An increasing number of wealthy Chinese people are trying to set up family offices and secure residency in the Gulf, a reflection of growing frustration with the increased difficulty of establishing themselves in Singapore, long a popular destination, reports the Financial Times. In the past year, there has been a rise in enquiries from Chinese nationals eager to relocate to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, according to private bankers and advisers to the ultra rich. Setting up family offices can ease the process of securing citizenship or residency.
“They are attracted [to the Gulf] by the ability to get residency status and live and enjoy stability,” said Mike Tan, Standard Chartered’s Singapore-based global head of wealth planning and family advisory, of those enquiring about setting up family offices in the Gulf.
Tan said the number of enquiries about Dubai that Standard Chartered had received from east Asian clients had surged in the past year, though the bank declined to provide numbers. The number of family-related entities in Dubai’s offshore financial centre hit 1,000 at the end of the first half of this year, according to official figures, compared with 800 at the end of last year and 600 at the end of 2023. There is no breakdown on origin, but advisers say that much of the rise can be attributed to Chinese individuals.