Crazy Rich China Moves Wealth to Singapore, What’s Up?

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The trend of transferring wealth abroad is now approaching the alias rich crazy rich China. Some of them are starting to make Singapore a safe place to store their assets.

Since the wave of demonstrations that disrupted Hong Kong’s economy in 2019, China’s wealthy have been looking for alternative places to store their wealth. Singapore has proven attractive because of its large Mandarin-speaking community and one of the few countries that has no wealth tax.

The trend of wealthy Chinese saving money in Singapore appeared to have picked up last year after Beijing’s sudden crackdown on the education industry and emphasis on “shared prosperity,” namely moderate wealth for all, not just the few.

Iris Xu, founder of accounting and corporate services firm Jengasaid they had helped wealthy Chinese move their assets to Singapore through a family office structure.

A family office is a private company that handles investment and wealth management for wealthy families. In Singapore, setting up a family office usually requires assets of at least US$ 5 million.

Correspondingly, over the past 12 months, inquiries about the establishment of family offices in Singapore have doubled in Jenga. Xu said the majority of questions came from people in China or immigrants from the country.

Xu said about 50 of his clients have opened family offices in Singapore, each with assets of at least $10 million.

“(Our Chinese clients) believe there are many opportunities to make a lot of money in China, but they are not sure if it is safe for them to park money there,” Xu said, according to a translation of the interview. CNBC International from Mandarin.

The phenomenon of Chinese rich people keeping their wealth in Singapore is predicted to continue. One of the factors is the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine which brings uncertainty, so that Chinese citizens increasingly want to open a family office in Singapore.

This is also supported by the Chinese government which says it opposes sanctions. Beijing also refused to mention Russia’s attack on the Ukraine as an invasion, and state media often blame the United States (US) for the conflict.

In contrast to China’s efforts to take a neutral stance on war, Singapore joined the US and the European Union in imposing sanctions on Russia. Indonesia’s neighboring country has reportedly frozen local bank accounts held by sanctioned Russian individuals and entities.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(tfa/luc)

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