Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 927 The Beginning of the Great Bargain Hunt

"Yes, a similar trade center, but it doesn't need to be the same as the one in the United States," Director Wu continued. "The specific size, structure, and investment amount still need to be negotiated further."
Mr. Yang, if you are interested, this document contains some basic framework documents with specific requirements, such as large conference rooms, internal hotel facilities, etc. You can take a look first.

"Okay." Yang Wendong took the documents and began to read them carefully.
In terms of content, this is a substantial investment. The first phase has a construction area of ​​no less than 35 square meters, including a large conference hall that can accommodate 3000 people, a hotel with more than 600 rooms, various Chinese and Western restaurants, and so on.

But it was just a plan, so Yang Wendong asked, "Where are you planning to build it?"

Director Wu replied, "It's not completely confirmed yet, but it will be near the Third Ring Road."

“Okay, I don’t have any major problems. We can discuss it further after you finalize the specific project plan,” Yang Wendong nodded and said.
This will be the most prestigious CBD in Yanjing City in the future, a prime location comparable to Central in Hong Kong, and one that will be extremely rare and sought after.

He naturally wouldn't let go of a large project that came to him on its own initiative.

Director Wu smiled and said, "Okay, I will report it immediately. Once it's confirmed, I will go to Hong Kong to discuss it with you."

When this project was proposed, everyone supported it, regardless of funding. After all, as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the mainland is now opening its doors to do business with the outside world. However, many overseas businessmen and tourists who come to Beijing do not even have a place to work or live, or are very unaccustomed to it.
However, when it comes to funding, there are many disputes. Building a decent trade center would be far too expensive.
Neither the central government nor Yanjing City can afford this amount of money. While a trade center is important, transportation, water and electricity supply, environmental protection, heating, housing, industry and agriculture, sanitation, education, and so on all require money. None of these are more important than building a trade center.

Therefore, overseas borrowing became the first option. However, when they approached banks in Japan and France, the banks took the opportunity to make some political demands, which were naturally rejected.

Ultimately, after internal negotiations, the only option was to bring in foreign capital to do this. However, this involved hundreds of millions of dollars, and few overseas Chinese conglomerates could probably afford it, especially given the current economic crisis in Hong Kong, where the main base is located.

The only exception is Mr. Yang, who possesses immense wealth and has secured a highway project worth over one billion US dollars with the Ministry of Transport, giving the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development hope.

Yang Wendong asked, "So, is this project solely funded by our company, or is it a joint venture with your company?"

Director Wu said, "This cannot be determined at the moment; we will have to discuss it further based on the specific circumstances."

"Alright, let's finalize the project first, then we'll talk about the rest," Yang Wendong said.

Building such a mega-building project, while not as grand as building a highway, is certainly not something that can be fully decided in a short period of time.

In particular, this building is the future center for the country's foreign trade, and embassy offices and other departments may be located there, which will involve multiple departments in Yanjing City.
However, as long as I can get involved, I don't care what happens next. In the future, I will be able to acquire more than one million square meters of Grade A office space in the CBD of Yanjing City. This will be the cornerstone of my future profits in the mainland.

Yang Wendong's plan for the future of mainland China involves two aspects;

The first is infrastructure, including large office buildings, hotels, highways, ports, etc. However, these need to be developed gradually because they need to keep up with the needs of the country and the local area. He will only take action when the country needs them.
The second option is to invest in future industry giants. Apart from a few that he knows, he plans to let his financial companies choose suitable targets for the rest. This is similar to venture capital in the future internet industry. If one or two out of ten investments succeed, that would be a huge profit.
Not to mention, as long as the investment target has factory land in the city center, it is basically impossible to lose money. No matter how well it is operated in the end, that piece of land alone is enough to make up for the losses.
In this era, unless it's a particularly polluting enterprise, they are mostly located around cities;

During this trip to Yanjing, we secured two sections of highway and the Yanjing International Trade Center project, which is already a very good result. Once these two projects are completed, there will definitely be more opportunities to follow.
After the Yanjing incident, Yang Wendong went to Shanghai, Nanjing and other cities and reached some cooperation agreements with the local governments in real estate and infrastructure. However, the scale was not very large. At present, the reform and opening up has only been four years and the economic development has fluctuated greatly, so there are no large-scale investments.
At the end of November, Yang Wendong returned to Hong Kong;

