Overseas property investment rises 50%, set to cross $20b

Overseas property investment by Chinese businesses surged 50 percent to $15.6 billion by October and is projected to exceed $20 billion this year, said Han Changji, a researcher at the market research firm CI Consulting.

He attributed the boom to increasingly relaxed outbound investment regulation and lackluster domestic property market.

Following the big players, increasingly small- and medium-sized Chinese developers have been investing in overseas projects, which has given birth to platforms serving specially these companies.

Han expected robust overseas property investment to stay in the coming years given the nearly saturated domestic market and increasing returns from overseas property investment amid the gradual global economic recovery.

Chinese investors would also benefit from the recently lowered tax rate on property investment in the United States by foreign parties, he said.