Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

There are no cement plants in the entire Haojiang area; everything is imported.

In 1981, Hong Kong consumed 300 million tons of cement annually, of which 200 million tons were produced locally and the remaining 100 million tons were mainly imported from Taiwan, with a small amount of specialty cement imported from South Korea and Japan.

Qingzhou Yingni: The earliest cement plant in China with historical records.

In 1908, cement production reached 12 tons, accounting for more than 40% of China's total cement production capacity at that time.

After World War II, Qingzhou Yingni attempted to diversify its business, but its investment in the shipping industry led to financial deterioration. Li Cheng saw Qingzhou Yingni's 100 million square feet of industrial land in Hung Hom and quietly acquired 25% of the shares through the secondary market in 78. In 79, he increased his stake to 40% and completely controlled the cement plant.

After taking control of the cement plant, the company began to restructure its business, divest non-performing assets, and focused on the cement industry. Within a year, it turned around its losses and now occupies half of the Hong Kong cement market.

“I don’t quite understand. According to what you two said, Old Li was able to turn a profit in the first year, which means that this matter is not complicated. Didn’t the previous management team see that? How could they be senior managers of a listed company and managers of a company that monopolizes the Hong Kong cement market? Did they not understand anything? Or was it on purpose?” Wang Yaotang asked in a deep voice.

"It's not exactly intentional," Lu Kang said, shaking his head. "Qingzhou Yingni is a century-old company. Before it was acquired by Li Cheng, the company's shares were scattered, factions were everywhere, and management was extremely chaotic. If you want to do this, I want to do that, even the best company can't develop. Of course, it's impossible to say that the management team at the time didn't know what the problem was."

"Knowing where you went wrong doesn't mean you have to change it, right?" Wang Yaotang scoffed. "Are all the shareholders dead? Is the shareholding too dispersed?"

"Wang Sheng is brilliant," Lu Kang complimented before continuing, "HSBC has 15% in debt-to-equity swaps, British pension funds 12%, descendants of the Yu family of Haojiang 10%, and gambling king Ho 8%. Before Li Cheng's acquisition, the top ten shareholders combined held less than 50%."

"A few months after the acquisition, Li Cheng ousted the original management team, divested shipping and real estate industries, and reorganized the production line. He quickly stabilized the company. Then in 79, he acquired China Cement Plant, which had an annual output of 80 tons, thus establishing its leading position."

"What's the situation with this Chinese cement plant?" Wang Yaotang asked.

"It was a joint venture established by the Huo family and China Resources in the north. When Li Cheng acquired it, the Chinese side withdrew. Currently, China Cement is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qingzhou Yingni."

Wang Yaotang raised an eyebrow, realizing that things were not simple, but this also gave him some clues.

First of all, the North had already invested in the cement industry in Hong Kong several years ago, so there was no need for them to set a precedent.

Secondly, the cement industry in Hong Kong and Macau has not been completely monopolized by Li Tou. Considering that the construction industry will see even greater development after the joint statement, the cement market has great potential!

"Doesn't 'cement tycoon' sound better than 'sexy clothing tycoon'?" Wang Yaotang chuckled, teasing the bespectacled guy.

The bespectacled guy forced a smile and said, "You're right."

Lu and Shi exchanged a glance, their brows furrowing slightly. This guy's ambition is a bit too big, isn't it?

With Li Cheng in charge, the cement market is not an easy place to make a living!
"Alright, let's talk about the stone market. If I want to get into this industry, what should I do?" Wang Yaotang asked with a smile, gesturing for his Filipino maid to refill his tea.

"Don't worry about the technology and management. We can poach people directly from the Lamma Island quarry controlled by Hong Kong Electric. The only thing you need to worry about is whether you can persuade Zhuhai to integrate and form a large-scale quarrying company," Shi Yujiang said with a smile.

If Wang Yaotang hadn't intervened, two years later, in 1984, Lui Che-woo would have partnered with the Zhuhai government to consolidate the scattered small quarries, taking over the entire Haojiang area and 70% of the Hong Kong stone market, becoming a true stone tycoon.

"Didn't they say that the quarries managed by Hong Kong Electric are poorly managed?" the bespectacled man asked, sitting up straight.

“Poor performance doesn’t mean poor management, much less a lack of technology,” Shi Yujiang said with a smile. “Hong Kong Electric was managed by the British Hong Kong government and received management fees. Whether it was profitable or not was none of their business. It’s a government-owned enterprise, so poor performance is normal. Not to mention Hong Kong, even in the UK, which government-owned company doesn’t lose money? Even the monopolistic postal system loses money!”

Lu Kang laughed and said, "No need to look at the official data, it's fake. The announced output is 300 million tons, but the actual output is more than 500 million tons!"

"From top to bottom, everyone is greedy; everyone is taking money."

Wang Yaotang chuckled, about to unleash a torrent of complaints, when suddenly his heart tightened. A headless god with the character "和" (harmony) on his head and eight legs appeared in his mind. Instantly, a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and he silently chose to shut up.

The bespectacled man looked at Wang Yaotang with great surprise, "Aren't you going to say something?"

"What did you say?" Wang Yaotang rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Can't you just say 'nothing'?"

