The Industrial Giant Reborn

The policies of any country are definitely aimed at one group. If treated differently, it will be considered as a non-free and fair market. Unless it involves some national defense and security issues, it can still be argued, but that is also a distinction between internal and external. Unless the external capital policy is It involves different foreign policies of the country, otherwise it is generally the same.

Once the country decides to allow some foreign capital to enter the domestic retail sector, it is impossible to only open this opening to Watsons. Although Chen Zhiwen is very important to the country, it will not allow the country to introduce such a favoritism policy.

But Chen Zhiwen doesn't care. First, overseas supermarket giants are still in the expansion period in their own country or around the world. Even Watsons is the same. It is unlikely that they will invest heavy capital in the country. After all, the current domestic economy is not very good. , and there are also foreign exchange controls. The second is that if it really comes, it will definitely not be able to compare with itself at the capital level. It’s not that there are no retail giants with stronger comprehensive strength than itself, but it’s that they don’t have the investment determination like myself. Third, even if If there really is one, it can only be said that he has a vision. After all, the domestic market is so big that even Chen Zhiwen cannot cover the entire territory in a short period of time, even if he has money, because human resources, management, transportation, The procurement chain and so on need to be built from scratch, and it is impossible to achieve rapid expansion. However, since the mid-1990s, after the domestic control of the foreign retail industry was relaxed, major giants such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Auchan and other European and American retail giants, and There is no large-scale entry, otherwise, in future generations, RT-Mart will not be able to steal the limelight of the number one local supermarket.

"Okay, if that's the case, I will apply to the higher authorities. However, the initial application can only be limited to cities that are currently open to the outside world. This can ensure the success rate. However, I cannot guarantee whether it can be a sole proprietorship. We will see the decision of the upper authorities later." Director Lin After thinking for a while he said.

"Okay, thank you very much, Director Lin." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, "I am very satisfied to be able to develop new markets in 20 open cities. It can also be used as a test field, and maybe it can stimulate domestic consumption on a large scale. "

Even if the country issues policies today and allows you to invest freely, your first choice is to start investing in these open cities. Firstly, because most of these cities are economically developed and have the strongest consumption power and the largest population. Secondly, this is These cities are mainly on the seaside, and the shortcomings in inland transportation can be made up by sea transportation. Otherwise, although the economy of some provincial capital cities in the central and western parts of the country is not bad, the logistics costs are astonishing.

In ten years, we can almost capture a lot of the 20 largest urban markets. When the national level allows wholly foreign-owned enterprises, then we can use these places as the center point and expand to the surrounding areas. In these ten years, we can also cultivate talents on a large scale. , take your time and wait for the explosion of the mainland market.

"The premise is that the central government can agree. This requires not only my side to apply, but Mr. Chen's side also needs to contribute." Director Lin added.

"Of course, I will naturally arrange for people to negotiate with the central government on such a matter." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

When it comes to large-scale investments, you don't just make a request and wait for a reply. Most of them have to send people to follow up for a long time and negotiate various requirements with the other party. This is true whether the other party is the government or another company. As long as the other party is not directly involved in the early stage. A veto is negotiable and easy to negotiate, and an agreement can always be reached later, so the most important point is the early stage.

However, Chen Zhiwen feels that this is not a big problem. After all, he is about to invest so many factories in China, which will create employment for one million people and generate foreign exchange earnings of one billion U.S. dollars. This requirement in China is not too much. The most important thing is that it will not cause domestic foreign exchange losses. In fact, under the policy of foreign exchange control, it is an advantage for you who are not eager for immediate returns, because others will basically not operate this way.

…

After Director Lin left, Chen Zhiwen quickly called his colleagues Zhou Jiayang and Dong Youwei.

Although Hutchison Whampoa and Land have different divisions of labor, with the former focusing on infrastructure and the latter focusing on real estate, this is because the Hong Kong real estate market is too small and there is no need for internal friction between the two giant companies under their own companies. Therefore, Hong Kong's real estate is basically Handed over to Land, Hutchison Whampoa will only develop its own land and will not participate in other bidding, etc., unless it is for its own business needs.

