Qizhen Song of China registers to vote following a naturalization ceremony. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)
China's new president Xi Jinping has made the achievement of the "Chinese Dream" the goal of his tenure, but for many among China's elite, their dream may be emigrating to another country. According to a report by Center for China & Globalization on China's immigration trends published in 2012, an immigration wave is sweeping up many of China's wealthiest and most educated people.
When Joanna Jia walked in the EB-5 Info session held in a bank conference room in Qingdao, Shandong province, she was surprised by how young the other eight attendees looked: most were in their late 20's.
The EB-5, an American investment immigration visa, has become very popular among Chinese middle and upper class. According to the China International Immigration Report, among those Chinese with assets of over 100 million RMB (about $16 million), 27 percent had emigrated abroad and 47 percent were considering doing so; among those with assets of over 10 million RMB, 60 percent had finished or been in the process of applying for an EB-5 visa.
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"We hold info sessions in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen almost every week," said Mrs. Li, who works in Globevisa, one of the EB-5 consulting firms in Shanghai. Some of these sessions are open to the public, others targeting a high-end clientele are by invitation only.