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Chinese Outbound Relocation Index 2026

Top 30 of 95 destinations ranked for mainland Chinese and Hong Kong emigrants — weighted by cost, safety, healthcare, education, career, lifestyle, and infrastructure, overlaid with 2025–2026 visa and property-market policy flags that materially affect the Chinese-applicant decision. Full 95-country dataset available via the API with ?limit=95.

CC BY 4.0Updated April 202630+ destinationsHenley 2025 + MOJ + IRCC + MM2H centreSee what changed →

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The WhereNext Chinese Outbound Index weights education (90), safety (85), and healthcare (80) ahead of cost — priorities invisible in generic ranking tables — across 30 top destinations from a 95-country dataset

Copy with attribution: “The WhereNext Chinese Outbound Index weights education (90), safety (85), and healthcare (80) ahead of cost — priorities invisible in generic ranking tables — across 30 top destinations from a 95-country dataset” — WhereNext, as of 2026-04-15

Quick answer

The Chinese Outbound Relocation Index 2026 ranks 30 top destinations for mainland Chinese and Hong Kong emigrants, weighted across 7 dimensions and overlaid with 2025–2026 visa and property-market policy flags. The top destinations in 2026 are Singapore, New Zealand, and United Arab Emirates. Henley Private Wealth Migration 2025 forecasts UAE overtaking the US as the #1 HNWI destination (+9,800 net inflow). Mainland Chinese now make up 52% of Malaysia MM2H applicants since the June 2024 relaunch; ~230,000 BN(O) visas have been granted to Hongkongers since 2021.

Key facts

Top destination: Singapore composite 69.9/100 weighted for Chinese-applicant priorities (cost, education, lifestyle, infrastructure).
MM2H 52% mainland Chinese 7,600 of 14,535 post-relaunch (June 2024) applicants — Silver/Gold/Platinum tiers from US$150K deposit.
UAE Golden Visa #1 HNWI inflow +9,800 net millionaires forecast for 2025 (Henley) — overtakes the US for first time.
Japan HSP path tightened Business Manager capital raised ¥5M → ¥30M (Oct 2025); HSP (PR in 1 year at 80 points) becomes mainstream.
BN(O) wave maturing ~230,000 visas granted · ~170,000 Hongkongers already in the UK · 47% YoY drop in 2025 as first cohort nears ILR.

Key findings — 2026 edition

Mainland Chinese = 52% of Malaysia MM2H applicants since the June 2024 relaunch (7,600 of 14,535). Chinese nationals also account for 41% of MM2H-linked property transactions, driving near-US$1B in inflows through early 2026.
UAE overtook the US as the #1 HNWI destination for 2025 per Henley, with +9,800 net millionaires expected to relocate — over 2,000 more than the USA. Chinese HNWI are a significant and growing share of that flow.
Japan tightened investor entry on October 16, 2025 — Business Manager capital raised from ¥5M to ¥30M (6x). HSP route (PR in 1 year at 80 points) becomes the cleaner path for most Chinese professionals.
BN(O) wave is maturing, not ending. ~230,000 visas granted since 2021, ~170,000 Hongkongers already in the UK. Applications fell 47% in 2025 as first-wave arrivals approach 5-year ILR settlement eligibility.
Canada and Australia both restricted foreign property buying. Canada’s foreign buyer ban extended through January 1, 2027. Australia banned foreign purchase of established residential dwellings from April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2027.
Singapore’s GIP moved out of reach for all but ultra-HNWI — family-office track raised to S$50M on February 21, 2025. Mid-market Chinese professionals shift to EP→PR, which operates on longer 2–3 year timelines.
US EB-5 China unreserved final action date is December 1, 2016 (per the October 2026 Visa Bulletin; filing date March 1, 2021) — nearly 10-year priority-date backlog. Rural set-aside remains current but demand is rising.
Hungary and Thailand emerge as under-publicised gateways. Hungary Golden Visa relaunched July 1, 2024 (€250K fund route) is now the cheapest EU investor residency. Thailand LTR eased January 13, 2025 — income requirement removed for Wealthy Global Citizens.

