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Thailand was the most popular outbound destination for Chinese travelers during the May labour day holiday, data from website Trip.com showed, followed by Japan and South Korea. "There is definitely demand from China for properties in Thailand," said Mesak Chunharakchot, the president of the Thai Real Estate Association. "Chinese are buying houses, sending their children to international schools and having their parents come stay in Thailand to take care of the grandkids." Nearly 270,000 Chinese tourists visited Thailand in March, government data shows, a three-year high, though well below the figure of 985,227 in March 2019, before the pandemic took hold. Therefore some would sell one of the houses in China and buy a property here for retirement."

☆ PDD, Shein, Binance: These hugely successful companies were born in China. They don't want you to know that
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Hong Kong CNN —Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, doesn’t want to be called a Chinese company. “Our opposition in the West bends over backward to paint us as a ‘Chinese company,’” he wrote in a blog post last September. Zhao has been vocal about how he feels his firm is misrepresented as a "Chinese company." The same concern could, in theory, apply to any Chinese company. TikTok CEO Shou Chew testifying before US Congress in March.

REUTERS/Edgar SuSINGAPORE, April 27 (Reuters) - Vera Liu, a Singapore property agent, was panicking in the wee hours of Thursday morning after new property taxes saw two of her deals fall through. Policymakers are growing concerned that foreign investors increasingly see Singapore property as a hot asset class, squeezing out locals. Christine Sun, the senior vice president of research & analytics at OrangeTee & Tie, called it a "freezing measure" for foreign buyers. Shares of Singapore property companies fell on Thursday, with City Development (CTDM.SI) and UOL Group (UTOS.SI), which have large Singapore footprints, hit hardest. "There's little impact on the other 90%," said Mak, who has been analysing Singapore property for more than two decades.

☆ Singapore executes citizen for cannabis trafficking
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Chen Lin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, April 26 (Reuters) - Singapore on Wednesday executed a man convicted of drug trafficking, a representative for his family said, despite pleas from his relatives and activists for clemency. Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, had been convicted for abetting the trafficking in 2013 of more than 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of cannabis, double the threshold for the death penalty in the city-state, which is known for its tough laws on narcotics. The Singapore government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The United Nations Office for Human Rights had also called for Singapore not to proceed with the execution and to "adopt a formal moratorium on executions for drug-related offences". Singapore executed 11 people last year and says the death penalty is an effective deterrent against drugs and that most of its people support the policy.

☆ Singapore hikes property stamp duties to cool property market
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Chen Lin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, April 26 (Reuters) - Singapore raised taxes on private property purchases in a surprise move late on Wednesday night that includes a doubling of stamp duties for foreigners to an eye-watering 60%. The ABSD on Singaporeans' second and subsequent home purchases will rise to 20% from 17%, and 30% from 25%, respectively. The government said in a news release that property prices showed "renewed signs of acceleration amid resilient demand." The last time it raised stamp duties was in December 2021, when it said the property market was "buoyant" despite the economic impact of COVID-19. Property prices and rents in Singapore have been climbing steadily over recent years due to construction delays caused by the COVID-19 disruptions.

[1/2] Visitors look at a Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle (EV ) at the third China International Consumer Products Expo, in Haikou, Hainan province, China April 12, 2023. Tesla said on Friday it cut prices in numerous European markets including Germany and France because of a scaling up and improvement in its production capacity. In Germany, Tesla has lowered the price of its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles by between 4.5% and 9.8%, data on its website showed on Friday, marking its second price reduction this year after a price reduction of 1-17% in January. In Singapore, it cut prices of its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles between 4.3% and 5%, its local website showed. Tesla also cut prices in Israel, with the price of the base rear-wheel drive Model 3 slashed by 25% after an initial round of global price cuts in January.

