This is an era of global transformation and the best era for diversified investment! As investors in the torrent of history, how can we examine change from a macro perspective, understand the times, find patterns, and seize opportunities?
Recently, Dr. Xing Xinli, Chairman of WorldWay Group, delivered a keynote speech titled "The Dawn of Europe and the Ways for Chinese Capital to Enter Europe" at the 2018 China-Europe Trade and Investment Forum. The forum was hosted by the EU Committee of the China Association for the Promotion of European Economic and Technical Cooperation, co-organized by the WorldWay Wealth Club, and undertaken by WorldWay Group and Huiyun Capital Group, with sponsorship from Huiyun Real Estate. His clear-cut stance and insightful remarks resonated strongly with people from all walks of life! Do you want to know what important messages were conveyed at the forum? The authentic content of the speech will take you through a different "Golden Decade of Europe," helping you stand at the forefront of the times and seize the tremendous opportunities for investment in Europe!
Dr. Xing Xinli, Chairman of WorldWay Group, delivering a keynote speech at the 2018 China-Europe Trade and Investment Forum
Dictated by | Dr. Xing Xinli Compiled by | WorldWay Editor
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, guests, good afternoon. We are gathered in Beijing today for a common purpose—to promote the facilitation of investment and trade. Our theme today is trade and investment between China and Europe, and I will focus on the issue of investment.
Speaking of investment in Europe, we think of the past decade, an extraordinary decade for Europe. However, after ten years, we are pleased to see that the European economy is gradually emerging from the crisis. We can analyze this from four aspects: First, GDP growth. In 2017, the economic growth of the EU and the Eurozone reached a ten-year high, with a GDP growth rate of 2.5%. Second, looking at the unemployment rate, Europe's unemployment rate has returned to pre-crisis levels. In the Eurozone, the employment rate has reached a historical peak since the issuance of the Euro, with the employment rate above 91% and the unemployment rate below 9%. Third, let's look at the inflation rate. The inflation rate in the EU has remained at a low level, approximately 1.3% to 1.5%, far lower than the approximately 2.3% in the US, and even lower than China's 13%. Therefore, a lower inflation rate is also an important sign that the economy is emerging from the crisis. Fourth, let's look at the public finance performance of the Eurozone. In terms of public finance, both the debt-to-GDP ratio and the deficit ratio in the Eurozone have shown a gratifying decline. Based on these four aspects, we can confidently say that the European economy is emerging from a decade of crisis, and the momentum of European economic recovery is expected to continue.
If 2017 was the year with the best economic performance in Europe since the Euro debt crisis, then we have reason to believe that 2018 will witness the continued recovery of the European economy. Although crises still exist behind the economic growth, the trend of European economic expansion will continue in the foreseeable future. This provides a once-in-a-decade opportunity for our Chinese entrepreneurs and investors. Economic growth data tells us that after ten years of difficult times, the European economy has finally emerged from the crisis and ushered in the dawn of sustained growth. We believe that ten years of hardship will surely lead to ten years of glory. So, I dare to say that Europe is opening a new golden decade. In front of so many EU economic experts, I make this prediction, which may be a bit bold, but I believe this is also a basic viewpoint of WorldWay: in the next ten years, European development will experience a golden decade. We look forward to the arrival of the golden decade of the European economy! For Chinese entrepreneurs and investors, this may be the best time for us to invest in Europe. We should seize the opportunity, welcome the dawn of Europe, and make the right investment choices.
Speaking of China's investment in Europe, we can see a very clear thread: Chinese capital enters Europe along two paths, or there are two ways for Chinese capital to enter Europe. With the development of economic globalization, the Chinese economy is integrating into the world economy to a greater extent, or at an increasingly fast pace. The Chinese economy has become inseparable from the world economy. As an important force in global capital, Chinese capital entering Europe actually has two different paths. That is to say, Chinese capital enters Europe in two different ways. We call these two different ways corporate investment and individual investment. Perhaps these are two different investment methods realized under the unique conditions of China's reform and opening up.
