Deng Xiaoping, China’s former liberalizing premier who opened the once-closed nation to the outside world, once famously quipped that “if you open the window for fresh air, you have to expect some flies to blow in.” It’s a maxim proving true in Singapore as the city-state welcomes a growing number of footloose, high-net-worth Chinese only to discover that not all of their capital is clean.
For China, 2023 was supposed to be a year of economic revival. Instead, Asia’s biggest economy has seen its biggest capital flight in years, an outflux pushing wealthy Chinese nationals to Singapore as an emigration safe haven amid sluggish growth, a regulatory crackdown on private enterprise and ever-expanding societal controls at home.
The inrush of Chinese money is being keenly felt in Singapore, regarded as the so-called “Switzerland of Asia” for its political neutrality and open banking facilities. High-net-worth individuals from mainland China and Hong Kong are believed to have contributed to record capital inflows into the city-state in the past two years.
That, in turn, has contributed to soaring property and rental prices that helped drive inflation to a 14-year high earlier this year. Meanwhile, anecdotes and images of “crazy rich” Chinese emigres flaunting their wealth in tough times have gone viral, with the outward displays of affluence rubbing many in Singapore the wrong way.
Read the full story at Asia Times.
Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.
