A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Time flies, and it is already 1962.

On New Year's Day, in order to regulate the development of real estate developers, the Hong Kong government promulgated the Building (Scheme) (Amendment) (II) Ordinance 1962. The new ordinance is stricter than the old one in terms of building area. It is estimated that after the implementation of the new ordinance, the sales area will shrink by about 20%.

To quell the discontent of real estate developers, the new regulations were given a grace period, allowing them to be officially implemented on January 1, 1966.

In a short time, major Hong Kong property developers began preparing to invest in large-scale construction, racing against time to develop and sell properties during the "golden period."

at the same time.

On New Year's Day, the much-anticipated 'Cheung Kong Plaza' officially opened.

On that day, Hong Kong celebrities and business tycoons, including Governor Andrew Cuomo, as well as overseas politicians and celebrities, were invited to attend the opening ceremony.

Changjiang Plaza is a comprehensive commercial plaza, including a 36-story office building, Poly Plaza, and a 28-story commercial building.

The 28-story mixed-use commercial building includes the 'Cheung Kong Plaza,' which covers an area of ​​over 20,000 square feet and has five levels of platforms. Two of these levels are basements, and all platform units are converted into boutiques and restaurants of various styles. The central plaza can host various performances, such as fashion shows, concerts, and exhibitions. It is surrounded by cafes and tea houses, and the roof is covered with translucent fiberglass. It is the only high-end shopping and entertainment venue in Central, and even in Hong Kong. The top 25 floors are office buildings.

The 36-story office building is connected to the 28-story Yangtze River Plaza, with the bottom serving as a commercial shopping center and the rest as office space. The building's most distinctive feature is its open-style exterior structure, with deeply recessed windows and doors that utilize the building's structure to shade them. The building uses aluminum window frames and tinted glass to reduce heat inside.

The two towers provide more than 60 square feet of office space in Hong Kong, which is quite large.

Moreover, Chen Guangliang took the future into full consideration, so both buildings were constructed with high-end materials and will not need to be dismantled in the future; at most, they will only need to be renovated to achieve the effect of permanent buildings.

At the scene, Jardine Matheson's tycoon, John Keswick, watched Chan Kwong-leung chatting and laughing among celebrities and aristocrats, and felt a sense of powerlessness—the two sides were competing in many areas of Hong Kong, including real estate, shipping, and trade.

In fact, this Cheung Kong Plaza is a sharp blade inserted into the heart of Jardine Matheson's Hongkong Land, making Hongkong Land no longer the absolute hegemon of Central; the valuable properties owned by the Chan Kwong Leung family in Central are in no way inferior to those of Hongkong Land.

"Sir Keswick, what do you think of Yangtze Square?" Chen Guangliang asked, raising his glass to Old John.

He wasn't being provocative; he wouldn't be that naive.

He had just heard that Wharf Holdings had received funding from the Hong Kong government to develop Ocean Terminal, setting up a competition between the two shopping malls, one in the south and one in the north.

“Excellent! Mr. Chen truly lives up to his reputation as a real estate tycoon, investing in such a large-scale commercial real estate project that will become a landmark building in Hong Kong,” Old John said insincerely.

The competition between the two sides is not only between Hongkong Land and Cheung Kong Holdings, but also between Wharf Holdings and Cheung Kong Holdings.

Chan Kwong-leung invested in the Hung Hom Tunnel, which, once operational, will bring businesses on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon closer together, leading to more direct competition between the two sides. Moreover, Chan is also pushing for competition in the container terminal market, which is a competition with Wharf Holdings.

"Haha, I heard that Ocean Terminal is even larger. The establishment of these two commercial shopping centers, one in the south and one in the north, is a sign of Hong Kong's prosperity."

"Thank you very much"

Regardless of the competition, everyone remained polite.

If anyone is unhappy, it's Chan Kwong Leung who's most annoyed by Wharf Holdings. The fees charged for its docks and warehouses have always been something Chan Kwong Leung hates to the core, as have other Chinese ship owners in Hong Kong.

Even the Hong Kong government and HSBC, among other British entities, felt that Jardine Matheson's exorbitant fees were excessive and even warned that the Chinese community would not side with Jardine Matheson should anything change at Wharf Holdings.

The Keswick family probably never imagined that this would become a reality!
The headquarters of Cheung Kong Holdings has been moved to the Poly Building at the intersection of Des Voeux Road Central and Pedder Street.

Thus, the headquarters of Chen Guangliang's four major conglomerates—CK Asset Holdings, Global Holdings, Cheung Kong Industrial Group, and Ping An Financial Group—are no longer located in the same building.

The headquarters of Cheung Kong Holdings is located in Poly Plaza, the headquarters of Universal Group is located in Universal Centre on Des Voeux Road Central, the administrative headquarters of Cheung Kong Industrial Group is located in Lane Crawford Centre on Queen's Road Central, and the Ping An Financial Group Building is located in Ping An Bank Building at 1 Garden Road.

