SAM KIM

US ASIA JOURNAL

Where is the most popular wine bar among the rich in China these days. If you recall the courtyard of a Beijing luxury house, the highest floor of the Office Tower in central Shanghai, you are wrong. This wine bar is in Singapore, not mainland China. It is a wine bar named Circle 33 next to Scottsuro, a six-lane road in central Singapore. It is located in a bungalow with a wide garden decorated with antique Chinese antiques and sculptures such as Jinshihwangneung Byeongmayong, turtle and crane statues. It is a “hot place” that has emerged as the number of rich Chinese immigrants to Singapore has soared. “It’s a place where a rich man who first moved from China to Singapore should visit at least once like a rite of passage,” the media said.

“The members here discuss how to roll hundreds of millions of dollars until dawn, smoking high-end Cuban cigars and drinking Bordeaux wine.” Chinese rich people’s “China Exodus” is becoming steep. This is because he is tired of the zero-corona policy that has lasted for nearly three years, and the sluggish Chinese economy shows no signs of reviving. On top of that, the number of immigrants from abroad is increasing due to fears of unpredictable regulations by the Communist Party, which has proposed “joint wealth.” According to immigration consulting firm Henry & Partners, China was the country where HNWI with more than $1 million in financial assets was withdrawn the most last year. Last year, 10,800 HNWIs left and 13,500 millionaires are expected to leave this year. The main destination for Chinese millionaires leaving the mainland is Singapore. In April, the Financial Times (FT) reported that “Singapore is considered as a ship to weather the storm that will blow on them amid deepening economic and social problems in China.” The number of HNWIs who moved to Singapore last year was 2,900, up about 90% from 2019, with many Chinese. Andrew Amoris, a senior researcher at asset information firm New World Wells, predicted, “Up to 3,500 HNWIs will move to Singapore this year, most of which will be Chinese.” Money is flocking to Singapore due to “wealth immigration” from China. According to the Singapore Monetary Authority (MAS), the number of “family offices,” a family corporation that manages high-value assets, has increased 14 times in three years from 50 in 2018 to 700 in 2021. FT estimated that the number of family offices increased to about 1,500 last year, and said more than half of the increase was due to the wealthy in mainland China. Through the family office, rich Chinese people solve various financial problems such as investment and property transfer, and receive income tax cuts provided by the Singapore government. The minimum asset management of the family office reaches Singapore 20 million dollars (about 19.3 billion won), but it is popular. As a result, assets operating in Singapore increased from S$4.7 trillion in 2021 to S$5.4 trillion last year. “A billion won whiskey party overflows with Maotai in VIP clubs.” Visitors are looking at Audi’s concept car model at the Audi Exhibition Hall installed at the Art Science Museum in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Hotel in March. There is also a wind of change in the commercial district. Hundreds of Chinese applicants flock to local international schools, and high-end Chinese restaurants with Michelin star ratings are fully booked until several months later. The top-end Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars were also sold in Singapore last year, with 87 and 78 units, respectively, led by the wealthy in China. The price of foreign-only membership at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore more than doubled from 2019 to S$880,000 as of last year. “Chinese customers have a party to offer Japanese Yamazaki 55-year-old whiskey worth $800,000 (about 1 billion won) a bottle,” said Pierce Cheng, CEO of Singapore’s investment immigration consulting firm AIMS. “We also bought $61,000 (market price) for them.”

