"Invest in the Mainland? Are Chen Sheng talking about the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Expressway project?" Robert Kuok asked directly without thinking.
One of the purposes of coming to Hong Kong this time is to have in-depth cooperation with Chen Zhiwen's retail group. Naturally, I conducted a certain investigation on Chen Zhiwen, especially the main business and investments. These are very influential investment projects. It is easy to find out that in the Mainland, Chen Zhiwen’s investments that he knew about were mainly several large electrical appliance factories in Shekou and several joint venture factories in the Yanjing City area, as well as this, which is known in China as the largest joint venture infrastructure cooperation after the reform. The Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Expressway project.
The amount of this type of investment often starts at one billion U.S. dollars. If Chen Zhiwen wants to bring others in, it is normal. He can not only reduce his own investment amount, but also reduce risks. In addition, bringing in other people's funds may also bring in stronger financial resources. Financing channels, etc.
"No, the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Expressway project does not require the introduction of foreign investment. I am talking about other aspects. Bao Yugang and Hu Yingxiang, Guo Sheng should know each other, right?" Chen Zhiwen asked with a smile.
Chen Zhiwen naturally does not need to cooperate with others on the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Expressway, the highest-quality infrastructure project in domestic history. Although the investment may cost more than one billion US dollars, as long as he borrows bank loans, the actual output will be enough. Coupled with the fact that it is a joint venture, I only have 49% of the shares, and the project takes a long time, there is no pressure on funds at all.
The only problem is confidence. As long as you have confidence in the project, you can borrow money with your eyes closed. Of course, the credit line is also a cost, but for Chen Zhiwen, this is nothing. Hu Yingxiang, who invested in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway, He has been trying to attract more people to invest because he needs everyone to share his pressure.
"I am familiar with Bao Yugang, and I have met Hu Yingxiang twice, but I am not familiar with him. Is the investment in the mainland mentioned by Chen Sheng related to the two of them?" Robert Kuok asked.
"Yes, the three of us have established an organization together called Taishan Club. The main purpose is to work together to invest in domestic projects, and use the resources, connections, and vision of all parties to obtain the maximum benefits. However, if there is We can also work together on good overseas projects." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, and then he described the general situation of the Taishan Conference.
"So that's it." Robert Kuok nodded and said.
"So I hope Guo Sheng can also join Taishan Club so that we can invest together." Chen Zhiwen said.
"Then what to invest in domestically? Chen Sheng owns a large number of industries, but I don't. My sugar industry can only be placed in Southeast Asia, which is rich in sugar. Although there are such places in China, they don't need my investment. Is it possible? Are we going to jointly invest in infrastructure projects like the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Expressway?" Robert Kuok said.
"No." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said, "But since Guo Sheng has also come to Hong Kong, why not wait until tomorrow when I ask Bao Sheng and Hu Sheng to meet together so that we can discuss what we can invest in China? How about it?" "
"Okay, let's discuss it tomorrow." Robert Kuok nodded and agreed. Today, he and Chen Zhiwen so readily agreed to cooperate in retail in other Southeast Asian countries, which is considered a success, although there will be many detailed issues later. , but as long as the two bosses are settled, unless there are irreconcilable conflicts later, it will only be a matter of time before it can happen.
And this Taishan Club, which is responsible for investing in China, is an unexpected surprise. He has actually wanted to invest in China a long time ago, but there has been no good projects. The large-scale projects needed in China are not involved in his business territory. He doesn't like the small ones. It would be a good choice if we can use the compatriots in Hong Kong to invest together. Even if it is infrastructure construction, if there are more people, the sharing pressure will be much smaller. After all, the Chinese people all over the world Not many rich people can afford to invest in highways of more than 100 kilometers.
"Okay, then I will make an appointment and contact Guo Sheng then." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
The next day, Hilton Hotel:
Bao Yugang and Hu Yingxiang arrived here in advance. Hu Yingxiang said, "Sheng Chen, how much did you spend on this hotel property?"
"At the beginning, I directly acquired the Yongko Group in the United States. The Yongko Group has two hotels, one is this Hilton, and the other is on Bani Island, Indonesia. It cost a total of 170 million Hong Kong dollars. The Indonesian hotel later It was sold for HK$50 million, which is considered to be HK$120 million." Chen Zhiwen said after thinking about it.
"As expected of Mr. Chen, this hotel and the land beneath it are now worth more than one billion Hong Kong dollars, and such land cannot be bought with money in Central, Hong Kong." Hu Yingxiang said with emotion.
