Companies’ growing concerns in China have prompted them to relocate their operations to Singapore. They believe this will reduce the political tensions between China and the United States. This trend, called ‘Singapore washing’ by some experts, began gaining attention in the US near the end of Donald Trump’s first term, around late 2020 or early 2021, and has gained momentum, with implications for critical minerals, technology, and biotechnology, according to analysts and experts.
“Demand has always been rising…and the key thing right now is that it’s probably going to accelerate at a more rapid pace,” said KG Tan, CEO of InCorp Group, which helps companies move or expand in nine Asia-Pacific locations.
There is no official data on the number of Chinese companies based in Singapore. However, Tan said interest from Chinese firms is ‘very strong’ with about 15-20% more inquiries this year than last year. Singapore-based companies include optical products producer Terahop, backed by Zhongji Innolight, a China-based company that established a shop in the country in 2018.
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Additionally, it includes data centre operator DayOne, spun off from GDS Holdings, Manus AI, an artificial intelligence agent from China’s Butterfly Effect, and ChemLex, an AI-powered company that uses chemical synthesis.
