A Chinese student in Japan maliciously maxed out multiple credit cards and skipped rent before fleeing back to China, sparking strong condemnation within the Chinese community. Prior to this, there have been cases of students in the United States using similar methods to cash out over $140,000, continuously raising the misconduct threshold for fellow compatriots overseas.
According to social media reports, a Chinese student from Chongqing applied for multiple credit cards intensively before leaving Japan, including cards issued by institutions like PayPay, 7-Eleven, and JCB. Before departing, he maxed out all cards for cash, while also defaulting on several months of rent and utility bills. He then canceled his Japanese visa and quietly returned to China to avoid debt.
The disclosure of this incident was made by a Chinese netizen residing in Japan. As described by the netizen, the student also owed him 60,000 yen (approximately 2,600 yuan), and had been on the run for over two months. Only when passing by the student’s apartment did he discover the landlord clearing up abandoned rubbish, realizing that the student had already left the country. The netizen later uploaded a video of reporting to the Japanese police, bluntly stating, “If nothing unexpected happens, this person will never come back to Japan.”
This event quickly stirred up discussions online, with many Chinese netizens condemning his behavior as “extremely disgraceful,” while others expressed concerns that such actions could “block the paths of others in the future.”
This kind of occurrence is not unprecedented. In 2024, a Chinese student in the United States also maxed out multiple credit cards using the same method, successfully cashing out around $140,000 before leaving. Instead of remorse, the individual even boasted about it online, referring to it as their “first bucket of gold.” The post quickly made its way to the American forum Reddit, drawing widespread attention.
Since the aftermath of that incident, a large number of Chinese students studying in the U.S. have reported a sudden increase in the difficulty of applying for credit cards, with some banks even requiring Chinese students to pay a deposit as a guarantee, unlike local American students who do not face such restrictions.
Once a group is labeled with a credit risk tag, financial institutions and landlords often use nationality rather than individual credit as the basis for risk assessment. In the United States, this consequence is evident, as the overall threshold for Chinese students applying for credit cards is noticeably higher than other groups. Now, similar risks are accumulating in Japan, making the situation increasingly difficult for many law-abiding, tax-paying Chinese people.
Numerous netizens expressed their lament in the comments: “This is truly a case of one generation cutting down the tree, and the next generation suffering.” Within these words, there is both anger and resignation.
According to statistics from the Japan Immigration Bureau as of the end of 2023, the number of Chinese residents holding residence qualifications in Japan had reached 820,000, increasing by 60,000 from the previous year to an all-time high, surpassing the pre-pandemic peak. As reported by Nikkei Asia previously, it is projected that by 2026, this figure will exceed one million.