☆ Tesla cuts prices of Model 3, Model Y vehicles in Singapore
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, April 14 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has cut prices of its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in Singapore between 4.3% and 5%, its website showed on Friday. Tesla cut prices on Real-Wheel Drive version of both Model 3 and Model Y by S$4,000 ($3,020), and Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive version of the two models by S$5,000, the website showed. Last week, Tesla announced its fifth vehicle price reduction this year in the U.S. market, as Washington prepares to introduce tougher standards that will limit EV tax credits. Tesla in January had offered limited-term discounts to buyers in Singapore who agreed to purchase existing inventory of the Model 3 or Model Y, but it did not make a general price cut at the time like it did in South Korea, Japan and Australia. ($1 = 1.3244 Singapore dollars)Reporting by Chen Lin Editing by Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Binance.US to delist digital asset tokens TRON, Spell
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, April 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance said it will remove digital asset tokens TRON and Spell from its trading platform, sending the prices of both down sharply on Wednesday. The TRON token fell nearly 5% against the U.S. dollar after the announcement, which was posted on Twitter and the Binance.US website, while the much smaller Spell token fell more than 5%, based on data from CoinMarketCap. Justin Sun, founder of the TRON token, told Reuters in a text message that the impact would be "relatively small". "Binance.US trading volume is less than $1 million per day. TRX's current trading volume is $400 million," said Sun, using the token's ticker symbol.

Chinese demand is helping boost Singapore property prices, Chinese students are snapping up apartments in Sydney and Melbourne, and agents say Chinese interest is ticking up in Thailand. But they indicate that in the wake of the pandemic, Chinese families are looking to relocate assets, and even themselves, overseas. Home purchases in Singapore, where Chinese are the top foreign buyers, cooled early in 2023 from last year's torrid pace - but only slightly despite a steep rise in real estate stamp duties. The Singapore American School has "seen significant interest from Chinese families looking to enrol," it said in a statement responding to Reuters questions. Canada, another real estate market popular with Chinese investors, has put a two-year ban on foreign purchasers.

☆ Chinese top hotpot chain's overseas unit sees profit this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Chen Lin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, March 31 (Reuters) - The overseas unit of China's biggest hotpot chain Haidilao expects to return to profit this year, after posting almost 80% year-on-year growth in revenue for 2022 late on Thursday. Haidilao International Holding's (6862.HK) overseas unit, Super Hi International Holding (9658.HK), posted revenue of $558.2 million and a net loss of $41.3 million for 2022, compared with a loss of $150.8 million in 2021. Overall, we are satisfied with our performance in 2022, and optimistic with this year," Zhou Zhaocheng, 50, CEO of Haidilao's overseas unit told Reuters in an interview. The pace of opening new stores overseas this year would be similar to last year, when 17 new stores were added, Zhou said. Haidilao International Holding carved out its overseas units to form Super Hi International Holding and listed it in Hong Kong in December.

☆ Singapore core inflation steady at 5.5%, focus on April policy review
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Chen Lin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

February's core inflation rate - which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs - compared with a forecast in a Reuters poll of economists for a 5.8% increase in February. However, the inflation rate in February is still at the same level as in January, which was the fastest pace seen since November, 2008. MAS has said core inflation was likely to stay at about 5% for the early part of 2023. It has also projected a core inflation rate of between 3.5% to 4.5% in 2023, with headline inflation coming in at between 5.5% and 6.5%. While analysts said inflation in February was below their forecasts, there were divisions over the implications for a monetary policy review MAS will conduct in April.

☆ Singapore February core inflation rises lower-than-forecast 5.5%
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Chen Lin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The core inflation rate - which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs - compared with a forecast in a Reuters poll of economists for a 5.8% increase in February. Lower prices for services were broadly offset in the core inflation data by higher prices for retail, as well as other goods and utilities, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a statement. However, the inflation rate in February is still at the same level as in January, which was the fastest pace seen since November, 2008. MAS has said core inflation was likely to stay at about 5% for the early part of 2023. It has also projected a core inflation rate of between 3.5% to 4.5% in 2023, with headline inflation coming in at between 5.5% and 6.5%.

