BEIJING — Much has been made recently about Chinese real estate investors, who spend huge sums snapping up foreign property. Tencent Finance, a Chinese online magazine, published a report on the phenomenon this week, in an article titled: "Those Countries Taken Over By Chinese Property Speculators." Here's a breakdown.

South Korea:South Korea's geographical proximity to their country has attracted many Chinese buyers, who have collectively purchased 160,000 square meters in Seoul and 9.14 million square meters in holiday destination Jeju Island over the last few years. As a result, real estate prices on Jeju Island have more than doubled.

Japan: The country's environment and quality houses attract Chinese real estate investors to Japan. Last year alone, they poured over $2 billion into Japan, contributing to a 30% increase in its property prices.

Singapore: Singapore's excellent education system, reputation as the world's "safest city," and large Chinese population make an appealing package for investors in China. In many cases, they actually hope to move to Singapore, or at least to send their children there. Some estimates show more than 10% of the city-state's properties put on the market in recent years were bought by Chinese.

United States: Though regarded by the Chinese Communist Party as a decadent country, the United States is China's top destination for both immigration purposes and property purchases. In the last five years, individual Chinese buyers have spent as much as $110 billion on U.S. property, and that doesn't include money invested in real estate through corporate institutions and trusts.