Money Is Leaving China

News reports indicated China has tightened capital controls, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Their foreign exchange reserves unexpectedly fell below $3 trillion. There has been a steady drop as it fell by $12.3 billion in January to $2.998 trillion, compared with a drop of $41 billion drop in December. China had lost over $300 billion in 2016, and over $500 billion in 2015. News reports indicate Beijing is concerned at the speed of the outflow. This outflow hurts its ability to defend its own currency. It is possible if the outflow continues then the government will devalue their own currency. The US dollar has been rising and the yuan has dropped by almost 7% since last year. At the same time their gold reserves have increased. What does this mean for the Antelope Valley? Well many Chinese investors are investing in California. There has been a huge influx of Chinese purchases of real estate in San Francisco, Los Angeles and the Antelope Valley. Land is still cheap and it takes no effort to maintain dirt. There has also been interest in farm land to grow traditional agricultural products, as well as, marijuana. Stay tuned. China has lots and lots of money, and California seems to be a nice resting place for their investments.