Chinese immigrants being sold on moving to P.E.I.

A realtor from Charlottetown is heading to China Sunday, to promote Prince Edward Island.

Greg Lipton has been invited to speak to 157 Chinese families ready to immigrate to Canada.

"They've already decided they want to move to Canada," said Lipton. "We're pitching P.E.I."

Lipton is the owner of Blue Ocean Real Estate, a company that now does 70 per cent of its business with people from China.

He was asked to go to China by J-P Star Consulting, an immigration agency.

Roland Liu is going with Lipton on the trip as an interpreter. He used to live in China, and now lives in P.E.I.

Liu says many Chinese immigrants are leaving that country to escape pollution, and to raise their children in a healthier environment. P.E.I. has the good air, the space, and is more affordable.

"Many people live in small apartment or condo," he said. "But here property is big and location is good and outside is beautiful, but the price is low."

Many of the Chinese people are looking to start a business, or buy an existing one.

Either way, Lipton says that would be good for the Island economy.

"We need some people that are going to generate more employment," he said. "I think this is a great idea, I think it's perfect for us."

'Small but very gentle'

Lipton's role will be to explain why P.E.I. is perfect for them.

"They want me to present a general picture of what P.E.I. is," Liption said. "Settling on P.E.I., the different people you need to speak to, the cost of housing, cost of businesses, land."

Liu lived in China for several years, and said most people there have no idea about P.E.I., but that's changing.

"Two-thousand people on Island, we have a strong Chinese community here," Liu said.

"I think reputation of the Island, of the province, will be bigger and bigger, I think many people can understand why people come here."

Liu has his own list of favourite reasons for living on the Island.

"P.E.I. is small but very gentle, P.E.I. very friendly, especially to Chinese people," he said.

"Very small but very beautiful, and air quality is clean ... this is a very important reason for health, for the body, so people like to move from Oriental country to here."

Lipton and Liu will spend next week in Beijing, both of them excited to sell P.E.I. as a potential new home.