More than a year later, when Zhang Yong, founder of Haidilao , and Zhang Lan, founder of South Beauty, were in the dead of night and looking back on the past, would they all feel that when Run went to Singapore , the most successful decision in your life?
Because, nowadays, the world of is sinking, and Singapore is caring.
This small country with an area of less than one-tenth of Guangzhou. In 2021, the total amount of GDP is nearly 2.7 trillion yuan, surpassing Suzhou and approaching Guangzhou.
According to World Bank data, Singapore per capita GDP 5 in 2021 is nearly 490,000 yuan, and the United States is not a rival.
Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry predicts that Singapore's economy will usher in a 3%-5% growth in 2022. Therefore, some people predict that Singapore's per capita GDP will exceed 530,000 yuan in 2022.
Macro numbers may not be very intuitive. In fact, two words can reflect how good Singapore's economy is this year, that is: grabbing people and grab houses.
first, recruiting workers depends on grabbing.
It is reported that Singapore's salary generally increased compared with last year, and many companies directly increased their salary by 15%.
You should know that Singaporean companies have always been considered relatively stingy. An Internet practitioner who returned from Singapore said that in normal times, even Internet companies that are relatively more "willing to spend money" have basically increased their salary by 5%, which is rare even 10%.
Some companies that urgently use people not only raise their salary, but also give away benefits as much as possible. Not only will they immediately pay 3,000 yuan in Singapore and about 14,000 yuan in employment rewards after successfully joining the company, they also promise to provide children's scholarships in addition to year-end bonuses, paid annual leave, and medical insurance.
even so, there are still companies that cannot grab employees. These companies even joined forces to ask Singapore to quickly relax policy restrictions on foreign personnel coming to work in Singapore. " first solves the current shortage of people first! "
Second, renting a house must also be snatched.
This year, the rental market in Singapore is incredibly popular.
According to media reports, foreigners now generally pay 20%-40% more rent than before. There are even generous landlords who ask for a double price.
That's it. In order to compete for speed, many people didn't even have time to conduct on-site inspections. They paid a deposit on the spot based on just a few photos and videos sent by the intermediary.
for fear of "taking a look at it more and the house will be gone."
So, some people naturally had the plan to go to Singapore. The institutions also stood up in time to give advice to those with ideas.
Not to mention ordinary people, Chinese companies have long started to benefit Singapore!
Why is Singapore so moist when it is generally sad in the world?
Why do so many companies want to go to Singapore?
01
On May 20, when more than 50 million people watched the Jay Chou’s concert online, NIO was listed on the Singapore Exchange .
From then on, NIO became the first electric vehicle company to be listed in the United States, China and Singapore. The United States is the one who prompted NIO to launch a "pit-occupying" listing. Because the United States is blocking Chinese stocks listed in .
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission , that is, SEC, has successively thrown out 9 batches of "pre-delisted lists", and 149 Chinese companies are on the list. The Chinese stock market storm that was half-involved by Trump the year before was pushed to a climax by Biden and .
is on the "pre-delisted list", which means that you may be forced to delist from US stock in the future.
Previously, 23 companies including Baidu, iQiyi, Weibo have entered the "confirmed pre-delisting" list and will be kicked out of the US stock market as early as early as 2024.
companies that have not yet entered the "Confirm Pre-delisting" list are required to hand over the audit draft containing the original data within 15 working days and be reviewed. Otherwise, they will be included in the "Confirm Pre-delisting" list and cleared.
Over the past thirty years, there have been more than 270 Chinese companies listed in the United States. Now, half of them have been blocked. NIO is one of them.
So, NIO has to find a few alternative exchanges as soon as possible. Singapore is one of them.
A unicorn with a market value of over 210 billion yuan came suddenly, and the Singapore Exchange was full of joy. Therefore, the process of listing on the Singapore Exchange was extremely smooth.
was announced by the SEC on May 5 and was successfully logged into the Singapore Exchange on May 20. Even if the previous preparation time is included, the process of listing on the SGX is too smooth.
Why is NIO listed so quickly in Singapore? Because of , the SGX not only snatched people, but also Chinese stocks listed in the United States.
CICC research report evaluates that if Chinese stocks return from the US stock market, they may bring more than 74 billion yuan in new fundraising scale.