A CHINESE COMPANY? Those rules followed a regulatory crackdown that has slowed U.S. listings by Chinese companies to a trickle. Chinese companies raised only around $230 million in U.S. listings last year, a massive drop from $12.9 billion in 2021, according to Refinitiv data. It was not immediately clear if SHEIN is planning to officially seek Chinese regulatory approval for its IPO. The moves were designed so that SHEIN could bypass seeking Chinese regulatory approval for the listing, sources have previously said.

☆ Gourmet fish bladder races chicken, beef to profitability in Singapore's lab meat push
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Chen Lin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Two years after Singapore greenlighted lab-grown meat for human consumption, mass production has yet to start. The technological, regulatory and scale barriers to entry for cultivated meat are very high compared to plant-based meat, said Didier Toubia, chief executive of Israel's Aleph Farms, which makes cultivated beef steak. "It's too high and it's embarrassing ... We lose money every time someone enjoys our cultivated chicken," Eat Just CEO Josh Tetrick said. Hong Kong-based Avant Meats is more bullish than Eat Just, with ambitions to make a premium food, cultivated fish maw. Fish maw is the swim bladder of a fish, a delicacy prized in China that could fetch up to thousands of dollars per kilogram, depending on its grade.

SINGAPORE, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Singapore announced on Tuesday narrower fiscal deficits in a budget aimed at helping households manage the rising cost of living while replenishing its pandemic-depleted coffers. The fiscal position is "appropriate for the projected economic conditions this year", finance minister Lawrence Wong told parliament as he presented details of the 2023 budget. The government will enhance a support package to help Singaporeans offset a recent sales tax hike from S$6.6 billion ($4.97 billion) to S$9.6 billion. The second step of a scheduled sales tax hike would go ahead as planned in 2024. The sales tax will increase to 9% next January, after increasing from 7% to the current 8% on Jan. 1 this year.

☆ Singapore downgrades Q4 GDP, keeps 2023 forecast
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Chen Lin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Analysts said that some services industries will fare better this year amid China's reopening, while manufacturing, especially electronics, is likely to weigh on growth in the short-term. The current central bank monetary policy stance remains appropriate, said Edward Robinson, Deputy Managing Director at the Monetary Authority of Singapore said. "Looks like the window remains open for a tightening if core inflation remains very sticky on the downside," she added. Since April last year, Singapore had lifted most of its COVID-19 restrictions with many international events returning to the city-state, attracting tourists and businesses. Reporting by Chen Lin in Singapore; Editing by Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Singapore relaxes COVID travel curbs, mask rules further
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Chen Lin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

However, masks will still be mandatory in healthcare settings, where there is interaction with patients and in indoor patient-facing areas. "Within Singapore our COVID situation has remained stable over the recent months, despite increased travel over the year-end holidays and China's shift from zero COVID," Lawrence Wong, deputy prime minister and co-chair of the virus taskforce, told a media briefing. But we managed to reach this point together because we all did our part," Wong said. Since April last year, Singapore had lifted most of its COVID-19 restrictions with many international events returning to the city-state, attracting tourists and businesses. The Asian financial hub is expecting the tourism sector to recover to pre-pandemic levels by 2024.

SINGAPORE, Jan 31, (Reuters) - Like many rich Chinese, graduate student Zayn Zhang thinks Singapore could be ideal to park his family's wealth. His family might establish a Singapore family office to manage its wealth in the future, he added. Well-known Singapore family offices include those set up by James Dyson of vacuum cleaner fame, hedge fund manager Ray Dalio and Zhang Yong, founder of China's Haidilao hotpot restaurant chain. Though fresher statistics are not available, those involved in the industry said interest in family offices picked up in 2022 and is expected to continue unabated this year. While some are setting up family offices, others are setting up business headquarters in Singapore or investing in funds domiciled in Singapore, she said.

