Bermuda is in prime position to capitalise on China’s booming economy, a top trust fund adviser told a conference yesterday.

Joe Field, of London-based global law firm Withers, told the conference that the Island’s trust fund industry could prove attractive to super-rich Chinese people looking to diversify their holdings.

But he warned the Island that an Asian appetite for homes overseas and Mandarin-speaking staff in hotels would mean Bermuda’s approach to residency and employment laws would have to be relaxed.

Mr Field said: “For Asians, residential real estate is king.”

And he added the region was investing heavily in property in London, the US and Europe.

Mr Field said: “I think there will be a market in places like Bermuda for some of the wealthier people from Asia to establish themselves here.”

He added that Asians prized education and many wealthy people from the region sent their children to the US or Canada to study or to set up satellite companies and that Bermuda was well positioned to take advantage.

And he said that customs pre-clearance to the US from Bermuda was also a draw for wealthy Asians, while there were also direct flights to London.

Mr Field said: “It’s a jurisdiction which is welcoming and friendly and has advantages other jurisdictions do not have — specifically it’s a gateway to the US and Canada and travel is easy.”

He added: “Permanent residency I know can be a thorny issue here but for some, you could attract significant families here if they knew they had a second home in Bermuda.”

And he added: “Tourism from Asia is also on the upswing and this is something Bermuda should be thinking about.”

Mr Field said that Chinese money had largely funded a major 3,000-bed hotel in the Bahamas — which had involved Chinese contractors and will have significant numbers of Mandarin-speaking staff.

He added that Bermuda would need to work with Bermuda’s trades unions because the Island would have to make “accommodations” to attract Chinese investment.

But he said: “Bermuda should consider one or two hotels targeting specifically the Asian market.”

Mr Field, who was formerly based in the Withers’ Hong Kong office, told delegates that Bermuda shared a common English basis for their legal systems with Hong Kong, Singapore and, to an extent, Malaysia.

He said: “There are more millionaires in China now than there are in the United States — and the greatest demand in China is to get money out of the country.

“The number of wealthy people in China who wish to diversify out of the country or invest in other countries, particularly the west, is enormous.”

Mr Field was speaking at the standing-room only annual Trust and Estates Conference, held at the Hamilton Princess yesterday.

He said that the recession “never happened” in China and that, although growth rates may have slowed a little, business went on as usual.”\

And he told delegates: “I’m not sure you are ignoring the Asian market — you have been out there a number of times. What I am suggesting is that you are going to have to target your investment in China.”