Let's first look at the corporate investment method. Corporate investment is the main way for Chinese capital to enter Europe. What we call corporate investment refers to an investment method where enterprises of different forms are the main investment entities. Its investment subject is realized in the form of an enterprise. Whether in terms of quantity or quality, corporate investment has always been the mainstream of Chinese capital investment in Europe. Let's look at the 17 years from 2001 to 2016; according to incomplete statistics, China's investment in Europe has reached 101.3 billion Euros. In this huge investment, corporate investment accounts for the mainstream. That is to say, corporate investment is the most important way for Chinese capital to enter Europe, and this method will continue. Chinese corporate investment in Europe is mainly manifested as M&A investment or centralized investment. In 2016, the place where Chinese companies had the most M&As was in Europe. In that year, China's M&As in Europe reached a scale of 85.8 billion US dollars. What is the concept of this figure? It is more than the total amount of China's M&As in Europe in the previous four years. Moreover, Chinese corporate investment is often an extension of these companies' domestic business in Europe. That is to say, whatever business they do in China, they are usually interested in that business field in Europe, and then they will extend their Chinese business to Europe. For example, the Chinese automobile company Geely Group has successively acquired equity in European companies Volvo and Daimler, which is exactly the case. In addition, besides these large and eye-catching corporate investments, we are also pleased to see that in recent years, inconspicuous small and medium-sized enterprise and individual investments have also been increasing day by day. That is to say, overseas investment is no longer the privilege of large Chinese enterprises; small and medium-sized enterprises and individual capital are also pouring overseas and flowing to Europe.
Let's look at the individual investment method. As an important way for Chinese capital to enter Europe, individual investment has developed rapidly in recent years. What we call individual investment refers to an investment method where the capital holder is a natural person. The characteristics of individual investment are the same as corporate investment; it is manifested as a type of M&A or centralized investment. However, individual investment is often a type of asset allocation and decentralized investment. At the same time, individual investment also often manifests as a type of investment with diversified purposes. That is to say, the investment purpose of the investment subject is personalized, and personal will plays a great role in the investment decision. The personal will of the capital owner has a significant impact on the investment decision. On the other hand, we must see that individual investment has a prominent advantage: the background is simple, the investment structure is simple, and their investment is small-scale and decentralized. Therefore, it is easier to operate in practice and has more investment flexibility, so it is also easily accepted by some European countries. With a simple background and simple investment structure, individual investment is often more efficient, faster, and investment decisions will be more rapid. Therefore, while we attach importance to large corporate investment, we must never ignore individual investment.
Individual investment occupies an increasingly important position and weight in Chinese capital investment. Taking Portugal as an example, in the five years ending in 2017, capital from Chinese individual investment exceeded 2 billion Euros, which was unimaginable in Europe before 2012. At the same time, the capital flow of individual investment often promotes the capital flow of corporate investment. We still take Portugal as an example. When individual capital from China flows into Portugal continuously, we see that investment from Chinese enterprises also enters Portugal's power industry, securities industry, insurance industry, as well as the banking industry and water industry, etc., on a larger scale. By the end of 2017, the total amount of corporate investment by Chinese enterprises in Portugal had exceeded 9 billion Euros, and the investment scale is still growing. From this, we can see that individual investment and corporate investment of Chinese capital are often complementary and mutually promoting. I just mentioned that individual investment often manifests as a way of asset allocation, so I want to emphasize the important role of immigration investment here. Immigration investment is actually a very important type of asset allocation. From the situation of Chinese individual investment from 2012 to the present, we can see that immigration investment is an important investment force for Chinese individual capital to enter Europe.