But the domestic market is still a blank piece of paper, and the potential is unlimited. Not to mention the mere two companies Hutchison Whampoa and Land, it can easily accommodate 20 more companies of the same level, even the 20 that have just been opened. The city is an infinite market in total, with unlimited opportunities within it. Naturally, Chen Zhiwen will not place any restrictions on the two companies, as long as the two companies do not stupidly compete for the same project and cause internal friction. Only some projects led by Chen Zhiwen will be allocated by him, such as the Yanjing International Trade Center, hotels, and some future shopping malls. The locations, ports, highways, etc. of these projects will belong to Hutchison. In this way, on the surface, the allocation will be It’s also very clear.

Watsons belongs to Hutchison Whampoa, and this matter has little to do with Land. However, the nature of the investment is similar. If Land knows about it, it will be much more convenient for its own investment in the future.

"The number of open cities now is enough for our Watsons to expand. Without any big competitors, ten years may not be enough to complete the development." Zhou Jiayang said with some joy after hearing the boss's description. .

If many different supermarket chain brands invest together, a city will soon be saturated under multi-party competition. However, if there are no competitors and they are all owned by themselves, then there will definitely be a lot of stores invested, and then there are Money cannot be invested all at once. The normal situation is to invest in a company first, then summarize experience, cultivate talents, find partners and supply chains, wait until these are almost complete, and then slowly expand. The whole process is like exponential growth. In the early stage, The slowest one becomes faster and faster in the later stages, and no matter how smooth the development is, the doubling time will be measured in years.

"Yes, so I don't need the government to introduce any policies that can be invested across the country. It is enough to invest in these cities. We need to start in each major economic zone in the mainland." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

Although it has been considered successful in Shenhai City, just talking about supermarkets, Watsons' RT-Mart and PARKnSHOP have almost accounted for half of the market in Shenhai City. Even 711 has begun to expand in Shenhai City on a large scale. But in Shenhai City, It can only represent a small area of ​​the southernmost economy. No matter how well we do here, when domestic retail restrictions are relaxed in ten years, we can only say that we are prepared in eastern Guangdong Province. With just one city, we can It is unrealistic to be ready to enter the country. Moreover, the current Shenhai City is not very developed. It can only be said that it is developing rapidly and has great potential.

And if we can do a good job in retail work in the 20 cities that have been opened, and cultivate regional talents, logistics and transportation systems, supply chains, etc., then it will be much easier to expand in ten years, and different places have different business methods. It’s also different. With multiple points, you can prepare earlier.

"Indeed, supermarkets are much more complex than our Land's hotels, and their potential is much greater. Now even if it is a joint venture, the store needs to be built first." Dong Youwei of Land's Land also nodded and said, although Land's Land does not have a retail industry Yes, but as the boss of a large company, I still have this bit of common sense.

"Dong Sheng is right. The most important thing is to get the central government's consent first. As long as the central government agrees, everything will be simple." Zhou Jiayang also agreed, although business expansion is not easy. Things, but when there is no market competition, basically as long as you don't make big mistakes and don't lack money, you should be able to succeed. After all, this is not a mature Western market, and wanting to enter the retail industry there is just like a daydream. Watsons said earlier In this year, we can only focus on developing the Southeast Asian market. The United States mainly relies on Costco, and the European side relies on the newly acquired Tesco supermarket. Of course, Costco and Watsons are only brothers, not affiliated with each other.

"Old Dong, what do you think?" Chen Zhiwen saw that Dong Youwei seemed to have something to say.

"Chen Sheng, Zhou Sheng and I were discussing something before. Land was planning to cooperate with China Resources to develop some real estate projects in Hong Kong. The normal model between me and some senior executives of China Resources was to share the profits in proportion. Who would pay the money? Whoever has more resources or more resources will get the big share. However, considering the situation of our group in Hong Kong, cash does not mean much. If the property is not of particularly high quality, it does not matter if it is available or not. The group is prepared to invest heavily in the mainland, so my The idea is that China Resources can obtain most or even all of the profits in Hong Kong, while we, through China Resources, can obtain investment opportunities in the mainland." Dong Youwei did not answer directly, but talked about his own affairs:

"Currently in the mainland, unless it is a project specially approved by the central government, such as the Yanjing International Trade Center where we are located, or hotels, or other commercial projects, Hong Kong capital cannot invest, but it can be done through China Resources. We have signed a contract in Hong Kong , we pay for it, and China Resources buys it. When the policy is relaxed in the future, we will do the transaction."

"Yes, we were just discussing this matter. If this method is feasible, Hutchison Whampoa can also do the same." Zhou Jiayang nodded and said.