☆ Singapore's December core inflation rises 5.1%
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The core inflation rate - which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs - was unchanged from the 5.1% rise in November. For 2022 as a whole, core inflation averaged 4.1%, higher than the 0.9% recorded in 2021. Meanwhile, headline inflation came in at 6.1% last year, up from 2.3% in 2021. The central bank had earlier said core inflation was likely to stay at about 5% for the early part of 2023. It has also projected a core inflation rate of between 3.5% to 4.5% in 2023, with headline inflation coming in at between 5.5% and 6.5%.

But retailers in popular Asian destinations are desperate to take advantage of the return of a first wave of Chinese tourists as the country reopens borders after three long years of COVID-19 curbs. And robust demand for destinations like Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand has boosted prospects for the battered travel industry, Ctrip booking data shows. Still, destinations elsewhere show that the return of Chinese tourists remains at a very early stage. Fresh COVID testing requirements for Chinese tourists in some locations may be acting as a barrier, while some countries also require visas that take time to process. Retailers in South Korea are also not seeing a huge influx in Chinese tourists yet, citing the suspension of short-term visas for travellers between both countries.

☆ With few entry tests, Southeast Asia may gain most from China's travel revival
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Xinghui Kok | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Except for airplane wastewater testing by Malaysia and Thailand for the virus, the region's 11 nations will treat Chinese travellers like any others. As many as 76% of Chinese travel agencies ranked Southeast Asia as the top destination when outbound travel resumed, according to a survey released in December by trade show ITB China. Thailand already expects to welcome 5 million Chinese travellers this year, or about half of the 10.99 million of 2019. Neighbouring Malaysia projects 1.5 million to 2 million Chinese tourists this year versus 3 million before the pandemic. "But for Cambodia, it’s an invitation to Chinese people: Chinese tourists, come to Cambodia."

☆ Singapore Q4 GDP expands 2.2% y/y, beating forecasts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SINGAPORE, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Singapore's economy grew slightly more than expected in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, preliminary data showed on Tuesday. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 2.2% in October-December on a year-on-year basis, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a statement. GDP grew 0.2% on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis in October-December. For the full year of 2022, the economy grew 3.8%. Reporting by Chen Lin; Polling by Devayani Sathyan and Dhruvi Shah; Editing by Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chinese hospitals 'extremely busy' as COVID spreads unchecked
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Staff at Huaxi, a big hospital in the southwestern city of Chengdu, said they were extremely busy caring for patients with COVID, as they have been ever since curbs were eased on Dec. 7. There were long queues inside and outside the hospital’s emergency department and at an adjacent fever clinic on Tuesday evening. “Almost all of the patients have COVID,” one emergency department pharmacy staff member said. Zhang Yuhua, an official at the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, said most recent patients were elderly and critically ill with underlying diseases. She said the number of patients receiving emergency care had increased to 450-550 per day, from about 100 before, according to state media.

[1/3] Travellers stand by their luggage at Beijing Capital International Airport, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Beijing, China December 27, 2022. International health experts estimate millions of daily infections and predict at least one million COVID deaths in China next year. Data from travel platform Ctrip showed that within half an hour of the news, searches for popular cross-border destinations on had increased 10-fold. "International travel ... will likely to surge, yet it may take many more months before volumes return to the pre-pandemic level," said Dan Wang, Chief Economist, Hang Seng Bank China. "COVID is still spreading in most parts of China, greatly disrupting the normal work schedule.

Like many residents, he's been on a spree - because on Jan. 1 Singapore's sales tax goes up for the first time in 15 years. From next year, the sales tax on everything from groceries to diamond rings goes from 7% to 8%. By buying everything now before the hike, Soif said he's saving S$250 ($185) on his purchases, now in storage at retailers' facilities. The upbeat spending comes against a backdrop of concern, and some opposition, among the population about the tax hike. It has also said it would review the second step of the tax hike if there was a major global downturn next year.

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