Affluent Chinese have been moving to Japan since the COVID lockdowns

TOKYO — As China's economy continues to grow at a slower pace than in recent decades, Chinese businesses and households are moving money overseas at the highest rate in seven years, according to government statistics.

But while the U.S. has long been a preferred destination of wealthy and middle-class Chinese emigrants, they are increasingly headed to Japan, according to analysts and immigration consultants.

Among the recent arrivals is a former Beijing-based journalist who moved to Japan last year. He asked that NPR not use his name to protect family still in China.

The journalist says that many of his friends among China's elite were avid cheerleaders for the government policies that had brought them affluence and success. But he says that strict COVID lockdowns changed their minds.