Overseas Chinese to send home $66 billion this year

China will receive $66 billion this year in remittance inflows, according to World Bank projections.

The figure is almost three times what China received in 2005, which was $23.62 billion, based on the organization's estimates and International Monetary Fund balance of payments reported by the Chinese government.

Remittances, what immigrant workers send to their home countries, are a traditional means of financial support for family members left behind. With China being the fourth-largest source of immigrants and the most populous nation in the world, the numbers should come as no surprise. As the volume of overseas Chinese has increased, so has the flow of money returning to China.