With the deepening of reform and opening up and the development of the domestic economy, a large number of local enterprises have grown in strength. In such an environment, more and more local enterprises are seeking overseas development and building special organizational structures to meet the needs of expanding overseas business. But in this process, choosing where to register an offshore company has become a new issue. Hongyuan International's secretary consultants often encounter clients asking whether it is better to choose a Singapore company or a Hong Kong company to conduct overseas business? Today, Hongyuan International will take you on a look at the advantages of registering a Hong Kong company and a Singapore company, hoping to be helpful to everyone.

1、 The two are essential differences between countries and regions, with comparable international competitiveness and influence

Singapore: an independent country, a multicultural immigrant country, 74% Chinese, politically stable, economically developed, and with a sound legal system. It is 4-5 hours' flight from China.

Hong Kong: a special administrative region of China with a clean government, good public security, and strict legal system. It borders Shenzhen and is a 3-hour flight from Shanghai.

Comparison between the two: Singapore and Hong Kong, both being one of the Four Asian Tigers, are major free trade and financial centers in the world, with sufficient quality in terms of trade convenience and banking services. But due to different development priorities, Singapore focuses on communication IT、 Petrochemical, biopharmaceutical, maritime and other fields have more prominent advantages than Hong Kong. Especially in recent years, Singapore's open attitude towards blockchain technology and digital currencies has made it highly attractive for emerging technologies and related investments.

2、 The difference between the two in terms of the time and convenience of administrative procedures for registering a company

Singapore: With over 30 years of development and improvement in e-government, paperless electronic operations have been implemented throughout the entire process of company registration, change, and annual review. For example, after submitting the company registration application, it takes about a day to obtain the certificate of successful company registration and information report. Such as company changes, real-time processing can be basically achieved, with short time, high efficiency, and extremely high convenience.

Hong Kong: Both electronic and paper submissions are required, but a large number of secretarial companies still use paper submissions. For example, registering a company takes at least 8-10 working days. Any changes to the company, such as stock conversion, must be submitted in paper form. So, the office of the Hong Kong Registry CR is bustling with people every day because there are a large number of administrative procedures for receiving and processing Hong Kong companies.

Comparison between the two: In terms of convenience in administrative procedures and humanized services, Singapore started early and its e-government system is already quite mature. This is because the Singapore government needs to maintain its pro business appeal and provide maximum convenience to foreign-invested enterprises in order to make up for the shortcomings of small size and resource scarcity. In the past, Hong Kong relied too much on industries such as finance and real estate, and its service development in other industries was slow. Now, the Hong Kong Registry encourages more use of electronic systems, and convenience and efficiency are gradually improving.

3、 The difference between the two in choosing a company name

Singapore: English name with a fixed company name ending, for example, the most commonly used company type "Private Limited Company" is PTE. LTD. Except for companies containing certain keywords that require pre-approval, company names containing most industry keywords can be quickly registered.

Hong Kong: Chinese and English names, with traditional Chinese characters. Similar to Singapore, most industry keywords can be used as company names. However, in recent years, there has been an important change where names containing words such as "international" and "group" cannot be chosen arbitrarily. Unless the company background does match, it is not possible to open a bank account in Hong Kong solely due to the company name.

Comparison between the two: For startups or small and medium-sized enterprises, they hope to choose a more influential company name, and in this regard, Singapore is more friendly to small and medium-sized enterprises.

4、 The difference between choosing the business scope of the two companies

Singapore: Select according to the Singapore Standard Industrial Classification (SSIC), which includes 22 major industry categories. Each business scope consists of 5 numerical codes and an English description. Each company can choose 1-2 business scopes, which are displayed in the company information report bizfile.

Hong Kong: Currently, there is no industry catalog to refer to, usually a Chinese or English description to express the business scope, which is displayed in the company's business registration certificate BR. In the past, the development of Hong Kong companies in this area was disorderly, and many companies were not registered. Now, it is required that all Hong Kong companies must be registered.

Comparison between the two: In regions with relatively open markets, except for some restricted special industries, the company's business scope is basically not greatly restricted. In terms of selection, Singapore has a product classification catalog for reference, which is more standardized, unified, and convenient.

5、 Differences in bank account opening between the two

Hong Kong: In recent years, due to self-protection reasons, Hong Kong banks have continuously improved the information review work for new account opening customers, while strengthening the risk assessment of existing bank accounts, resulting in an increasing difficulty in opening Hong Kong bank accounts and a gradual decrease in the practicality of Hong Kong bank accounts.

Singapore: As the third largest financial center in the world, Singapore has a large number of multinational banking institutions. At the same time, due to the difficulty of registering Singaporean companies, Singaporean companies are less involved in illegal activities. Therefore, applying for a bank account is slightly easier for Singaporean companies compared to Hong Kong companies, but it also requires longer and relatively strict approval time.

6、 Differences in subsequent company maintenance

Hong Kong: Hong Kong companies must undergo annual audits and tax declarations every year, but Hong Kong companies that are not operating and do not have bank accounts can file zero declarations. Hong Kong companies that engage in operational activities are required to conduct accounting audits and tax declarations in accordance with relevant legal provisions.

Singapore: Singaporean companies also need to undergo annual audits, and non operating Singaporean companies can also file zero tax returns. Singaporean companies engaged in operational activities are required to conduct accounting, but not all Singaporean companies are required to undergo auditing. An audit is only required when the company's annual revenue or assets reach SGD 10 million (approximately RMB 50 million) and the number of employees exceeds 50.

Comparison between the two: Although both Hong Kong and Singapore companies require annual tax audits for registration, Hong Kong companies need to undergo audits as long as they have operations, while Singapore companies only need to undergo audits after meeting certain conditions. The requirements for legal secretaries are also different between the two. Due to its proximity, Hong Kong is easier to operate, and the conditions for opening a bank account in Singapore are relatively relaxed compared to Hong Kong. As for where to register a company, the first thing to consider is where the enterprise's business needs to develop.

When considering the establishment of an overseas company, the differences in tax inspections, legal disputes, intellectual property rights, and other issues that the company may encounter in the future can have a significant impact depending on the country and region. The specific choice of registering an offshore company in Hong Kong or Singapore should be based on the company's own development needs. Hongyuan International suggests seeking help from professional secretarial service agencies.