The Industrial Giant Reborn

"You bought a farm in Argentina? It's bigger than Hong Kong Island?" After returning to Hong Kong, his father Chen Tianfu asked in surprise after learning about his son's operations in South America.

"How big is Hong Kong Island? There are many farms in the world that are bigger than Hong Kong Island, but mine is not considered a farm. It can only be said that it has the foundation to become a farm. If I want to develop it into a suitable farm, I don't have tens of millions of dollars to spend. It won't work." Chen Zhiwen shrugged and said.

The area of ​​Hong Kong Island is less than 80 square kilometers, and the farm I bought is almost 200 square kilometers, which is 2.5 times the area. However, there are really many such large-scale farms in the world, and some farms The area is even larger than the entire Hong Kong (3000 square kilometers).

However, this is just the area. In fact, it is impossible to use all of them as farms. The investment cost is too high. The owner of this large-scale farm only changes it into a pasture, wild cattle, or transforms it into a scenic spot for tourism. .

"Ten million dollars? That's worth it, such a large land." As a Chinese from the mainland, Chen Tianfu still has puzzles about the land even after staying in Hong Kong for decades.

"The investment is too big. If you have the money, why not invest in China in the future? In South America, if you have enough funds in the future, it will be a good ranch. The investment is much lower and the risk is much lower." Chen Zhiwen said.

The cost of using a piece of land for grazing is much lower than converting it into a farm, because the latter requires a lot of water. Water is not only a resource, but also requires a lot of investment for all-round transportation, and the infrastructure cost is much higher. , the ranch is much simpler, the animals can drink whatever they have, and they don’t need to be fed, the animals will walk over by themselves.

"Can we invest in farms in China?" Chen Tianfu asked.

"Maybe in the future." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said. He remembered that in the early days of the reform, foreign capital could invest in large-scale pastures, farms and even forest farms, but don't think about investing in places that have already achieved results in the interior. However, there are places in the country where there is no capital investment. After development, the food or meat, milk and eggs will be owned by foreign capital, and taxes will be paid legally.

For the country, anyway, if there is no one to develop the land, there will be zero income. With foreign investment, you can also get foreign exchange, employment, and food and meat that are relatively scarce in the country.

Of course, the initial policy also required joint ventures, that is, the majority of the domestic market, usually 51%, is also the case in the auto industry. This year, domestic people frequently sent people overseas to visit GM, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, and Citroen Waiting for international automobile brands, and also inviting these big automobile companies to visit the country, just want to cooperate in the automobile field. There are some international news about this aspect, and Hong Kong will naturally follow the report.

Although the re-opening policy has not been officially announced, but the current trend, it will be a matter of time before foreign capital can invest. In fact, businessmen in Hong Kong basically feel it.

"Okay, then you don't spend this money in South America, just have fun there, or mainly in China in the future, language communication is much more convenient." Chen Tianfu said quickly, but he knew that the mainland is short of food. Meat is even more lacking in funds. Since my son is interested in running a farm and ranch, he might as well go to China. Although it may be just an interest to my son, this interest may help tens of thousands of people in China.

"I invested in South America, not for the business of farming and ranching. The main reason is that the land there is permanent. As long as I buy it with American capital, the wealth will be eternal. It can be created anywhere in the world. , including houses in Hong Kong can be built more and more, but the land that can grow food, especially the land that can retain rainwater, will never change in size, or even become less and less.” Chen Zhiwen explained.

Chen Tianfu thought for a while and said, "There is some truth in what you say."

"In China, if there is a need in the future, I can also invest in it. Red Bull already has plans to enter the food industry on a large scale, and it may be possible to cooperate with the mainland in the future." Chen Zhiwen thought about it, and comforted his father Better.

"I heard that Red Bull has made potato chips, and is it going to enter other food fields?" Chen Tianfu asked curiously.

"Yes, this is an internal decision of Red Bull. They discussed internally and are optimistic about the dairy market. They are planning to hire a team from Dairy Milk International to start the dairy business. If they can do it, I can invest heavily to help them expand. "Chen Zhiwen replied.

Regardless of whether it is Red Bull, Midea or even several other real estate companies, Chen Zhiwen only focuses on the main core business. In other aspects, he only needs to know the situation regularly.

For example, Midea decided internally to borrow Galaxy Trading’s relationship chain in European and American supermarkets to develop some kitchen appliances. The scale is not large, it supports hundreds of people, and its annual turnover is only a few million Hong Kong dollars.

