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Hundreds of rich Chinese eyeing move to Singapore, generating US$2.4b inflows

  • Post on August 12, 2022

AS MYRIADS of China’s high-net-worth (HNW) individuals look to relocate, over 500 of them are expected to come to Singapore — bringing with them at least US$2.4 billion worth of capital inflows for the city-state.

In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao on Wednesday (Aug 3), London-based investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners said it expects more than 10,000 HNW individuals to be on the lookout for opportunities to move out of China this year. It estimates that approximately 4,200 of these individuals have already moved out of China in the first half of the year.

These individuals carry with them an average of US$4.8 million worth of capital assets, bringing China’s total estimated outflow to around US$48 billion, they added.

According to past data, the top destinations these Chinese HNW individuals tend to migrate to include the US, Canada, Australia, UK and Singapore.

Henley & Partners told Lianhe Zaobao that although it is not absolutely sure of the exact number of Chinese HNW individuals looking to move to Singapore, the full-year estimates stand roughly above 500.

That said, the number of HNW individuals in China are so great that even if 10,000 of them left, this would only represent around 1 per cent of its total population of HNW individuals in China, the firm wrote in its latest Henley Global Citizens Report.

As China’s economic growth slows, the number of HNW individual outflows from the country could become more pronounced this year, said Henley & Partners.

Chinese interest in Singapore property has been growing. The Business Times (BT) reported in June that an entire floor at Suntec City Tower 2 was sold for S$38.8 million or a record-breaking S$3,300 per square foot to a Singapore permanent resident of Chinese descent.

The number of new family offices setting up shop here has also grown significantly in the past few years, with close to 44 per cent or 63 out of 143 new family offices originating from China as at April this year, BT reported.

“During the 2013 to 2019 period, the main drivers included the desire for better education options, a higher standard of living in a safer environment, a more temperate climate or less polluted environment, opportunities for business diversification, and financial issues such as wealth preservation and legacy protection,” said Juerg Steffen, chief executive of Henley & Partners.

“Since the outbreak of the Covid‑19 pandemic, and the latest socio-economic upheavals and geopolitical struggles across the world, the importance of having options across multiple jurisdictions in terms of where you can relocate and live is gaining traction, and for those that can afford it, residence and citizenship by investment is the simplest, fastest and most effective way to achieve it.”

*Amendment note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that that China’s estimated outflow is US$4.8 billion. It is in fact US$48 billion.

Source: The BusinessTimes

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