After the economic recovery in Hong Kong post-pandemic fell short of expectations, facing a deficit of billions of Hong Kong dollars, the Hong Kong government launched the “New Capital Investor Immigration Scheme” last year in an attempt to attract talent and businesses, reminiscent of the same tactic used to tackle deficits after the 2003 SARS outbreak. However, recent figures show that nearly 80% of applications under the scheme come from impoverished countries such as Guinea-Bissau in West Africa and the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. Online in mainland China, there has been a surge in advertisements for residency or immigration services from these countries, promoting the possibility of obtaining Hong Kong immigration through these programs. Some commentators speculate that this could be an alternative way for mainland Chinese individuals to move funds and question whether the government will rigorously scrutinize the sources of funds of these applicants in their pursuit of funding goals.
Hong Kong and mainland China simultaneously lifted pandemic restrictions in early 2023, becoming the final regions globally to do so. Subsequently, both regions have experienced a slow economic recovery. On March 1st this year, the Hong Kong government introduced the “New Capital Investor Immigration Scheme” to attract capital. Eligible applicants are required to invest a minimum of HK$30 million (approximately US$3.84 million), including investing at least HK$27 million in approved financial assets and non-residential real estate (up to HK$10 million) and committing HK$3 million to a new “Capital Investor Immigration Scheme investment portfolio.”
On Wednesday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po stated in a written response to Legislative Council members’ queries that as of the end of May, the Investment Promotion Agency had received over 3,000 inquiries, mainly from potential applicants and service providers. They received 251 and 90 applications (a total of 341) from the Investment Promotion Agency and the Immigration Department, respectively, and approved 103 net asset review applications and 43 “conditionally approved” applications.
Under the “New Capital Investor Immigration Scheme,” it was reported that out of the 341 applications, 333 came from “foreign nationals or individuals who had obtained permanent residency status in foreign countries” (with the rest being Macau and Taiwan residents). Among them, the top two countries were Guinea-Bissau with 139 applications and Vanuatu with 125 applications, accounting for 79.3% of such applications. Following them were only 11 applications from Canada, with Australia and Singapore having 8 and 6 applications, respectively.
However, the government did not disclose how many of the approved applications were from Guinea-Bissau and Vanuatu.
According to data from the CIA, Guinea-Bissau had a GDP per capita of only $1,900 in 2022, ranking 209th out of 224 countries or regions globally. It was estimated that 47.7% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2018. In 2017, half of the country’s GDP came from agriculture, with major industries being agricultural processing, beer production, and main exports including coconuts, fish, fish oil, palm oil, and dried fruits.
As for Vanuatu, CIA data indicated a GDP per capita of $2,800 in 2022, ranking 193rd globally. The economy heavily relied on subsistence agriculture and tourism, experiencing severe inflation, with an estimated 15.9% of the population living below the poverty line in 2019. The country’s main industries include frozen food and fish processing, timber processing, canned meats, with major exports being fish, spice plants, dried coconut meat, mollusks, and cocoa beans.
Ironically, Hong Kong boasted a GDP per capita of $58,500 in 2022, ranking 20th globally, significantly higher than the aforementioned countries. The $30 million investment required for the scheme equates to several times the annual income of Guinea-Bissau and Vanuatu in 2022.
Why would individuals from these countries invest in Hong Kong? This is because the “New Capital Investor Immigration Scheme” restricts applicants, requiring them to first obtain permanent resident status in a foreign country if they hold Chinese citizenship, following the arrangements under the “Capital Investor Immigration Scheme” launched in October 2003; however, that scheme was suspended in January 2015 after granting approvals to 35,262 cases, where 91.5% of them were from mainland China.
Since the commencement of the 2003 scheme, Hong Kong saw advertisements from immigration companies promoting residency in Vanuatu or African countries like Gambia, becoming a nostalgic memory for many viewers.
Today, these advertisements have shifted online to platforms in mainland China. Some immigration websites claim that in recent years, “many high net worth individuals have shown interest in obtaining citizenship in small countries,” as it allows them to efficiently address issues like business travel, overseas asset allocation, children’s education planning, and even facilitating overseas listings for enterprises.
Some Chinese immigration companies had been promoting since the end of last year that one can acquire Vanuatu green cards, apply for Hong Kong investment immigration, and eventually become permanent residents of Hong Kong. These companies emphasized that the Vanuatu investment immigration program has a low cost, charging only 58,000 RMB for individuals with no additional third-party fees, and for families applying together, the cost is only 78,000 RMB to obtain overseas residency, portraying it as “one of the lowest-cost immigration projects” that has attracted many individuals seeking overseas residency.
Furthermore, other Chinese immigration websites advertise Guinea-Bissau’s green card as “the world’s cheapest permanent residence immigration program,” stating that “minors can acquire permanent residency for as low as 20,000 RMB,” with the entire application process taking 5 to 7 days, highlighting that acquiring overseas residency allows children to smoothly enroll in mainland China’s “pure foreign international schools.”
Overall, Chinese individuals acquire small country residency rights through means that involve payment only, without needing to endure the hardships of immigration facilities. This grants them conveniences not accessible to ordinary Chinese nationals in mainland China and Hong Kong, such as investment immigration to Hong Kong, acquiring permanent residency in Hong Kong, and subsequently applying for a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport, which provides visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 172 countries and regions globally, including European countries, Canada, Australia, among others, while Chinese passport holders need visas to reach developed countries.
In contrast, as of the end of 2023, Chinese passport holders enjoyed visa-free and visa-on-arrival access to only 70 countries and regions, with only one European country, Cyprus, offering such privileges, limited to humanitarian circumstances like immediate family members of deceased individuals.
Veteran media personality Wu Zhisen analyzed in a online program that Hong Kong’s “New Capital Investor Immigration Scheme” has become a route for mainland Chinese individuals to “run” funds, questioning whether the Hong Kong government, in pursuit of attracting funding through KPIs, will rigorously inspect the financial sources of these individuals to prevent money laundering.