So what is immigration investment? We call capital from the immigration market immigration capital, or immigration investment. Immigration investment is a type of capital investment with special significance. We often only see its immigration side and do not see the nature of its capital investment. Immigration investment is a leading form of individual investment. Why do we say it is a leading form? Let's analyze it together. From the perspective of Europe, the EU is composed of different countries, so not only between China and Europe, but in fact, there are cultural, linguistic, legal, and other background cultural differences between European countries. Due to the differences in background culture, this prompts immigration investment to become a leading way of investment in terms of individual investment. That is to say, investment immigration is the most important investment subject for Chinese individuals to invest in Europe. We must see that immigration investment is not the end of investment; in fact, it is the beginning of investment, so we also call immigration investment the precursor of individual investment. Originally, this world is owned by humanity together, and the earth belongs to all mankind. But unfortunately, since there were countries, we have created a barrier, which is the visa barrier and the residence right barrier, and we find that the more globalized the economy is, the more serious the barriers are. So as far as individual investment is concerned, a very important consideration is how to overcome the visa barrier and the residence right barrier when investing. Therefore, individual investment often begins as immigration investment, overcoming the visa barrier and the residence right barrier through the way of immigration investment. This is why immigration investment is often an initial motivation for individual investment, but it is only the beginning, not the end.
So as an immigration investor, if he wants to invest in distant Europe, he must first have a residence, so immigration investors often like to invest in residences when they start investing, which is what we call residential property. They settle down first, then slowly understand the society, integrate into the society, and look for subsequent investment opportunities. This is usually a path for an immigration investor to invest. So we cannot just see their initial investment and ignore their subsequent investment. Because after the investment is completed, cases that trigger subsequent investment are everywhere. In all countries that accept immigration investment, this opportunity is almost happening. Therefore, subsequent investment is something that inevitably or often happens after solving the customer's residence right barrier and visa barrier. Precisely because of this, immigration investment has become an important way for individual asset cross-border allocation. Investment immigration has also become an important driving force for promoting individual asset allocation to step out of the vast land of China and realize cross-border allocation. In the past, the individual asset allocation of Chinese investors was often limited to the 9.6 million square kilometers of China, but with the development of economic globalization, the allocation of individual assets has shown this trend of cross-border allocation in recent years. According to statistical data, there are about 750,000 high-net-worth individuals in China who can invest more than 10 million RMB, and 56%, or more than half, own overseas assets. This is both a result of individual asset allocation and a foundation for the continued development of various types of asset allocation.
Therefore, in the process of asset allocation, immigration investment is both a choice of asset allocation and a choice of lifestyle. I just mentioned that the first thing is to have a residence, so investing in a residence, including its initial investment, because investing in asset allocation is also a choice of lifestyle. Investors are not only attracted by Europe's investment environment, but also by Europe's profound history, diverse culture, wonderful urban life, and poetic pastoral life. This is precisely the kind of lifestyle that many Chinese investors pursue—poetry and the distance. In recent years, immigration investment has shown a rapid growth trend. According to incomplete statistics from our WorldWay Group, in the four years from 2013 to 2016 alone, the immigration investment of Chinese individual investors in the UK was about 2.5 billion pounds. The immigration investment in the four countries of Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, and Greece exceeded 8 billion Euros. When we talk about immigration investment, we must also see its multiplier effect. Immigration investment often has a multiplier effect of 3 to 4 times. For example, looking at the immigration investment financing of our WorldWay in the United States, this can be clearly explained. In the 11 years from 2006 to 2017, the total investment amount of the immigration projects in the United States recruited by WorldWay Group has reached 13.3 billion US dollars. This is the result of the multiplier effect I just mentioned. Therefore, for immigration investment, we must not only look at its initial investment, but also see its subsequent investment, and even more, see its multiplier effect, as well as its mutually promoting role with corporate investment.
