美国CNN就中国富豪移民现象专访和中总裁

2011.11.15 | 点击次数： |

 本文标签关键词（Tag）：CNN | 和中总裁 | 王力民

　　编者按：“吉米看中国”是一个关注中国社会和政治的每周专栏。自1971年以来，吉米先生就一直在中国生活和工作，他1977年至1981年就读于北京大学专攻中国历史，1982年－2000年期间担任时代杂志驻北京记者站首席记者。（吉米先生现为美国CNN北京记者站首席记者）
 
　　尽管全球面临金融危机，中国的富人却越来越富。据胡润研究院数据报告，“截至今年4月，中国个人净资产达到1000万元人民币（150万美元）的中国富豪已经超过96万；个人资产上亿元的超级富豪达6万人，而这个人数还在不断增加”。


　　同时，这些富豪们走出去的意向也越来越强。据胡润研究院的报告显示，这些富豪中，近一半的人数有着移民的倾向，大约14％的人已经移民或正在办理移民的过程中。胡润解释说，在中国，移民海外是指获得永久居留权或拿到“绿卡”，我们估计，这是80％的人想移民的原因。
 
　　很多商界人士在中国从事出国移民服务。王力民先生，和中公司总裁，他所创立的和中已成为中国移民咨询行业的领先机构之一。王力民在北京出生、长大，1985年赴加拿大攻读研究生课程，1995年返回北京。他回忆道，“当时中国经济的发展非常迅速，我曾问我自己，加拿大有什么可以提供给中国的？――枫糖浆和移民。我不会卖糖浆，所以我进入到移民行业”。
 
　　到目前为止，王力民所创立的和中已经发展了近17年，在中国10个主要城市成立了独立公司，员工总人数达500人，专门从事移民和留学签证申请服务。王力民介绍说，和中已经帮助上万申请人办理移民业务，其中不乏很多的富豪。
 
　　为什么中国的富豪希望移民？王力民解释，很多人是为了出入方便。持有某些外国护照，使得在世界各地旅行容易很多，他们不希望每次都面临繁琐的签证申请。同时，他们所考虑的是子女的教育，使得孩子在竞争上更具优势，站在更高的起跑线上。
 
　　刘伟杰，44岁，10年前通过和中办理加拿大移民的老客户，在他看来，选择移民是他一生中最正确的抉择。刘伟杰十几岁的儿子在中国上学期间成绩一般，但进入加英属哥伦比亚大学后成绩斐然，现在加拿大有很好的发展。而刘本人是中国房地产行业的大亨，一直在中国继续自己的生意。
 
　　同样，很多申请办理美国移民的中国申请人，通过投资50万美元－100万美元获得美国绿卡，也是为了让孩子更容易受到美国教育。从长远来看，他们的子女在美国完成本科或研究生课程后，在就业中将有更多竞争的机会，而不必通过寻找雇主的方式获得工作签证。美国华盛顿移民律师Joyce如是说。她补充道，只有一小部分申请人在获得永居身份后，打算在美国经营自己的生意。
 
　　关于中国富豪移民现象，胡润提到其他一些原因，例如到担忧国内医疗、环境、食品安全等方面的问题。不过，王力民认为富豪移民并不会形成一个汹涌的潮流。人们在积累了财富之后，希望到外面的世界走一走，看一看，这是很正常的现象。无论是中国香港、中国台湾还是韩国，都曾有过同样的经历。在王力民看来，这其实是一件好事，也是全球化的产物，有助于中外经济文化的交流，促进企业经营理念的融通，有助于消除东西方文化差异。
 
　　加拿大前移民官、和中公司副总裁Victor Lum说道，很多的中国精英即使办理了移民，仍然扎根中国，他们会继续在中国的事业。这些富豪们已经熟悉了中国独特的文化；他们在中国的成功并不能保证在其他地方会一样成功，毕竟在一个陌生的地方会面临太多风险。
 
　　胡润对此表示同意，他说，目前的中国市场仍孕育着巨大的商机，更何况目前欧洲和美国市场所面临的各种危机，大多数中国人更愿意将主要资产放在中国，即使他们已经获得了海外护照或永居身份。
 
　　据胡润研究院调查结果显示，近40％的中国富豪倾向于把“第二故乡”定在美国，其次分别为加拿大、新加坡和欧洲。对此王力民解释说，美国移民监的时间要求相对比较短，同时，申请和办理的程序的复杂度相对轻一些。
 
　　在移民律师Joyce看来，移民美国的门槛其实并不低。外国投资申请人必须证明所投入的资金是合法所得。同时，如果申请人的投资不能在美国创造至少10个合格的就业，那么他的申请也会被拒绝。另外，办理美国移民的法律费用也不便宜。不过对于中国的富豪来说，这并不是个问题。
 

　　【相关链接】中国富豪移民现象引发广泛关注 全球知名媒体专访和中总裁：

　　中央电视台（CCTV-NEWS）专访和中总裁 解读当前中国移民现象

　　美国CNN（美国有线电视新闻网）关于中国富豪移民的报道

　　彭博通讯社（全球最大财经资讯公司）到访和中 专访总裁王力民先生

　　新浪网（对话）：中国高净值人群移民尚未成“潮”

 
　　下附英文原文：
 
　　As China's rich grow in numbers, so do their mobile aspirations
 
　　Editor's note: "Jaime's China" is a weekly column about Chinese society and politics. Jaime FlorCruz has lived and worked in China since 1971. He studied Chinese history at Peking University (1977-81) and served as TIME Magazine's Beijing correspondent and bureau chief (1982-2000).
 
