Month: April 2013

Chinese Immigration to Canada on the Rise

Apparently many wealthy Chinese have their eye on immigrating to Canada, according to BMO Financial Group. The number of high-net-worth people in China who have investable assets greater than $1.5 million reached 960,000 in 2011. 60% are interesting, or have already made an application to immigrate, as Gina Li at BMO Financial Group explained.

Li said that approximately 30,000 immigrants come to Canada each year from China. As Li explained, “A lot of high-net-worth Chinese are looking at diversifying investment, investing in Canada, finding homes for children while studying here and looking for global asset allocation.”

Chinese business people who relocate find many growing pains along the way. They aren’t used to how things work in China, and this becomes a process for them. As Ray Tseng, who helps immigrants with advice, training and mentoring explains, “In China, it’s different because there are so many people there, once you open the door, business just happens. Some of them may not even know how to calculate the break-even point.”

Changes in the Chinese Gaming Industry

In a recent article about the Chinese game industry, this author discussed how the companies have focused on simple mobile games and browser based computer games. Internationally, the game industry is more diverse.

As the article explains, “This has been a potential concern for investors in Chinese games companies, both in terms of international growth potential and a concern that Chinese gamers might follow a similar trend away from these simpler games. We are now seeing some signs that Chinese games companies are not just aware of this potential, but are indeed looking to develop in that direction.”

The article explains why the changes in the Chinese game industry have investors interested. As he said, “It implies potential international upside potential, and perhaps expansion plans in the not too distant future. While this may sound all well and good, investors need to take a cold hard look at whether or not they think the company’s finances can handle such a strain. Going international, while to my mind almost a necessity in the long term, is also unlikely to be free or easy. It will take some tinkering to get it right as well, as we have seen with many other Chinese international expansion efforts. Look for some stability with a decent war chest and promising free cash flow to help stave off panic responses should the first efforts fail.”