Wealthy Chinese want British education for their children Britain has emerged as the most popular international location for pre-university education among wealthy Chinese families, in research that underlines London's growing kudos as a destination for investment and schooling. The Hurun Report, a closely watched annual survey of China's entrepreneurs and investors, found that 29 per cent gave Britain as the ideal country for their children's secondary education, followed by the US with 26 per cent. Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report founder, said 80 per cent of wealthy Chinese wanted to send their children abroad for their education. "It's a phenomenon of this generation," he said at an event on Wednesday at Bank of China's London arm beside the Bank of England. The influx of Chinese in Britain's education system would have spillover effects for the rest of the economy, he added. These people will have two years in the UK at sixth form, followed by four years at university, followed very likely by a year or two of work experience. So they're going to have a very personal relationship with Britain for the best part of 8 years. Last year saw a wave of Chinese investments announced in London, including ABP's £1bn scheme for a business park at the Royal Albert Dock, Wanda's hotel and apartment development on the South Bank and a £500m plan by Zhongrong to rebuild the Crystal Palace in south London. The report, which questioned 393 Chinese with wealth of £1m or more, found that 64 per cent were considering emigrating - though only 15 per cent of those would consider relinquishing their nationality. The US was the top destination cited, but Europe - which Mr Hoogewerf said for most meant London - had jumped to second place, from fifth last year. Chinese buyers are also making inroads into London's high-end property market. Mainland Chinese buyers accounted for 4.2 per cent of prime London sales in 2013, up from 2.2 per cent in 2012, according to new data from property agent Knight Frank. The figures put the Chinese fourth in the ranking of nationalities buying in London, after India, Russia and France. Liam Bailey, global research head at Knight Frank, said the growth had taken place over the past three years. It reflects the increasing economic presence of Chinese firms in London, with a confidence gathering pace that London is the key European city market. According to a census by the Independent Schools Council, there were just under 26,000 non-British pupils at UK independent schools in 2013, making up around 5 per cent of the total private school population. Hong Kong and mainland China together make up over a third of all overseas pupils, and account for a larger proportion of overseas pupils in British schools than the whole of the rest of Europe. However, while the number of pupils from Hong Kong fell by 5 per cent in 2013 compared to the previous year, the numbers from mainland China rose by 5 per cent. Education experts suggest this is a sign that the Chinese are more prepared to engage with the Home Office's increasingly stringent visa bureaucracy in order to secure places for their children in the best British institutions. A greater willingness to overcome the UK's barriers to entry was reinforced by Edmond Wan, a British-Chinese manager at law firm Fragomen, who said inquiries from Chinese clients over UK residency had risen by 60 per cent in the past year. "We are fielding at least two enquiries a day," he said. However, the Hurun Report suggested Britain was losing out to other countries as a place for leisure travel, after it dropped out of the top ten destinations in this year's sub-ranking. "I believe the main issue is the visa," said Mr Hoogewerf.