　　(CNN) -- Despite the global financial crisis, China's rich are getting richer.
 
　　"As of April this year, China has 960,000 millionaires with personal assets of 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million)," says Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Hurun Research Institute, which compiles China's rich list.
 
　　"It has 60,000 super-rich with 100 million yuan assets, and their numbers keep growing," he says.
 
　　The newly affluent are getting more outwardly mobile, too.
 
　　Nearly half of them are thinking of emigrating overseas, according to a Hurun Research Institute report. About 14 per cent of them have or are in the process of applying for emigration, it said.
 
　　"In Chinese, emigration refers also to getting a permanent residency, or a 'green card'," Hoogewerf explains. "We estimate this to make up 80% of the total who want to 'emigrate'."
 
　　Many businessmen are capitalizing on this trend. Among them is Larry Wang, founder and chairman of Well Trend United Inc, one of the leading immigration consulting companies in China.
 
　　Born and bred in Beijing, Wang went to Canada in 1985 for post-graduate studies. He stayed until 1995 when he decided to return to Beijing.
 
　　"China's economy then was changing rapidly," he recalled. "I asked myself, what does Canada have to offer China? Maple syrup and immigration. I couldn't sell syrup so I got into the immigration business."
 
　　His business has grown the past 17 years.
 
　　Well Trend now employs 500 people who work in 10 major cities across China, handling immigration and student visa applications. The company charges 12,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan to help clients secure student and immigrant visas.
 
　　"Over the years we've helped more than 10,000 applicants for immigration," Wang says, including many millionaires.
 
　　But why are China's newly affluent seeking to emigrate? Some do so for convenience, experts say.
 
　　"A foreign passport makes it a lot easier for them to travel around the world," Wang says. "They don't want to go through tedious visa applications all the time."
 
　　China's new rich -- a mixed group of Red capitalists, young tycoons and up-and-coming "fuerdai" (second-generation capitalist scions) -- are typically cosmopolitan and tech-savvy, frequent travelers who are willing to pay a premium for convenience.
 
　　They are also ready to spend on education for their children to give them a competitive edge in a new kind of rat race, in which millions of Chinese are striving for advancement.
 
Wang remembers the case of Liu Weijie, 44, an old client who emigrated to Canada over 10 years ago who refers to his move as "the best decision I've ever made in my life."
 
　　Liu's teenage son did not excel at school in China, but after entering the University of British Columbia he blossomed and is now doing well in Canada. Liu, a real estate mogul, is still doing a lucrative business in China.
 
　　Likewise, many Chinese millionaires who apply for U.S. "alien investor's visa" --applicants have to commit $500,000 to $1 million in capital investment -- seek permanent resident status there so their children will have easier access to U.S. education.
 
　　"In the long run, after their children complete their undergrad or graduate studies, they would have the opportunity to compete for jobs without having to find an employer willing to sponsor them for U.S. work visas," says Joyce Gomez, an immigration lawyer based in Washington.
 
　　A small percentage of the applicants, she adds, intend to operate their own businesses in the U.S. after they obtain permanent resident status.
 
　　Hoogewerf cites other reasons. He says some millionaires opt to leave to escape China's insufficient medical care, pollution and food safety. "There is also an element of insurance against economic, social and potential political unrest," he says.
 
　　Still, Wang does not see the spike in emigration as a mass exodus of millionaires. "It's very normal that people would want to leave and see the outside world after they've made a fortune," he says. "The same thing has happened in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea."
 
　　Wang thinks it's a good thing. "It's globalization," he says. "It facilitates exchange of business ideas and helps bridge cultural gaps."
 
　　Even when they emigrate, experts say, most Chinese elite keep one foot planted in China. "They keep their businesses here," says Victor Lum, a former immigration specialist at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, and now a top executive at Well Trend.
 
　　"These millionaires are familiar with China's unique culture," says Lum. "They have succeeded here, but success elsewhere is not guaranteed."
 
　　Hoogewerf agrees. "When weighed against the gains to be made in China today, not to mention the prevailing confusion in the European and U.S. markets, most Chinese prefer to keep significant part of their assets in China," he says. "This is also where they are 'at home' no matter their passport or residency."
 
　　Some 40% of the Chinese millionaires polled by the Hurun Research Institute prefer to set up their "second home" in the U.S., followed by Canada, Singapore and Europe.
 
　　"The U.S. requires shorter time of stay in the country to gain permanent resident status and their other procedures are less complicated," says Wang.
 
　　But the hurdles on the way into America are high, too, says Gomez.
 
　　"An alien investor applicant must be able to demonstrate that the funds invested were obtained from a legitimate source," she explains.
 
　　An applicant may also be rejected if they are unable to demonstrate that their capital investment in the enterprise will create or preserve at least 10 jobs for qualified American workers within the U.S.
 
　　Legal fees from immigration attorneys that prepare the applications are not cheap. "It can range from $15,000 to $25,000," says Gomez.
 
　　But for the Chinese millionaires, that's small change.