A survey looks at people with more than $ 1.5 billion in assets and found that 47 per cent of Chinese respondents want to leave, mostly to Hong Kong and Canada. Many of the super-rich in Singapore and Britain want to do the same.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - Around half of China's super-rich want to move to another country within the next five years to find better education and job opportunities for their children, a preferable economic climate and greater security, as well as better health care and social services, this according to a Barclays survey that looked at more than 2,000 high net worth individuals - those with more than US.5 billion in total net assets.

High net worth individuals from mainland China were the most eager to move, with 47 per cent saying they planned to leave in the next five years, compared to 23 per cent of Singaporeans, 20 per cent of British respondents and 16 per cent of Hongkongers. American and Indian billionaires are the most attached to their homelands, with only 6 and 5 per cent saying they wanted to leave.

However, "The reality is that most ultra-high net worth individuals in China are probably making money in China right now," said Liam Bailey, head of residential research at London brokerage Knight Frank LLP. "So, for business reasons, they need to be relatively close. That might prevent some of them going further afield."

Reasons cited for wanting to leave include better educational and employment opportunities for children overseas (78 per cent), preferable economic climate and greater security (73 per cent), and better health care and social services (18 per cent).

Around 30 per cent of Chinese respondents said Hong Kong was their top destination, followed by Canada at 23 per cent.

• china
• hong
• kong
• canada
• super-rich
• exodus
• emigration