[photopress:shanghaivision.jpg,full,alignright]Shanghai Vision is a Dublin-based company which owns buy-to-let property developments in Shanghai. The group reports that about two-thirds of its clients are entrepreneurs and City types, many of whom are looking to gain exposure to the renminbi. The remainder are serial buy-to-let investors diversifying their portfolios.
These investors subscribe to the theory that Beijing will one day allow a further appreciation of the renminbi against the dollar and greater exchange rate fluctuations.
Zhou Xiaochuan, chief of the Peoples’ Bank of China, the country’s central bank, recently stated that Beijing was committed to moving gradually to a more flexible exchange rate mechanism, fuelling speculation that the renminbi will rise further against the dollar.
The scheme also claims to be able to circumvent strict residence rules governing property ownership in China. Though a handful of well-known agents, including FPDSavills, Cushman & Wakefield and Jones Lang LaSalle, have offices in Shanghai, you need to reside in China for at least a year to qualify to buy a flat or a house through traditional methods.
Shanghai Vision says it has got around these rules by setting up its own onshore company which holds the properties.
Source: The Financial Times