Methodology

This index applies WhereNext’s standard 7-dimension scoring engine (cost, safety, healthcare, education, career, lifestyle, infrastructure) with weights tuned for Chinese-origin emigrant priorities. Weights are derived from:

Henley & Partners Private Wealth Migration Report 2025 — for HNWI destination mix and flow forecasts
Malaysia Ministry of Tourism MM2H statistics — for mainland Chinese applicant share and property-transaction volume (via CEOWorld Feb 2026 reporting)
Japan Ministry of Justice e-Stat resident-alien data — for Chinese resident stock and foreign-student market share
Thailand Board of Investment LTR statistics — for approved-nationality breakdown
UK Home Office BN(O) quarterly statistics (Q1 2025) — for BN(O) volume and trajectory
Canada IRCC Hong Kong Pathway data (through April 30, 2025)
Underlying scoring engine pulls from public-domain datasets: World Bank International Comparison Program, UNDP Human Development Index, IEP Global Peace Index, OECD PISA, and EF EPI

Weight profile tuned for Chinese-origin priorities:

cost

safety

healthcare

education

career

lifestyle

infrastructure

Education and safety receive the highest weights, reflecting the consistent primary motivations reported in Chinese-emigrant destination research: children’s school placement and family-protection concerns.

Top 30 destinations ranked

Ranked by composite score on the weight profile above. Green policy flags indicate recent favourable 2024–2026 changes. Amber flags indicate material tightening against Chinese buyers or applicants.

Rank	Country	Score	Est. Cost/mo	Primary visa route	2025–2026 policy flag
1	Singapore Great for kidsStrong healthcare	69.92	$2,250	Employment Pass -> PR	GIP raised to S$50MFebruary 21, 2025. Family-office track S$50M listed equities. Mid-market shifts to EP->PR.
2	New Zealand Very safeCareer strength	67.38	$2,950	Skilled Migrant / Investor	—
3	United Arab Emirates Career strengthStrong healthcare	66.73	$2,150	10-year Golden Visa	UAE Golden Visa+9,800 net millionaire inflow 2025 (Henley #1). AED 2M property = US$550K, 10 years, 0% income tax.
4	Malta Strong infrastructureStrong healthcare	66.6	$2,050	—	—
5	Hong Kong Strong healthcareStrong infrastructure	66.1	$2,350	—	—
6	Ireland Very safeStrong healthcare	65.56	$3,350	Critical Skills / STEP	—
7	Canada Strong infrastructureGreat for kids	65.5	$2,850	Express Entry / PNP / HK Pathway (HK only)	Foreign buyer banExtended to January 1, 2027. Excludes CMAs. Bloomberg (Dec 2025) reports possible easing 2027.
8	South Korea Great for kidsStrong infrastructure	65.49	$2,250	—	—
9	Portugal Very safeStrong healthcare	65.39	$2,000	D7 / D8 / Golden Visa (fund route)	Citizenship 10 yearsOctober 28, 2025 — residency requirement increased from 5 to 10 years. Real estate removed from Golden Visa in 2023.
10	Switzerland Very safeStrong healthcare	65.28	$4,000	L / B permit via employment	—
11	Netherlands Strong infrastructureCareer strength	64.93	$2,750	Highly Skilled Migrant	—
12	Slovenia Very safeStrong healthcare	64.71	$2,000	—	—
13	Australia Strong healthcareStrong infrastructure	64.41	$3,350	Subclass 189/190/491	Established-home banApril 1, 2025 - March 31, 2027 ban on foreign purchases of established homes. New-builds still permitted.
14	Estonia Great for kidsStrong infrastructure	64.41	$1,950	—	—
15	Taiwan Great for kidsCareer strength	63.92	$1,550	Gold Card (12 fields)	Gold Card — HK-friendly14,907 cards approved Feb 2018-Oct 2025. HK/Macau fee NT$3,100. APRC in 1 year at NTD 6M+.
16	Czechia Very safeStrong infrastructure	63.81	$1,600	—	—
17	Japan Strong healthcareGreat for kids	63.78	$2,700	HSP (points-based) or Business Manager (¥30M)	HSP route preferredBusiness Manager capital raised to ¥30M Oct 16, 2025. HSP offers PR in 1 year at 80 points.
18	Austria Very safeStrong healthcare	63.23	$2,650	—	—
19	Denmark Strong infrastructureStrong healthcare	62.77	$3,200	—	—
20	United Kingdom Strong infrastructureGreat for kids	62.25	$2,900	Skilled Worker / BN(O) (HK only)	BN(O) open~230K visas granted since 2021; ~170K relocated. Applications -47% in 2025. Not available to mainland Chinese without BN(O) status.
21	Belgium Strong infrastructureStrong healthcare	62.21	$2,650	—	—
22	Germany Strong infrastructureCareer strength	62.06	$2,500	EU Blue Card / Skilled Worker	—
23	Finland Very safeStrong healthcare	62.01	$2,950	—	—
24	Iceland Very safeCareer strength	61.33	$3,600	—	—
25	Sweden Strong healthcareStrong infrastructure	61.31	$3,050	—	—
26	Spain Strong healthcareStrong infrastructure	61.04	$2,200	NLV / Non-Lucrative Visa	Golden Visa closedClosed April 2025. Non-Lucrative Visa remains for passive-income residents.
27	Poland Great for kidsAffordable	61.01	$1,300	—	—
28	Luxembourg Strong infrastructureStrong healthcare	60.41	$3,500	—	—
29	Hungary Strong infrastructureVery safe	60.19	$1,450	Golden Visa (€250K fund)	Golden Visa relaunchedJuly 1, 2024. €250K approved fund. €500K direct-real-estate route abolished Jan 15, 2025.
30	Norway Strong infrastructureStrong healthcare	59.62	$3,500	—	—

