BEIJING/KUALA LUMPUR (SCMP): New simplified requirements for Malaysia’s long-term visa scheme have led to a surge of interest from China’s wealthy youth, with industry experts predicting even greater demand once the government resolves licensing issues.
There has been a deluge of inquiries from prospective Chinese participants keen on moving to Malaysia, said Eugene Lim of K-Konsult Taxation, which consults on the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) visa scheme. The programme now offers foreigners a five-year visa for a minimum buy-in of around US$300,000.
“Based on our own data that we collected, we have had over 1,000 inquiries just through TikTok and Douyin,” Lim said, referring to two hugely popular micro-video social media platforms owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance.
“A lot of younger people are planning to move and we are already handling quite a few requests for information. But applications are not yet open since licensing is not yet sorted out.”
Since April, MM2H agents have complained about a moratorium on the renewal of their operating licences as the government revamps the MM2H programme to narrow down the requirements, causing a delay in delivery to existing clients requiring visa renewals or new applications to the flagship scheme.
The governmnt finally announced a simplified MM2H system in June that places two key requirements for foreign nationals – fixed deposits and residential property purchases – under three different tiers: platinum, gold and silver.
The new rules impose a higher initial outlay for prospective participants, but remove the need to prove a minimum monthly overseas income and liquid assets of at least 1.5 million ringgit (US$317,000).
The silver tier, which requires participants to park US$150,000 in fixed deposits and buy a residential property worth at least 600,000 ringgit (US$126,600) in exchange for a five-year multiple entry visa, is the most attractive package among prospective clients, Lim said.
“Once the licensing is settled and applications open up, we can expect demand to go up by one or two times,” he said at the World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention (WCEC) on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur.
Demand decreases progressively with the price point increases of the upper tiers, Lim said. Gold tier applicants will have to provide US$500,000 in fixed deposits and purchase properties worth no less than 1 million ringgit and that requirement doubles when going up to platinum.
Still, interest remains strong as Chinese investors are keen on taking advantage of the business visa that comes with the platinum tier, he added.
Chinese nationals make up the lion’s share of MM2H participants, accounting for 24,765 pass holders or 44 per cent of the over 56,000 active participants, according to the government’s most recent figures released in March.
Just like for MM2H, there has also been increased interest in industrial land among Chinese investors seeking to expand their operations for international exports, according to Sidney Cheo, assistant general manager of Seri Pajam Development which is building a 523-acre industrial park in Negeri Sembilan state, just an hour’s drive from the capital.
“Just this month alone, about 50 per cent of the inquiries we received were from China ... demand is more than supply and we could really see it last year and this year,” Cheo said.
Malaysia has been making a hard pitch for Chinese investments and wealthy individuals since Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim took high office in late 2022.
Anwar made two trips to China last year and, in June, hosted Chinese Premier Li Qiang to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
During his speech launching the WCEC on Tuesday, Anwar said Malaysia could only benefit from tapping into China’s “economic vibrancy”.
“We believe that a stronger bond and relations and our comprehensive strategic partnership with China will help not only Malaysia but the region,” the prime minister said.
But others are not as sanguine about Malaysia’s prospects, especially if the government is not discerning about investments from and trade with China, whose companies have been accused of undercutting domestic small businesses with low prices.
“We used to have 44 local factories manufacturing face masks. After the pandemic, we are left with just four because the government allowed the flood of Chinese imports,” said Ang Kian You, whose factory in Johor is among the few survivors.
Despite his misgivings, Ang takes a pragmatic view.
He said his company, AKY Group, has for the past 20 years dealt heavily in Chinese imports, ranging from water filters to artisanal Chinese tea, and would likely continue to do so as China’s economic influence continues to grow.
The onus falls on Malaysia’s government, and businesses themselves, to make sure they cut deals that benefit them in the long term, Ang said.
“I’ve been in this business a long time and I can see the trend already ... as the east rises, the west’s sun will set,” he said.
- South China Morning Post
