What are Expats in China doing with their hard earned RMB?
During the month of March 2022, ExpatInvest conducted a survey of expats living in China. 65% of respondents had lived in China for more than 4 years, and 52% intended to stay in China for more than 5 years.
Savings & Investment Experience
Where do we keep our money? About half keep their savings in China, with nearly 2/3 of respondents having more than 20% of their wealth in China. Diversifying where you keep your savings is a sound strategy and can also present you with more investment options.
Traditional investment products, like ETFs, mutual funds, stocks, and property were the most commonly owned products. Interest investing in China was similar for these types of products. Additionally, commodities were of interest to nearly 1/3, possibly due to the perceived safety of commodities. Property and crypto were of less interest. Given high prices and barriers to foreign ownership of property in China and the government’s policy on crypto ownership, this is not surprising.
*Commodities like gold can be purchased in China, even directly on WeChat via Tencent: 腾讯黄金
Investing in China
A slight majority of expats are currently willing to invest in China, but satisfaction with and understanding of their investment options is limited. They primarily seek investment advice from their friends, and most have contacted at least one kind of investment advisory in China.
A thorough understanding of the product and the tax implications are considered the most important factors when choosing an investment, both of which can be a challenge where English language information is limited and products are designed for Chinese nationals.
There are a number of investment options available to expats in China. No matter how long you’re planning on staying in China, it’s worth looking into how you can get your RMB savings working for you! Reach out to us today to learn more about your investment options in China.
This survey is still live and growing – we will be updating this data as we grow the number of respondents! Please scan the QR code or click the link below to take the survey yourself:
