A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

1985 October.

Mr. and Mrs. Chen Guangliang were invited to attend the graduation ceremony of the first undergraduate class of Ningbo University.

The following day, Chen Guangliang and Yan Renmei inspected the 'industrial park' located in Zhenhai District, Ningbo.

This is a park developed by the Yangtze River Industrial Group in cooperation with the NB City Government, covering an area of ​​1000 acres, and it can continue to expand to the surrounding areas in the future.

The industrial park was established in 1983, and subsequently, the Cheung Kong Industrial Group began to cooperate with the municipal government to establish various joint ventures here, including toy companies, electronics companies, clothing companies, and machinery companies.

These joint ventures mainly operate under an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) model. For example, Mattel, the world's largest toy manufacturer, has transferred one-tenth of its production capacity to the Zhenhai Industrial Park, which is enough to bring significant benefits to Ningbo.

Of course, not all of the Zhenhai Industrial Park is based on the OEM model. One of its partners, Xiaotiancai Electronics, is preparing to develop into a technology company.

During the inspection of the industrial park, the Ningbo municipal government naturally accompanied them.

During the event, Chen Guangliang remarked with emotion, "The sooner the Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway is completed, the more secure Ningbo's development will be."

The city government official immediately replied, "It'll be soon, very soon. With Mr. Chen's strong support, construction on the Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway began last year and it should be completed around 1988. At that time, the expressway network connecting Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai will undoubtedly have a huge impact!"

Chen Guangliang nodded. The Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway was proposed as early as 1978, and he naturally participated enthusiastically in the proposal. Later, the Hangzhou-Shanghai Expressway was also included in the overall plan.

At the same time, Chen Guangliang allowed Cheung Kong Infrastructure, a subsidiary of CK Asset Holdings, to participate in the investment of the Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway, holding a 50% stake. This was his first investment in infrastructure in China.

The entire Zhenhai Industrial Park may appear to cover 1000 mu, but it is actually not very large and is still in the development stage. It has not even absorbed one-tenth of the production capacity of the Yangtze River Industrial Group.

The Yangtze River Industrial Group has over 100,000 employees; even one-tenth of that would be more than 10,000 employees, which is no small number.

In fact, the main "relocation base" of the Yangtze River Industrial Group is currently Guangdong Province, where more than one-tenth of its production capacity has been transferred.

The same applies in the future. While supporting Ningbo, Yangtze River Industrial Group will still primarily shift its focus to Guangdong Province. The reasons for this are multifaceted.

Of course, Ningbo will continue to receive substantial support, enough to allow it to surpass Xiamen, Shantou, and Zhuhai, those three "hopeless cases".

That night, Chen Guangliang and his wife stayed at the Ningbo Grand Hotel, a five-star hotel jointly owned by the Chen family and the local government.

Its original purpose was to provide a good accommodation environment for overseas Chinese from Ningbo who returned to their hometown. Since it started operating in 1983, it has been well received by overseas Chinese returning to China.

In the suite, Chen Guangliang, Yan Renmei, and Chen Wenkai, who was accompanying them, had a discussion in the living room.

As the head of Cheung Kong Industrial Group, Chen Wenkai has followed his father's instructions over the years, gradually transferring production capacity to the mainland, with Guangdong Province and Ningbo as the main destinations.

Chen Guangliang's idea is that, when the time is right, he will help Ningbo build a 'large industrial park', just like Singapore helped build the industrial park in Suzhou in his previous life.

Their family certainly has the resources; after all, the Chang Kong Group employs hundreds of thousands of people and its industrial reach rivals that of Singapore. Moreover, Chen Guangliang possesses considerable foresight.

"In short, we need to proceed step by step. Whether it's the 'textile industry chain,' the 'toy industry chain,' the electronics industry, or the machinery automation industry, we need to proceed gradually. In addition, we will prioritize our own enterprises and then select industries and technologies to relocate from Guangdong Province and Ningbo."

Chen Wenkai nodded and said, "I understand what Father means. In the end, we can only complete the transfer of industries to the mainland after Hong Kong completes its industrial upgrading, and the mainland's policies are not yet sufficiently in-depth."

“Hmm,” Chen Guangliang then added, “This joint venture electronics company of Little Genius can develop a product that combines a computer and a game console—a learning machine. Of course, we can launch this product in two years and see.”

Chen Wenkai was not surprised by his father's specific plans for these matters. He immediately remembered them and said, "Hmm. This product can indeed help mainland students learn the Wubi input method and recognize some English words."

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "It might also delay some children's studies, but fortunately it's a joint venture. Of course, for us, the main purpose is to accumulate resources in the mainland's electronics industry and prepare for the future."

"Okay, Father."

After chatting for a while, Chen Guangliang took a break.

Now his children are already in charge of their own territories, so he doesn't need to take care of them much.

After their trip to Ningbo, Chen Guangliang and his wife returned to Shanghai and stayed at the Jinjiang Hotel, formerly known as the Shangri-La Hotel.

To date, the Chen Guangliang Foundation has donated a total of US$5 million in mainland China, and this figure is expected to reach US$10 billion in the next five years.

This is undoubtedly a huge number, but Chen Guangliang feels it is still very worthwhile.

The Chen family's four branches have grown to a total asset size of hundreds of billions of US dollars, so this donation is not a significant investment.

More than 70% of the donations to the Chen Guangliang Foundation go to education, while the remainder mainly go to healthcare.

In addition to the donations made by the 'Chan Kwong Leung Foundation' to the mainland, Chan's enterprises have also returned to the mainland for 'cooperation', which is actually helping the mainland's economy and technology.

"This book mythologizes me way too much!" Chen Guangliang chuckled softly as he glanced at the mainland-published biography of himself on the hotel sofa that morning.

Yan Renmei, standing to the side, laughed and said, "I don't think there's any myth about you at all! After all, putting aside political factors, you are just that great. As for your private life..."

Chen Guangliang felt a little guilty in front of his wife.

After pausing for three seconds, Yan Renmei continued with a smile, "These are all minor issues, completely negligible."

Chen Guangliang put down his book and said, "I can understand setting an example. I'm just afraid of being retaliated against in the future. After all, creating a god is necessary, but so is bringing him down from his pedestal. Of course, our family has become a global family, so we don't have too many worries."

Yan Renmei didn't know the future, but she knew that even her four sons and one daughter were making global plans, so she didn't have too many worries. Moreover, with her husband's health, living another thirty years was no problem; with him around, the family could prosper even more.

"I and everyone else believe in you."

Chen Guangliang nodded, understanding the meaning behind his wife's words.

He hasn't really retired; he's still directing the actions of his 15 children.

In fact, Chen Guangliang was not worried about following in Li Jiacheng's footsteps in his previous life. After all, the world would judge right and wrong, but there would never be a unified or standard answer.

He also knew that even if the 'Chen Guangliang Family Foundation' donated 1000 billion, it would still end up with the excuse of 'Don't let Chen Wenjie get away'; while someone who defrauded trillions might be hailed as a patriotic businessman—that's public opinion. (End of Chapter)