorted to Casino play.

Though the government has relegated almost all gambling tours to Macau, a Chinese territory with a different governance standard, individuals are still hoping to win chips that they can exchange for USD.

Mainlanders have also begun opening bank accounts in Hong Kong in huge numbers and wiring money to them to buy insurance products that function similarly to bank deposits.

Families are depositing tens of thousands of dollars into the accounts in the hopes that their savings will be better protected off of Chinese soil.