If you add Cheung Kong Plaza and Shangri-La Hotel, the Chan family owns six expensive properties in Central.

The offices of CK Asset Holdings Limited.

Standing on the 36th floor, Chan Kwong-leung could overlook the entire Victoria Harbour and Tsim Sha Tsui on the opposite shore through the window. At that time, Central was undergoing land reclamation, including the site of the future Exchange Square and International Finance Centre, all of which were reclaimed from the sea.

Looking down from the top, all the mountains seem small!

A satisfied look appeared on Chen Guangliang's lips. Over the past thirty years in business, he has gained not only an increase in wealth, but also a more stable status and family position.

Now, his three sons from his first wife have all joined Cheung Kong Holdings, Global Holdings, and Cheung Kong Industrial, respectively; his other son from his first wife, Chen Wensheng, is 20 years old this year and is studying finance at Harvard University in the United States.

As for his youngest son from his first wife, Chen Guangliang planned to have him work hard on Wall Street for two years after graduation before joining Ping An Financial Group.

Chen Wenjie of Cheung Kong Holdings is 29 years old this year. He serves as a director of the group and head of commercial real estate. He has been successfully cultivated and is ready to take on important responsibilities at any time.
Chen Wenming, 27, of the Global Group, returned to the company after New Year's Day as the deputy manager of the business department, directly under his uncle Chen Guangcong. Although Chen Wenming has experienced a 'marital crisis,' his business skills are still quite good. In addition, he has now compromised and is preparing to marry a girl from a Cantonese family in March.

It wasn't an arranged marriage; Yan Renmei simply liked the daughter-in-law and thought she was good in every way, so she introduced her to her son. That was all.

Chen Wenkai, 24, of the Yangtze River Industrial Group, is currently developing yachts. Once this is completed, he will join the group's management team to hone his management skills.

As for the first wife's youngest daughter, who is only ten years old this year, she is not being considered for the time being!

Chen Guangliang was very satisfied with his plans, and in fact, he would not allow any of his children to oppose them.

There is no such thing as rebellion. Chen Wenming is the best proof of this – either he obediently inherits the family business, or he is nominated as the family heir, and he gets nothing!

For large families, the one thing they have in abundance is an heir.

Of course, one could also say that what is most lacking is an heir, and naturally, the most outstanding heir.

Unbeknownst to many, Chen Guangliang is already 52 years old. Of course, his physical functions are still at the level of someone in their early thirties. When he dresses a little more maturely, he looks like he is not even forty years old.

Therefore, Chen Guangliang takes a steady and pragmatic approach to business, not rushing to build a large enterprise, but rather laying a solid foundation for his children. For example, Cheung Kong Holdings, with its current scale and remaining resources, is more than capable of maintaining its position as one of Hong Kong's most promising companies, and will easily be among the world's top 500 companies in the future.

CK Asset Holdings' business is currently divided into five parts: development properties, commercial real estate, hotels, retail department stores, and food and beverage.

In terms of real estate development, the focus is mainly on sales, with residential development being the most common. Currently, Cheung Kong Holdings sells approximately 1500 residential units annually, accounting for 12-15% of Hong Kong's market share. More importantly, Chan Kwong-leung personally owns thousands of tenement buildings awaiting redevelopment, all located in urban areas, far exceeding the land value found in the New Territories.

In the commercial real estate sector, completed projects include: Paterson Street Complex (seven buildings), Cheung Kong Plaza Complex (two buildings), and Lane Crawford Tower. Currently under development is the Lane Crawford Department Store complex in Singapore. In addition, Chen Guangliang personally owns a large number of land parcels and properties in Singapore and Japan.

In terms of hotels, the current main properties are the Shangri-La Hotel in Central, the Miramar Hotel in Kowloon, and the Furama Hotel in Causeway Bay, all of which are very high-end and high-quality hotel assets.

In the retail sector, Lane Crawford is the leading department store (high-end department store), which also includes Dah Sing Department Store (mid-to-low-end) and Wellcome Supermarket, among other brands.

In the food and beverage sector, Vitasoy is the leading brand, followed by White Rabbit candy, Master Kong instant noodles, Nissin instant noodles (a Japanese brand acquired by Nissin), Red Bull, Vitasoy juice series, and more.

The overall layout is very reasonable. Of course, there will be more acquisitions and developments in the future, but the scale is already quite large at this point.

The meeting room of CK Asset Holdings Limited.

Chan Kwong-leung convened a real estate meeting and began by saying, “From 1962 to 1964, Hong Kong will inevitably experience a real estate boom. Everyone will rush to start construction before the new building regulations are implemented, so the annual supply will inevitably increase significantly. What Cheung Kong Group needs to do is to make the most of these three years and sell 1500 to 2000 residential units each year. As for 1965, we don’t need to have any plans.”

