Exodus of China's rich and skilled for better lives
Politics, pollution and education among factors that saw 150,000 leave last year, report says
More than 150,000 mainlanders obtained overseas citizenship last year, making China the world's biggest source of immigrants, a report released this week says.
Many were wealthy and highly educated and had left in search of a more democratic society, a cleaner environment and better education opportunities, said the (2012) jointly released on Monday by the Centre for China and Globalisation (CCG) and Beijing Institute of Technology's law school.
More than 87,000 mainlanders emigrated to the US last year, around 30,000 to Canada and the same number to Australia and more than 6,000 to New Zealand, it said.
"The rich and educated elites are becoming the main force in the latest round of emigration," the report said. "The percentage of the middle-class in the total emigration group is rising."
The CCG said the report was the mainland's first on international migration.
Just over 6,000 mainlanders became permanent citizens of the US, Canada or Australia through investment last year, the report said. More than half of the Chinese emigrants to Australia were skilled workers, more than 40 per cent of skilled immigrants in the country.
The exodus was closely linked to "issues including political reform, industrial structure upgrading, pollution and education", the report said.
