US-China visa deal: how the agencies get hit - Wei Gu

+Wei Gu 

The recent deal between the US and China to allow their citizens visas for up to ten years might be win-win for most, the visa agencies are hit severely, writes WSJ wealth editor Wei Gu in Dow Jones. Emigrating services for Chinese are under pressure.

Wei Gu:

That business is already under pressure as countries such as Canada shut down programs that effectively allowed rich people to buy citizenship. China is the top source for investment-based immigration in countries such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, Cyprus and Portugal. 

The deal, reached Monday between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping to ease visa restrictions and grant 10-year multiple-entry visas for tourists and businesspeople, will reduce demand from rich Chinese for permanent residency in the U.S. "With a 10-year visa, some people won't bother getting a green card," said Bernard Wolfsdorf, a California-based immigration attorney at Wolfsdorf Rosenthal. 

Chinese looking to buy permanent residency sometimes pay tens of thousands of dollars in fees to the agencies, which are based in China and overseas. The visa deal came as China agreed with other Asia-Pacific countries to set up a regional network to track down corrupt officials. 

At the Investment Immigration Summit held in Hong Kong this week, industry executives were concerned. "People are waiting for the hammer to fall," said Jean François Harvey, the organizer and global managing partner at Harvey Law Group. "There's a lot of nervousness in China."

More in Dow Jones.

Wei Gu is a speaker for the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´ request form.

Do you need more experts on China´s outbound investments? Do check our recent list.  

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Trend: Chinese tourists volunteer in poor countries - Wei Gu

+Wei Gu 

Chinese tourists diversify fast from the cattle-like crowds moved around by large coaches. Some are starting to join a global industry of volunteers, helping out in poor countries, and enjoying new experiences. WSJ´s Wei Gu recently joined with her family on a trip to Cambodia. Her report in the Wall Street Journal.

Wei Gu:

Looking out of the tour bus window, Cambodia looked like China did 20 or 30 years ago. People rely on motorcycles to travel around, just as we did with bicycles in China back then. I saw a family of four squeezed onto a motorcycle, which reminded me of my dad carrying my mom and me around Shanghai on a single bicycle. 

The roads in Cambodia are quite congested and it took 10 hours to make the 250-kilometer journey from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. 

While Cambodia’s roads are bad, its electronic infrastructure is well-developed and accessible. People from monks to “moms” at the orphanage carried smartphones, and they talked on the phone all the time. The monks explained that they used cellphones for work and not entertainment, but they kept snapping pictures of us or talked on their cellphones when conducting a house blessing. 

Mobile connectivity is cheap and reliable. I got a local phone card for $5, for five gigabytes of data, enough for 35 hours of surfing on the Web. This kept me abreast of the Hong Kong protests during the whole time we were in Cambodia. In fact, the connection was better on Cambodia’s muddy roads than in my Hong Kong apartment. 

Cambodians are incredibly connected. A 17-year-old boy at an orphanage we visited quickly added me on Facebook after he saw the pictures I posted about the orphanage where he lived. Now I’m seeing his updates every day, and he has asked how to get in touch with one of the Hong Kong girls who went on this trip. 

When American and Japanese students visited our schools in Shanghai, we exchanged snail-mail addresses. The letters would come after a month or so and stopped after one or two exchanges. It was difficult to keep in touch back then. 

In some ways, Cambodians are more global and more informed than many Chinese, who are cut off from global media. YouTube, Google , Facebook and Twitter are banned in China. Even now, English is still taught mostly by Chinese teachers at schools, while in Cambodia many students learn from native speakers.

Wei Gu and family

More in the Wall Street Journal.

Wei Gu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you interested in more stories by Wei Gu? Do check out this regularly updated list.  

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Who wins in China´s diversifying economy? - Wei Gu

+Wei Gu 

China´s economy is diversifying fast, where some foreign companies win, others lose. WSJ´s wealth editor Wei Gu talks with former China economist Ben Simpfendorfer. While growth is still high, some industries do better than others. "There is no longer a single China."

Wei Gu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Luxury goods for high-end consumers are still doing well. Are you interested in more luxury good experts on the China Speakers Bureau? Do check our recently updated list.

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Chinese investors turn to Tokyo real estate - Wei Gu

+Wei Gu 

Relations between China and Japan might be tense, Chinese companies and individuals spend increasingly their capital in the real estate of Tokyo, writes WSJ wealth editor Wei Gu in her column at the Wall Street Journal.

Wei Gu:

So far this year, Chinese individuals and companies have bought almost $230 million in commercial real estate, more than triple the amount from last year, according to data from Jones Lang LaSalle. British luxury property developer Grosvenor Ltd., owned by the family trust of the Duke of Westminster, is betting the influx of rich Chinese investors will help boost demand for its refurbished apartments in Tokyo’s upscale Roppongi area. 

