The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Lin Zhichao was sitting on the sofa in Jian Dongpu's office, sipping the tea made by Jian Dongpu himself, feeling a bit like coming to his own office; of course, his office is very simple, and it is not the same as the general manager's office of the largest Chinese-funded bank.

The deposits of Bank of East Asia have reached 60 million Hong Kong dollars, making it a giant Chinese bank.

If Bank of East Asia had not been too conservative in later generations, it would not have been caught up by Hang Seng Bank (Hang Seng had already surpassed Bank of East Asia before it was acquired by HSBC).

"Come here for a loan from Cheung Kong Holdings?"

Jian Dongpu was the first to intervene in the topic. He finally discovered that this young man was more able to sit still than he was, as if he was sure of the Bank of East Asia.

"Well. Cheung Kong's first loan of 400,000 Hong Kong dollars owed to the Bank of East Asia will be repaid soon. So, I want to borrow another 1 million Hong Kong dollars for two years."

In this era, bank lending was relatively risky, but the annual interest rate was around 15%, which was a huge profit.

Of course, even with such huge profits, most Chinese bankers are not satisfied. They think they can earn more by simply lending to themselves.

'The bank's money is their own money', they probably thought so, so all the Chinese banks were later wiped out, leaving only the stable Bank of East Asia.

Jian Dongpu immediately became serious, and said, "What about the purpose of the funds? As far as I know, you buy the machines by installments, so you don't need so much money, do you?"

Lin Zhichao then explained clearly one by one his four plans to develop Cheung Kong Holdings - building a factory in Tsuen Wan, building land in Tsuen Wan, building a factory in Sing Tao, and purchasing machinery.

"Why did you go to Xingdao to build a factory?" Jian Dongpu immediately grasped the biggest question.

In this era when information is not very popular, who among small and medium-sized enterprises would invest in factories across borders? Although Hong Kong and Singapore are only a few hours flight away, they are both British colonies.

Lin Zhichao had already prepared his speech, and analyzed: "Cheung Kong's zipper products will eventually be involved in direct competition with RB, the United States, and Europe. In order to prevent them from setting up trade fortresses one day, then Cheung Kong can give full play to overseas The advantages of the factory. Although this step is still far away, I have to make arrangements in advance."

Jian Dongpu immediately admired Lin Zhichao's vision. He did not doubt Lin Zhichao's ability. After all, he was able to handle all the "high-tech" things such as improving automatic zipper machines and developing slider punching machines.

Let me ask, can’t such a business genius go further in the manufacturing industry?

"Is a loan of 1 million Hong Kong dollars enough? The land in Tsuen Wan is worth millions, right?" Jian Dongpu asked proactively.

Lin Zhichao said sincerely: "The land in Tsuen Wan is not a project that must be invested. Although I am optimistic that Tsuen Wan will become a factory paradise for entrepreneurs from the mainland to Hong Kong, so it can be absorbed slowly. The new loan of 1 million Hong Kong dollars will be repaid in installments after one year. , the funding aspect should still be possible.”

Jian Dongpu said at this time: "The Bank of East Asia can lend you 1.5 million, which will also be repaid in installments after one year. But still follow the old rules, the entire Cheung Kong Industrial is mortgaged by us, including your land, factory buildings, and machines."

Lin Zhichao immediately agreed: "No problem!"

He is not afraid of having too many debts, but he is afraid of not being able to borrow them.

Jian Dongpu nodded and said, "I'm mainly thinking that if your new machines are put into use, it's not impossible to earn 3 million yuan a year and double the profit. Why should I be stingy."

This is the fundamental reason. Just imagine that Lin Zhichao can earn 1.5 million a year by using six automatic zipper machines. Now it is not impossible to use more advanced machines and more than double the number of machines to earn 3 million.

Even if you earn 2 million, it is still worth a loan of 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars.

"With the opening of the zipper market in Europe and the United States, I think there is great hope of doubling profits." Lin Zhichao said seriously.

At this time, there should still be two full years before the United States announces its blockade of Hong Kong trade.

During this period, it was enough for Yangtze River Industries to make a lot of money.

At the same time, Lin Zhichao seemed to remember that RB did not block any trade in Hong Kong. On the contrary, it also provided many preferential treatment.

The reason couldn't be simpler. During the Peninsular War, RB undertook a large number of orders from the United States, so the economy began to take off. After World War II, RB suffered from a large shortage of ships, coupled with its inherent lack of resources, so Hong Kong, a trading port, could not be bypassed.

Based on these analyses, Lin Zhichao even feels that the RB government may not conduct a trade fortress and boycott of Hong Kong zipper products.

In this way, everyone will follow the principle of fair competition.

Lin Zhichao brought Wang Liang, Bao Chunlai, and Huang Changhong to Singapore.

After visiting Bukit Road, Lin Zhichao also saw a familiar signboard, which was 'Yang Hiap Seng Soy Sauce Factory'.

"Is this Yang Xiecheng soy sauce factory quite big?" He pointed to a factory and said.

Wang Liang has traveled between Singapore and Hong Kong many times, and he is already familiar with this place, so he replied: "Yes, it is the land purchased last year, covering an area of ​​10 acres (60 acres)."

Lin Zhichao nodded. This Yang Xiecheng Soy Sauce Factory is owned by the Yang Tianen family, and will open a factory in Hong Kong in the future; because it has so many lands under it, it was spied on by real estate developers, and received by the Huang Tingfang family and the Guo Lingcan family. acquisition.

Of course, family property is often spied upon by others, and often occurs after internal strife within the family. Otherwise, how could outsiders easily defeat it?

After inspecting the surroundings, Lin Zhichao returned to the site selected by Wang Liang and others.

"Our funds are limited, and it is enough to buy a 2-acre (12 mu, 72,000 square feet)!" Lin Zhichao said with a smile.

Wang Liang immediately said: "Well, the price is almost more than 200,000 Hong Kong dollars, and the land here is cheaper than Tsuen Wan. Of course, Singapore's economic development is far behind that of Hong Kong."

At this time, Hong Kong still has industries, but Singapore almost relies on trade. So even if Bukit Road in later generations is a high-end residential area, it is just a remote area at present, and the price is not as good as that in the village of Tsuen Wan.

"Okay, this is the land!" Lin Zhichao didn't hesitate too long.

During this trip, Lin Zhichao mainly inspected two places in Singapore, one is Bukit Road and the other is Orchard Road.

Bukit Road intends to open factories, while Orchard Road intends to purchase a large amount of land in the future for commercial real estate investment.

Next, Lin Zhichao made arrangements: "Let's rent an office building here to serve as an office! The first is to supervise the construction progress of the factory, and the second is to serve as a zipper sales office. Manager Huang is in charge of construction and occasionally flies to Singapore to supervise; Manager Bao is in charge Sales of zippers in Southeast Asia, and also participated in the construction of factories, running in both Hong Kong and Singapore."

Huang Changhong and Bao Chunlai immediately said in unison: "Okay, boss."

Subsequently, the group formally signed a factory land purchase agreement with the new colonial government.

We have communicated many times in advance, so just pay the money directly. The total is 218,000 Hong Kong dollars, which is still quite cheap.