"Haha, Hu Sheng, Chen Sheng must have paid tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars back then. The rest were bank loans. The rate of return has to be tripled." Bao Yugang said with a smile, but But I feel very uncomfortable in my heart. One billion Hong Kong dollars? His fleet could not earn so much even after working hard at sea for a year, but the real estate developers in Hong Kong did nothing. They bought a piece of land a few years ago and now they are making money, and they don’t need to worry about it. There is no need to worry about anything going wrong, no need to consider international tax issues, etc. This is completely a dimensionality reduction attack. Although there are also problems such as vision, those who started in the past few years basically made a lot of money. The difference is that making a lot and making a lot are much better than running a sea freight business.
"Thank you. At first I just thought this might be a rare opportunity to acquire land in Central, so I took action." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
Currently, he has a total of 4 buildings in Central. One is Hutchison Building, which is currently the headquarters of Hutchison Whampoa. Two were acquired from Wheelock. The last one is the Hilton Hotel where it is currently located, and the first three are No matter in terms of location or area, it is far inferior to the Hilton Hotel.
The biggest feature of the Hilton Hotel is that it is a hotel. Therefore, when it was originally planned in the 1950s, a large area of land was purchased. Because the land price was not expensive at that time, the American consortium was very aggressive. After all, the United States and the United States were very aggressive at that time. The economic gap in Hong Kong is too great. The owner who bought this land at that time only really wanted to do the hotel business, not real estate. But in fact, even if the hotel has worked hard for a hundred years, it will not be comparable to the current value of the land below. .
Nowadays, in a place like Central where land is at a premium, such a large area of land is very rare. In the past, Li Jiacheng demolished a hotel and built the Yangtze River Tower headquarters on this land.
"I have great faith in Chen Sheng's vision. Since Taishan Club is planning to invest in the mainland, does Chen Sheng already have an investment direction?" Hu Yingxiang asked with a smile.
"Yes, but let's wait for Robert Kuok to come over and talk about it together." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
After a while, Robert Kuok arrived. After seeing the three people, he said apologetically: "Sorry, I'm a little late. The traffic jam in Hong Kong is a bit serious."
"It's okay, it's normal." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "Hong Kong's housing prices have risen sharply in the past two years. Many Hong Kong people have begun to buy cars, and the traffic is much more congested than before."
"So that's what happened. I haven't been to Hong Kong for two years." Robert Kuok nodded.
"Guo Sheng, you suddenly came to Hong Kong and didn't come to see me. If it hadn't been for Chen Sheng's invitation, I wouldn't have known you were here." Bao Yugang said with a smile.
"Haha, of course I will visit you, but business is urgent first. Even if Mr. Chen doesn't hold this party, I will visit you in the next few days." Robert Kuok said with a smile.
"Just kidding, don't worry. Originally, I wanted to be a middleman to let you and Chen Sheng get to know each other, but now it's more convenient and saves me the trouble." Bao Yugang said with a laugh.
"Chen Sheng's name is well-known in Southeast Asia. I have long wanted to get acquainted with him. We have some cooperation in Southeast Asia. This is the purpose of coming to Hong Kong this time." Robert Kuok said with a smile.
"Okay, now that everyone is here, let's talk about business first. We can catch up with each other at any time. My yacht is parked not far away. When everything is over, the three of us can go up and have some fun." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
"Well, I've been playing boats all my life, and this is my first time on a luxury yacht like this." Bao Yugang said with a smile.
"Then let's get started." Chen Zhiwen paused and said, "The Taishan Club is an investment organization that Bao Sheng and I reached verbally a month ago when we were in Yanjing City, China. This organization will not be just the four of us. If someone is suitable in the future, they can join. All of us can make recommendations, agree or disagree. For now, just a few of us can discuss it. When there are more people in the future, we will consider setting rules.
Taishan will be different from a joint venture. There are no shares here. It only targets different projects. For example, if I am optimistic about a project, then I will invest half or more. If you are not optimistic, you can invest less or not at all, and vice versa. We mainly focus on discussion. When we need more funds, we can also provide financing within the meeting, or when we need help in a certain direction. As long as we are able, we should try our best to help. However, this kind of help is not free. We still have to follow market rules, but if we cooperate more, we can get an appropriate discount. What do you think? "
"This is not a problem, so what should we invest in the mainland?" Robert Kuok asked. These requirements are basically non-existent. They are very free. The ultimate goal of such an economic organization is to make profits. Only when it is profitable can everyone be tied up. Together, otherwise, pure existence equals nothingness.
