Chinese immigrants transfer at least 2.8 trln yuan overseas

(ECNS) -- A new study shows that nearly 10 million Chinese have emigrated to other countries in the past 23 years, and their assets worth hundreds of billions of US dollars have been transferred overseas, the China Business News said on Wednesday.

As of the end of 2013, the number of Chinese migrating to other countries had increased by 128.6 percent to 9.343 million from 1990, according to the study released Tuesday by the Center for China & Globalization (CCG).

The immigrants bought their way into countries like the US and Canada via "immigrant investor" visas.

In 2011, people with more than 6 million yuan in personal investable assets held 33 trillion yuan in assets in China, of which 2.8 trillion yuan ($0.47 trillion) was transferred overseas, accounting for 3 percent of the country's 2011 GDP, according to statistics released by the CCG.

Chinese people also represent the top real estate investors in London, Vancouver, and Brisbane, with their purchases accounting for 20 to 40 percent of the total value of property sales in the three cities.

The study shows that the deteriorating environment in China is a major reason for more Chinese to emigrate. Seventy percent of the study's respondents said better environment and advanced medical services are reasons for leaving China.