- China's borders will reopen this Sunday, 8 January
- It marks the end of a zero-Covid strategy that was implemented after the virus broke out
- Australia is the top destination for Chinese buyers, followed by the Untied States and Canada
With China’s borders reopening in the next week, a new report has revealed that Australia is the top destination for Chinese property buyers.
The news comes as data last year found that Chinese residential real estate investment soared by 67%, according to the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).
As of January 8 2023, the Chinese border will reopen, after being virtually shut down since early 2020. Like Australia, China embarked on a zero-Covid strategy for several years. The number of passports it issued was reduced, and returning Chinese were required to undergo quarantine.
“China is going from virtually sealed off to nearly wide open in just a couple of weeks,” noted Juwai IQI Co-Founder and Group CEO, Kashif Ansari.
“Beijing will ease most restrictions, and Chinese will again be able to travel overseas. Travellers’ priorities include visiting family and friends, studying abroad, business, tourism, and property investment.
“This will be the first opportunity in three years for most Chinese to visit overseas real estate markets.”
Kashif Ansari, Juwai IQI Co-Founder and Group CEO
Chinese buyer enquiry data has found that Australia was the top country for Chinese property buyers, followed by the United States and Canada.
Top Countries for Chinese Buyers
- Australia
- United States
- Canada
- Japan
- Thailand
- United Kingdom
- Malaysia
- Untied Arab Emirates
- Vietnam
- South Korea
Source: Juwai IQI
Mr Ansari said that his teams expects Chinese outbound travel and accompanying property investment to increase rapidly in January from its ultra-low level.
“We can’t bounce back to 2019 levels all at once. Outbound travel from China will snowball and may reach 2019 levels by mid-2024.
“Chinese international property investment is already beginning to recover from its pandemic lows. Depending on the destination, Chinese property investment dropped by 50% to 60% during the pandemic.
“Juwai IQI will issue a report soon to forecast how fast and far Chinese international property investment will recover in 2023 given the new policy conditions.”
Reaction to border reopening
The China National Health Commission announced that from 8 January, incoming travellers sonly needed to show a negative PCR test within 48 hours of departure. Until now, all travellers were required to quarantine for either five days in a hotel or three days at home.
The Chinese authorities have also began rapidly issuing new passports. Until now, special certificates form the Public Security Bureau were required.
“Demand for certificates permitting travel to Hong Kong and Macau is so high that, as of December 27, the available dates have been booked out until January 20, 2023, reported a Chinese resident of Shanghai. Chinese must renew these certificates annually,” added Mr Ansari.
