Over 450 Chinese financial practitioners were briefed on asset management tools available in low-tax jurisdictions at the China Offshore Summit held on May 24 and 25.

The practitioners also received insights on effective use of tax planning from representatives of BVI House Asia.

‘Wealth Management’ and ‘Corporate Structuring’ were the major topics of this year’s summit. The highlight of the session was a panel discussion, comprised of experts from top financial institutions, focused on solutions for optimising structures within the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) framework.

Director of BVI House Asia, Ms. Elise Donovan said, “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.”

Ms. Donovan added, “They provided practical suggestions to financial practitioners concerning international estate planning, family trust, corporate structure, and other offshore solutions during the summit.”

The Director said the panel discussion concluded with the overall agreement that High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) should 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,” she said adding, “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.”

Meanwhile, Deputy General Manager of Private Banking, China Construction Bank Shenzhen Branch, Xiaoyan Hu stated the number of [high net worth] families continues to grow rapidly, and the forecast says it will reach four million by 2020.

Mr. Hu said, “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.”

Managing Director and Co-Founder of the Panhe Family Office, Morris Huang, shared insights on ‘The Succession Planning for Chinese Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) Families to Cope with the CRS Wave’. He presented a case study on how to effectively use the BVI Private Trust Companies structure to achieve highly personalised UHNW succession planning goals. 

Mr. Huang said, “The succession plan has to be highly customised, due to the complicated family structure of most UHNW families in China.”

The advantage of planning early was illustrated by Chairman of Gushi Capital, Xiaojian Wei with a case study on Shanda Ltd. He stated that Chinese HNWI should “plan their succession in advance to diminish financial risks”.

Shanda Ltd. is a leading interactive entertainment media company in China, which utilised the Variable Interest Entity (VIE) structure via BVI financial vehicles to successfully achieve their financial goals. 

This year’s China Offshore Summit was held in Shenzhen. The BVI was a sponsor of the event and had an exhibition booth.

 Photographs are attached.

1. Mr. Leon Wheatley shared insights with industry leaders. (Photo credit: Provided)
2. Ms. Heather Tang, COO of BVI House Asia, exchanges ideas with Chinese financial practitioners. (Photo credit: Provided)
3. Scene from China Offshore Summit. (Photo credit: Provided)