A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 340 Vigorously Develop Real Estate
When Chen Guangliang arrived at the Hong Kong government, he was received by both the military governor of Hong Kong, Sir John A. H. Smith, and the administrative officer, Sir John McDougall.

Clearly, the Hong Kong government also attached great importance to the fact that Chen Guangliang remained in Hong Kong for a long time after the war, given the close relationship between Chen Guangliang and the Nationalist government in the past.

At the outset, Xia Que said, "Thank you, Mr. Chen, for your willingness to help the Hong Kong government in dealing with the crisis of food and other supplies."

Recently, Global Trade and Global Shipping have mobilized all their resources to purchase large quantities of grain from Southeast Asia for Hong Kong. Few other Hong Kong businessmen can do this alone.

First, one needs to be familiar with trade in Southeast Asia or the mainland, and second, one needs to have ocean-going ships, which Chen Guangliang happened to have. Even if Swire and Jardine Matheson did not sell him ships, Chen Guangliang could still transport grain from ships in the Shanghai concessions, after all, he had once been a leading figure in China's shipping industry.

Chen Guangliang said calmly, "Hong Kong is predominantly Chinese, and these people are my compatriots. Since I am engaged in business activities in Hong Kong, I will naturally do my best to help restore order to Hong Kong."

This statement has two meanings: first, he will be in Hong Kong; second, he is engaged in business activities.

In fact, everyone in the Hong Kong British government now understands that after World War II, the Chinese in Hong Kong must be valued, and the British cannot rule Hong Kong.

The heroic resistance of the Chinese people during World War II, including their four-year standoff against Japan, fully demonstrates the awakening of this nation. When a nation awakens, no matter how backward it may be, it will not become a colonized nation.

If the Hong Kong British government still wants to control Hong Kong, then it must elevate the status of Chinese people—including abolishing restrictions such as not being allowed to live on The Peak or go to certain beaches.

Faced with Chen Guangliang's answer, Xia Que and Mai Daogao did not think too deeply about it, after all, they were just a military government, and they would hand it over after Hong Kong stabilized.

The most urgent task for Hong Kong is to extricate itself from its chaotic situation.

So MacDougall said, "Mr. Chan is an excellent and capable businessman. In your personal capacity, could you please raise some issues and suggestions regarding Hong Kong's current situation?"

Chen Guangliang immediately said: "As a Hong Kong resident, I do have some suggestions for Hong Kong at this time: First, regarding the issue of food and supplies, I think we need to stabilize the situation as soon as possible and also lift price controls as soon as possible so as to increase food imports; second, regarding the housing shortage, which is mainly due to the shortage of building materials, the Hong Kong government can provide support in terms of foreign exchange and trade."

The lack of food and housing are the root causes of Hong Kong's current problems.

McGowan immediately said, "The Hong Kong government cannot use huge amounts of public funds to repair private residences, since the private landlords are the ones who benefit."

Chen Guangliang said, "This move will make many people quite dissatisfied, that's a fact. Of course, I also understand the difficulties of the military government. And finally, there's the issue of transportation."

His words naturally drew the attention of Xia Que and Mai Daogao, and indeed they did.

However, the military government had its own difficulties, so in the end, McDougall only said: "Regarding the refugee issue, the military government can only do its best to house residents in vacant buildings and requisition hotels to accommodate refugees. Of course, the military government can provide certain conveniences for the import of food and building materials, and encourage businessmen like Mr. Chan to participate in the post-war reconstruction of Hong Kong."

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "This is what we should do."

他即将拥有一支庞大的船队：4艘自由轮（万吨巨轮）、1艘5000吨加拿大轮、1艘3300吨A1型轮。

The main task for these ships next is:
First, establish regular air routes between Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Second, to open up trade routes between coastal China and Hong Kong.

Third, it connects the transport routes between the Far East and Europe and America.

At the same time, he planned to organize a ship next year, with all Chinese sailors, to sail from Hong Kong to the United States, achieving a feat unprecedented for China. (Although the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company had initially attempted transoceanic voyages, British obstruction meant that crossing Panama required British captains, thus preventing the formation of an all-Chinese ship.)
Now that the status of Chinese people has improved after the war, it is impossible for the rule that Chinese captains cannot pass through the Panama Canal to still exist.

Overall, Chan Kwong-leung achieved good results during his trip to the Hong Kong government.

At this time, no one realized that Chen Guangliang was staying in Hong Kong and not returning to Shanghai.

However, with the start of the civil war the following year, coupled with the crazy devaluation of the Chinese currency, wealthy people from the mainland began to transfer their assets to Hong Kong as early as the beginning of 1947.

Back in his office at the Ping An Bank Building on Des Voeux Road, Chen Guangliang began to make plans.

Next, Cheung Kong Properties should acquire a large number of old and dilapidated properties and land, and then carry out large-scale construction, building one five-story tenement buildings after another.

