Debts and lawsuits should not be evaded by emigration

A debt lawsuit involving one famous restaurant chain's president has become a heated discussion topic because the court cannot deliver its summons to the defendant, who annulled her household registration and has already moved abroad.

This incident has awaked people's concerns over the phenomenon of "naked officials" and "naked businessmen", whose assets and families are transferred abroad, leaving only the officials working at home.

There is a prosperous intermediary business for emigration in the world. Businesses have various ways to move their customers abroad. Some even forge the materials required for investment emigration.

To emigrate abroad, some businessmen mortgage their real estate properties and invest bank loans abroad. Some businessmen transfer their properties abroad, and their companies at home are only an empty shell, to be declared bankrupt when necessary.

Surveys show that more than 60 percent of Chinese with more than 10 million yuan ($1.61 million) of assets have considered emigration. And 27 percent of the people with more than 100 million ($16.1 million) in China have already emigrated.

Relevant laws in China should be updated to match the rising number of emigrants. For the enlisted companies, the nationality changes of the legal representatives should be made available to the market.

If the emigration trend is unchecked, China will lose not only wealth and the business elites, but also the people's confidence of China's future as a strong market economy. As for the illegal emigration through forging fake materials, relevant authorities should strengthen the supervision and punishment of intermediary agencies and emigrants.

Translated by Li Yang from 21st Century Business Herald