北京向國民發出新訊號：你的錢應該留在國內（2/2）

Recently The New York Times reported the following:

Beijing’s New Message to Its Citizens: Your Money Belongs at Home (2/2)

Eager to keep capital within its borders, China is restricting the ways individuals can engage with global markets.

THE NEW NEW WORLD By Li Yuan - Li Yuan writes The New New World column, which focuses on China’s growing influence on the world by examining its businesses, politics and society.

June 16, 2026

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The Institute of International Finance, a trade association based in Washington, estimated that resident capital outflows from China reached $809 billion in 2025, the highest level on record.

In 2025, Hong Kong overtook Switzerland as the world’s largest cross-border wealth management hub, partly driven by money coming from mainland China, according to Boston Consulting Group.

But Beijing increasingly sees this outflow of Chinese wealth as unpatriotic. Hu Xijin, a former editor in chief of the nationalist tabloid Global Times and one of China’s most prominent pro-government commentators, argued on the Weibo social media platform that the government’s latest moves served “the overall interests of Chinese society.”

“If stock investors buy more A-shares and fewer U.S. stocks, or if some people refrain from hastily selling their homes in China to buy property in the West, the overall effect would be positive,” he wrote.

Keeping savings at home and interest rates low is vital to Beijing. The country’s hugely indebted local governments have been restructuring their debts, relying on cheap domestic capital to ease interest burdens that consume roughly a fifth of their revenue. The savings are also backing China’s enormous investment in infrastructure, robotics, semiconductors and other industries deemed key to self-reliance and national security.

But that is not where sophisticated investors want to be. A technology worker who asked to be identified only by his last name, Xu, for fear of government retribution, has put as much money as China’s law allows into an American brokerage account since 2023.

Now all of the difficulties created by Beijing’s financial control leave Mr. Xu wondering, “Is my money still mine?”

Currently, Chinese citizens can legally convert their renminbi savings to $50,000 in foreign currency. Officially, that money can be used only for things like tourism or education, but using the quota for overseas investment in stocks or property has long been a tolerated gray zone.

For now, the quota remains the only legitimate opening for individuals to move money abroad. But there have been reports that banks are asking more questions about the use of the money, and people are worried that converting renminbi could become more difficult.

“So many people in the world can trade the U.S. stocks. Why can’t the Chinese?” Mr. Xu asked.

He is frustrated that SpaceX has excluded investors in China from participating in its I.P.O., the biggest in history. OpenAI and other potentially lucrative artificial intelligence companies may follow suit.

Others are now trying to slip under the wire and move their money abroad before the government blocks the passage completely.

In the past two weeks, investors feverishly traded workaround tips on social media and in group chats. Some flocked to Hong Kong to open bank and brokerage accounts at smaller firms with looser requirements. Others explored options to visit the United States and open accounts in person.

“No amount of financial controls can prevent people from moving their assets to places that offer better opportunities,” said Stephen, an I.T. worker in Guangdong Province who also asked to be identified by only one name.

Translation

北京向國民發出新訊號：你的錢應該留在國內（2/2）

中國急於將資金留在境內，正在限制個人參與全球市場的方式

（繼續）

總部位於華盛頓的國際金融協會估計，2025年中國居民資本外流將達8,090億美元，創歷史新高。

波士頓顧問集團的數據顯示，2025年，香港將超越瑞士，成為全球最大的跨國財富管理中心，部分原因是來自中國大陸的資金流入。

但北京越來越將這種中國財富外流視為不愛國的行為。曾任民族主義小報《環球時報》總編輯、中國最知名的親政府評論員之一胡錫進在微博社交媒體平台上辯稱，政府的最新舉措符合「中國社會的整體利益」。

他寫道：“如果股票投資者多買A股，少買美股，或者如果一些人不要急於賣掉在中國的房產去西方置業，那麼整體效果將是積極的。”

維持國內儲蓄和低利率對北京至關重要。中國負債累累的地方政府一直在進行債務重組，依靠廉價的國內資本來減輕利息負擔，這些利息支出約佔其財政收入的五分之一。這些儲蓄也用於支持中國在基礎設施、機械人、半導體和其他被視為自力更生和國家安全關鍵產業的巨額投資。

但這並非資深的投資人想要投資的領域。一位因擔心政府報復而要求只透露姓氏為Xu的科技工作者，自2023年以來，已將中國法律允許的最大金額存入美國證券帳戶。

如今，北京的金融管控帶來的種種困難讓Xu先生不禁質疑：“我的錢還屬於我嗎？”

目前，中國公民可以合法地將人民幣存款兌換成最高5萬美元的外幣。官方規定，這筆錢只能用於旅遊或教育等用途，但長期以來，利用這筆額度進行海外股票或房地產投資一直是一個被默許的灰色地帶。

目前，這筆額度仍然是個人將資金轉移到國外的唯一合法途徑。但有報導稱，銀行正在對資金用途提出更多疑問，人們擔心人民幣兌換可能會變得更加困難。

Xu先生問: 「世界上那麼多人都能交易美國股票，為什麼中國人不行？」。

他對SpaceX將中國投資者排除在史上規模最大的IPO之外感到沮喪。 OpenAI和其他一些潛在利潤豐厚的人工智能公司可能也會效仿。

現在，其他人正試圖在政府徹底封鎖之前，偷偷將資金轉移到國外。

過去兩週，投資人在社交媒體和群組聊天中熱切地交流著各種變通方法。有些人湧向香港，在要求較為寬鬆的小型銀行和券商開設帳戶。另一些人則考慮親自前往美國開設帳戶。

一位要求只透露自己的单個名字叫史蒂芬的廣東省IT從業人員說道:「再多的金融管制也無法阻止人們將資產轉移到那些能提供更好機會的地方」。

            So, over the past few years, Chinese citizens have increasingly invested in overseas securities, and especially in the U.S. stock market. But in recent weeks, Beijing tries to close these channels. Beijing wants to keep savings at home and to keep interest rates low. The country’s hugely indebted local governments have been relying on cheap domestic capital to ease interest burdens that consume roughly a fifth of their revenue. Domestic savings are also used to back China’s enormous investment in infrastructure, robotics, semiconductors and other industries. Apparently, Chinese needs new money to support its economy.