It would require at least 1000 buildings, roughly 5000 stories high, to accommodate 3 people.

At that time, Cheung Kong Real Estate had only a little over 300 buildings, far from its target.

The main consideration was the funds: Chen Guangliang brought US$250 million worth of foreign exchange, gold, silver, and silver dollars from the mainland, which were already deposited in the vault of Ping An Bank Building; in addition, after returning to Hong Kong, Chen Guangcong withdrew US$50 from Macau.

This means Chen Guangliang has $300 million.

Regarding the development of shipping, Chen Guangcong contributed US$100 million, while Chen Guangliang would need to invest approximately US$150 million. However, in reality, these funds could be paid in installments and would not be used immediately.

As for industrial expenditures, they were supported by loans from Ping An Bank.

In this way, Chen Guangliang could actually provide Cheung Kong Properties with US$150 million in support, which is equivalent to HK$600 million.

On the other hand, he can transfer funds from the United States back to Hong Kong, and the 'forced Hong Kong dollars' in his hands will soon be recognized by HSBC.

Summary: Cheung Kong Properties needs to accelerate its pace and acquire large amounts of land and dilapidated properties before 1947, and carry out construction.

In this way, the rent alone after 1947 would be enough to make a fortune. What's more, these houses and land were reserved for future high-rise buildings.

He then summoned Yan Kuan and Wu Xinhe to his office.

"Many owners of dilapidated properties in Hong Kong are unable to afford reconstruction, so there should be plenty of them on the market. We need to seize the opportunity to buy them. In addition, we are also actively acquiring residential land in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Don't worry about funding; I will arrange it immediately. Our goal is to own 1000 buildings or corresponding land by 1947."

There are still 14 months left, which is a bit tight.

This equates to needing 700 more tenement buildings, which, if calculated by land area, would require over 100 million square feet and cost around ten million. As for construction costs, that will naturally be substantial, given the current shortage of building materials.

However, it was all worthwhile; Chen Guangliang planned to borrow 200 million US dollars from Jiang Meiying first.

Yan Kuan immediately replied, "Yes, there are indeed many private plots of land and old properties for sale in the market. We will definitely seize the opportunity to purchase them."

Wu Xinhe nodded and said, "Indeed, now the population of Hong Kong is actually flowing towards Shanghai. Although some Cantonese people have returned to Hong Kong, some overseas Chinese are also moving to Shanghai. Therefore, there are more private properties being sold."

"Okay, let's hurry up. There's going to be a civil war in China, and then we'll all have to come to Hong Kong."

The two men were startled; their boss's predictions had always been accurate, and it seemed this time it was true again. "Yes, boss."

After arranging this matter, Chen Guangliang breathed a sigh of relief. With such a batch of properties and land, his son's "real estate kingdom" was a sure thing. In later generations, even the "Four Great Families" wouldn't be worthy of carrying their shoes.

After all, Chen Guangliang was already familiar with everyone's tricks, and no one could outdo him in the real estate business.

Accompanied by Ye Ximing and Li Hongsheng, Chen Guangliang inspected the Mong Kok branch of Ping An Bank.

The property owned by this branch is the first and second floors of a tenement building owned by Changjiang Real Estate. The building is a street-facing property used for both commercial and residential purposes.

Chen Guangliang said with satisfaction, "It seems there are quite a lot of people depositing money, which is a good thing!"

Some Hong Kong banks are not keen on deposits because they can't find a way to invest their funds, which has given Ping An Bank an opportunity to grow.

Li Hongsheng proudly stated, "Other banks are somewhat indifferent to deposits because they can't find ways to channel their funds. But Ping An Bank is different. Factories like Xinfeng Textile and Vitasoy need to resume operations, and companies like Times Pictures and Yangtze River Real Estate also have needs. In fact, some business owners even want to facilitate industrial loans. So we have many avenues for our funds."

Ping An Bank has maintained a good cooperative relationship with Hong Kong's industrial sector since 1937, a point that other Chinese-owned banks have not yet been able to match or fully embrace.

On the contrary, Ping An Bank prepared to resume operations as soon as possible in August and is now establishing relationships with factory owners as soon as possible.

All of this was because Chen Guangliang knew that Hong Kong's industry was about to experience a wave of development.

Ye Ximing also said, "We have many ways to raise funds, so we are worried about not having enough deposits. Therefore, after we opened, we offered special discounts and conveniences to depositors. First, we can open an account with just 100 yuan. Second, our interest rates are higher than other banks. Finally, we have a good credit history. In a short period of time, we have already accumulated 500 million yuan in deposits."

The issue of credibility mainly manifests in two aspects:

First, before the Japanese army occupied Hong Kong, Ping An Bank returned most of the depositors' funds and provided preferential treatment in terms of interest. The remaining funds were also transferred to Macau, so that the depositors basically suffered no losses.

Secondly, the Ping An Bank Building, located on Des Voeux Road in Central, is the largest and most beautiful bank building owned by a Chinese bank, which is a guarantee of its credibility.

