The next day, three black Volkswagen cars drove quietly to the gate of the Hong Kong Governor's House. After some inquiries by the doorman, one of them drove in, and the other two parked in a parking space not far away.
When you come to the Hong Kong government, you naturally have to keep a low profile. After the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, many government officials were attacked. People here can no longer evacuate at will. Although there is no compulsion for outsiders, there is still no need to be too high-profile.
The car was parked in the underground garage. There were people waiting here for a long time. A blonde girl came up and said, "Hello, Mr. Chen. Governor MacLehose has arranged for me to lend you a loan here. He is already waiting for you in the office." .”
"Thank you." Chen Zhiwen said politely.
The underground garage has an independent elevator that leads directly to the office floor of the Government House. Obviously, Chen Zhiwen's arrival is considered a secret within the Government House, at least ordinary employees do not know about it.
The Governor's Office is located on the ninth floor. The entire building should be filled with high-ranking officials. Along the way, they met only two people. Chen Zhiwen didn't recognize them either, so they looked at Chen Zhiwen more.
Boom, boom, boom.
The blonde knocked on the door of the Governor's office, and a "come in" came from inside.
Opening the door, Chen Zhiwen saw at a glance the authentic Englishman MacLehose with black hair and black eyes. As the first governor in the history of the Hong Kong government to launch a large-scale anti-corruption crisis, he felt like a very ordinary scholar, without any sense of indifference. To the ruthlessness that sent hundreds of people to jail.
"Sheng Chen, you are very welcome." MacLehose walked over with a smile and shook hands.
"Mr. Governor, I am very happy to meet you." Chen Zhiwen said with the same smile.
Although there are certain political reasons behind MacLehose's anti-corruption reforms in Hong Kong, not just anyone can undertake this mission. When MacLehose first took over Hong Kong, Hong Kong was experiencing an unprecedented real estate crisis, with housing prices falling off a cliff. The Hang Seng Index plummeted, and the Hang Seng Index fell to its ankles. Many banks experienced runs. Hutchison, a giant at the level of the four major foreign banks, is facing bankruptcy crisis again.
Coupled with the outbreak of the global oil crisis, Hong Kong's industries that have little to do with real estate have suffered an unprecedented impact. The streets of Hong Kong are full of unemployed youths wandering around, putting the entire society in turmoil and causing even more headaches. However, the Fubai that Hong Kong has accumulated over decades is destroying the already extremely difficult business order.
As a result, MacLehose exerted his abilities and set off an anti-corruption storm in Hong Kong.
The corruption crisis for two consecutive years has made the Hong Kong government, especially the police system, much cleaner. Next, the main task of the Hong Kong Governor's Office is to revive the economy. After all, any country or city can only develop its economy during a period of rapid growth. , will we get real peace, otherwise, a large number of unemployed people will inevitably cause a lot of trouble, and it will be useless no matter how clean the government is.
This is what Chen Zhiwen relies on. Since World War II, economic development has become the mainstream, and presidents of various countries visit other countries. In the past, they were all generals, but now they are all big company bosses and business tycoons. Their status in ZZ is rapid. Ascend.
"Sheng Chen, please sit down." MacLehose took Chen Zhiwen to the interior of the office, next to a set of European-style sofas, and said, "I have long heard that Mr. Chen likes to drink tea. We in the UK also have the habit of drinking tea. We are like-minded in this regard.”
"Drinking tea is very good for our bodies." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
"Yeah, it's just that when we understood this truth, we were basically 40 years old, and Chen Sheng was only in his 20s. It's really rare." MacLehose said with a smile.
The blond assistant once again brought the tea that had been prepared long ago. Chen Zhiwen took it and said, "Thank you."
MacLehose was the same, saying: "This is Brazil's specialty cloud tea. It is only produced on peaks of more than 2,000 meters. It is very rare."
"It tastes good." After taking a sip, Chen Zhiwen praised it. He still had to give it some respect, although he thought the taste was average and could only say it was not unpleasant to drink. Drinking tea is just an excuse anyway.
"Actually, there are a lot of high-quality teas in Europe or other regions. Mr. Chen can try more." MacLehose said with a smile: "I heard that Mr. Chen just came back from the United States. Didn't he try American tea?"