Currently, there are more than 100 Chinese companies listed in the list of stocks in the SGX, covering multiple industries, including financial technology to consumer technology, from real estate to special purpose acquisition companies.
NIO is not the only company that was suppressed and forced to move its position to Singapore, and the United States is not the only country that suppresses Chinese companies. In recent years, India has also been continuously suppressing Chinese companies.
If you want to say the difference, it is that the American method is at least decent; while India's method is really not at all.
300 more than China-related applications blocked as they say they are blocked, China's investments are restricted as they say they are restricted, Chinese companies' billions of assets are frozen as they say they are frozen, and even "malicious censorship" of Chinese companies.
Why is it called "malicious censorship"? Some Chinese companies in India complained: "They can't find any problem every time, , but they always need money. "
even, even companies from Singapore are subject to repeated conspiracy just because their boss is Chinese.
html At the end of March, Southeast Asian cross-border e-commerce platform Shopee announced that it had decided to close its Indian business "in view of the uncertainty of the global market".
Under the dual suppression of India and the United States, Tencent has stated that it will set up its Southeast Asian headquarters in Singapore. There are also "fighting side by side" with Tencent, including Xiaomi , Alibaba , byte, Huawei , etc.
bytes is planned to invest billions in Singapore within 3 years. Alibaba has invested $3 billion in Singapore's takeaway service provider Grab.
Cross-border e-commerce SHEIN once surpassed Amazon and became the largest shopping app in the United States, but it has been repeatedly suppressed in India.It is rumored that SHEIN is recruiting a large number of people in Singapore and has plans to set up Singapore as an international headquarters.
In addition to major companies, many Chinese companies that want to go overseas regard Singapore as a bridgehead.
major factories moved to Singapore and first they needed to recruit soldiers. They snatched the people first and then got a smaller company. In this way, employees in small companies are scarce.
can be said, because China and the United States and China and India are in trouble, Singapore is taking advantage of the middle .
So the question is, there are so many countries in Southeast Asia, why is it Singapore?
After all, Singapore is just a small place, smaller than Shanghai's Pudong . Even in Southeast Asia, its land area is at the bottom.
The United States not only likes Singapore, but also loves Singapore.
The United States not only helps Singapore develop its economy, but also provides military assistance to Singapore to ensure it is protected from bullying from its surrounding neighbors.
Since the early days of Singapore's founding, the US military has had military base in Singapore, and Singapore has cooperated very actively. After Singapore purchased the US fighter , there was no place to train, and it would fly directly to the US military's base in Guam for training.
In order to better become a US aircraft carrier supply station, Singapore invested heavily in establishing the Changi Naval Base , becoming the first aircraft carrier berth base opened in Southeast Asia after the US Navy withdrew from Philippines .
Until now, the United States has the right to use many military bases in Singapore, including Changi Naval Base, Sembawang Naval Base, and Valleba Air Force Base.
Why is the United States so enthusiastic about a small country that spans half of the earth and exceeds 15,000 kilometers from itself? Why is Singapore so obedient and always actively cooperating with the United States?
More importantly, will Singapore always be loyal to the United States?
02
From the objective terms, the reason why Singapore is so popular is because its geographical location is too superior.
Singapore is located on the throat of Strait of Malacca .
The Strait of Malacca is known as the "lifeline" and "maritime intersection" of maritime shipping, and is the most important channel for shipping communication between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Ships traveling to Asia, Africa, Oceania and Europe all pass here.
The inlet and outflow of goods here is 3 times that of the Suez Canal , and 5 times that of the Panama Canal in . The Strait of Malacca has therefore become the first of the top ten straits in the world.
and Singapore Port is located on the southeast side of the Strait of Malacca, with a maximum draft of 24.5 meters, a maximum of 300,000 dwt ships, a maximum of 350,000 dwt supertanker , and can be called the "hub" of the hub.
Today's Singapore Port has opened more than 200 routes, connecting more than 600 ports in 123 countries and regions, and has the ability to process 630 million tons of cargo and 33.7 million TEU of logistics annually, becoming the second largest port in the world, second only to Shanghai Port .
(TEU is the abbreviation of the English Twenty-feet Equivalent Unit. It is usually used to represent the ability of a ship to load containers. It is also an important statistical and conversion unit for containers and port throughput . It is an international unit of measurement with a length of 20 feet, also known as the international standard unit.)
