Tencent picks Singapore as Asia hub after India, US bans

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 US and India.

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.