“One upside scenario for Japan is its relationship with China,” said Nicholas Loup, chief executive of Grosvenor Asia. “There are huge amounts of money flows between both countries. That’s currently below people’s radar screen.” 

The Japanese currency has fallen 25% against the yuan over the past five years, outstripping its 15% fall against the U.S. dollar in the same period. 

Chinese tourist arrivals in Japan hit a record high this year, partly due to the weak yen, spurring investment in vacation homes. Japan has emerged as the most desired travel destination for Chinese this year, according to Travelzoo Asia Pacific. There’s also talk about making it easier for Chinese to apply for multiple-entry visas, which would further spur interest. 

Rich Chinese are among the biggest foreign buyers in New York and Sydney. But other formerly popular investment destinations like Hong Kong and Singapore are becoming more costly due to taxes on nonresidents. In Hong Kong, Chinese buying is one reason real-estate prices have soared, causing social frictions with local residents. 

Foreign buyers see value in Japan. On a square-foot basis, Tokyo property prices in U.S. dollar terms are about half of the levels of comparable areas in Hong Kong, and similar to prices in Beijing and Shanghai. Rental yield can be as high as 6%, compared with 3% in Hong Kong, and about 1% in Beijing.

More at the Wall Street Journal.

Wei Gu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you interested in more experts on China´s outbound investments? Do check our recent list, or register for our China Investment page. 

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Winners and losers in Hong Kong´s widening wealth gap - Wei Gu

+Wei Gu 

The wealth gap in Hong Kong is widening and WSJ wealth editor Wei Gu explains who are the winners and the losers. That economic disparity has been an underlying ground for the recent protests in Hong Kong, she explains. Real estate en retail belong to the winners, students and workers lose most of the time.

Wei Gu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´ request form.

Are you interested in more experts at luxury goods at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check our recently updated list. 

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Wealthy, tourists shun Hong Kong - Wei Gu

+Wei Gu 

Teargas and water canons did not deter Hong Kong protesters, but the rising tension do chase away wealthy Chinese and the much-needed tourists to the island state, writes WSJ wealth editor Wei Gu in the Wall Street Journal. A quarter of luxury property in Hong Kong is bought by mainland Chinese.

Wei Gu:

Although comprehensive data is hard to come by, Chinese investors already had begun selling this year amid a liquidity crunch in China, property agents say. The current troubles could intensify this selling, some agents fear, and that could have an impact on prices. Chinese buyers account for a quarter of new luxury home sales, according to Centaline Properties. 

The protests could peter out and Chinese are likely to continue to invest—and shop—in the city given its proximity to the mainland, but property agents and wealth managers also say the recent China-fueled boom in prices and growth may be a thing of the past. 

Rich Chinese fear pro-democracy protests may force Beijing to tighten its grip on Hong Kong, making it a less safe place to park wealth offshore. Wealth managers said Singapore, another popular offshore wealth center for the Chinese, will likely view the pro-democracy protests as an opportunity to grab business from Hong Kong. 

Late Friday, tension between pro-democracy protests and those who oppose the demonstrations simmered in the Mongkok area of Hong Kong. Protesters continued to block the entrance to the chief executive’s office, and some bank branches and luxury shops were forced to close. 

The disturbances also will exact a toll on Hong Kong’s retail sector, which relies on demand from mainland visitors.

More in the Wall Street Journal.

Wei Gu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you interested in more experts on luxury goods at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out our recently updated list. 

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E-commerce: massive growth expected - Wei Gu

Wei Gu

What is the room for newcomers in China´s e-commerce after Alibaba´s successful IPO? WSJ wealth editor Wei Gu discusses with Jef Walters of Boston Consulting, and finds that massive growth is still possible. Only half of China´s internet users is purchasing online, and mobile is still taking off in a country where most users have mobile.

Wei Gu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´ request form.

Are you interested in more experts on China´s internet? Do check our most recent list here.

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Chinese donations to top US universities rise - Wei Gu

+Wei Gu 

High profile donations from Chinese wealthy to US top universities have been hitting the headlines a few times. But, discovers WSJ wealth editor Wei from BE Education founder William Vanbergen, donations from China are lagging compared to other nationalities, although that might change.

Wei Gu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you interested in more luxury goods experts from the China Speakers Bureau? Do do check our recently updated list.

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Diamond sales rise, despite anti-corruption drive - Wei Gu

+Wei Gu

Diamond sales in China have gone up 14% last year, while all other luxury goods suffered from the ongoing anti-corruption campaign. WSJ´s Wei Gu analyzes with De Beers CEO Stephen Lussier, why diamonds keep on doing so well.

Wei Gu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´ request form.

Are you interested in more luxury good experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out recent list.

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