(Mar 29): Hong Kong has become more “China-centric,” enabling Singapore to take the lead when multinational companies look to set up their Asian headquarters in the region, according to the country’s Economic Development Board.

With Hong Kong becoming more focused since 1997 on servicing the massive Chinese economy, it’s given Singapore a leg up as a hub for companies’ Asia-Pacific operations, said Beh Swan Gin, chairman of the EDB, a government agency that helps attract investment to the Southeast Asian city.

“The importance of China to the Hong Kong economy has grown disproportionately,” Beh said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday. “If you’re a company that’s thinking about coordinating, managing your activities across Asia, then Hong Kong becomes, I suppose, more and more China-centric and it becomes perhaps less suitable for those activities.”

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