2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 384 Hong Kong Reverie
"You might come here to ring the bell someday."

Sitting on a chair outside the same coffee shop where Tan Jincheng had last bought stocks, Tan Jincheng pointed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange next door and said to Gu Qingqing with a smile.

There are very few internet companies that are doing well without going public. Every internet company dreams of going public, and Orange Technology is no exception.

Theoretically speaking, listing on Nasdaq would be better, since it's about profiting from the American market, but listing in Hong Kong is also an option.

Tencent simply listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which made its subsequent development much safer, unlike Ali, which went through a lot of trouble, delisting from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and then going to Nasdaq, and then coming back.

The returns from buying Ali's stock at the time of its IPO were vastly different from those from buying Tencent's stock.

"Aren't you coming? You should be there for the bell-ringing ceremony."

"As for me, it's not certain. You are the company's legal representative and CEO, while I am just an investor. I may not have time to ring the bell."

Flashpoint will definitely be listed on the A-share market. The real economy is Tan Jincheng's main battlefield, while in the internet sector he plays more of an investor role. He doesn't particularly care about things like ringing the bell at the stock exchange.

If it were Flashpoint Technology going public, Tan Jincheng would be happy to attend. However, Flashpoint Technology is most likely going public through a backdoor listing, so it seems unlikely that he will have the opportunity to ring the bell.

Given the current approval system for A-shares and the anticipated global stock market crash next year, it is almost impossible for Flashcart to apply for a normal listing. A normal application would have to wait until IPOs resume in 2014 at the earliest.

Therefore, the best way is to go public through a backdoor listing. It just so happens that next year the stock price will plummet and there will be a global financial crisis. Many companies will have operational problems, which will be a good opportunity for Flash.

Will the financial crisis impact FlashDrive's electric vehicle business? No, on the contrary, it may even be an opportunity, just like how SARS in 2003 affected SF Express and online shopping.

Exports may be affected to some extent, but there's absolutely no problem domestically, with 4 trillion yuan waiting in the wings.

Just like the consumption downgrade following the special events of 2019, the stocks of domestic electric vehicle companies have risen to varying degrees as sales have increased, outperforming other stocks at the same time.

"Tansheng, Tansheng, it's been a long time!"

Just as Tan Jincheng was chatting with Gu Qingqing, an enthusiastic voice came from afar, and a middle-aged man walked over quickly.

"Do you know anyone here?" Gu Qingqing asked, puzzled.

"Oh, a stockbroker. I came here once before; he was the one who helped me with my stock purchases."

It's Li Jiamin. Tan Jincheng isn't very familiar with Hong Kong. If it's just for sightseeing, it seems a bit inappropriate to contact the foreign trader from Jinpeng Trading back then.

Therefore, it is more convenient to ask Li Jiamin.

"You've also bought stocks? When was that?"

Tan Jincheng has never told anyone around him about buying stocks. When he talks to Gu Qingqing about stocks, he only talks about what will happen when the company goes public, and he has never expressed any intention to buy stocks.

As for those things in ByteDance's advertising platform, Gu Qingqing only regarded them as investment activities and did not pay too much attention to them.

"Yeah, I came here once in 05 and bought Tencent stock. I made about HK$1800 million. Seeing how enthusiastic this guy is, I'm pretty sure he bought some too."

Li Jiamin's enthusiasm was not without reason. When Tan Jincheng first bought Tencent stock, he had some doubts because Tencent was facing the crisis of being abandoned by its largest customer, and it was still a question whether it could survive.

In fact, Tencent's stock price in 2005 was in line with Li Jiamin's prediction. It rose once in the middle, but with Pony Ma and management's huge reduction in holdings, the stock price fell back to around HK$4.5 by the end of the year.

At that time, Tan Jincheng added to his position for the second time at HK$7.8, which was handled by Li Jiamin. The cost was raised to over HK$6.8. By the end of the year, the losses had become quite severe.

At that time, Tan Jincheng asked him to increase his investment again, and by a large margin. Li Jiamin felt that Tan Jincheng had a gambler's mentality.

But by 2006, with the emergence of new investors and the addition of key figures, Tencent's stock price soared, and Li Jiamin had become completely convinced of Tan Jincheng's vision.

In Hong Kong, stockbrokers can open their own accounts and trade stocks. Apart from stricter regulations on buying and selling their own stocks, there are not many other restrictions. In fact, many securities professionals in China also buy stocks themselves, using the names of family members or relatives.

If there's an opportunity to make money, it's impossible to completely prevent it.

Li Jiamin bought Tencent's stock when it rose to around HK$10 last year. By the time it reached HK$15, his profit had exceeded 50%. He planned to sell when the stock price corrected.

As it happened, Tan Jincheng urged him to increase his investment again at that time. This time it was even more outrageous, with him adding a position worth HK$600 million at once. Li Jiamin, who already trusted Tan Jincheng's judgment very much, naturally decided to wait and see.