From the perspective of asset allocation, European immigration investment is mainly the allocation of RMB assets into Euro assets, and of course, there are also Pound assets or assets denominated in other currencies. The immigration laws of various European countries have contributed to the emergence of different forms of immigration assets, such as various forms of immigration real estate, diversified immigration finance, and corporate assets (equity investment) existing in the real economy. The formation of these immigration assets is guided by the corresponding laws of various European countries. So, let's review the brief development history of China's immigration investment in Europe in recent years. We take 2012 as a watershed for the development of China's immigration investment in Europe, so 2012 is very important. Because it was in this year that the popular investment immigration policy of Cyprus, located in the Mediterranean, began to enter the vision of Chinese immigration investors. Taking 2012 as a node, we can clearly see that the development of China's immigration investment in Europe has three periods. Before 2012, the development of China's immigration investment in Europe was called the small vendor period. At that time, the individual investment of Chinese immigrants was mainly manifested as some small restaurants and small commodities, such as luggage, shoes, socks, ties, and other small businesses. So this was the situation before 2012. Of course, this situation still exists, but the main manifestation of Chinese immigration investment in Europe before 2012 was this type of small vendor investment.
From 2012 to 2017, China's immigration investment in Europe entered the second historical period, which we call the real estate period. I believe everyone present will have deep feelings that Chinese investors are pouring into Europe and buying a large number of houses. Therefore, the immigration investment in this period was mainly manifested as a type of immigration real estate investment, ranging from a house of 200,000 Euros to a building that might be worth hundreds of millions of Euros. Starting from 2018, we assert that the development of Chinese immigration in Europe will enter the third period, which is the period of diversified investment.
We believe that 2018 is an important year for European immigration investment, and the diversified development of immigration investment will expand from EU countries to non-EU countries in Europe. For example, the Balkan Peninsula, and for example, European countries in the vicinity of the Black Sea, etc.
Finally, I would like to take the platform of the 2018 China-Europe Trade and Investment Forum to express the attitude of our WorldWay. WorldWay is willing to work hand in hand with European partners to make joint efforts to introduce Chinese capital into the diversified investment fields of Europe, and help Chinese investors effectively overcome visa barriers and residence right barriers in the process of integrating into economic globalization, and realize the internationalization of their lifestyle. Thank you all.
The 2018 China-Europe Trade and Investment Forum was attended by ambassadors, ministers, counselors, and other officials from 18 European countries in China. More than 1,000 guests, including political leaders, business giants, and academic experts from China and abroad, participated actively. Many well-known media reported on the whole process. The venue was full, and seats were continuously added! This is the first large-scale China-Europe forum organized by a non-governmental organization in China, which will go down in history! It is encouraging and exciting!
The successful holding of the 2018 China-Europe Trade and Investment Forum once again confirms the professional brand strength of WorldWay Group and its status in the European investment immigration industry!
Since its establishment, WorldWay Group has been focusing on investment immigration and has created countless "firsts" in the industry. Over the past 20 years, WorldWay Group has established many branches across the country, set up three national document centers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, and established multiple overseas customer service centers in Asia, North America, and Europe, condensing brand charm and creating a glorious image as a leader in the investment immigration industry and one of the top 500 Asian brands.
Reasons to Choose WorldWay for European Investment Immigration
WorldWay has been deeply involved in the European investment immigration industry for many years, possesses a spirit of innovation, dares to be the first in the industry, promotes industry development with professional and excellent business capabilities and comprehensive and perfect services, and uses good government relations to open a convenient channel for investors to European countries, helping many families realize their European dreams.
1. In 2011, it was one of the first to introduce the Cyprus investment residence program to China, opening the first year of European investment immigration;
2. In July 2013, it was one of the first to join hands with the Greek Embassy in China to introduce "Greek Real Estate Immigration" to China;
3. It pioneered the "2013 European Immigration Year" and held China's first large-scale "European Property Exhibition" with Europe as the theme in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Qingdao, sweeping the wind of European investment immigration across China;
4. In 2013, WorldWay Group initiated the "Shanghai Declaration" signed by developers and lawyers from many European countries, setting a model for the European real estate immigration industry;
5. The "Paphos Night" event held by WorldWay Group in Beijing and Shanghai was the first investment and cultural exchange event in China with a European city as the theme.
Currently, WorldWay Group's core European business covers immigration and EU passport projects in countries such as Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, and Ireland. Europe welcomes a golden decade; seize the best time for European investment, one step ahead, every step ahead! Consultation Hotline: 400-138-2929