China, once a major and large bastion for capital inflows, is beginning to witness a steady stream of capital outflows. For more than a decade, the Chinese enjoyed investing large sums in local real estate markets, leading to a central government crackdown in an effort to rein in soaring real estate prices across the country. As a result, a large proportion of this money is now making its way to “familiar” real estate markets outside of China.

The capital of wealthy Chinese citizens is now being channelled into buying beachfront properties in Australia, Europe and Singapore. Chinese corporations, for their part, are making foreign acquisitions, buying up natural resources, companies and letting foreign profits accumulate overseas.

China does not officially report on capital inflows and outflows, but it is possible to track those “flows” by using trade data and foreign-exchange reserves numbers. Preliminary data from the country’s foreign exchange regulator sh