As a result, Ping An Bank has attracted more than HK$5 million in deposits in just over two months.

Chen Guangliang said, "We should open all five branches as soon as possible and seize the time to attract deposits. We need to vigorously develop savings and loan businesses, taking advantage of the fact that HSBC and Standard Chartered are badly injured and other Chinese-owned banks have not yet reacted."

"Ok"

At this time, HSBC's reputation was somewhat questionable because the hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars that had been "forced to be signed" had angered many currency holders.

Banks like Hang Seng Bank weren't really banks, and their reputation was nonexistent. Only Bank of East Asia performed well.

At that time, Cantonese businessmen in Hong Kong were still not as wealthy as their Shanghai counterparts, so Ping An Bank, as a Shanghai-style bank, naturally had to develop rapidly.

In particular, as businessmen from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai transfer their funds to Hong Kong, Ping An Bank can take the opportunity to make a fortune and build a strong reputation.

Back to the Ping An Bank Building on Des Voeux Road in Central.

Chen Guangliang said to Ye Ximing and Li Hongsheng: "The first thing is that Ping An Bank needs to accelerate its localization. When recruiting employees, we need to consider the issue of Cantonese and Mandarin speaking in parallel. Therefore, the training of Cantonese employees should also be treated equally. We should recruit Cantonese high school graduates and train their financial knowledge."

“Understood. In fact, since Ping An Bank entered Hong Kong, the proportion of employees from Guangdong has been 30-40%, which is about the same as the proportion from Shanghai.”

"The proportion of management personnel should also be increased."

"Ok"

Although Ping An Bank is a Shanghai-style bank, and Chen Guangliang also wanted to profit from the wave of businessmen from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai migrating to Hong Kong, in the end he still wanted to establish a foothold in the local area and serve the majority of the population who are from Guangdong.

Why did merchants from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai gradually fall behind Cantonese merchants in Hong Kong in their previous lives?

It's not that Shanghai businessmen lack strength or wisdom.

The real reason is that a large number of businessmen only regard Hong Kong as a 'temporary residence'. They keep their eyes on the mainland, hoping to return one day, while also keeping their eyes on overseas, ready to flee abroad if the army invades Hong Kong.

It is precisely because of this mentality that many wealthy Shanghai businessmen did not invest in their favorite industry—real estate—after arriving in Hong Kong. Some invested in industry, and some invested in shipping. The former reflects the Shanghai businessmen's philosophy of "saving the country through industry," while the latter represents "movable assets" that they can take with them at any time.

It's a pity that Shanghai businessmen lost their two most important industries—banking and real estate. Especially the banking sector, which ultimately yielded nothing.

That evening, upon hearing that someone wanted to borrow 200 million US dollars from her, Jiang Meiying immediately said, "200 million US dollars is not enough. Now you need to buy a lot of assets while they are low, and you also need to develop shipping and other businesses. I'll just have Citibank and Chase Bank withdraw a total of 500 million from Hong Kong for you. I believe you need this money."

Yan Renmei was also present. She naturally knew that Jiang Meiying had earned nearly 700 million US dollars from stock trading in the United States over the past few years, and her assets amounted to 1000 million US dollars.

However, she was not jealous, because Chen Guangliang had more wealth, meaning that the wealth of the first wife's branch was still far greater than that of the second wife's branch.

Chen Guangliang thought for a moment and said, "Alright, much of the wealth I brought from the mainland this time is gold, silver, and silver dollars, which I don't actually want to exchange. I'll lend you 500 million US dollars, and I'll repay you with interest after my assets in the United States are unfrozen in two years."

Jiang Meiying said with dissatisfaction, "We're all family, why are you talking about interest!"

Chen Guangliang said with a smile, "Although we are family, we still have money. Besides, if I invest this money, it will double in two years."

Yan Renmei added, "Alright, once things are settled, that's fine. Family members shouldn't keep talking about money."

As far as she was concerned, now that Jiang Meiying had entered the family, she was a legitimate member of the Chen family. If it really came down to a fight for the family property with her branch of the family, she would have no choice but to accept it.

Although Jiang Meiying now has a fortune of 1000 million US dollars, that was mainly earned by her in the United States, so she has nothing to worry about.

Based on this, she wasn't jealous.

She also knew that Chen Guangliang was building a huge industrial chain in Hong Kong, encompassing shipping, real estate, finance, and manufacturing, and needed funds. She should be grateful to Jiang Meiying for temporarily lending him money.

The three then stopped talking about money. Now, Jiang Meiying is an American citizen, and her three children are also American citizens, so they have effectively separated their households.

The reasons why Jiang Meiying wanted to return to Hong Kong were twofold: firstly, both she and Chen Guangliang were still young and could not live apart for an extended period; secondly, their children were still young and needed education in Chinese language and traditional culture.

(End of this chapter)