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) said, “There are many luxurious wine and cocktail bars in Singapore that have to pay high costs, and many VIP clubs and high-end restaurants for Chinese have recently been created.” “Last year’s Shanghai lockdown caused a surge to Singapore.” Obstacles are installed to prevent vehicles and people from coming and going in Shanghai, China, which was completely blocked in May last year due to the spread of COVID-19. Yonhap News Agency The Exodus of the rich in China was a turning point in April-May last year when Shanghai, the center of the Chinese economy, was completely blocked by the Zero Corona policy. At that time, Shanghai citizens suffered from a shortage of food and daily necessities with limited freedom of movement, and the richest people began to consider moving abroad, mainly in Singapore. Some analysts say that businessmen, who had been struggling with President Xi Jinping’s co-prosperity and stifling the company, began to escape in earnest to protect their assets when President Xi’s third consecutive term was confirmed in October last year. A case in point is Baofan, chairman of investment bank China Renaissance, who disappeared in February and was found to be under investigation by Chinese authorities. Before being investigated, Chairman Bao set up a family office in Singapore in December last year and tried to move some of his assets to Singapore, FT reported. The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stood at 48.8 last month, below 50 for two consecutive months, and the unemployment rate for young people aged 16 to 24 hit an all-time high of 20.8%, fueling the rich’s departure. Accordingly, there is a rumor among the wealthy in China that the amount needed for immigration to Singapore, which was believed to be possible with only 15 million yuan (about 2.4 million dollars) before the blockade of Shanghai, is now close to 100 million yuan (about 18 billion won). SCMP said, “The number of houses for sale in Shanghai surged from 100,000 in mid-March to 200,000 at the end of April, and housing prices fell by more than 10 percent.” “I like Singapore without Western sanctions,” there are many reasons why Chinese rich people prefer Singapore. First of all, there is a large Chinese population. About three-quarters of Singaporeans and permanent residents are Chinese. It is much higher than Malay (13.5%) and Indian (9%). Another great advantage is that Chinese is the official language. It has fewer regulations, such as lower income tax burden than China, and has a high-quality education system. A stable political environment is also attractive. The New York Times said, “Singapore, which restricts individual freedom by Western standards, may be dissatisfied, but for Chinese, it is enough not to arbitrarily change its policy based on the rule of law.”The international situation, including the war in Ukraine, also played a part. China’s wealthy were shocked by Western countries’ economic sanctions against Russia’s wealthy. Rupert Fujiwoff, chairman of Hurun Report, a market research firm that studies Chinese rich people, said, “Chinese rich people are concerned that their assets will not be safe in the United States, Europe, and Australia.” The Singaporean government is also worried about the Chinese real estate sweep.A luxury apartment located on Sentosa Island in Singapore in February. The rich in China buy a lot. For the Singaporean government, the migration of Chinese rich people is not pleasant. This is because they are reluctant to invest in financial products and others, which is not of great help to the Singapore economy. Bloomberg said, “Singapore hedge funds, banks, and private equity funds are worried that they cannot sign large contracts with the wealthy in China.” Instead, rich people in China are keen on investing in real estate. According to the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Administration, Chinese were the foreigners who bought the largest number of apartments (932 units) in Singapore until August last year. At the same time, 25% of 425 luxury houses were purchased in mainland China. As a result, Singapore housing prices rose 11.3% year-on-year in the first quarter. Housing rents also rose 28.2% in the fourth quarter of last year from a year ago, beating New York (18.6%) and London (17.8%). The Singapore government has imposed regulations on soaring housing prices. In April, the property tax rate paid by foreigners when purchasing a house was raised from 30% to 60% of the house price. In March, the minimum amount of investment needed for investment immigration was raised from $2.5 million to $10 million.
Nevertheless, it is expected that the Chinese will continue to travel to Singapore. “The Chinese rich, who have reduced the importance of freedom due to the Shanghai blockade, are trying to transfer assets, but the Chinese government is restricting overseas investment and controlling capital outflow,” he said. “The only option left is immigration, and Singapore, which is free from Western sanctions, is the best.”

JULIE KIM

US ASIA JOURNAL

It is a forecast of population decline in 2100 compared to 2020 in Singapore and Korea. In other words, Singapore is down only 7%, but Korea can reduce 65%.

According to the United Nations, Singapore’s population reached 5.89 million in 2020 and 5.92 million last year. After peaking at 6.41 million in 2042, the U.N. predicted that the number will increase to 5.44 million by 2100.
The Korean population, which has maintained its population due to immigration and peaked at 51.83 million in 2020, is expected to show a steady decline.

