Tencent to set up hub in Singapore after PUBG Mobile ban in India

Tencent, one of the major technology conglomerates in the world, has decided to set up a regional base in Singapore. The tech giant has been considering setting up its regional hub in the city-state, as well as shifting some of its business operations out of China, a source told Bloomberg.

This is not the first time that Chinese organisations are turning to Singapore, with e-commerce giant Alibaba and Tiktok owner Bytedance already setting up bases in the Southeast Asian country.

The sovereign island is one of the most business-friendly countries around the world and is rising fast as a top financial hub. Singapore is also known as the gateway to Southeast and South Asia.

Bloomberg reported that:

"Tencent Holdings Ltd. has picked Singapore as its beachhead for Asia, joining rivals Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd. in the race to build up their presence closer to home after setbacks in the U.S. and India."

Tencent is a multinational technology giant based out of Shenzen, China. It is the owner of the country's most prominent social media and messaging app, WeChat.

It is also the largest gaming company in the world. Tencent owns Riot Games (League of Legends and Valorant) and has majority stakes in Supercell and Epic Games (Fortnite). It also has minority stakes in Activision Blizzard (COD Mobile), Bluehole (PUBG Mobile), Ubisoft, and Voodoo, among others.

Bans in the USA and India affecting Tencent

Over the last few weeks, Tencent has seen major setbacks in two of its biggest markets, the USA and India. In August, United States President Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting the country's companies and individuals from making any transaction with WeChat and Tiktok.

The government of India also decided to ban Tencent and Bytedance applications like PUBG Mobile/PUBG Mobile Lite and Tiktok, respectively, earlier this month. The move came after the government took note of the numerous complaints from various sources regarding the misuse of some apps for stealing and transferring users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers situated outside India.

In total, 118 mobile applications were banned under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2009.

PUBG Mobile, as a result, lost 24% of its total user base. To get the game unbanned and to regain its user base, the original developer of the game, PUBG Corporation (Krafton Game Union), announced the withdrawal of their partnership with Tencent in India, taking over the publishing role of the highly-popular title in the country.