"That's not true. Mr. Governor should also know that Americans still like coffee. I was mainly there for business exchanges, and I didn't pay attention to tea." Chen Zhiwen said, it didn't take long to go to Europe and the United States, and there were so many things. , who cares about tea?
"That's right, Chen Sheng's business is getting bigger and bigger. I have been in many countries, but I have never seen a business wizard like Chen Sheng, who can sell two products in such a short time. Europe and the United States can also become the backbone of Hong Kong's export industry." MacLehose said with a smile, easily bringing the topic to the right track.
"This is what I should do. I also hope to strengthen Hong Kong's manufacturing industry so that our products can be exported to Europe and the United States." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. European culture generally does not like to be too modest, so Chen Zhiwen naturally wants to show it. ambitious.
MacLehose asked again: "What does Mr. Chen think of Hong Kong's manufacturing industry?"
"It's very dangerous." Chen Zhiwen said lightly.
"How do you say this?" MacLehose asked. After only staying in Hong Kong for about three years, the governor already spoke fluent Cantonese.
"The main problem is the land price. The land price is too high." Chen Zhiwen said.
"The real estate market in Hong Kong has not been good in the past few years. In terms of industrial land prices, although they have increased a little recently, they are only half the price compared to three years ago? Isn't this a good price?" MacLehose asked with a frown.
“Industrial land prices are not as high as before, but in countries nearby or even thousands of miles away. For my industrial park project, both Taiwan and South Korea have proposed free land policies, and even a city in the United States came to me and said it was okay. The land is given for free, Mr. Governor, from my perspective, what should I choose?" Chen Zhiwen said.
There is indeed a city government office in the United States that sent a fax to Hong Kong Red Bull. The general content is that it wants to invite Red Bull to build a factory in the United States. It is probably because of the popularity of Red Bull. In theory, with Red Bull's profits, the high labor costs in the United States are also reduced. It can be covered, but the labor unions there are annoying. Chen Zhiwen will not go to the United States to build a factory unless he has to.
After thinking for a moment, MacLehose said: "Then according to Chen Sheng, Hong Kong's industry has no advantages?"
"Twenty years from now, Hong Kong's industry will have great advantages, but from now on, although exports will not decline, the development trend will get worse and worse," said Chen Zhiwen.
"Why?" MacLehose asked, "Is it just because of the land price?"
Chen Zhiwen said: "Land price is indeed one of the main reasons, but it is not the only one. In the past two decades, Hong Kong has been able to develop well because of two important factors. The first is the deep-water port, which is naturally suitable for terminal shipments. However, now the world has After changing to the container model, although the shipping volume has increased significantly, the requirements for the port are not so high. Mr. Governor should understand this better than me.
The second point is that due to the mainland more than 20 years ago, a large number of talents and entrepreneurs flowed into Hong Kong. These are elite talents from the mainland. With so many people gathered in one city, it would be difficult for this city to be developed. But now it is almost Ten years have passed, and the new generation has also grown up locally. Even if they rely on the wealth and knowledge of their parents, they will only be slightly stronger than normal people. Look at the areas near us. Bay and South Korea have much larger land, larger populations, and naturally more talents. These will not be effective in a short period of time, but as long as education is paid attention to, it will be completely within one generation. It’s different. With one thing going the other way, it’s normal for Hong Kong’s industries to not be able to compete with them.
The third point is the price of land. Land is too expensive and is a natural enemy of industry. It costs a lot of money to build a factory. Although land is valuable, overseas countries basically have various preferential policies for attracting investment, especially They are pollution-free and high-profit enterprises, and free land is a normal operation. "
Another point is of course that the Mainland has opened up its borders. Preferential policies and extremely cheap labor costs have quickly absorbed all of Hong Kong's industry. This cannot be said, but even without this, Hong Kong's industry will not be able to survive for long. Then High housing prices can only sustain high-tech industries, but with Hong Kong's small population and no foundation for high-tech industries, even Chen Zhiwen will find it difficult to leave any suitable industries to Hong Kong in the future.
The future of Hong Kong seems to be really only real estate.
"Overseas countries have large land areas, and Hong Kong does not have this advantage." MacLehose said.