If the current trend continues, the Korean population is expected to fall below 18 million by 2100.
As of 2018, Singapore is a “country of immigrants” where more than 40% of the total population came from abroad.

Malaysian is the mainstream, and Chinese immigrants are also important. Chinese people, including former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, form Singapore’s elite.

Singapore’s population was also hit by COVID-19.

The Singaporean government said in its annual report, “The population of Singapore in 2020 is 4.1% less than in 2019, the largest decline since 1950.” It is interpreted as a result of the blockade measures caused by the aftermath of COVID-19.

However, since April, the population inflow has been recovering after the Singaporean government lifted quarantine measures such as restrictions on entry.

Singapore’s daily newspaper The Straits Times analyzed, “This is because the easing of the pandemic (pandemic pandemic) has made it easier for permanent residents to enter and leave the country overseas and the recruitment of job permits smooth.”

The number of Singaporean citizens increased only 1.6% from 3.5 million in 2020 to 3.55 million last year, while the number of foreigners who obtained permanent residency in Singapore increased 6.3% from 490,000 to 520,000 during the same period.

life and death in attracting talent

In Singapore, low birthrates and aging populations are also challenges to solve. Singapore’s total fertility rate hit a record low of 1.02 in 2020 and then recovered slightly to 1.12 last year.

However, it is analyzed that there is a limit to increasing the fertility rate.

Tan Porin, an associate professor of public policy at Lee Kuan Yew’s Graduate School of Public Policy, said, “The surest way to increase fertility is to promote immigration.”

In August, Singapore decided to establish a five-year employment visa for high-income foreigners and experts.

The move is aimed at attracting talented people who escaped during the COVID-19 blockade.

A five-year work visa will be issued to high-income earners with a monthly income of more than 30,000 Singapore dollars starting in January next year.

Professionals with outstanding performance in sports, science, and the arts are granted a work visa regardless of their income.

“In Singapore, where there are few natural resources, talent is the only resource,” Singapore’s Minister of Human Resources Development Tansreung explained the background of the introduction.

In a recent report, HSBC predicted that “Singapore will become the country with the largest number of millionaires in the Asia-Pacific region by 2030, beating Australia and Hong Kong.

” According to Henry & Partners, an investment immigration consulting firm, Singapore is the top three countries that have accepted millionaire immigration the most along with the United Arab Emirates and Australia this year.

Hong Kong, which competes for the Asian financial hub, has recently taken a sharp pro-China route, predicting that more wealthy immigrants will choose to go to Singapore.

EJ SONG

ASIA JOURNAL

A computer generated image of the planned Woodlands Health Campus (WHC) project in Singapore (Ssangyong E&C)

The two companies have formed a joint venture with Singapore’s Koh Brothers Building & Civil Engineering Contractor and worked on to win the project since December 2016.

The Ssangyong-Daewoo-Koh Brothers Consortium beat three other consortiums, including one led by Japan’s leading construction firm Shimizu Consortium that were shortlisted at bidding stage.

The Korean-Singapore consortium won high points in the category of construction technique, according to Ssangyong, which will lead the project.

Following the deal, the consortium will build Singpore’s first smart hospital on 246,000 square meters of land in the northern Woodlands area. Daewoo will help with the construction while Koh brothers will coordinate the local manpower and construction equipment and make other site arrangements.

Eight buildings with seven stories above ground and four below will hold up to 1,800 beds at facilities such as an acute care hospital, a community hospital, specialist clinics for outpatients and also a nursing home, companies said. The construction will be completed by 2022.

“The goal of WHC project is to reinvent the way hospital care is delivered, by breaking traditional process and boundaries. For future patients, the hospital will be able to provide seamless service across the acute, intermediate and community hospital environment,” the consortium said in a statement.

Smart technologies and intuitive design will be incorporated and help able to extend the reach of health care professionals into the community, it said.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)