BVI Attends China Offshore Summit in Shenzhen

Hong Kong, May 29, 2017 - BVI House Asia attended this year’s China Offshore Summit, held from May 24 to 25 in Shenzhen, to share insights with over 450 Chinese financial practitioners on the effective use of tax planning and asset management tools available in low-tax jurisdictions in the age of transparency. The BVI was a sponsor of the event and had an exhibition booth. 

“Wealth Management” and “Corporate Structuring” were the major topics of this year’s summit.

The Landscape and Opportunity of Private Wealth Management in China

“The number of HNW families continues to grow rapidly, and the forecast says it will reach four million by 2020,” said Xiaoyan Hu, Deputy General Manager of Private Banking, China Construction Bank Shenzhen Branch. “So, the attention of HNWIs has been driven more towards global asset planning. As practitioners, we should provide the most personalized plan, making full use of offshore financial vehicles such as the BVI business companies to help our clients to achieve their financial goals,” added Mr. Hu. 

Increasing Demand for Succession Planning

Morris Huang, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Panhe Family Office, shared insights on “The Succession Planning for Chinese UHNW Families to Cope with the CRS Wave.” Mr. Huang said, “The succession plan has to be highly customized, due to the complicated family structure of most UHNW Families in China.” He presented a case study on how to effectively use the BVI Private Trust Companies (PTCs) structure to achieve highly personalized UHNW succession planning goals. 

What do HNWI really want?

With increasing regulation in offshore jurisdictions, the industry is marching towards unprecedented evolution and change. The demand of appropriate measures for adequate data and information protection is more important than ever. The panel session discussed solutions for optimizing structures within the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) framework. “We believe that besides saving tax, HNWIs should also look for other vital benefits from BVI Business Companies and other offshore structures, including flexible registration process, mature infrastructure, and stable legal system. The key demand here is security,” concluded the panel, made up of experts from top financial institutions.  

“Plan Early”

“Chinese HNWI should plan their succession in advance to diminish financial risks,” said Xiaojian Wei, Chairman of Gushi Capital, illustrating the advantage of planning early with a case study on Shanda Ltd., a leading interactive entertainment media company in China, which utilised the VIE structure via BVI financial vehicles to successfully achieve their financial goals.  

A majority of Chinese financial industry leaders, eminent tax lawyers and accountants spoke with  BVI representatives about their confidence in offshore financial solutions in the age of transparency in China, and provided practical suggestions to financial practitioners concerning international estate planning, family trust, corporate structure, and other offshore solutions during the two-day summit.