Are there more people moving in or out of China?

This question is the most frequent question we are being asked when having a chit-chat... and the answer has always been the same over the years.

More people moving out.

However, depending on the year that question is being asked, the reason may be slightly different.

In regular time, we (as a moving company) see more people moving out than moving in simply because many people may move to a country without moving things...

However, after several years in the country and growing a home, when it's finally time to move out, getting rid of everything may be very difficult and excess luggage may not be enough. This is when we come into the picture.

But there are other reasons why more people are moving out from China than moving in:

• increase of living costs (especially in big cities like Shanghai where life became quite expensive)
• Covid period (during that period, many families fled the country while only a few courageous ones moved in)
• bad economy (the post-Covid period is tough)
• difficulty to obtain / renew visas (the bar to have the right to work in China has been raised a lot over the past 10 years)
• foreign policy (foreigners used to have a very privileged lifestyle in China, it is not so much the case anymore)

Here you go, now you know.