"Aren't you afraid that China Resources will regret it?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"China Resources is also a well-known company in the country. It also represents China's cooperation with many Hong Kong businesses and international companies in Hong Kong. Doing this kind of thing will have an impact on its reputation and even the reputation of the entire mainland. Furthermore, we are in Hong Kong. The contract also locks in China Resources' assets in Hong Kong. If they violate the contract, we can also counterattack them. With the contract in hand, if they make mistakes, even the mainland government will not be able to help them. Such a thing is not worth the loss. They There is no reason to do it," Dong Youwei said.

"Well, it is true that this can bypass some policies." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, this is indeed a good method. Both parties can just keep silent. There is no problem at all for China Resources to purchase commercial real estate in China. Just wait until the mainland allows foreign investment to participate, and then we can start trading. If the volume involved is too large, trade in batches. In the next 90s, although the domestic economy will be stronger, it will still be far behind Hong Kong. China Resources really has no reason not to abide by the contract. Furthermore, although such a contract is not illegal, it would not be good for China Resources if it were actually announced.

"The mainland is still similar to Hong Kong in the 1950s. There are basically no pure modern commercial real estate, so there is no need to spend money to build office buildings, shopping malls, etc., which would be troublesome. The targets I plan to choose are the downtowns of various cities. The more centrally located the shops along the street, the better, especially the pedestrian streets that have become popular in China recently. I estimate that no matter how the real estate industry develops in the future, such places are unlikely to expand indefinitely like shopping malls and office buildings. Their value will only get higher and higher," Dong Youwei continued.

"Yes, these key shops are indeed very rare and high-quality resources. In this way, if you ask China Resources Group to focus on acquiring pedestrian street shops or entire buildings for us in the top 100 cities in the domestic economy, I will accept them all. If you want, foreign exchange acquisition is also possible, but to be cautious, you still need to use part of China Resources’ interests in Hong Kong as collateral." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.

Before the rise of supermarkets such as Wanda and Wuyue in China, pedestrian streets were always the busiest places in any city. Most cities in a city only had one such street, and only some very large cities had two or more. , and even if large supermarkets appear, the business of pedestrian streets will only be affected, but it is still far higher than that of shops in other places. The return rate of investing here is so high that it is estimated to beat other places, even large shopping malls in the future. With the rise of supermarkets, building supermarkets next to pedestrian streets will only bring greater flow of people.

"Okay, the pedestrian street is indeed my favorite place." Dong Youwei paused and said.

"So what you mean is to let China Resources open supermarkets in China instead of us? Isn't that impossible? The property is just for rent collection and it can be changed hands. But a supermarket is an enterprise, and a supermarket chain is a group. China Resources itself does have Supermarket business, but they manage it, that’s them." Chen Zhiwen said again.

"We are cooperating with China Resources, but it is not this model. We can completely establish a joint venture with China Resources. The same must be discussed first. At present, it is just his name, even if they own 51% of the shares. After establishing the joint venture, Just like the domestic automobile industry, China Resources does not have to take care of anything except its name. Our people are responsible for everything. In this way, when domestic policies relax restrictions on foreign-owned supermarkets in the future, we can just buy back the equity. "Dong Youwei said.

"This method is indeed possible, but I still prefer to give priority to sole proprietorship. Supermarkets are not like property rent collection, and the industrial chain problems involved are relatively large. If we are a joint venture, our operation will be very good. If China Resources really regrets it, it will be very difficult for us. , it’s still too troublesome.” Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said, even if you didn’t participate in mainland real estate in the 1980s, you can still do it after the 1990s. At most, you will spend more money in the future. The only regret is that you may miss a lot. Golden opportunity.

But retail is different. This is one of the core businesses of our group. It has really grown in our own hands, but the joint venture partner is the major shareholder, which is really troublesome.

Dong Youwei nodded and said: "I understand what Chen Sheng means, so if the country agrees to us building supermarkets in cities that have been opened up, then we will be sole proprietors, and other places can also try joint ventures with China Resources and change brands. Anyway, It won’t be the focus. The most important thing is to first understand the domestic inland market. Moreover, we can also use China Resources’ resources to promote this matter, and they can also speak in the mainland.”

"Okay, let's try it first. Cooperation with central mainland cities is also possible." Chen Zhiwen nodded and agreed. (End of chapter)