Tencent said to join rivals Alibaba, ByteDance in picking Singapore as Asia hub after India, US bans
- Management at China’s largest social media and gaming company had been discussing Singapore as a potential regional hub, sources say
- China’s tech behemoths are increasingly turning to Southeast Asia in the face of growing hostility from the US and other major markets
Management at China’s largest social media and gaming company had been discussing Singapore as a potential regional hub and geopolitical tensions accelerated its plans, according to people familiar with the matter.
Tencent has been considering the shift of some business operations – including international game publishing – out of its home country, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.
China’s tech behemoths are increasingly turning to Southeast Asia in the face of growing hostility from the US and other major markets, setting up the region – with its 650 million increasingly smartphone-savvy population – as a key battleground.
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Tencent said in a statement that it will open a new office in Singapore to “support our growing business in Southeast Asia and beyond,” in addition to current ones in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
It is recruiting for various positions including tech and business development, the company said, without offering details. Tencent currently has dozens of job openings in Singapore for businesses including cross-border commerce, cloud computing and e-sports, according to its hiring site.
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(Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.)
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Tencent thus far has had a smaller footprint in Southeast Asia. The online entertainment juggernaut is largely run from its Shenzhen headquarters, though some global products in areas like music and video streaming operate in Hong Kong, where President Martin Lau is based. The company says it stores some user data in Singapore.
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In 2019’s final quarter, international titles like Call of Duty Mobile and PUBG Mobile accounted for 23 per cent of Tencent’s US$17 billion gaming empire, according to the company.
In spite of Tencent’s best efforts, however, geopolitical frictions are still likely to hinder its international expansion push.
Trump’s August 6 executive order, meanwhile, prohibits unspecified transactions with WeChat and its operator Tencent, and the Commerce Department has yet to determine whether gaming activities will be banned by September 20.