Singapore port has 7 free trade zones , warehouses of 85,000 square meters, yards of 234,000 square meters, and transit cargo warehouses of 120,000 square meters.
Singapore Port is also the world's largest fuel supply port, with a storage capacity of 800,000 cubic meters and a refining capacity of 1.2 million barrels per day.
More importantly, Singapore is as the hub of Southeast Asia, is less than 4,000 kilometers away from China , and it takes less than five and a half hours to arrive by plane. Behind such a superior position is the narrow land area and scarce natural resources. Singapore even depends on Malaysia even for drinking water. If you don't do business with other countries, it will be difficult for Singaporeans to even survive, let alone protect themselves.
Therefore, natural endowment determines Singapore is very important, but it also relies heavily on various backers. The modern history of Singapore is basically a history of constantly finding a backer.
From 1867 to 1959, Singapore has been a British colony for nearly a century. During this period, although Singapore had no independent sovereignty, it was also well protected under the British wings.
However, during WWII , the Japanese army easily defeated the British army in Singapore. This battle made Singapore realize that Britain can no longer protect itself.
In the mid-20th century, under the leadership of Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew and others, Singapore began a national independence movement. Britain, whose body was hollowed out by World War II, decided to give up colonial rule and began to withdraw its troops gradually.
In 1959, the UK recognized Singapore's autonomy, which also meant that Britain had no obligation to protect Singapore, so Lee Kuan Yew decided to rely on Malaysia.
1962, Lee Kuan Yew initiated a vote to join Malaysia nationwide. There are three options for voting, namely:
A: I agree to the merger of , but reserves a certain degree of autonomy. All Singaporeans join Malaysians
B: I agree to merger, but appropriately reduce autonomy, and occupy a certain proportion of seats in the federal parliament
C: I agree to the merger of , but transfer more rights
If voters do not agree to the merger, they can only cast blank votes. As a result, more than one quarter of voters cast blank votes.
Lee Kuan Yew government had long anticipated such a result, and stipulated in the election guidelines in advance that if the number of blank votes does not exceed half, it will be counted as the option to win the most votes.
That is to say, the more than 143,000 blank votes of were recorded in option A.
However, Singapore does not want to be the " professional manager " hired by its employer, but is the real master, a country composed of 75% of Chinese, hoping to achieve equal rights.
This touches the bottom line of Malaysia. As a result, Malaysia not only extorted Singapore economically but also politically.
The first year after joining Malaysia, Singapore had to pay 40% of the tax, and the second year it became 60%.
There will be oppression, and there will be resistance.
Therefore, in the Malaysian election held in 1963, the Singapore People's Action Party led by Lee Kuan Yew took control of the parliament in one fell swoop.
However, this made the Malaysian political class completely feel threatened.In 1965, Malaysia voted Singapore to the Malaysian Federation with 126 votes in favor and 0 votes against.
Faced with this emergencies, Lee Kuan Yew burst into tears when he read out the Singapore Declaration of Independence, saying that this was his lifelong regret.
Then, Singapore, which was forced to be independent, faces a new problem. In 1971, the last British garrison troops left Singapore, and Singapore suddenly fell into a state of no military protection.
The world at that time was in the storm between the Soviet Union and the United States. Lee Kuan Yew, who studied in the UK and accepted Western values since childhood, decisively chose the United States as an ally.
In fact, Singapore was generally weak at that time, but it was a little richer than Malaysia. In the early years of the founding of Singapore, its GDP was less than US$1 billion.
In order to seek protection from the United States, Lee Kuan Yew frequently showed goodwill to the United States.
Most of Singapore airports can be used at will; US warships can be parked at any port in Singapore at will without prior notice; Vietnam War during , Singapore became the supply station for US Seventh Fleet .
Faced with such an obedient younger brother, the United States has shot guns, people, money, and technology. This is why, in 1965, Singapore was just a small fishing village. After just 32 years, it has grown into the only developed country in East Asia with a GDP of over 100 billion US dollars.
With the support of the United States, not only will Singapore, one of the " Asian Four Little Dragons ", be able to relax its efforts to promote production, but more importantly, it is more convenient for multinational companies to come to Singapore to do business.
The more prosperous the global development, the more prosperous the "crossroads" on the sea will be.
