Money laundering often does involve tax evasion. You can launder a source of income that would be taxable into another source that isn't. Laundering the proceee

Money laundering often does involve tax evasion. You can launder a source of income that would be taxable into another source that isn't. Laundering the proceeeds of crime to avoid confiscation may or may not do this. The implied point I didn't spell out is that it can be difficult to launder money without taking a nominal loss. Obviously, if you can avoid it, you do. But if the loss is less than the loss you fear from not laundering, it still looks attractive. I don't know the chinese case, but I'm assuming capital controls and other laws in both china and the receiving country in some way make it easier to buy and keep real estate compared to more productive assets. There are also advantages such as helping with visas, etc If you consult the list of money laundering methods on Wikipedia you'll see some involve tax evasion: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_laundering https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_laundering