Suitcases of Cash: China Travel Data Hint at Capital Outflow
- Former U.S. Treasury official Setser finds data ‘suspicious’
- Says travelers may be funneling money abroad while on holiday
China's Tourism Deficit Hits $315B
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The explosive growth of spending overseas by Chinese tourists dwarfs the increase in the number of Chinese traveling abroad. The most likely reason? Disguised capital outflows.
So says former U.S. Treasury official Brad Setser, who drilled into the spending data provided by some of the most popular destinations for Chinese travelers. The nation’s tourism deficit -- a measure of foreign visitor expenditure in China minus what its citizens spend overseas -- soared to $206 billion in the 12 months through June 30, up from $77 billion in 2013, the last year of the yuan’s one-way appreciation trajectory.