Wealthy Chinese are emerging as the major group seeking permanent residency in the United States via investment, Xinhua reported.

About three quarters of those applying for the EB-5 investment immigration program were Chinese this year, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The USCIS said China topped the list with 2,969 applications under the EB-5 program. Of those, 934 have been approved. In 2007, only 270 Chinese people applied, with 161 approved. Since then, the number has continued to grow every year.

EB-5 investor status gives permanent residency to foreign nationals who can directly or indirectly create at least 10 jobs in America by investing at least US$1 million.

That threshold drops to US$500,000 if a foreign national invests through "regional centers" in rural areas or urban regions with high unemployment.

According to a recent Bank of China survey, four out of 10 millionaires in China were thinking of emigrating and sending their children to study overseas, with the U.S. and Canada being their top destinations.