In less than a decade the destination of choice for many of China’s wealthiest families has shifted. Once seen as the default “Asian Switzerland” — a convenient, low-tax, English-speaking hub for trusts, schools and residency — Singapore is now losing appeal for a sizeable cohort of mainland Chinese high‑net‑worth individuals who are redirecting capital and homes to the Gulf, notably Dubai.
The pivot has been rapid. Applications from mainland family offices and residency seekers to Singapore have reportedly fallen by about half compared with 2023, while analysts trace an uptick in Chinese nationals and companies establishing themselves in the United Arab Emirates: some 370,000 Chinese residents and more than 15,000 China‑linked firms, numbers that have roughly doubled since 2019. Dubai’s offering — long‑term golden visas tied to property investment, zero personal income tax, exemptions on many capital gains and an expanding slate of wealth‑management infrastructure — has proven magnetic.
The proximate trigger for the rush is regulatory. Singapore’s authorities tightened rules after a large 2023 money‑laundering scandal — a case publicly described as the city‑state’s biggest — and in 2025 broadened vetting under its Foreign Investment Review legal framework. New rules raised compliance thresholds for family offices, crypto custody and other wealth vehicles, signalling a clear change in enforcement posture and raising the cost and friction of moving money and people there.
That shift should not be read as a quality failure by Singapore; rather it reflects a deliberate tradeoff. Authorities chose to prioritise reputational stability and regulatory credibility over being the most permissive wealth hub in Asia. For some families, however, the higher compliance bar felt like a deterrent: when speed, flexibility and a low‑friction landing are priorities, Dubai’s more permissive regime can seem more attractive.
Dubai’s ascent owes as much to policy design as to timing. The UAE expanded its golden visa programme from 2022 and tied residency to real‑estate thresholds that are within reach for many millionaires, while actively courting family offices and fintech. Dubai International Financial Centre data show a sharp rise in family office registrations in 2024–25 and anecdotal evidence points to strong Chinese demand for luxury property as a residency anchor.
Viewed more broadly, the migration is an expression of capital responding to perceived certainty and convenience. Wealth is policy‑sensitive: when rules tighten in one jurisdiction, capital migrates to places offering legal predictability, tax advantage or simply faster settlement. Switzerland’s loosening of bank secrecy after 2018 and subsequent capital outflows in the following years illustrates this dynamic; Singapore’s regulatory pivot appears to be producing a similar reallocation, albeit on a different scale and for different reasons.
The shift also reflects geopolitics. As Sino‑US ties ebb and flow, Singapore’s traditional role as a neutral intermediary between China and the West is becoming more complicated. Regional economic integration and growing Chinese influence in Southeast Asia have reduced some of Singapore’s intermediary advantages, while the Gulf — positioning itself as a neutral, business‑friendly corridor between Asia, Europe and Africa — is capitalising on the opportunity.
For policymakers and the global wealth industry, the story is a reminder that domiciles of wealth are contestable and transient. Singapore’s recalibration strengthens its long‑term credibility but invites competition from jurisdictions that prioritise rapid onboarding and light touch taxation. For wealthy Chinese families, the migration is less about ideology than insurance: a search for jurisdictions that best balance fiscal benefit, asset security and a predictable regulatory environment.