Crisis? Not yet, say expats in China

Updated: 2008-10-27
By Erik Nilsson (China Daily)

As the global financial crisis threatens to poison lives around the globe, many expatriates in China are finding they are largely immune to its toxicity.

A foreigner steps out of a Beijing fruit stand with his just-purchased items. The RMB has largely survived the hit that other currencies have suffered. [Agencies]

And generally speaking, the fewer economic ties they have to back home, the safer they are, says renowned economist Liu Baocheng, director of the Center for International Business Ethics, a nongovernmental organization hosted by the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

Liu reckons that "most foreigners have good reason to be confident about their lives in China" but that there are often differences between "full expats" - those sent by multinationals - and "local expats" - those who work for Chinese employers.

"If they work for a Chinese company or organization and earn RMB, they're better off," he explains.

"The other category - those paid from home and sent as expats - may feel a more negative impact."

Still, the pain felt by full expats is usually softer than if they were working for the same firms back home. "For many US companies, their China operations are enjoying greater success than their headquarters," he says.

He cites Lehman Brothers as an example. The company's China operation has chugged along as a revenue engine during its infamous crash, boding well for expats here.

Nigel Clark, chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in China, says the impact of the crisis on his compatriots in China varies but "on balance the effect is likely to be less for those living here".

"Most expatriates living in China are enjoying working in a vibrant economy," says Clark, "but the effect will vary by individual and family, depending on their age group and how they have positioned themselves regarding past and future financial arrangements, particularly retirement".

Furthermore, while several overseas currencies have wobbled of late, the RMB has been appreciating.

This is of great relief to Australian Daniel Sanderson, who has lived in China for five years and works for his homeland's embassy in Beijing.

"The only way it (the crisis) would affect me is if the Australian dollar goes down. I get paid in RMB, so I'm actually making more money," he says.

In addition, China's Consumer Price Index (CPI) remains stable and generally low, while expat wages remain relatively high, says Liu.

"Expats on average earn three to five times more than their Chinese colleagues and enjoy the same low prices for commodities and services," he says.

As American Jarrod Wolf puts it: "A hundred kuai goes a long way here."

However, the 20-year-old university student says he's saving cash, because he doesn't know what will happen after he returns home in three months.

"It's not that my purchasing power has decreased, but I'm more (careful) about how I spend my money," he says..

"I would go out and do a lot more things in Beijing but I don't know how long or how deep the recession will be back home."

Foreigners have plenty of spare crash to dine out in Beijing. [China Daily]

Some who repatriate might even find the economic bust could boost their opportunities in their native economies.

"One good thing is that house prices are going down in Australia and if I'd stayed, I might have gotten into something that I couldn't afford," Sanderson says. "But that didn't happen."

Instead, the price plunge means he's better positioned to buy a home when he repatriates next year.

As a demographic, Liu says expats like Sanderson are likely to have few or no investments, debts or properties in their home countries.

While American business instructor Paul Cokeley does own mutual funds in the US, he says he feels "separated from the issues back home", adding: "They're not affecting the money I need to survive right now."

Cokeley says he hasn't checked on how the funds are doing since July. "I know it's bad but there's not much I can do about it," he says.

"I just hope things bounce back before I move back to the US. Maybe I could use that money on the down-payment for a house."

American Jim Spear, co-owner of China Bound Ltd, says his business has yet to feel the brunt of the global economic downturn. However, the company based in Beijing's suburban Mutianyu area is bracing itself for what might come.

"I work in the hospitality and tourism field where spending is discretionary," he says. "So we are concerned that the global economic downturn could impact our business from overseas while the situation sorts itself out and people get their confidence back.

"But we hope and expect that in the meantime our customers from inside China will find nearby destinations like ours even more attractive when they think of how to get away from it all. So the world will doubtlessly go on."

Spear says China Bound's lodging and tour business is "booming" but expects to take fewer bookings for corporate meetings next year.

"When times are tough and they need to control their budgets a little, they're still going to have meetings but they're more likely to have them closer to home," he says.

Still, he remains optimistic.

"The world's been through this before," he says, "and I'm confident we can make it through again."

Liu says the way expats in China react to the financial crisis should go beyond the fiscal to the psychological.

"Live smart and get informed about developments on both ends of the market," he advises.

"Don't overreact and always see the bottle as half full, because the quality of life is subjective."