The Hong Kong dollar crisis is completely over. During this process, some people made a fortune, while others lost so much they were contemplating suicide. This just goes to show that when it comes to finance, success can lead to instant wealth, while failure can result in utter ruin.
Hang Seng Bank also took advantage of this opportunity to become a force almost as strong as HSBC, and also obtained the right to foreign exchange from the Hong Kong government. With the rise of local Chinese capital, Hang Seng Bank also gained a large number of new customers and funds.
Of course, the power to print money is still in the hands of HSBC, which Yang Wendong didn't care about. He thought that once he took over Standard Chartered Bank, he would naturally be able to get a share of the pie. However, the majority of the money would definitely still be in the hands of the "quasi-central bank," which was a political issue that could not be changed.
Hang Seng Bank's development in Hong Kong has almost reached its peak. The next goal is to cooperate more with the mainland, expand the mainland market, and encourage more mainland companies and individuals to open accounts with Hang Seng Bank in Hong Kong.

Having profited handsomely from the Hong Kong dollar crisis, Hang Seng Bank is also preparing to negotiate with the Hong Kong government to acquire another plot of land in Central to build a new headquarters.

Time flew by, and it was March 1984.
After the Spring Festival, Hong Kong's economy seems to have recovered somewhat. Although the Sino-British negotiations have not yet been finalized, the people of Hong Kong are aware that both sides have reached an agreement on the handover issue. The remaining disputes are the management of the handover period and other matters.

Therefore, those who want to immigrate can naturally immigrate and leave, and those who do not want to leave do not need to worry about a political uprising and can settle down in peace.

Of course, before everything is completely settled, a lot of capital is still in a wait-and-see state, so both the stock market and the real estate market remain sluggish.
This prolonged slump has brought many Hong Kong real estate companies to the brink of collapse.
Before the property crisis, many companies were blindly optimistic about Hong Kong's future and borrowed heavily to purchase properties and land, including debts to foreign banks.

After the real estate crisis broke out, company profits decreased and the value of collateral was insufficient. In the early stages, some companies were able to rely on their existing resources to survive for a period of time, but as time went on, cash flow gradually became insufficient, and the real crisis emerged.

"Knock knock knock~~" A knock came from outside the office door. The assistant led Zheng Zhijie and Fang Xianming into Yang Wendong's office.
"Mr. Yang," the two said politely.
"Have a seat," Yang Wendong waved his hand and asked, "How are the three projects on the mainland going?"

It has been almost half a year since I last returned from the mainland. During this time, Hong Kong has also sent a team of several hundred people to the mainland to discuss cooperation matters with the mainland side.

Zheng Zhijie replied: "The Yanjing International Trade Center project has been confirmed. The first phase has a total construction area of ​​53 square meters, which is about 477 million square feet, and the total investment is estimated at US$5 million."
The project will be solely funded by our side. Regarding the structure, I have commissioned the American architect, Mr. Pei, to design it. Once the drawings are complete, we will need to negotiate with our mainland counterparts before construction can begin.

“Okay, have Mr. Bei make another sand table model. I want to take a look too,” Yang Wendong said.

Zheng Zhijie said, "Yes, Mr. Yang." The model of a large office building is not cheap, especially if you want it to be exquisite. The price may be hundreds of thousands or even more. However, for the boss, this is not worth half an hour of his time, so naturally he needs to make a model and send it to Hong Kong.

Yang Wendong then asked, "What about the two expressways?"

Zheng Zhijie replied, "Regarding the expressway, due to legal restrictions, the mainland party must hold 51% of the shares, while our side can only hold 49%. We don't have any problems with funding, but on the mainland side, there seems to be a dispute between the central and local governments regarding funding, and indeed, a considerable amount of funds is needed, which has caused some delays."

"Don't they even have their own RMB?" Yang Wendong retorted.

He could understand if the mainland couldn't come up with a few hundred million US dollars; but if they couldn't even come up with the corresponding amount in RMB, then...
Zheng Zhijie said, "In recent years, China has undergone reforms and spent a lot of foreign exchange. I heard that even some of the gold has been sold. Therefore, the RMB is also tied to it. In addition, internal development also requires funds, so even in RMB, it is probably not possible to come up with them in the short term."

