Lockdowns Spur Flood of Emigration Inquiries in China

An increasing number of middle-class Chinese have been studying ‘runxue‘ – how to leave the country for good, according to a report by the Financial Times, which cited a study by the US Council for Foreign Relations, which said “searches on Tencent’s WeChat platform for ‘how to move to Canada’ surged almost 3,000%” in late March as Shanghai and other cities went into Covid lockdowns.

With the economy teetering on the verge of recession and fears of further lockdowns, relocation consultants had been flooded with calls and emails from people wanting to move abroad, the report said.

Read the full report: The Financial Times.

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Jim Pollard

Jim Pollard is an Australian journalist based in Thailand since 1999. He worked for News Ltd papers in Sydney, Perth, London and Melbourne before travelling through SE Asia in the late 90s. He was a senior editor at The Nation for 17+ years.