In 1965, Singapore's unemployment rate was 10%. With the attracting foreign industries such as oil extraction equipment manufacturing and electronic assembly, Singapore's local clothing, toys, food production, drilling equipment manufacturing, leather, shipbuilding and other enterprises have also developed rapidly. By 1972, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.7% . The open market of
allows the small Singapore to have strong stress resistance. Even though the global oil crisis in 1973 caused the world economy to decline, Singapore is still developing steadily.
1 Between 965 and 1978, Singapore's GDP grew by 10%, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6%, and the proportion of manufacturing output in GDP rose from 14% in 1965 to 24% in 1978.
Since 1982, American computer and peripheral equipment manufacturers have also set up factories in Singapore. By 1985, more than 150 multinational companies had been engaged in the production of electronic products and computer accessories in Singapore. Singapore has become an important distribution center for the world's hard drive industry, and has contracted nearly half of the world's production.
This has driven the development of related industries such as printed circuit boards, metal stamping, die casting, precision machining and other related industries. By 1985, the proportion of skilled workers in Singapore's total labor force increased from 11% to 22%.
For a long time, Singapore has been smooth sailing with the big ship of globalization of the industrial chain.
According to the research of scholars from East China Normal University , since independence, Singapore's import and export trade volume has remained around 300% of GDP every year.
Objectively speaking, in the past history, Singapore and China had more or less competitive relationships in the global industrial chain division of labor. Singapore needs a strong enemy to help itself compete. This is also a survival strategy that a small country has to be smart.
If the script continues like this, Singapore can live a peaceful and stable life. But, things in the world are impermanent.
Something happened to Singapore's backer again.
In 2009, the new Obama administration promulgated the "Framework for Revitalizing the US Manufacturing Industry" and proposed plans to "double exports" and "return manufacturing industries."
The reason why the United States made such a decision is not difficult to understand. In 2008, the US real estate bubble burst, and the economy urgently needed to definitiveize and de-real estate, and strive to develop manufacturing, increase employment, and maintain the economy.
In other words, the United States, which is used to making "easy money" from finance and real estate, must regain the manufacturing industry that has previously contracted out to make "hard money".
That is to say, The United States has transformed from leading globalization to leading "anti-globalization".
This is a heavy blow to Singapore, a huge beneficiary of the economic over-"extraordinary" and industrial globalization: what about the happiness that was promised?
Starting in 2010, Singapore's economic growth has begun to slow down.
eyes saw that Singapore's economy improved slightly in 2016. As a result, Trump, who called "America First" more loudly, came to power.
Trump once tweeted and scolded those who support free trade: Whenever he heard some lawmakers and others talk about the benefits of free trade, I would say hehe. This mentally retarded agreement causes a large amount of unemployment and more than $800 billion in losses to the United States every year.
Anti-globalization has caused Singapore's economy to be blocked, and the economic growth rate fell to its lowest in ten years in 2019. What makes Singapore even more nervous is that at the same time, its "trump card" Singapore Port is also facing challenges.
03
For a long time in the past, the Strait of Malacca has indeed undertaken 60% of the world's oil transportation and 80% of China's oil transportation.
However, in recent years, China has begun to establish new shipping routes with more countries, and continues to divert transportation volume in the Strait of Malacca.
In 2001, China signed the first phase of the Guadal Port project financing agreement at the invitation of Pakistan . Guader Port allows China to bypass the Strait of Malacca and greatly shorten the voyage to Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea .
In 2015, the China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline began to operate, and the Port of Mad Island officially opened. Let China bypass the Strait of Malacca and bring some oil into Myanmar.
Although the Kra Canal in Thailand and the Royal Port of Malaysia are still hanging in the air, they are also important competitors of the Port of Singapore. Once completed, can allow China to further reduce its dependence on Singapore Port.
The importance of Singapore Port to China is declining, while the importance of the Chinese market to Singapore is constantly increasing:
In 2013, China surpassed EU to become Singapore's largest trading partner.
In 2014, China replaced the EU and became Singapore's largest export market.
In 2017, the total import and export volume of China and Singapore was more than twice that of the United States and Singapore.
In fact, Singapore, which is increasingly unable to find a stable place on the balance, has long felt that it is becoming more and more dependent on the Chinese market.