Unable to figure out what was wrong with Wang Yaotang, the four-eyed guy muttered "crazy" to himself and continued to ask, "According to what you're saying, I believe the management team is very capable, but they don't earn a lot, so why would they be willing to switch jobs?"

"It's not that everyone is willing to rot in that position. Many young people still want to build their careers, but they just don't have better opportunities," Lu Kang explained.

"Why go through all that trouble?" Wang Yaotang waved his hand. "What are we here for? We're here to leverage our strengths and attack the enemy's weaknesses."

"What's our specialty?" Wang Yaotang asked with a smile, raising his chin. The bespectacled man glanced at Lu and Shi, took off his glasses, wiped them with the corner of his shirt, put them back on, and said with a laugh, "Anyway, they're not good people. We'll arrest them and threaten to kill their whole family if they don't do their job properly!"

The authoritative tone made Lu and Shi tremble. They suddenly regretted encouraging Wang Yaotang to enter the stone industry. Damn it, if this matter is messed up, the whole family will be having morning tea together in the underworld!
"What are you talking about!" Wang Yaotang gently patted the four-eyed boy. "People need to improve, and our skills are improving too. Stop talking about fighting and killing all the time. It's about cracking down on organized crime, understand?"

"Intelligence Center..." Wang Yaotang smacked his lips as he spoke, "Yeah, we need to hurry up with this. Damn it, if it weren't for those idiots in the anti-drug squad causing trouble, it should already be set up by now. Luckily, we have our own people."

"When you get back, you need to arrange for someone to keep an eye on the mines on Lamma Island and Shek O. Create files for their leadership teams, detailing how much cargo was produced each day, what kind of ships and trucks transported it, where it was delivered, the price, where the management teams went every day, who their families are, what their families do, and how their businesses are doing. Record all of this in detail."

"Let's get the evidence of their corruption first."

Wang Yaotang chuckled as he spoke, "Since these bastards are greedy for money, they must be involved in prostitution and gambling. Borrow a group of pretty and talkative girls from the pimps at the club and take them to the nightclubs they frequent. Find a way to seduce them, take them to play some exciting games, and film it."

"In terms of gambling, if there are debts owed to other 'companies,' we'll collect the IOUs."

"With so many things we have incriminating evidence against them—embezzlement, corruption, debt—it'll be easy to talk to them again."

Lu and Shi looked at Wang Yaotang with horror. Just hearing about these tactics made them feel dizzy and they fully appreciated the allure of business competition!
"This, this..." Lu Kang stammered, "How can someone like this manage a company? A leopard can't change its spots, can he really do it?"

“Why not? I don’t see any problem.” Wang Yaotang said with a smile, “As long as he hasn’t been using drugs, there’s still a chance to save him. Just cut off one of his little fingers, and he can see it every day, every moment. Any problem can be corrected.”

"Besides, I'm using their management skills, not their personal character. As long as the company is on the right track and we've trained new people, I can replace them at any time."

"This is the advantage of concentrated shareholding. You can use any means to fight for your own interests. If there are too many messy shareholders, you will be hesitant to do things, and some means will not work."

"I'm not afraid of any bad intentions they might have. I've already shown mercy by not killing their whole family. What more do they want!"

Lu and Shi swallowed hard. Yao-ge is really merciful!
With the matter settled, the remaining task was to persuade Zhuhai. Lu Kang drank two cups of tea to calm his nerves and, after sorting out his thoughts, said, "Persuading Zhuhai might be difficult. Their factories are mainly small towns and villages, and they don't have trouble selling their stones. It's a matter of policy, and they will most likely resist the acquisition and joint venture."

"My suggestion is to persuade the authorities by promising them more profits."

"Good suggestion, but don't make suggestions like that next time." Wang Yaotang told a lame joke, and seeing that the two didn't react, he shook his head and continued, "Which department in the Hong Kong government manages the building materials market?"

Shi Yujiang was very familiar with this and could answer it off the top of his head: "Buildings Department: approval of building materials standards, testing and certification, and penalties for violations."

"Civil Engineering Department, Public Works Bureau: Procurement of building materials and development of technical standards for public works projects."

"Architectural Services Department: Building Materials Specification Management"

Trade Commission: Import and export supervision.

"Industry associations: Hong Kong Building Materials Association, Hong Kong Concrete Association, and Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong."

"No stone association?" Wang Yaotang asked, somewhat surprised.

"No." Shi Yujiang shook his head with a wry smile. "In this industry, the technical threshold is low, and the association doesn't play much of a role. In the end, it all comes down to whether you can fight or not."

"Hahaha, this is my specialty!" Wang Yaotang laughed as he looked at the four-eyed guy. "Go back and find people in these departments who have access to the data to go to the casino and have some fun. Whether they love money or women doesn't matter. Just make a copy of all the industry data from the past few years."

"I will bring official internal documents from Hong Kong and Macau with me when we go to talk. For the North, it's better to talk about policies than interests, and businessmen are less important than government officials. That's my sincerity."

Lu and Shi took a deep breath. How brutal! Money and beauty are used at the same time. Who can resist such a test!

……

……

P.S.: Stern warning!
Enjoy it while it lasts!

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