[The Shanghai event, at the opulent Four Seasons Hotel, was patrolled by burly security guards who screened those in attendance and kept journalists outside, in an elevator lobby. The organizers had refused on Saturday to allow late registration as word spread of the Beijing event. One guard at the Shanghai event was heard saying that at least some of the participants would be leaving through a private back exit.]
By Keith Bradsher and Ailin
Tang
 |
|
A
reception desk at a Shanghai event on Sunday promoting investment with
Kushner
Companies. Credit Associated Press
|
SHANGHAI — Like many American firms that come
to China looking for money, Kushner Companies on Sunday tried to woo a Shanghai
audience with promises of potentially big returns and a path toward living in
the United States.
But for Bi Ting, who attended the event, part
of the appeal was political: Jared Kushner is the son-in-law of — and a
powerful adviser to — President Trump. Virtually unheard-of in China just
months ago, he is now known here as a deeply influential figure in American
politics. Though Mr. Kushner has said that he has stepped back from the
day-to-day operations of the family business, filings show he and Ivanka Trump,
his wife and the president’s daughter, continue to benefit from Kushner
Companies’ real estate and investment businesses.
“The Trump relationship is an extra point for
me,” Ms. Bi said, adding that she and her husband had not decided whether to
invest.
The Kushner Companies’ China roadshow,
promoting $500,000 investments in New Jersey real estate as the path to a
residency card in the United States, moved to Shanghai on Sunday after a
similar pitch on Saturday in Beijing. Security was tighter in Shanghai than it
had been in Beijing, where reporters for The New York Times and The Washington
Post briefly attended the event before being kicked out.
The Shanghai event, at the opulent Four
Seasons Hotel, was patrolled by burly security guards who screened those in
attendance and kept journalists outside, in an elevator lobby. The organizers
had refused on Saturday to allow late registration as word spread of the
Beijing event. One guard at the Shanghai event was heard saying that at least
some of the participants would be leaving through a private back exit.
But some who attended described an investor
pitch similar to the one in Beijing, and Mr. Trump’s political power was
palpable at the Shanghai event even if his name went unsaid. On Saturday in
Beijing, one slide presented to the Shanghai audience on Sunday showed a
photograph of Mr. Trump when describing who will decide the future of the
American visa program for foreign investors, according to a snapshot taken by
an audience member.
While the Trump connection piqued the
interest of many people in attendance, such events soliciting investors for
projects in the United States are not unusual in China. The American EB-5 visa
program awards foreign investors the right to live in the United States for two
years and a path to permanent residency, in exchange for investments of at
least $500,000 in American development projects. A bright red line near the top
of the posters in the Four Seasons lobby prominently mentioned EB-5 visas.
About three-quarters of the roughly 10,000
investor visas issued last year went to Chinese nationals.
Many in China start looking for overseas
residency and passports after they have children. They fear the effects of smog
on their children’s lungs — the smog was heavy in Shanghai on Sunday, and an
internationally comparable index of air quality showed that the pollution was
seven times the level in New York City.
Many families also consider overseas schools
to be preferable to China’s, where ferocious academic competition keeps
children doing homework until late at night even in elementary school, in preparation
for a national college entrance exam that means riches or ruin.
“I want my child to live in a relatively
relaxed environment,” said Ms. Bi, who is 34 and expecting her first child,
“where he or she could be himself or herself and lead a diverse life, instead
of having no choice but to take the college entrance exam in China.”
Still, she said, investing in the Kushner
project would not give her and her husband enough time to get to the United
States before her baby was born.
Many people here worry that the window for
obtaining an EB-5 visa may be closing. Though he has softened his language
considerably in recent weeks, Mr. Trump was a vociferous critic of China during
his presidential campaign and has said he will take a tough line on immigration.
Though he did not take aim at investors in real estate projects.
The Kushner project promoted to Chinese
investors, called Kushner 1, includes two towers and nearly 1,500 luxury
apartments, with construction to begin early next year.
* (With Trump Name Unspoken, Kushners Seek Investors in Shanghai )