As early as 2009, when Obama was in office, he proposed the "return to the Asia-Pacific" strategy, causing regional panic, and creating a series of disputes such as East China Sea and South China Sea .
After that, Lee Hsien Loong visited the United States many times and expressed his welcome to the United States to return to the Asia-Pacific.
After all, for a long time, the trade volume between the United States and Singapore, let alone the EU, even Malaysia and Indonesia cannot compare, let alone China.
Singapore is very anxious about this.
In 2013, Lee Hsien Loong publicly advocated to American business groups: "The United States should actively participate in Southeast Asia trade affairs. In Southeast Asia, trade is a strategy.
Singapore does its best to help the United States carry out constructive and fruitful contacts in the region and promote stability and prosperity in all countries."
In order to amplify the anxiety of the United States, Lee Hsien Loong also said this: "For the past 10 years, China has become the number one trading partner of almost all Southeast Asian countries, including the allies of the United States, such as the Philippines and Thailand."
At that time, Singapore hoped that the United States would return to the Asia-Pacific region, just like a long drought and awesome rain.
However, the principle of "America first" ultimately controls the principle of "Balance Master" Singapore.
On May 23, 2022, in the exclusive interview with Lee Hsien Loong published in " Nikkei Shimbun ", it can be seen that new changes have taken place in Singapore.
Regarding the matter proposed by the Nikkei Shimbun, the economic and military balance in the Asia-Pacific region has gradually tilted towards China in the past 10 years, Lee Hsien Loong answered:
"China is the largest trading partner of almost all Asian countries, including Japan and Singapore. This is a natural result and is widely welcomed by regional countries. Because this creates opportunities for cooperation, trade and prosperity, many countries want to gain something from the opportunities brought by China's development."
also expressed appreciation for China's multilateral activities such as the Belt and Road Initiative and Global Development Initiative.
Of course, Lee Hsien Loong also expressed this attitude to the Nikkei Shimbun: "Keep balance, so there is flexibility, will not rely too much on either party."
Objectively speaking, Singapore used to cater to a certain country, but the dominant player of globalization. Today, Singapore is not catering to China, it is also the leader of globalization.
Lee Hsien Loong is able and dares to put forward the slogan "The United States cannot stop China's rise, and Singapore will not choose a side station" is courage and wisdom.
At present, Singapore's economic and "China's rise" ship is getting closer and closer. In addition to the increasingly stronger "interaction" of import and export trade, the overlap of 's "money route" is also getting higher and higher.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the first half of 2021, China's investment in the entire industry was US$2.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.0%; Singapore's new investment in the entire industry was US$5.52 billion, a year-on-year increase of 59.5%.
As of June 2021, the total investment in the entire industry in China reached US$116 billion, and China's total investment in the entire industry in Singapore was US$70.72 billion.
Not only that, Singapore, which has always followed the pace of the United States on the grounds of "curbing China's rise", has now played an important role in promoting the internationalization of the RMB.
At the end of September 2021, the balance of Singapore offshore RMB deposits was 163 billion yuan, accounting for about 2% of Singapore's commercial banks' deposits.
Moreover, in 2015, the first offshore RMB bond in China was also issued in Singapore.
end
small country, born with many shortcomings and helplessness.
Singapore, which has a small area, a small population, a shortage of food and water, and a scarce resource, can achieve its current economic achievements, which is a miracle.
Singapore's ability to achieve a per capita GDP of nearly 490,000 yuan is inseparable from the wisdom of this small country to deal with big countries.
Objective evaluation, as a small country, Singapore has done a very good job. It has not been deeply "crossed" by big countries like Japan and South Korea. Although Singapore has been looking for a backer, it can jump to the side that is more beneficial to it at any time.
Even if Singapore is currently betting on China with a heavy position, Singapore is not China's "colonial" and is still a free person. It is still calling for the United States to return to the Asia-Pacific.
After all, As a small country, only when it is valuable to multiple large countries can you strive for maximum benefits for your own development.
From this perspective, the competition between China and the United States is an opportunity for all small countries. Every small country that does not take sides has the opportunity to become the next Singapore. Once you take the team, it is difficult to turn back.
is the same for individuals.
More than a year later, when Haidilao founder Zhang Yong and South Beauty founder Zhang Lan, when they were quiet and looking back on the past, would they all feel that when they went to Singapore, they were the hasty choice of that they made in their lifetime?