Chen Zhiwen didn't object after he found out, you can just play casually, if the performance is average, then continue to be average, if the performance is good, then he will invest a certain amount of funds and resources for further development.

The same is true for Red Bull. Chen Zhiwen only decided on Red Bull Beverage, Super Coca-Cola and the instant noodle business that will be prepared for the mainland in the future. For the rest, Red Bull’s management has the right to decide, that is, if they are optimistic about a market, they can invest in it. Just tell Chen Zhiwen That's right, under normal circumstances, there is a market or an opportunity for so many managements to decide to do it, and Chen Zhiwen will not idle to object, anyway, it is always trial and error, ten mistakes, as long as you get up One, it was a big success.

Of course, the fundamental reason for being able to make such a fuss is Chen Zhiwen's layout in the overseas retail market. Costco can promote electrical appliances or food in Hong Kong for free. , It can be said that it is difficult to enter a large-scale supermarket.

Red Bull took a fancy to the high demand for the dairy industry in the market, so it was ready to give it a try. Another reason was that one of Red Bull’s previous middle managers came from Dairy Milk International, and after being acquired by Landmark, the focus of Milk International has shifted. Real estate development, the milk business was thrown aside, so he had the idea of ​​poaching the milk team.

"Dairy industry, export dairy products to the United States? This market is big enough. There are not so many dairy cows here in Hong Kong? You can't import milk powder from abroad and make dairy products to sell to the United States?" Chen Tianfu said a little asked curiously.

"Take the Hong Kong market first. Although the United States has the help of Costco, it is still relatively far away." Chen Zhiwen shrugged and said: "In fact, Hong Kong still exists. Red Bull is already planning to buy a large area in Tianshuiwei Land to build a dairy farm, but the Hong Kong government directly vetoed this plan, and now it is going to buy land from the Zhao family, a big landlord in Tin Shui Wai.”

"Tianshuiwei? It's possible there, but the cost of raising cattle must be very high? Are you planning to take the opportunity to hoard land?" Chen Tianfu asked with a look of disbelief.

"Why choose one of the two, can't I have both?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

"But a place like Tianshuiwei is so remote, is it really worth real estate development?" Chen Tianfu asked curiously.

"You said that 20 years ago, besides Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom, which are close to the Victoria Harbour, were other places in Kowloon worth developing?" Chen Zhiwen asked rhetorically.

"It makes sense for you to say that." Chen Tianfu also nodded and said, 20 years ago, he had just entered the real estate market at that time, basically all companies were seeking life in Hong Kong Island, a small number of small companies or mixed Those who are not good come to Tsim Sha Tsui or Hung Hom. As for Yuen Long, Sha Tin, etc., they are all places where aborigines or refugees live. Even the Hong Kong government is unwilling to set up administrative agencies in these places, because there is too little money.

But now, Yuen Long, Sha Tin, Kui Wan, and Tuen Mun have become the favorites of many real estate companies, and the Hong Kong government's policies have begun to shift to these places, intending to build new residential areas around these towns.

It is hard to say what will happen to Tianshuiwei ten or twenty years later.

"Based on the current situation in Hong Kong, Tin Shui Wai will not be able to develop in more than ten years, so I can buy it for Red Bull to raise cattle or build a milk factory. As for the future, I can change it when I need it." Chen Zhiwen said.

He has already won one of the four walled villages of the later generations, which is Whampoa Garden, which is about to undergo the final pre-sale. According to estimates, after the pre-sale, the entire Hutchison Group can make a net profit of 1.2 billion Hong Kong dollars plus a large self-supporting commercial plaza.

And the remaining three, two of which are located on Hong Kong Island, which is the site of two large power plants left after Hong Kong Electric moved away. Now, Chen Zhiwen has ordered the securities department to slowly absorb Hong Kong Electric shares, and so on. It will take a while, and these two lands can only be developed after the power plant is relocated, at least until the mid-80s.

The last one is the "Kingswood Villa" in Tin Shui Wai, which was only developed in the 1990s. It is really because it is too remote, and only when housing prices in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and southern New Territories are too expensive, some Hong Kong people have no choice but to settle in Tin Shui Wai.

In other words, buying this land now will indeed take a long time to develop. Now I intend to buy a piece of land here for future consideration, and Tianshuiwei is very close to the future Shenhai City, so it will be convenient in many ways few.

"But in the New Territories, there is a lease term issue, don't you think about it?" Chen Tianfu asked.

