The number of expats in China has soared in the lead-up to the Olympics. But with the Games set to begin a month from tomorrow, the question is: Is it true that what goes up must - or at least, in this case, will - come down?
Beijing especially has been buzzing with anticipation of a mass exodus of foreigners after the Games.
But will this mad rush to the airport become a post-Olympic reality?
Lindsay Oliver Klump, who heads talent and organizational consulting analytics for internationally leading human resources firm Hewitt Associates, doesn't believe so.
"The number of expats has been increasing in China over the years, and I suspect this trend will only continue," she says.
By now, most expats in the country have taken note that - in a largely unexpected twist - a flight of foreigners has taken place before, rather than after, the Games, due to a recent tightening of visa restrictions.
Executive director of the German Chamber of Commerce (GCC) in Hong Kong Wolfgang Ehmann says the GCC hasn't researched the impacts of a post-Olympics exodus of foreigners, "since we do not expect any exodus".
But it has surveyed 512 firms about the limiting of multiple-entry visas. Nearly 80 percent of the 46 responders said they believed the restrictions would negatively impact their operations, while more than 40 percent anticipate "an unfavorable impact over the medium and long term".
