Are Chinese nationals really ‘flocking’ to Malaysia over new visa scheme?

When China announced last year plans to invest 170 billion ringgit (US$35.9 billion) into Malaysia, property players had already started rolling out the red carpet for potential investors and homebuyers looking to join the expected rush to set up shop in the Southeast Asian nation.

The optimism was infectious, as industry executives were encouraged by the promising numbers shared by the government on uptake by Chinese nationals in its Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme.

The most recent figures, released in March showing take-up of the scheme up until January this year, said 24,765 MM2H pass holders were Chinese nationals. That equates to 44 per cent of the over 56,000 active pass holders under the programme and up from 16,000 total passes held by Chinese emigrants in 2019.

But some are not convinced that it has translated to as big of an economic benefit for the property sector – and the economy – as had been hoped.

There is no publicly available data to quantify total foreign ownership of properties in Malaysia, which makes any estimate of Chinese demand pure guesswork, according to Siva Shanker, chief executive of the estate agency at property consultant Rahim & Co.

“The problem is nobody has any [overall foreign ownership] figures, and even if they give any numbers it cannot be verified,” Siva said.

“Are there Chinese coming to buy properties in Malaysia? Sure, just like how there are British buyers. But I don’t think they [Chinese buyers] are flocking to Malaysia.”

China has been shifting its external focus by ramping up investments and trade in Southeast Asia as it grapples with a trade and tech war with the United States and middling post-pandemic recovery of its domestic economy.

While Malaysia’s MM2H stands to