Later, Lu Xiaoqing, one of the real estate managers, asked, "So, will the profits generated during this period be used to purchase land reserves?"

This is a good question.

Chen Guangliang immediately replied, "Yes, but it's just about purchasing my personal land reserves or overseas commercial land; we're not considering buying from abroad."

Lu Xiaoqing nodded and said, "Okay."

Currently, the average price of a residential property has reached HK$60 per square foot, and an 800-square-foot unit is already close to HK$5. In the next three years, it should rise to over HK$80 per square foot, and possibly even HK$100 per square foot.

In the past three years, Cheung Kong Holdings alone has enough land in North Point's Yuen Ming Hill (formerly the Times Film Studio) to supply around 2000 units. Combined with the land acquired in previous years, this ensures its status as a true real estate giant.

So the money earned in those three years should naturally be used to buy commercial land on Orchard Road in Singapore, or commercial land in Ginza, Japan; of course, what can be bought depends on the financial situation of CK Asset Holdings.

Overall, however, CK Asset Holdings not only raised a huge amount of funds through its IPO, but its businesses are also flourishing, so its strength will only grow rapidly.

Later, Chen Wenjie reported on the commercial real estate situation of CK Asset Holdings: "Currently, our Paterson Street integrated commercial project, Cheung Kong Plaza, etc., have a satisfaction rate as high as 98%. Daimaru Department Store, Causeway Bay Shopping Centre, and Cheung Kong Plaza have become iconic commercial landmarks in Hong Kong, with the highest foot traffic in Hong Kong."

Everyone looked excited!

This is the true strength of CK Asset Holdings, surpassing British-owned developers like Hongkong Land to become the undisputed real estate behemoth of Hong Kong.

Chen Guangliang commented: "The most important thing for commercial complexes or shopping centers is their ability to attract tenants. We need to establish long-term partnerships with world-renowned brands so that our shopping centers will be attractive enough."

Chen Wenjie nodded and said, "Yes, we've always kept that in mind!"

When Cheung Kong Plaza opened, many top international brands made their debut in Hong Kong. As a result, Hong Kong's wealthy residents naturally flocked to it.

The importance of attracting tenants determines the scale and level of a shopping center, and is even the key to its success.

Of course, on the other hand, without planting the phoenix tree, you can't attract the phoenix. From the very beginning of the project, the Yangtze River Plaza has invested heavily in creativity and quality.

Shortly after New Year's Day, Chen Guangliang also brought Yan Renmei to Changjiang Square for a proper stroll.

Stepping into Cheung Kong Plaza, one gets a sense of difference from the outside of Hong Kong. At this time, Hong Kong is undergoing a major construction boom, and the whole city is in a transitional period between tradition and the new era; but the interior of Cheung Kong Plaza is comparable to the modernity and luxury of New York and London.

Chen Guangliang's confidence in investing in such a luxurious shopping center at this time, the second shopping center in Asia (the first being the Causeway Bay shopping center on Paterson Street), is well-founded.

That is Hong Kong's economy at that time (1962), which was roughly equivalent to the economy in the previous life in 1966; and the Ocean Terminal in the previous life opened in 1966, and was the first shopping mall in Asia at the time.

Today, Hong Kong has two shopping malls, both owned by the Chan family.

"Brother Liang, let's go in and take a look!"

Yan Renmei took Chen Guangliang's arm and walked into a Lane Crawford jewelry store.

It turns out that after Lane Crawford Group bought the licensed diamond processing plant in South Africa, it immediately spun off Lane Crawford Jewelry. It not only sells the jewelry in Lane Crawford department stores, but also opens its own jewelry stores outside, mainly selling gold, diamonds, gemstones and other jewelry, positioning itself as high-end jewelry.

Moreover, in a very short time, Lane Crawford Jewellery gained a monopoly on the sales of diamonds and gemstones in Hong Kong.

"You've been shopping at our own brands enough, today you can check out LV and Hermes!"

Yan Renmei said with a smile, "I just like my own brand, just like you like Lacoste clothing!"

The two looked at each other and smiled!

Neither of them are the type to need designer brands to enhance their image. Yan Renmei has never had much interest in luxury goods and designer brands. Of course, she is interested in beautiful things, but she doesn't deliberately pursue brands.

Even so, Yan Renmei only browsed around Lane Crawford Jewelry and did not buy any items.

After buying the South African diamond processing plant, she acquired a very large pink diamond, so she is no longer interested in small-carat diamonds.

On the other hand, Chen Guangliang also imparted a philosophy to these women—when buying diamonds and gemstones, they must buy the big ones, because not only can they make them look more beautiful, but more importantly, they will appreciate in value the most in the future.

Conversely, small-carat diamonds and gemstones from the Yangtze River not only have low potential for future appreciation, but also look cheap and unsophisticated when worn. (End of Chapter)