The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Okay, then I will arrange for someone to go to Wanwan to find out the basic situation of these people first." Lei Shengli nodded in agreement.

Chen Zhiwen said again: "That friend of Xu Sheng, you can give me some benefits, it will be much more convenient."

"Understood." Lei Shengli said.

"Okay, this matter is more important, let me know if there is any progress." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, relying on this factory, even if it is true that someday it is possible to produce the chips they need for various electronics factories in Hong Kong, it will not be too difficult. The profit will be very high. After all, its own technology is still relatively weak, and Hong Kong is the simplest electronics industry, and there is not much profit margin.

But the meaning is much more important. Everything is from easy to difficult, and you can improve yourself if you stabilize your development.

"Okay." Lei Shengli said again: "Xugong, you go and do your work first. Chen Sheng and I still have some things to talk about."

"Then I'll go first." Xu Zhishan quickly stood up, nodded slightly and left.

Lei Shengli said: "Chen Sheng, there are some problems in the negotiations with the Hong Kong government regarding the color tube factory. We moved the factory to Tin Shui Wai."

"Isn't the remote countryside in Yuen Long also okay?" Chen Zhiwen said with a frown. Different from ordinary home appliances, motors, refrigeration compressors and other home appliances or parts companies, many processes in color tube factories are polluting to a certain extent. Many production processes require different acidic substances, various glues, and some chemicals. matter and so on.

After negotiating with Sony to acquire a production line of the other party, Chen Zhiwen did not intend to put this factory in the existing Midea Industrial Park. The second is the problem of pollution. There are some Red Bull factories in the Midea Industrial Park, as well as the chip and LCD factories that are being prepared. It is unacceptable to have a factory that pollutes the environment.

Therefore, Chen Zhiwen arranged for Lei Shengli and Lin Yanming from the legal department to negotiate with the Hong Kong government to find a piece of land not too far from Midea's industrial park to build this color tube factory.

"The area of ​​Yuen Long is not very large. The Hong Kong government is worried that they have approved a large piece of industrial land for us. It will not be easy for them to develop in the future, especially our factory still has certain pollution problems." Lei Shengli said: " If it was a normal time, Lin Sheng and I could have a good discussion with the Hong Kong government, but Sony seems to be ready to disassemble and ship the equipment, so I want to ask Chen Sheng what he means."

"Don't worry about pollution. Sony's factory in Japan has strong environmental protection facilities. If it's not enough, I can reinvest." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said, "But the land needs to be in Yuen Long. This is much more convenient, you can give me a map of Hong Kong."

It is important to open a factory, but life safety and health are more important. For this, Chen Zhiwen has always attached great importance to it. Many of his factories have invited safety experts from Japan and Europe to guide him. Accidents have happened several times, and major accidents have not yet occurred. Now that polluting industries are involved, especially when employees are exposed to toxic substances, it is necessary to invest money to protect the safety of employees and the environmental safety of the surrounding people.

"Okay, wait a minute." Lei Shengli quickly agreed, and quickly brought over a map.

"Here, there should be several hillsides, right?" Chen Zhiwen pointed to a place and said.

"Yes, there are several small hills tens of meters high. I have also been to this place. Many local farmers have grown some vegetables on the hills." Lei Shengli said.

"Then discuss it with the Hong Kong government, take this piece of land, and we will level the hill." Chen Zhiwen said.

"Leveling the hills? That's possible, but it will cost a lot of money." Lei Shengli nodded and said.

"It doesn't cost much. There are many real estate companies in Hong Kong who move mountains and fill seas for land." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

Many hills in Hong Kong are not hundreds of meters high like in the mainland. Many of them may be one mound surrounded by several, which makes it impossible to develop large-scale agriculture in this area.

The cost of removing the hills is not low, but if compared to the profits of real estate, it is trivial. For example, the Shatian reclamation land that Dad's Hengyi and the four major family consortiums are planning recently requires several companies. The consortium came to carry out land reclamation, and then the Hong Kong government took part of it, and the rest was regarded as the return of the consortium.

