Singapore firms undeterred by Chinese rule-book changes

WITH Chinese authorities tightening rules across sectors in recent years, the regulatory climate may have become a more prominent aspect of doing business in the world’s second-largest economy - and companies from Singapore, its largest foreign direct investor, are not immune from uncertainty.

From talks with clients, Ang Lip Kian, partner at Morrison & Foerster (MoFo), tells The Business Times that policy tightening “has been increasingly top of mind for business leaders from across the region” - especially as regulatory decisions in China “would have a greater impact on Singapore’s business sentiment”, compared with policy changes in other markets.

But China is “not a cowboy town”, according to real estate veteran Goh Toh Sim, who has done business in China for more than 2 decades. He says that the measures being rolled out have clear policy objectives and are not arbitrary.