Tencent's stock price has now risen to around 27. How could Li Jiamin not be happy to see Tan Jincheng? This is a god of wealth! Help him with something? No problem at all!

"Long time no see, Mr. Li, you look radiant." Tan Jincheng smiled as he stood up and shook hands with him.

"Thanks to Tan Sheng, we're doing alright. And who is this gentleman?"

"My girlfriend, Gu Qingqing."

Strictly speaking, whether it's Hong Kong stocks or A-shares, his approach of buying based on his clients' preferences is somewhat unethical. However, people in finance are often ruthless; if he can't even overcome this basic unethical behavior, he should probably change careers as soon as possible.

"Oh, I've heard of her. She's the most beautiful CEO. Ms. Gu is even more beautiful in person than in photos."

In 05, Tan Jincheng was unknown. He scraped together a few hundred thousand yuan to buy Tencent stock in Hong Kong. At that time, there was no information about Tan Jincheng on the Internet. However, in 2006, although it cannot be said that Tan Jincheng was known to the entire Internet, relevant content could be easily found by searching keywords.

Li Jiamin never imagined that the young man who asked him to buy one-tenth of the day's trading volume and who knew nothing about anything was actually a self-made billionaire.

Hong Kong is a highly commercialized city, and all sorts of legendary stories of how the rich got rich are well-known here. But if you put Tan Jincheng's story of how he made his fortune in Hong Kong, it would be enough for the gossip media to talk about for a long time.

"Did Mr. Tan come to Hong Kong purely for sightseeing this time?"

"Yes, we're not very familiar with this area, so we'd like to ask Mr. Li to help us find a tour guide. Is that alright?"

"Why bother with a tour guide? I can do it myself. I know a thing or two about what's good to eat and fun to do around here," Li Jiamin said enthusiastically.

For a stockbroker, having access to a billionaire like this is an extremely rare opportunity. Normally, there aren't many opportunities to maintain a client relationship, so how could Li Jiamin possibly miss such a great opportunity presented to him?

Tan Jincheng also laughed. Judging from this guy's attitude, he was definitely buying it: "Won't this interfere with Mr. Li's work?"

"It won't delay you at all. I already asked for leave from the company before I came out. I'll be spending these three days with Tan Sheng and Ms. Gu."

So what if it's delayed? Holding onto this one customer is enough to sustain us for a lifetime.

After exchanging a glance with Gu Qingqing, Tan Jincheng smiled and said, "Alright then, I'll trouble you, Mr. Li."

The trip to Hong Kong is three days long, and having someone knowledgeable to guide you will definitely make things much more convenient. Since Li Jiamin is being so polite, Tan Jincheng has no reason to refuse.

Gu Qingqing was still somewhat shocked by Tan Jincheng's claim that he had made HK$1800 million from buying Tencent stock.

Gu Qingqing remembered her trip to Hong Kong in 05. At that time, she asked Tan Jincheng to buy her father a new mobile phone as a birthday gift. That should be considered the beginning of a closer relationship between the two.

He probably didn't have much money back then, so how dare he buy Tencent stock?

This operation is really hard to understand, but what's even harder to understand is that the stock actually made so much money!
Will Tan Sheng increase his holdings of Tencent stock in the future?

After discussing the itinerary and confirming the destinations for tomorrow's visit, Li Jiamin didn't rush back. Instead, he tentatively asked...

Tan Jincheng glanced at him and said, "I probably won't be buying any more in the future. I have some business dealings with Tencent, so it's not convenient for me to continue buying."

Li Jiamin glanced at Gu Qingqing at the opportune moment. Orange Technology, after all, has a partnership with QQ Space. Their Happy Farm, which they developed, has already been introduced to QQ Space and is said to be very popular in mainland China.

The time for Tencent to release its financial report is approaching, and then we'll see just how popular this project is.

Although Tan Jincheng didn't say it explicitly, he understood the implication and it seemed he could continue to hold onto the shares.

In fact, it's impossible to completely eliminate insider trading from a procedural standpoint. Li Jiamin's method of indirectly gathering information is just a small matter. Tencent currently has plans to invest in Orange Technology. If Tan Jincheng were to buy Tencent stock at this time, that would be true insider trading.

Tan Jincheng doesn't know much about the Hong Kong stock market, but judging from the plots in Hong Kong dramas like "The Greed of Man" and "At the Threshold of an Era," it's probably not very regulated either, and it's probably just like the A-share market or even the world's stock market.

Wall Street even goes so far as to unplug internet cables; ordinary people really can't compete with them. Instead of getting fleeced on the periphery, retail investors might as well focus on developing the financial sector in the A-share market to revitalize the country.

Finance has never been a game for ordinary people.

(End of this chapter)