HongShan's Neil Shen takes Singapore residency: A look at billionaires who left China in recent years

“The decision to open a Singapore office was made for business reasons and was not related to personal matters of any of our executives,” HongShan said in a statement.

Shen has joined the infamous trend that many wealthy people in China, particularly those connected to the nation's IT industry, have repeatedly followed. In recent years, many of them have shifted their base to stable, low-tax Singapore amid Chinese President Xi Jinping's calls for wealth redistribution and strict epidemic lockdowns in the country.

Since Singapore, which houses a large ethnic Chinese population, strikes a neutral line between the two superpowers, a permanent residency there allows those with the pass to pay less taxes on property purchases and even apply for permanent residency of their spouses and children.

“Neil’s decision . . . made it a lot easier for others to follow after that,” a source told the news outlet.

Here's a list of a few elites who have left China in recent years:

Co-founder of China’s Boyu Capital, Sean Tong relocated to Singapore during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has acquired permanent residency in the city-state. Boyu Capital opened its office in Singapore in 2019.

China-born Zhang Lei, the founder of Hillhouse Capital, has also become a Singaporean citizen in recent years. His company expanded its base and consolidated into larger premises in the year 2022.

Zhang Tao, who founded Dianping, has also relocated to Singapore and expanded his business in the city-state.

Tencent co-founder Tony Zhang has also shifted his base to Singapore in recent years, as per reports.

In 2023, Forbes reported that of the world’s estimated 2,640 billionaires, at least 562 are thought to be in China. The number came down from 607 in 2022.