Segment cuts

Different Chinese-origin segments look at different slices of this ranking. The segment cuts below call out the most consequential 2026 recommendations for each group — each deeplinks to a dedicated guide.

HNWI & entrepreneurs

Top recommendations: UAE (10-year Golden Visa, 0% tax), Hungary (€250K EU entry), Japan Business Manager (post-reform ¥30M — selective).

UAE Golden Visa for Chinese HNWI →

Middle-class families

Top recommendations: Malaysia MM2H (52% applicant share), Thailand LTR (eased Jan 13, 2025), Portugal D7/D8.

Malaysia MM2H for Chinese families →

Tech & salaried professionals

Top recommendations: Japan HSP (PR in 1 year at 80 points), Singapore EP→PR, UK Skilled Worker.

Singapore EP→PR for Chinese professionals →

Student parents

Top school markets for Chinese families: Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, KL, Bangkok, Dubai. Tuition spread ~3x between Singapore top-tier and KL mid-tier.

International schools for Chinese families in Asia →

Hong Kong diaspora

Primary options: BN(O) UK, Canada HK Pathway, Australia 191, Taiwan Gold Card. Canada lifeboat WP ended Feb 7, 2025.

HK diaspora decision guide →

Capital-movement planning

Every Chinese-origin relocation plan must work with the US$50K annual FX quota and the January 1, 2026 KYC tightening. Prefer destinations that unlock local financing over lump-sum markets.

China capital-controls relocation guide →

Licensing & citation

This dataset is released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). You are free to share, remix, and build on this data with attribution.

Suggested citation:

WhereNext (2026). Chinese Outbound Relocation Index 2026. https://getwherenext.com/data/chinese-outbound-relocation-index-2026. CC BY 4.0.

Machine-readable endpoints (no API key required):

Sources

Henley & Partners Private Wealth Migration Report 2025 (treated as forecast; methodology publicly challenged by Tax Policy UK July 2025)
Malaysia Ministry of Tourism MM2H programme statistics — CEOWorld Feb 2026
Japan Ministry of Justice e-Stat resident-alien data; KPMG GMS Flash Alert 2025-195 (Business Manager reform)
Thailand Board of Investment LTR Visa statistics and January 13, 2025 Cabinet updates
Singapore EDB Global Investor Programme Factsheet (S$50M threshold effective February 21, 2025)
U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin October 2026 (EB-5 China final action dates)
Government of Canada / CMHC Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act
Australian Taxation Office / Foreign Investment Review Board — April 1, 2025 established-dwelling ban
PBOC/CBIRC/CSRC joint circular October 31, 2025 (effective January 1, 2026)
UK Home Office BN(O) quarterly statistics Q1 2025
Canada IRCC Hong Kong Pathway statistics (through April 30, 2025)
UN DESA International Migration Stock 2024
Taiwan Gold Card programme statistics (goldcard.nat.gov.tw)
WhereNext country-profile and scoring engine (World Bank, WHO, Global Peace Index, OECD)

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