"For me, this has never been a problem. Now that the mainland intends to shift the work center to economic development, at this time, Hong Kong's experience and some help are urgently needed, and Hong Kong can be used as an intermediate bridge between China and overseas. Hong Kong will definitely continue to be stable like this." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

He knew the history, so he was naturally assured of such things.

But many people in Hong Kong don’t know what to think. If they are more cautious, they will invest all their funds in Hong Kong Island, because this is not within the scope of restrictions. There are even more fearful ones who will directly withdraw their funds and prepare to run away.

"Okay, that's fine, Tianshuiwei is big enough, you can use it to raise cattle, anyway, you can import feed from overseas." Chen Tianfu nodded and said: "It's the Zhao family, can you persuade them It might be a bit difficult for them."

"That's right. The people from Red Bull took the initiative to communicate with them before. They didn't make a statement. They probably wanted to sell it for a price." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

Tin Shui Wai is one of the most remote places in Hong Kong, but the land here is not unoccupied. It is owned by a Zhao family that has been passed down for hundreds of years. It is said that their family is the descendant of Ming Dynasty officials. When I came here, I have been settling here. Because of the remoteness of the place, since the British ghosts came to Hong Kong in the 19th century, they didn’t take much care of it. The Zhao family has always been in stable control of nearly 5 square kilometers of land in Tianshuiwei.

However, this piece of land has no commercial value, not even agricultural value. It’s not that the soil quality is poor or there is no water. There is land, and it is impossible to beat the domestic price of goods in terms of cost.

"Do you also want to develop real estate?" Chen Tianfu asked.

"Who wouldn't want to in Hong Kong?" Chen Zhiwen smiled and said, "I will ask their patriarch to come out in a few days and have a chat. There will always be a price that he can agree to."

The time soon came to July 10th, and Hong Kong has entered summer. Under the scorching sun, there are not many pedestrians on the road.

"Chen Sheng, according to our estimation, Harbor City will be open for business by the beginning of next year." Zhao Lilin, the person in charge of Wharf, made a routine report once a month. This is the routine operation of several non-core business companies under Chen Zhiwen. , It’s nothing big, just develop according to your own pace, and then report the progress of various things once a month.

"Okay, the progress is fine, as long as the quality is guaranteed." Chen Zhiwen nodded. After entering Wharf, he did not develop Harbor City at a slow pace like Jardine, but worked with several Chinese companies to develop a few blocks. Wharf's non-core land, after obtaining funds, requires construction and decoration companies to start work in three shifts 24 hours a day to ensure the earliest opening time.

Even in the early 1980s, the annual rental income of this harbor city was 300 to 400 million yuan. After deducting the operating costs, there was also a 100 to 200 million Hong Kong dollars in income, which was enough for Wharf to completely get rid of the funding problem.

"Okay, the financial statement has been handed over to the finance department of the head office." Zhao Lilin continued. Generally, his boss only pays attention to the development of key projects. As for financial matters, they are basically reviewed by the finance department of the head office. Will not ask, unless there is a separate major investment project.

After Zhao Lilin left, Chen Zhiwen was in a good mood. Once Harbor City opens, it will shock the whole of Hong Kong. Its ability to attract money far surpasses many skyscrapers in Central. Even a large part of the people who often shop here in Central are attracted by Harbor City. Let’s go, after all, Hong Kong’s summer and rainy days will seriously affect the people shopping among the various commercial buildings in Central, but it will not affect Harbor City, which has all indoor shopping.

After a while, Xu Jinhong, the person in charge of Galaxy Group, walked in with a burly middle-aged man.

"Chen Sheng, this is Zhao Defeng, the Patriarch of the Zhao family in Tianshuiwei, Zhao Sheng, this is Chen Sheng." Xu Jinhong introduced each other after entering.

"Mr. Zhao, hello." Chen Zhiwen nodded his head.

"Hello, Chen Sheng, I have admired your name for a long time." Zhao Defeng said politely. Although the person in front of him may be much younger than him, his status in Hong Kong is basically in the top five, and this is still counting in the political circle. people.

"Please sit down." Chen Zhiwen motioned, and they came to the sofa next to the floor-to-ceiling windows. Seagulls flying in the air.

The young female assistant came over and prepared the corresponding tea after asking.

"Sheng Zhao, I think the people from Red Bull and Galaxy Real Estate have communicated with you in advance. We want to acquire the piece of land in Tianshuiwei that you own. We invite you here today just to hear what you want to say. What kind of conditions are you willing to sell that piece of land?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

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