Expats on the move, Shanghai has the buzz

Shanghai (1/4/2002) - Former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten noticed it right away when he got out of the car: Shanghai has the buzz that Hong Kong used to have. The current EU commissioner for external relations visited Shanghai last week for the first time in 14 years.

Patten was convinced that both Shanghai and Hong Kong could survive next to each other, he warned, as long as Hong Kong's rulers would not try to outsmart the market or the Chinese entrepreneurial spirit.

Patten praised in his speech at Fudan University on Friday in Shanghai as the example where globalization would, next to obvious negative effects, also closed the gab between poorer and richer parts of the world.

What Patten did not mention was that Hong Kong no longer seems to have the buzz their former governor liked so much. And the same goes for Taipei and Singapore, where the buzz at least has diminished and both locals and expat managers are increasingly packing their bags to move to Shanghai. The recession in all three cities is causing its own kind of economic refugees.

In Singapore, where foreigners make out one fifth of the workforce, upscale car showrooms, restaurants and clothing stores are scrambling for business, writes Bloomberg on Monday. Apartments and art remain unsold.

"Signs of the exodus abound, from the notices at the American Club seeking new employers for housekeepers or owners for pets, to the garage sales and for rent notices that dot the residential neighborhoods where foreigners live," writes Bloomberg about Singapore. In Holland Village, an expat enclave, sales of German beer have fallen by half at Baden-Baden restaurant.

From ChinaBiz

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