A survey by China Merchants Bank and consultants Bain & Co in 2011 found that 60 percent of Chinese people with 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) or more were considering investment immigration.

Children's education and security of assets were the main reasons for their immigration, it said.

The report also found that many Chinese opt to stay in China after they acquire permanent residency in foreign countries.

For 38-year-old Liang Jiehui, moving to enjoy a quiet and pleasant family life in Canada is his ultimate goal.

He and his wife obtained permanent residency through investing in property in Canada in 2007 and their son was born there a year later. However, the family still lives in Shanghai.

"We emigrated to Canada to ensure that we will live and my son will grow up there after I retire in a few years," said Liang, who owns a clothes-trading company in Shanghai.

He added that to provide a better life for his son, he and his wife chose to stay in China to make more money through trading, which is the family's only source of income.

Making sure that his son will get used to life abroad, Liang sent the 4-year-old boy to kindergarten at an international school in Shanghai, where most of his classmates are foreigners.

"We're making preparations to move to Canada. My son has to learn Chinese and English as his compulsory languages now," he said.

Making plans to move the whole family to Australia in two to three years is what 31-year-old Cui Yu has been busily working on. She gave birth to a daughter nine months ago.

"I have discussed the plan with my husband, and we reached the conclusion that if we want to provide a better education and living environment with more career choices for our children, immigration is the best solution," Cui said.

Cui works at an advertising company in Shanghai and her husband is the owner of a logistics company shipping chemical products.

The family wants to invest in an industry related to what Cui's husband is doing in Australia as a means to get permanent residency.

The migration report said that applicants for investment immigration are mainly from Beijing, Shanghai and coastal provinces such as Zhejiang, Guangdong and Jiangsu.

Rich residents of second-tier cities such as Dalian, Qingdao, Tianjin and Chongqing applying for investment immigration have also increased in recent years, it said.

Contact the writers at [email protected] and [email protected]

Related readings

France ratings cut 'unlikely to deter' Chinese investment

Outbound investment to hit 1-2 tln USD by 2020

China’s investment in California to reach $60b by 2020

US 'welcomes investment from China'

Ambassador: Britain welcomes investment from China

Chinese investment in Europe on rapid rise