Friends in China have told me for quite a while that they're prepped for quick departure, should things worsen: that is, if the anti-foreign sentiment or gets worse. It's been worsening for some time, not just now, with Covid.
Adam Dunnett is head of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China and gives us some sobering stats about the rapidly declining number of foreigners in China -- meaning here Mainland China, not we expats in Hong Kong. He thinks this exodus is not good for anyone, as they're of China-literate business people who can be bridges to the West. One of the key changes for the worse, seems to me, is the change in the tax law which put many in the top tax bracket. Dunnett:
China talks big about its internationalisation and openness. It has the foreign capital, brands, technology and trade. What it lacks, crucially, is a significant foreign community.
New census numbers show the foreign population has increased in the past decade, but not by much. The 845,697 of us foreign residents still make up less than 0.1 per cent of the total population, with foreign communities in “international hubs” such as Shanghai and Beijing making up less than 1 per cent of their populations.
By comparison, the foreign populations of Seoul (2.8 per cent), Tokyo (4.2 per cent), New York (23 per cent) and London (37 per cent) show how far China’s internationalisation still has to go. Underscoring the problem further is that the foreign populations in Shanghai and Beijing have dropped 22 per cent and 41 per cent respectively over the decade.
Estimates by the European, American and Canadian chambers of commerce suggest that foreign nationals within their respective business communities have dropped by 30-40 per cent throughout China in the past five years.
China is simply losing its allure in the eyes of its foreign business community, a trend driven by three main factors – economic, political and administrative.