"There are not many investment fields in China at present, and among us, except for me, who has a little bit of industry, we are all mainly engaged in capital, so I think the first business in China is to build large-scale five-story buildings in big cities in China. Star hotel." Chen Zhiwen said.
"Five-star hotel?" Robert Kuok was stunned for a moment and asked, "Is the domestic consumption power so strong?"
"Of course there are. There are 1 billion people in the country. Even if one out of a thousand people has the spending power, that's still a population of one million. These people are basically gathered in big cities. If we go to build there, it will just meet their requirements." Chen Zhiwen said.
To say that the country has no money is to underestimate the country. In the mid-1980s, the number of imported cars alone exceeded 100,000 a year, and the number of home appliances such as color TVs, air conditioners, and refrigerators was in the millions.
"But even if they have the spending power, the consumption is only RMB. Even if we make money, it will be difficult to take it out, right?" Robert Kuok asked again.
"Why take it out? With RMB, wouldn't it be much more convenient for us to invest again?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
Many overseas investors are unwilling to invest in China. The biggest problem is that it is difficult to get out the money they earn. For example, after 2020, if you ask foreign capitalists to invest in India, you will not be very brave, but you will not dare.
But for Chen Zhiwen, it is not a problem at all. The funds are kept in the country and recycled for investment. When the central government has more foreign exchange reserves in the 1990s or 2000s, it can be easily withdrawn. Besides, the domestic economy has really developed. Why do we need to transfer money out? There are too many projects that can be invested in in the country.
"That's right to think so." Robert Kuok nodded and said, and the other two people also agreed.
"In fact, there is no need to worry. The main customers of the hotels we open are overseas businessmen or tourist groups. They have foreign exchange coupons. It is not difficult for us to get them. Moreover, there are tens of millions of Chinese overseas, and many of them are also available at home. Relatives, this means that many people in the country also have a large amount of foreign exchange or foreign exchange certificates, and we can easily eat the consumption of these people." Chen Zhiwen continued.
In China, if you invest in five-star hotels in this era, you will actually not lose money at all, because those investors who started in the 1980s basically recovered their costs in six or seven years, and the rest is pure profit, because many The city needs to attract foreign investment or attract external tourism groups, but there is no hotel. If you build a hotel, it will monopolize the demand of overseas visitors, and there are also many local consumers.
"Actually, I also control many tourism companies in Malaysia. If there are any tourist attractions in the country, I can also encourage Malay Chinese to return to the country for tourism." Kuok Henian continued.
"This is not bad. If we have such capabilities in other countries, it will be very helpful to the domestic tourism industry." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, this is Kuok Henian's unique resource. No matter how much development Chen Zhiwen develops, it will be difficult for him to do so. , it is impossible to have the energy to do such things. This is also the original intention of the Taishan Society. The resources of the Chinese people in all parties can be utilized to the maximum extent, which will in turn bring greater benefits to everyone.
"Then who will be responsible for this matter? Chen Sheng, you proposed this, will you be responsible for this matter?" Bao Yugang suddenly asked.
"Actually, I think the more suitable candidate is Hu Sheng." Chen Zhiwen replied.
"Me?" Hu Yingxiang was stunned for a moment. He originally just wanted to come and listen, but had no intention of doing anything.
"Yes, Hu Sheng, among the four of us, you are the best at real estate projects, and you must have the best vision." Chen Zhiwen said: "Actually, what we need is Hu Sheng, you to be responsible for the site selection. As for the follow-up with domestic Issues such as joint venture negotiation can be left exclusively to a team of professional managers.”
"Okay, then I'll give it a try." Hu Yingxiang thought for a while and nodded in agreement. Although he knew that if he really took over, it wouldn't be so easy, but this was indeed an area he was good at. Another thing is that the person in charge of a large project will indeed have a lot of benefits.
"That's good. How about we wait until Hu Sheng has chosen the location and then we discuss it?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
"Okay." Robert Kuok and Pao Yugang nodded and said. They both missed out on Hong Kong's hot real estate industry. They don't know how much they regret it. Now they have the opportunity to invest in the mainland with Hong Kong's most visionary Chen Zhiwen. Naturally, I won’t give up. Besides, domestic land is basically worthless and prices are low. How much can it cost to invest in a hotel or a multi-person joint venture?
