Miami Realtors, South Florida Groups Welcome Chinese Trade and Investment

MIAMI – (RealEstateRama) — The MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) is working along with other local groups to increase Chinese trade, investment and consumers in South Florida. MIAMI CEO Teresa King Kinney will be participating and presenting at the 2016 Asian Real Estate Association of America’s China North America Global Summit on June 15-25, 2016 at Chengdu, Xi’an, Changzhou and Shanghai.

“South Florida’s clean air, quality schools, international banking center and construction industries are of great interest to the Chinese,” Kinney said. “A direct flight from China to Miami would encourage more investment in South Florida. It would boost South Florida’s banking, tourism, real estate, retail, education and construction industries.”

China, the world’s most populous country, has invested more than $100 billion in the United States since 2000. Locally, China finished as Miami’s third-largest foreign trade partner with $6.4 billion in transactions in 2015, according to Miami-Dade County statistics. More than 400,000 passengers flew from Miami to Asia in 2015, according to Sabre Global Demand data and Miami International Airport.

Kinney will be traveling with the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) on a trade mission to China this month. Ninoska “Nina” Fabbri of ISG International will also be attending the 2016 Asian Real Estate Association of America’s China North America Global Summit on June 15-25, 2016 at Chengdu, Xi’an, Changzhou and Shanghai. Fabbri is a member of the Greater Miami AREAA Board and the AREAA International Committee.

MIAMI has facilitated several partnerships and events to help its 42,000-plus members better advertise their properties in China. MIAMI recently reached an agreement with Juwai, China’s No. 1 international property portal, to promote MIAMI residential and commercial listings in Asia.

MIAMI has been facilitating Chinese partnerships since 2013. MIAMI made a 2013 market-presentation in San Francisco to a group of 100 top Chinese brokers with SouFun, which operates one of the leading real estate Internet portals in China.

MIAMI hosted a dinner in Miami for the Chairman of the Chinese Real Estate Association and their delegates.‎ MIAMI exhibited at luxury property shows in Beijing and Shanghai in 2015. MIAMI members also have special pricing for their properties on SouFun, now Fang.com.

The First Direct Miami to Asia Flight
A group of Miami-Dade County government officials and local businessmen recently traveled to China and Taiwan to discuss the creation of nonstop passenger flights to Asia. The Miami-Dade Aviation Department has also created the MIA-Asia Task Force of 39 community and business groups, including the Japanese Business Association and the Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association.

Recently, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. CEO Ivan Chu told Bloomberg News his airline is considering a plane capable of direct flights from Miami to Hong Kong. Cathay is Asia’s largest airline by passengers.

Many major cities in the U.S. have a direct or nonstop flight to Asia, but Miami is the furthest U.S. point from the continent. New flight technology has made the potential 18-hour flight possible.

Launching the first direct Miami to China flight would make it easier for China’s growing middle class to visit, create businesses and purchase real estate in South Florida. By 2022, China’s middle class will grow to 630 million — which will be 45 percent of the country’s total population — and consume $3.4 trillion in goods and services — about 24 percent of gross domestic product.

Creating Miami’s First Chinatown, Consulate
The North Miami City Council recently approved plans to study and designate a Chinatown cultural arts and innovation district. The district would be on Northwest Seventh Avenue (U.S. 441) from 119th to 135th streets. There are no plans to displace established businesses and the idea is to involve Chinese motifs in the overall façade of the area.

North Miami City Council staff noted the large number of Chinese students at Florida International University, which has a campus in North Miami. Miami’s Florida International University, the first U.S. university to establish campuses in China more than a decade ago, has about 5,000 Chinese students. FIU has a partnership with the Tianjin University of Commerce in Tianjin, China.

Other governmental entities, such as the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners, are working to establish a branch of the Chinese Consulate in Miami. Currently, the Chinese Consulate-General in Houston covers Florida as part of its consular jurisdiction.

A Miami Chinese Consulate would not only help local residents in obtaining visas to visit China, but it would also promote more Chinese investments in South Florida.