The more desperately Chinese firms seek a haven for their international operations, the more they’ll lean toward Singapore. Will their love be reciprocated?
Amid the drumbeats of a U.S.-China cold war, the Southeast Asian island-state is often talked about as a sanctuary for capital looking to flee the clash of superpowers. But aging Singapore, with excess savings of its own, doesn’t want a truckload of new money.
Business investments, however, are very different from potentially destabilizing financial flows. They create jobs, provide new orders to local vendors, and spark optimism about the future, something rather badly needed amid the COVID-19 despondence. That’s why Singapore must be pleased to see Tencent Holdings Ltd., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd. coming to the city with investment plans worth billions of dollars.