Under normal circumstances, the cost of reclamation is higher than that of moving mountains (hills), but the real estate consortium can only obtain part of the land for reclamation, which is enough to show the high value of the land.

"Having said that, it's just that the real estate company is for commercial land. After we develop it, it can only be used as industrial land. It doesn't feel very cost-effective." Lei Shengli said with some regret.

"Those real estate companies can't get all the land. The Hong Kong government doesn't do good deeds. Since this is an industrial land, we should discuss it with the Hong Kong government and give us a larger area. In the future, color TV will be our main project. Maybe Just like a fan, how many people can be employed here, how much is the export value, and how much is the industrial chain? There are only two or three small villages near this large area. All of them will be removed, and then this area will belong to us, and we will move it again. Mountain." Chen Zhiwen drew a circle on the map and said.

Although it is exaggerated, the color TV project is indeed his main goal in the future.

At the beginning, fans were able to expand on a large scale because the industrial chain was simple. Chen Zhiwen invested a lot of money, and most of the entire industrial chain was produced by himself. Now, the most core component of color TV, the color tube, is also produced by himself, so it is naturally the next one.

The reason why air conditioners and refrigerators do not follow the fan route is because air conditioners need to be installed. This labor cost needs to be controlled unless after-sales services are rolled out across the United States, but this is impossible, at least not now, and refrigerators, although after the acquisition of Bitzer It also basically has an industrial chain, and there is not much need for after-sales service, but the size of the refrigerator is too large, the cost of ocean transportation and land transportation is too high, and the proportion of transportation costs is too high. Cost and the entire industry chain, but the advantages are not obvious.

Color TV is right in between the two, perfectly becoming the next home appliance that Midea plans to fully invest in and promote.

"Okay." Lei Shengli looked at the circle on the map. The area is definitely not smaller than Midea's industrial park. If it is really won, then Midea's color TV industry will be much more convenient.

"Chen Sheng, at present, ParknShop has acquired 238 properties in Hong Kong, and another 56 properties are leased, basically covering 90% of Hong Kong's population. It is not suitable to open a new store there, and this is the location map of all our stores.” Wu Weibing, who is in charge of Watsons, brought a piece of paper almost half the size of a table as soon as he went to work in the morning.

"It's mainly on both sides of Victoria Harbour." Chen Zhiwen looked at the picture and said, this piece of paper is a map of Hong Kong, with the location of each ParknShop supermarket marked on it.

"Almost 75% of Hong Kong's population is now in Kowloon or Hong Kong Island, and we have almost 200 stores in this area." Wu Weibing said.

"Okay, since it's almost done, let's do it. Is there enough funds? How much is left of the 200 million Hong Kong dollars mortgaged?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

Previously, HSBC loaned 250 million Hong Kong dollars to Watsons to expand ParknShop. If it was just to open a supermarket, the funds would not be a problem, but the purpose of ParknShop is to acquire properties. The 200 properties are a bit stretched. , Therefore, Chen Zhiwen asked ParknShop Supermarket to use the property as collateral after acquiring some properties, and then obtain a bank loan in reverse. Of course, the second loan is no longer HSBC.

"There are almost 34 million left. This fund is used to maintain the daily operation of the supermarket. It should be enough, but the problem is that the debt of ParknShop Supermarket is a bit too heavy, and the retail income cannot support the nearly 500 million Hong Kong dollars. Interest on the loan, unless we significantly increase the selling price of the item, but this may also lead to the loss of users." Wu Weibing said tentatively.

"The selling price cannot be increased. Even if we have a monopoly, we don't need to make this kind of money. A long-term and stable price is the safest. If the interest is too heavy, we can properly use the supplier's delivery funds to balance it. If it doesn't work , I am transferring some funds to you." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.

For the long-term development of the retail industry, even after a monopoly, you can’t do whatever you want. Only by winning in the long run with cost-effectiveness can you sit on the Diaoyutai. In addition, the properties are all owned by yourself. Days are easy.

