VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE: How China’s wealthy sidestep strict rules to get money out of the country.

China’s capital controls remain among the world’s strictest. Individuals are generally limited to transferring US$50,000 overseas each year, while emigrants are given a one-time opportunity to move their assets abroad.

Concerns about China’s economic outlook and a drive by President Xi Jinping to reduce inequality have prompted many wealthy families to seek a financial foothold overseas. Households, institutions and companies moved a record US$807 billion, roughly, out of the country last year, according to estimates from the Institute of International Finance.

But demand for overseas assets, as well as the rapid accumulation of private wealth, has fuelled a vast underground industry dedicated to circumventing capital controls. While the true scale of illicit capital flight is impossible to quantify, court records, regulatory disclosures and interviews with industry participants point to sprawling networks that move billions of US dollars offshore each year.

This has drawn increasing scrutiny from authorities. China’s latest crackdown on overseas brokers accused of helping mainland clients trade offshore is the latest sign that regulators are intensifying efforts to monitor cross-border capital and ensure tax compliance on such money flows.

Here are some of the most common ways mainlanders circumvent the government’s strict rules to get money out of China.

Money, to borrow a phrase, finds a way.