欧洲用"黄金签证"吸引中国富人
Cash-strapped governments across Europe are reeling in investment from Chinese millionaires and other big spenders by offering “golden visa” residence permits in exchange for house purchases.
资金拮据的欧洲国家政府为中国百万富翁及其他出手阔绰的人士提供了一种通过购房换取的“黄金签证”居留许可，以吸引他们的投资。Portugal is at the forefront of the trend after issuing 1,360 such visas since 2012 – 1,100, or 81 per cent, of which went to Chinese nationals. Greece, Latvia, Spain and other crisis-hit eurozone countries run similar schemes.
在这一潮流中，葡萄牙走在了各国的前面。自2012年以来，该国颁发了1360份这类签证，其中1100份发给了中国公民，占该类签证总数的81%。希腊、拉脱维亚、西班牙及其他受到金融危机打击的欧元区国家也实行了类似制度。
Hungary offers residency visas for people who make a 250,000 investment in government bonds. Buying a property for 220,000 in Malta or 300,000 in Cyprus can also secure a residence permit. By spending a minimum 500,000 on a Portuguese property non-European families can live in Portugal for five years and then apply for permanent residence. They can also travel in the 26 EU countries that make up the Schengen “open borders” area.
匈牙利为投资25万欧元购买匈牙利国债的人提供居留签证。以22万欧元在马耳他置业或30万欧元在塞浦路斯置业同样能拿到居留许可。在葡萄牙，非欧盟家庭花费至少50万欧元购买房地产，就能在该国生活五年，并在随后申请永久居留权。他们还可以在申根(Schengen)“开放边境”地区所包括的26个欧盟国家旅行。
However, most Chinese buyers are acquiring golden visas as a “Plan B escape route” and do not intend to become permanent EU residents, according to estate agents in the sector.
不过，根据房地产代理商的说法，多数中国买家只是把获取黄金签证当做一种“备用出逃途径”，他们并不打算成为欧盟永久居民。Charles Roberts, founder of Fine & Country real estate firm, which has sold 100 Portuguese properties to Chinese golden visa applicants, said: “The Chinese are buying an exit route so that if something goes wrong for them at home they can get on a plane and get out.”
Fine & Country房地产公司创始人查尔斯•罗伯茨(Charles Roberts)表示：“中国人正在出钱购买的是一条退路。这样，如果在国内遇到麻烦，他们就可以登上飞机离开中国。” Fine & Country公司迄今已向申请黄金签证的中国人出售了100个葡萄牙物业。Chinese companies operating in Portugal estimate that only about one in five Chinese investors will spend much more than seven days a year in Portugal, the minimum stay requirement to acquire a golden visa.
据在葡萄牙运营的中国企业估计，每五名中国投资者中只有一人每年在葡萄牙居留的时间会大大超过7天；7天是黄金签证要求的最少居留天数。The trend is breathing new life into property markets hit by years of recession. Portugal’s visa programme, the most successful to date in the EU, has netted almost 900m in real estate investment since its launch in October 2012, a figure property developers expect to reach 2bn by the end of 2015.
这一潮流正在为受到多年衰退打击的各国楼市注入新的活力。到目前为止，欧盟(EU)最成功的黄金签证项目是葡萄牙的签证项目。自2012年10月启动以来，葡萄牙签证项目已吸引了近9亿欧元的房地产投资。房地产开发商预计，到2015年底，这一数字将达到20亿欧元。The idea of exchanging residence permits and, in some cases, citizenship for cash has also angered some EU politicians. Non-EU residents who invest a minimum of 1.15m in Malta can apply for a passport after living on the island for a year. Ana Gomes, a Portuguese socialist member of the European Parliament, called the schemes “the sale of nationality by instalments” and a threat to the EU’s “values and security”.
不过，以现金换取居留许可（有时候甚至是公民权）的想法也激怒了部分欧盟政界人士。比如，非欧盟居民在马耳他生活一年以后，只要最低投资115万欧元，就能申请该国护照。欧洲议会(European Parliament)葡萄牙社会党成员安娜•戈梅斯(Ana Gomes)称，这种制度是“以分期付款的方式出售国籍”，对欧盟“价值观及安全”构成了威胁。
