Chinese not following Americans’ lead in greater interest in Canada

Barring major policy shifts, Chinese investors seem to consider a Trump presidency “business as usual”

While “move to Canada” inquiries from Americans have spiked to historic levels following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential elections, recent data seems to suggest that the Chinese have taken a more moderate attitude towards the president-elect.
 
“I wouldn’t say the Trump win is as big a shock for the average Chinese property buyer as it might be for the typical Canadian,” international real estate portal Juwai.com CEO Charles Pittar told The Globe and Mail.
 
Pittar said that user traffic into Juwai.com—which predominantly caters to Chinese consumers—did not exhibit any massive spikes before, during, or after the November 8 polls.
 
“We’ve looked into this and most Chinese think of Trump as just another president,” the executive added, citing Juwai.com’s survey of over 500 Chinese international property buyers prior to the U.S. elections.
 
However, all it would take is the imposition of disruptive policies such as added tariffs to motivate the Chinese to consider redirecting their money to Canada, Pittar warned.
 
The strong flow of Chinese wealth into Occidental markets has gradually increased the mainland’s hold on properties in North America.
 
While Canadian investors have entered into U.S. commercial real estate deals worth US$92 billion since 2007, analysts said that enterprising Chinese are rapidly catching up.
 
According to data from Real Capital Analytics, Chinese are gradually eating into Canadian investors’ formerly dominating lead, with the Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group Co. recently entering into $6.5-billion deal for Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. from the Blackstone Group.

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