In the latest World Ultra Wealth Report released last week, China was ranked third in the total number of Ultra-High Net Worth (UHNW) individuals in 2013. For that year, there were 7,905 wealthy Chinese with net worth over $30 million.

Ahead of China are the U.S. and Japan, but among the top 10 nations in the list made by Kinght-Frank Research, China logged the highest forecast growth of UHNW individuals in the next 10 years as their numbers are projected to rise by 80 percent to 14,213.

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Thus, it is not surprising that 80 percent also of rich Chinese families plan to have their children study overseas, according to the Hurun Report on education. It is the highest rate globally since only 1 percent of Japanese have similar plans, while among Germans it is 10 percent, reports Xinhua.

By destination, the rich Chinese target to enroll their children in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom. Other target countries are mostly developed countries where tertiary education would cost parents more than an arm and leg. These are in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand, Singapore and France. The only exception to that is Germany where university education is 100 percent tuition-free.

The wider choice available to Chinese parents where to send their kids to study abroad is because of the broader social network that they now enjoy in which they have trusted friends and kin in other countries whom they can ask to look after their kids. In contrast, a decade ago, their countries of choice were often limited to Canada and Australia.

On the average, the rich Chinese kids are sent overseas for their university education when they reach 16 years old, the study found.

Rupert Hoogewerf, who published the Hurun report, said that rich Chinese children acquiring education overseas would further benefit the Chinese economy in terms of globalization. This is a dramatic shift during the communist era when China was considered a closed economy.

Tagseducation, hurun report, rich chinese, study abroad