It is estimated that there is no such high-scale property self-sustainment rate in the history of the supermarkets that open stores in the city. This kind of upfront investment is huge. In addition, the recent high interest policies adopted by Europe and the United States to suppress inflation have affected Hong Kong. The pressure on ParknShop is natural. Too big to bear at all.

"Okay." Wu Weibing felt relieved.

"Actually, if the house price rises again, the property in the hands of Baijia can be mortgaged three times." Zhou Jiayang reminded.

"It's also a method." Chen Zhiwen nodded. As long as there is a property, almost all financial problems can be solved. It is true that housing prices in Hong Kong are rising too fast. Hong Kong scammer Chen Songqing used this routine, plus some deception, to continuously expand the size of his company, and then go public for financing, get the funds and buy properties to continue to mortgage, buy properties and properties, and then hype the stock price. Come and go, the bubble did not burst until the real estate crisis broke out in 1982.

"It's fine like this, but we still need more funds in the later stage." Wu Weibing said with some embarrassment.

"It's okay, as long as it lasts for a while, I will pay off this debt for you later." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile, as long as it takes another two or three years, if things go well, funds will no longer be any problem for him.

"Okay, thank you Chen Sheng." Wu Weibing said.

"In addition, Baijia Supermarket also needs to undertake some social obligations for our entire group factory. In terms of recruitment, it can target some disabled people, and it can also introduce some part-time workers so that some ordinary people can earn more money. In addition, if there are Surplus food or some daily necessities can also be distributed to those in need nearby, but be aware of some legal risks." Chen Zhiwen added.

When Midea, Hutchison, and Galaxy are large enough, there will be many such things. One is to promote their own positive side, and the other is that a large company really needs to do these things. Many British companies like to donate funds to the government. institutions, nursing homes. It's easy and simple, but Chen Zhiwen still hopes to be more practical and help those Chinese who are really in trouble.

"That's no problem. ParknShop has been recruiting people with disabilities who are not very serious and helping them get jobs. It's hard to distribute food. Many people who don't need it will come to collect it. There are people who don’t want to buy, but just wait to receive the food.” Wu Weibing replied.

"After get off work in the supermarket, what time is it after tidying up?" Chen Zhiwen asked suddenly.

"About 11 o'clock." Wu Weibing replied that Baijia supermarket usually closes at 9 o'clock, and then there is still a need to carry out some inventory of the entire supermarket and add goods, or when there are activities, the layout needs to be reorganized.

"Then send it at 11 o'clock. People who really need it will come." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.

Although it is inhumane to sprinkle sand into the porridge in the disaster relief plots of later generations of ancient costume TV dramas, it is indeed a method that can truly screen out refugees. Of course, this cannot be done in modern times, but if the time is delayed until very late, there will be many shortages. Food people, will not come.

Although Hong Kong’s economy took off in the 1970s, there were still many people living at the bottom. Many people can only say that they will not starve to death, but starvation may be normal, or they can only eat the cheapest food, especially People who come from the mainland find it difficult to find a job. ParknShop supermarkets also have expired food every day. Before, supermarkets in Hong Kong, Europe, the United States and Japan threw expired food directly into the trash can, but after Chen Zhiwen took over, they still I think it's good to distribute it.

Even if someone takes advantage, as long as the difficulty of obtaining is increased, part of it can still be given to those who need it.

"Okay, let's try it first." Wu Weibing nodded and said.

"Well, there are basically no major problems in the Hong Kong market. We have completed all the layouts. The possibility of other consortiums coming in is almost zero. We just need to wait for the debt to be reduced a bit. However, Hong Kong is only a top 100. Or the starting point of Watsons, my plan is to start to expand overseas after 80 years, and there are still 2 years left. Your team can do more research on the situation in the Gulf or Southeast Asian countries, especially the Gulf, where we will be next A major market." Chen Zhiwen continued.

