China's current policy on foreign spending hit New York's luxury real estate market really hard. Quartz reported that the policy, aimed at letting Chinese money circulate locally first before anywhere else, affected even the New York market, which had been enjoying an influx of foreign money recently, led by Chinese investors looking to create assets through US luxury properties.
The policies were designed to help shore up its currency and, in turn, boost the economy by circulating local money within the local market, first and foremost.
There have also been concerns about debts incurred by the real estate developer. Chinese developers have since fallen behind their international counterparts--Canadian, Dutch, and German developers have since picked up the slack left by the Chinese.
Trade war tensions and money invested in US properties have weighed heavily on these Chinese investors. Many of these developers have also decided to service their debts by letting go of massive NY properties according to an analysis by industry insiders.
The situation in Hong Kong, a Chinese territory, is entirely different from the New York real estate problem. However, authorities in Canada are fearing that it may suffer the same fate, should it enact a policy which extradites mainland Chinese citizens back to China, according to Richmond News. It's also the same as New York's real estate problem, taking into account that these Chinese nationals are leaving behind pieces of real estate.
Hong Kong's streets have been taken over by some of its citizens, enraged over policies which could prove beneficial to them in the long run. The province of B.C. is exploring the implementation of the same kind of law which could extradite not only Chinese criminals but other convicted nationals as well. However, they fear it could go the same way as the Hong Kong incident.
Canada has also remained dependent on Chinese trade for its economy. In 2018, Hong Kong (viewed as an independent economy in theory) placed among the top 10 trade partners of the North American country. Shipments have reached around $3 billion per annum. It is more than what the Canadian officials involved in trading can say about trade with European nations like France and Italy.
Real estate and economies may be affected when the Chinese leave a place, only showing how the world has become reliant on China for their different economic needs. Nations need to tread their policies carefully if they want to keep foreign investments flowing freely, especially those of Chinese citizens.