"Singapore is not big in area, and we have also communicated with them. Although they will not give it for free, the land price they want is only one-fifth of that in Hong Kong, and there are many tax incentives." Chen Zhiwen continued.
MacLehose shook his head and said: "Singapore's area is indeed similar to that of Hong Kong, but their land is mainly plains, while Hong Kong's is the other way around. You know this very well."
Chen Zhiwen nodded and said: "Indeed, corporate investment will not accept the high land prices in Hong Kong just because there are many mountains in Hong Kong."
MacLehose asked: "According to Chen Sheng, won't Hong Kong's industry be a dead end in the future?"
Chen Zhiwen replied: "You can't say that, there is still a chance.
The textile and clothing industries in the past had no money in the future. Even now, these industries actually have little profit. This is because the industrial buildings in Hong Kong have a maximum of more than ten floors and the land price is shared equally. But in Bay Area, South Korea Even in Thailand, they can waive land prices and build industrial office buildings. In this regard, Hong Kong's industrial competition has no advantage. There is also labor cost. The labor cost in Hong Kong is not high because it is targeted at Europe, the United States and Japan, but compared with nearby areas, it is also higher. It is much higher, so in low-end personnel-intensive industries, Hong Kong is completely inferior to other surrounding areas.
The only opportunity is to transform and produce high value-added products, such as the electronics industry, food industry, or build your own brand, so that whether it is the clothing industry or the toy industry, you can grow bigger in the long run. "
In fact, Hong Kong's industry can still last for a while. This is not because of Chen Zhiwen's deception, but in the next ten years, the industrial chain in Europe and the United States will begin to shift. For Asian countries, it will be a wave of super dividends, whether it is the Gulf, South Korea, Some Southeast Asian countries and Hong Kong are in an incremental market environment with rapid industrial development. Therefore, even if the proportion decreases, the total output value of Hong Kong's industries is still rising, even in the textile industry.
Until the mainland reformed, and after the 1990s, everything was absorbed. The industries of Hong Kong and even nearby countries were seriously affected.
"Then let's stop talking secretly. What conditions does Mr. Chen need before he is willing to put this beautiful industrial park in Hong Kong?" MacLehose opened the window.
"My requirements are not high. The land price offered by Singapore is enough." Chen Zhiwen said.
MacLehose was silent for a moment and said, "Sheng Chen is really good at bargaining. It's really rare to directly cut the price to one-fifth. It's not impossible to agree to this request, but I also have a condition."
"Please tell me." Chen Zhiwen was a little surprised. He was the lion who opened his mouth, but he didn't expect that he could agree immediately.
"This industrial park of yours needs to be placed in a place designated by the Hong Kong government. You can choose a piece of land in Yuen Long." MacLehose said.
"Yuen Long?" Chen Zhiwen quickly understood. As far as he knew, since MacLehose came to power, he believed that Hong Kong's population was too concentrated. Most of the 4 million people were concentrated on Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula on the other side. and Hung Hom, etc. Therefore, a new town plan was proposed. This town was naturally Yuen Long.
In fact, Chen Zhiwen has also considered this. Placing his property in a new town in the Hong Kong government will definitely attract a large number of people to the town. However, before he said it, MacLehose mentioned it first. It is estimated that this It should have been in his mind for a long time.
You must know that without enough industry, it is difficult to really relocate hundreds of thousands of people with only the policy support of the Hong Kong government. Even if it could be done, it would take at least ten years and a lot of energy.
Because this town building plan has been heard in the market for a long time, but even many real estate developers are not very interested in it now. You can imagine the difficulty involved, but an industrial park that can provide tens of thousands of jobs can help at least 1/3 busy.
"Is there any problem?" MacLehose asked with a smile.
"There is no industrial foundation in Yuen Long, even the roads are not very developed, and the personnel support is not perfect. Mr. Governor, even if you give it to me for free, I am not willing to invest in it." Now that I know about Hong Kong If the government wants to use its own industrial chain to complete the new town plan, it will naturally have to go in the opposite direction and add another army.
Besides, there are no supporting facilities there. Although you can build it yourself at some cost, you have to get some benefits now!
(End of chapter)