"Chen Sheng, do you think domestic land prices will rise significantly in the future?" Hu Yingxiang asked.
"Yes. I have this judgment." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. He naturally knew the future situation of domestic land prices. However, it is currently difficult to sell domestic land. It is mainly for industrial purposes. In terms of pure capital investment, except for the deep sea city , office buildings and residential buildings in other places are not open at all. The only ones with a chance are hotels, because the country needs hotels to entertain investors from overseas, and domestic people do not understand the design concepts and business models of Western hotels, so they can only rely on them. Investment from overseas capital may be the only way at present.
"If you are interested in land, investing in a five-star hotel is relatively cost-effective, but it is more profitable to invest in a five-star resort. For example, you can directly acquire a large area of land by the Yangtze River, the sea or an inland lake." Hu Yingxiang said.
"Good method." Chen Zhiwen was stunned for a moment, nodded and said. As expected, he has been playing real estate all his life. When he came up with this method, he only wanted to designate an extra green area or a parking lot when building a building, but people directly Thinking of building a resort, this area is quite large. There are villa-type hotels one after another, and the distance between each other is still large. If we build some artificial lakes or something, we have to directly use a few hundred acres of land. .
"I just thought of it by chance, because there are many hotels like this in Europe and the United States." Hu Yingxiang said with some embarrassment as the three of them looked at him in surprise.
"Since Hu Sheng has thought of this method, let's try it and give priority to cities in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or coastal provinces. When the negotiations are finalized, we will discuss how to jointly invest together." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
"Okay, leave this matter to me. I will go to the mainland again in a while." Hu Yingxiang said.
"At present, the only investments that are acceptable in the country that are suitable for us are hotels and some infrastructure. In terms of infrastructure, freedom is still the main focus. Everyone depends on their own wishes. Except for the factory I invested in, if a few of you are also interested in industry, you can also We are trying to become the supply chain of Midea and Galaxy Trading, but we need to invest and build factories in China. I will not make any promises, but it can be said that even if it is a simple industrial chain, as long as it is done well, the future profits will be very high. "Chen Zhiwen continued.
"In the industrial field, I'm not sure. I have never had any experience in this field." Bao Yugang said with a frown.
"Just acquire a suitable one. This is how many of Midea's original businesses came about. After the acquisition, funds will be injected to develop it. As long as there are no problems with the quality, the return may not be lower than that of real estate investment in Hong Kong." Chen Zhiwen Said with a smile.
The general industry is naturally not as good as Hong Kong's real estate, but Midea is different. As a supplier of Midea, the potential is also unlimited. Midea is not able to do all these supply chains by itself, so it is better to give them a better relationship with itself. good person.
Of course, no matter how good the relationship is, there can be no problem with the quality, otherwise it will be disapproval.
"Bao Sheng can give it a try. I acquired a Midea supplier a few years ago to supply them with shells. Now the annual turnover is more than 100 million Hong Kong dollars, which is not low." Hu Yingxiang said with a smile.
"Okay, I'll think about it." Bao Yugang nodded and said.
Robert Kuok on the side asked: "Sheng Chen, your beverage company also uses sugar. I can give you a certain discount here."
"Red Bull needs sugar, but not much. Very Coca-Cola uses a lot of it, but the factories in Hong Kong have already signed contracts with the Swire Group. So, Red Bull intends to build a large-scale food and beverage factory in Shanghai, including very Coke, where it can be supplied to the country, the demand for sugar will probably be greater than in Hong Kong." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.
We are still negotiating with Shanghai to build a factory, but the basic principle is that these foods and beverages can enter the country. With the country’s population, Chen Zhiwen would know with his eyes closed that Very Coca-Cola will definitely become popular in the country, among the people who lack food and clothing. The high-calorie and high-sugar contents of instant noodles and cola are considered junk food overseas, but in these places they are considered golden foods. People will be very eager to eat such foods, and the situation will only turn around when the economy reaches a certain height.
"The country is unlikely to import sugar, right?" Robert Kuok asked.
"It doesn't matter. There is relatively little sugar in the country. The supply itself is in short supply, and the quality may not meet the demand for cola. As long as I can ensure the balance of foreign exchange, imported sugar is not a problem." Chen Zhiwen said.
"That's good. I actually provide a lot of syrups for Coca-Cola. I will definitely give Chen Sheng the best quality." Robert Kuok said with a smile.
(End of chapter)