Yang Wendong frowned and said, "In that case, it will delay the progress of our project."

Fang Xianming said, "Mr. Yang, an official from the central government in the mainland has come to me. He has proposed another solution, which is to borrow money from Hang Seng Bank in the name of the central government, and then we can develop the highway together."
Once the highway is completed, the toll revenue will be gradually repaid to our banks by the mainland side. What do you think?

“If the central government is willing to participate in the mortgage, then that’s fine. As for the interest rate, you can negotiate with the mainland authorities. While ensuring the smooth progress of the project, you also need to protect the interests of our bank.” Yang Wendong thought for a moment and then agreed.
If the central government in mainland China provides a guarantee, then there is almost no risk, and highways themselves are profitable.

However, this is only from his perspective as a prophet. From the perspective of a normal person, there is still a risk involved, so naturally, he has to deal with it as a risky matter in order to protect his own interests.

In the mainland, even if bank interest rates are higher, there will be no loss. More importantly, for the country, the toll revenue from highways is only one part of their function. They can drive the economic development of surrounding cities, resulting in greater indirect benefits. For example, subways are basically unprofitable, but from the perspective of the entire city, they are still worthwhile.
Even the highway has a JS function, but these things have nothing to do with Yang Wendong. He only needs to protect his own interests in the project.

Fang Xianming said, "Okay, I'll arrange that. If all goes well, the project can be approved by the middle of the year. The two expressways will be built simultaneously in four cities, and it is estimated that they will be open to traffic in 1987."

"Okay." Yang Wendong glanced at the calendar and said, "Three years is about right."

The construction of highways is always time-consuming, even if the money is available; otherwise, it may take even longer.

Zheng Zhijie continued, "Mr. Yang, have you been paying attention to the Hong Kong property market lately?"

"I didn't pay much attention. I know Jia Ning went bankrupt. Is there anything else major?" Yang Wendong asked.

With his current net worth, he doesn't care much about the fluctuations in Hong Kong real estate prices. He believes that prices will eventually recover and even rise higher, so it doesn't matter how much they fall now.

However, the Caring Group, a Hong Kong con company, was a pure bubble. Under the economic crisis, its policy of robbing Peter to pay Paul failed, and the entire fraud collapsed. Several senior executives of the group were arrested or wanted, and Chen Songqing himself was invited for tea by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
He knew about this matter years ago, but he never interfered. First, it was none of his business, and second, he had no legitimate reason to interfere.

Chen Songqing, a master swindler, kept his accounts so meticulously maintained that even a direct search of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) files couldn't uncover any obvious problems.

In the past, Chen Songqing was ultimately convicted of a minor crime, imprisoned for a few years, and then quietly retired in his villa.

So even if he wanted to get involved early on, he might not have had the capability. As for the shareholders who were scammed and other companies, it just goes to show that doing business is risky.
"Jianing Group is finished, and several other companies closely related to it, as well as banks, have also been affected," Zheng Zhijie said. "However, the real estate crisis has lasted for so long, and many other normally operating companies have encountered serious problems."
Two days ago, Chen Zengxi from Hang Lung Group contacted me, hoping we could invest in them or lend them some money to help them out.

"Hang Lung Group? They acquired nine subway property projects in early 1982, right?" Yang Wendong asked;

Zheng Zhijie said, "Yes, they spent 40 billion to buy the land at the highest price. Because of this project, they have a loss of 20 billion in the books. In addition, the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate has fallen. They borrowed in Japanese yen in the early stage, so they lost several hundred million in Hong Kong dollars."

Some time ago, they applied to the Hong Kong government for a postponement of land payments and development timelines, but the application was rejected, leading to problems with their cash flow.

“Then let’s do a normal review first. If there are no other problems, we can invest. The same applies to other similar companies. As long as it’s not like Jianing’s situation, we can help out.” Yang Wendong nodded and said, “However, we want more shares. We won’t interfere with their management in the future unless problems arise again.”

Zheng Zhijie agreed, "Okay, I'll make the arrangements right away."

Fang Xianming asked, "Mr. Yang, are you planning to buy at the bottom?"

Yang Wendong said, "Yes, I guess so, but there's no need to go around buying land anymore. Just choose a listed real estate company, especially one with financial difficulties."

"At our size, there's no need for us to hoard land anymore."

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)