CHINESE investors who bought property in Johor are not interested to relocate, but are keen to invest in holiday homes, said state International Trade, Investment and Utilities Committee chairman Jimmy Puah Wee Tse. 

Puah visited China recently and spoke to a number of investors, who shared their fears over the negative coverage in Malaysia. 

“I went to China to calm the investors,” he told The Malaysian Insight. 

“They don’t understand why they are being singled out… (They asked) why us? What’s wrong with China? If you are against people buying property, Singaporeans have been buying (in Malaysia) for more than 50 years.

“We explained this is what is going on… We explained the policy, especially the part that says even if you come (to Malaysia), there’s no guarantee you will become citizens. 

“Everybody started laughing. They said, ‘we don’t want to become your citizens. We don’t want to stay’.”

Puah, who is in his fourth month in office, said those who are looking to buy property in Johor are looking for a place in the tropics, where they can holiday during the winter months. 

The misunderstanding over the intention of Chinese investors in Malaysia has dented their confidence, he said.

Puah, who is also Bukit Batu assemblyman, said the state’s potential continues to appeal to many buyers from China. 

“(To them,) the advantages of Johor still outweigh all the other things. Our closeness to Singapore, our very complete infrastructure, our historical ties with China.”

In a recent interview with BBC’s Hardtalk programme, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said while he has no objections to China’s One Belt, One Road initiative, he is against projects that allow foreigners to reside in Malaysia en masse.

The Chinese are welcome to invest in Malaysia, he said, but noted that “real” foreign direct investment should involve bringing technology and factories in ways that benefited locals.

He was also asked if Malaysia’s move to cancel or suspend billions of dollars worth of projects by China has caused concern among investors.

“(The Chinese) are welcome to invest (here). (President) Xi Jinping is not angry with me for saying that.”

Asked by host Zeinab Badawi if this means that the prime minister does not want Chinese people settling in Malaysia, Dr Mahathir said: “No country wants citizens of another country to come and settle en masse.”

Investments linked to China are under renewed scrutiny by Dr Mahathir’s government.

Days after his working visit to Beijing, the prime minister put the brakes on the China-backed East Coast Rail Link project, and halted two gas pipeline projects in Sabah.

Dr Mahathir later said foreigners will not be allowed to buy residential units in the US$100 billion (RM400 billion) Forest City mega project in Johor, which is owned by Chinese developer Country Garden.

The Prime Minister’s Office, in a previous statement, said Malaysia imposes certain conditions on properties purchased by foreigners, irrespective of their nationality, and that information on these conditions is publicly available.

The purchase of properties does not guarantee automatic residency in the country.

For foreigners wishing to make Malaysia their permanent residence, there is a government programme called Malaysia My Second Home. The conditions are clearly spelled out for those interested, and information on this programme, too, is publicly available.

Statistics from the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) showed Johor maintaining its spot as the No. 1 foreign investment destination in the country for the manufacturing sector as of the first quarter of this year. Johor has retained this position for the past five years. 

Last year, MIDA’s figures showed that investment from China brought in close to RM1 billion for Johor, making it the second-highest investor for manufacturing in the state, after Australia. 

Meanwhile, figures by the Statistics Department showed that last year, overall FDI flow into Malaysia came mainly from Hong Kong (RM7.5 billion), followed by China (RM6.9 billion) and Singapore (RM6.1 billion). – October 5, 2018.