The retail in Hong Kong is very simple in Hong Kong, relying on the large capital crushing and the high-quality supply of Galaxy Trading, it will do, but the Hong Kong market is too small, and after they are all won, they must go out, or else Can only become a small local retail company.

However, it is quite difficult to open a supermarket in other people's territory, especially the historical experience from later generations shows that basically retail supermarket groups can only dominate in the local area, and it is difficult to go overseas.

For example, Wal-Mart has a very large scale in the United States, but its results in Europe, Asia and South America are very mediocre. This is the result of its own huge supply chain control capabilities. The same is true for European supermarket giants Auchan and Carrefour in the global market.

But it's hard to return, Chen Zhiwen still has to try, not to mention other things, there are Chinese people in Wanwan, the probability of success should be much higher, even if it doesn't make money, the scale of the industry is larger, there is no harm to him.

Zhou Jiayang said: "Chen Sheng, in Southeast Asia, I have been to many countries and worked there before, and the xenophobia there is serious, unless we are investing in a factory and there is no conflict with the local business giants, then There will be no major problems, but if it is to open a supermarket to earn their money, it will be a bit difficult.

To develop the market there, the safest way is to cooperate with the local big consortium. They are responsible for stabilizing our investment. We provide cheap goods, and the final profit is divided according to the ratio. It is best to find local Chinese capital, Southeast Asia In fact, many industries are controlled by local Chinese. "

"That's fine, that's the main thing to do is to find a suitable partner. First try to communicate with the companies owned by well-known Chinese rich people. You guys try it first. If there is an opportunity, I will mention them when I meet them. "Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

I have to say that in Asia, the Chinese are still the most diligent and intelligent. Countless Chinese have gone overseas, and many of them have become local business leaders. It is much more obvious. It is an exaggeration to say that the Chinese account for half of the rich list in Southeast Asia, which is basically correct.

"Okay, I'll send people to Southeast Asian countries to investigate, and then try to contact them." Wu Weibing agreed.

"The key point is to prepare for Wanwan first, and the Southeast Asian side will also proceed simultaneously." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and then said: "Watsons' own cosmetics brand has also developed well in Hong Kong recently, and we can also try to expand outward, but this small There is no big interest in the store, just look for ordinary merchants overseas to join. In terms of goods, we will purchase in a unified manner, and strive to reduce the cost of the procurement chain as soon as possible, so that we can expand internationally.”

Watsons currently has two main businesses, one is ParknShop Supermarket, and the other is Watsons’ own cosmetics chain store. During this time, the focus has been on ParkShop Supermarket, because it can rely on rapid investment to obtain an absolute monopoly in Hong Kong. The Watsons Cosmetics chain store has not invested much, and has remained the same after opening 30 stores in Hong Kong. This type of cosmetics chain store can only take the route of multi-city expansion. The future market is mainly overseas, and they are all scattered.

It takes a long time to operate, and it also requires continuous investment, but the advantage is that this kind of store does not have a lot of benefits to swallow up in one place, and it will not arouse the covetousness of local snakes, and it will mainly adopt the franchise method. It is also benefit sharing.

"Then Watsons also wants to open the Wanwan market first?" Wu Weibing asked.

"You can try it first, but the overall economy of Wanwan is much worse. You can choose to find franchisees in a few big cities in Taipei. The main thing is to accumulate experience. Watsons still needs to focus on Europe and the United States. For the American side , I will find a way to find some partners to invest together, paving the way first." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.

In the original history, Hutchison under Li Jiacheng also valued Watson's cosmetics business, and successively invested in Europe, America, Southeast Asia and even Japan. However, with his capital at that time, it was not until the 1990s that he became rich. Of course, Chen Zhiwen now does not After waiting for such a long time, especially in the United States, I still have certain resources there. As long as I invest a sum first, open up the market first, and then use these successful cases as publicity, I can guide others to join. And as long as the quantity is large, the best quality suppliers can be selected.

The operating logic is actually the same as that of supermarket chains, except that the cosmetics stores cannot be large and must be spread all over the world.

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