Member Login
Facebook-f Twitter Youtube Instagram Telegram-plane

China Country Profile

Passport
For more details visit China Passport Ranking
  • Passport Grade
    C-
  • Passport Ranking
    109/198
  • Passport Score
    59.5/198
  • Visa-free Countries
    80
  • Visa-required Countries
    118
  • Access to the World's GDP
    25%
  • Access to the World's Surface Area
    26%
  • Access to the World's Population
    40%
  • Access to the Unesco Sites
    25%
Citizenship and Naturalization
Birthright citizenship (Jus Soli)
  • Birthright citizenship (Jus Soli)
    No
    No provisions
Naturalization - Standard Conditions
  • Minimum residency period
    0 years
    Successful naturalizations are exceptionally rare.
  • Physical presence requirement
    –
  • Language test
    0
  • Need to renounce original citizenship?
    Yes
  • Can minor children naturalize?
    –
  • Can naturalized parents pass citizenship to a child born abroad?
    –
  • Can you lose naturalization due to prolonged absence/ naturalization elsewhere?
    –
Naturalization - Your Spouse is a Citizen
  • Living IN the country: Residency/marriage requirement
    0 years / 0 years
    Close relatives (including spouses) of a citizen may apply immediately. But cases of successful naturalizations are exceptionally rare.
  • Living ABROAD: Marriage requirement
    N/A
  • Language test
    –
  • Need to renounce original citizenship?
    Yes
Naturalization - Other Beneficial Provisions
  • Your child is a citizen
    No provisions
  • Citizens of specific countries
    No provisions
"–": The provision has not been analysed.
Taxation
For more details visit Cost of Living
  • Taxation Type
    Residence-based
A tax resident of a country with a RESIDENCE-BASED tax system pays taxes on their WORLDWIDE income. However, if you lose tax residency status there (e.g., by moving out), the country will generally stop taxing you.
Schiff Sovereign's Take on China
If money talked, these days it would likely speak Mandarin.

China has grown to become the second-largest economy in the world (and by some measurements it is the largest). And this trend will only continue. 

The Chinese have spent decades producing and saving, so they can now enjoy increasing levels of wealth and upward mobility. In contrast, the West has spent decades spending and borrowing, so they have the opposite of wealth – rampant debt and a plummeting quality of life. 

China is on its way to becoming the world’s next dominant economy and superpower. And they are getting there at the same speed as one of their brand-new bullet trains.

But that ride is not going to be smooth. There are serious systemic problems in China. 

The country’s government has managed to rack up a lot of debt, especially at a  provincial level. Misallocation of capital is also notorious – everyone has heard about Chinese ghost cities built by the government from scratch. These are places where no one wants to live.

They have a shadow financial system that is epically over-leveraged.

Yet as a place to live, China offers various benefits – a very reasonable cost of living, the opportunity to get a great education in Mandarin, and the ability to access China’s business environment with ease.

But there are also some serious and infamous drawbacks.

Human rights is definitely an issue. 

And they also have their notorious Social Credit System in place. 

Their government wants to control every aspect of your life. They don't have a qualm about locking down their megapolices in 2022, when pretty much the entire planet has gotten over the Covid hysteria already.

If you do something the government doesn't like, as a punishment, you can be banned from traveling. Or you might be forced to use a slow internet connection. Or you might be excluded from using hotels, be forced to pay higher taxes, or even get shamed publicly.

If you want to succeed in China, you better keep your social score high.

Pollution is also a significant issue. It’s not just air pollution that can cause major health problems, but also the pollution of the country’s soil, water and food. (Of course, you could go to Hainan Island. It is a resort island with a tropical climate and far less pollution – but that would also be less practical for a range of reasons.)

The other drawback is low English proficiency. And Mandarin – both spoken and written – is a notoriously difficult language to master as an English speaker.

Sovereign Global Explorer

Benefiting from over a decade of our team’s boots-on-the-ground experience, Global Explorer is where your international journey begins.
Explore Now
Found a mistake /
Have a suggestion ?
Please let us know if you spot any inaccuracies on this page or have a suggestion on how to make it even more useful.
Report Here
China Overview
  • Region
    Asia
  • Capital City
    Beijing
  • Largest City
    Shanghai
  • Currency
    Renminbi
  • Languages
    Mandarin Chinese
  • Population
    1.4 billion (1st)
  • Life Expectancy
    77.7 years (83rd)
  • GDP (Nominal)
    $18.3 trillion (2nd)
  • GDP/Capita
    12969.84072 (78th)
Useful Data
For more details visit Cost of Living
  • Cost of Living
    Very cheap (2/7)
  • Climate
    Comfortable (2/5)
  • Safety
    Very Safe (2/7)
  • Pollution
    Polluted (4/5)
  • English Proficiency
    Moderate (3/5)

Sovereign Global Explorer

Benefiting from over a decade of our team’s boots-on-the-ground experience, Global Explorer is where your international journey begins.
Explore Now
Found a mistake /
Have a suggestion ?
Please let us know if you spot any inaccuracies on this page or have a suggestion on how to make it even more useful.
Report Here
PREMIUM REPORTS
China inside Schiff Sovereign resources

Articles featuring China

Water
Trends & News

FUBAR II: China must import more water than the US imports oil

June 17, 2014 Shanghai, China In one of the most comprehensive studies ever conducted of China’s bubblicious property market, Professor Gan Li at Texas A&M University estimates that there are a whopping 49 million vacant homes in China right now. As a percentage, this is twice the vacancy rate that the US housing market experienced […]
Trends & News

What China's devaluation means for the future of the dollar

August 12, 2015 Istanbul, Turkey As the saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” (… to which George W. Bush famously added after flubbing the aphorism on live TV, “can’t fool me again!”) For months, despite every shred of data pointing to a weaker economy, China’s currency has […]
China
Trends & News

This is epic: China has lost 55% of its most valuable resource

August 26, 2014 Shanghai, China A few days ago I had a conversation with the Chief Operating Officer for our agricultural fund in Chile. We were discussing water, and he told me that roughly 60% of California right now is suffering “extreme drought” conditions. 30% of the state is in “severe drought”. And 10% of […]
Trends & News

There’s a major banking crisis unfolding in China

[Editor’s note: This letter was written by Tim Staermose, Sovereign Man’s Chief Investment Strategist] The Chinese government isn’t exactly famous for its honesty and transparency. So when the Chinese regulators are starting to openly report trouble in their banking system, it’s time to take notice. According to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC)’s “2019 China […]

Similar Country Profiles

Bangladesh Country Profile
Bangladesh
East Timor Country Profile
East Timor
South Korea Country Profile
South Korea
Bhutan Country Profile
Bhutan
Turkmenistan Country Profile
Turkmenistan
Afghanistan Country Profile
Afghanistan
Macau Country Profile
Macau

Ready to fire-proof your future? Learn how here...

Subscribe to our FREE Sovereign Letters series below. Packed with powerful, immediately actionable Plan B strategies, signing up for this newsletter is one of THE best steps you can take, right now, to safeguard your freedom and maximize your sovereignty.

SIGN UP NOW TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FUTURE

Found a mistake or have a suggestion with China Country Profile? Let us know by filling out the form below.