Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 378 The Situation of Urban Renewal
When the bigwigs heard that a banquet was about to begin, they all exchanged glances, considering how they should take their seats.

It's not easy to get so many big shots together.

If it were a government meeting, the order would naturally be strictly based on the company size and the relevant units involved in the main content of the meeting.

But when you sit down to eat, you have to defer to others according to your own sense of proportion and find your own place.

There are too many rules at Chinese dining tables. Just regarding seating arrangements, the seat directly facing the door or with the best view is the host's seat, the left side is the second most honored seat, the right side is the third most honored seat, the host's seat is the secondary seat, and the fish head/chicken head is facing the guest of honor, etc.

Chen Xuebing had actually arranged the rankings. According to the information that Gu An had, the rankings should be: Liu Chuan (multiple vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce) ≥ Guo Guangchang (90 billion yuan in personal assets) > Shenyin Wanguo (a leading securities firm) ≥ China Ocean Trust (a top 3 trust company, backed by China National Offshore Oil Corporation) ≥ Zendai Group ≥ Dahua Group Jin Huiming (a senior figure in the business world) ≥ Alibaba ≥ Greentown Group > Focus Media Jiang Nanchun (40 billion yuan in personal assets) > Shanghai Industrial Development > China Enterprise > Zhongtai Trust > Shanghai Ping An > Huayi Brothers.

This includes personal status, company strength, and control over the company.

At that moment, several waiters carried in two large carpets.

Two carpets were laid four or five meters apart along the central axis of the hall, and then tables and chairs were placed on the carpet.

Sitting alone, or sitting opposite someone.

Chen Xuebing chose a seat slightly towards the center and asked everyone to sit wherever they pleased.

Without a clear master seat, the seating arrangement becomes disordered.

Meals are served individually, with dishes served to each person.

This was the hotel manager's idea, and Chen Xuebing originally thought the arrangement was quite good.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Nanchun, after determining the direction, suddenly said, "Sitting in the east-west direction, one should face east as the superior position," and pushed Liu Chuan to the head seat in Chen Xuebing's row.

Everyone started refusing to give way, and Chen Xuebing was speechless and gave up.

After everyone was seated and the cold dishes were served, the second main course, braised fish head with crab roe, was served. Only then did Chen Xuebing raise his glass and give a loud speech.

"Dear colleagues, thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this gathering. Standing on Shanghai, a land brimming with opportunities, I feel deeply honored to walk alongside you all. Today, we choose to invest more energy in Shanghai, not only because of its market potential, but also because of the city's open and inclusive spirit. The real estate and financial industries are undergoing profound changes, and the era of going it alone is long gone. We at Gu'an look forward to establishing a healthy competitive and cooperative relationship with everyone present—promoting each other through competition and jointly exploring new frontiers through complementary strengths! On this occasion, I would like to clarify Gu'an's position: first, adherence to bottom lines; second, adherence to openness; and third, adherence to long-termism! Finally, let us raise our glasses to the future of Shanghai! And to the wisdom of each and every one of you here!"

"Welcome, Mr. Chen!" Jiang Nanchun was the first to greet him.

"Hey? Mr. Chen, you're toasting Shanghai? Then we Zhejiang businessmen from other places won't drink!" Jack Ma interrupted with a smile.

Jack Ma was relegated to a seat facing west by a group of Shanghai business leaders, and today, in a discussion about real estate and finance, he was unable to get a word in edgewise for a long time, which must have been somewhat frustrating.

“Jack Ma, you’re from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, but I’m from Beijing! Mr. Chen is right, Shanghai is open and inclusive. Once you’re in Shanghai, you’re a Shanghainese! When in Rome, do as the Romans do!" Liu Chuan said, raising his wine glass.

These words were a blatant endorsement of Chen Xuebing.

Today he's brought a new ten million US dollars to Chen Xuebing for investment.

Although he is the vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and effectively controls Lenovo through his position as chairman of the employee stock ownership association (which holds 35% of Lenovo Holdings Group's shares) and the fact that the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences does not participate in decision-making, his personal shareholding is not high, only 2.8%, but it is valued at around 4 million RMB.

Moreover, this shareholding is key to his control over the employee stock ownership association; he needs to have shares to become the chairman of the board.

At the same time, they also had to take care of the emotions of Lenovo employees.

His highest annual salary during his tenure was HK$864 million in 2005, and his total publicly disclosed income over the years amounted to only HK$5000 million.

No matter how much money he has in private, his spending cannot exceed this amount; otherwise, it will arouse suspicion and challenge his position as chairman. Without Lenovo's control, his official status alone will not be enough to maintain his position.

To become one of the world's richest individuals, he either needs to pay huge salaries through Lenovo or make investments.

Paying high salaries can cause dissatisfaction among subordinates. In terms of investment, he has participated in many "good opportunities" through multiple organizations, but his investment skills are limited, and some so-called internal projects do not actually have such high returns.

Just like Jack Ma's Alibaba shares, everyone generally believes that they will more than double in value. Even if he can get some shares, he will have to wait a year before he can sell them. The time cycle is so long. Moreover, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong is currently at a high level of 20,000 points. Who knows what the situation will be when he sells after a year? What if the market crashes? Wouldn't he have to wait for it to rise again?
Now, encountering Chen Xuebing, a well-known figure in the financial world who has made huge profits, and being able to guarantee his principal and returns, presents him with the greatest opportunity to rationally accumulate personal funds.

It just so happens that Chen Xuebing has a wide range of business interests, and Liu Baye also has a wide network of connections. There are many ways that can help Chen Xuebing, so Chen Xuebing has no reason not to let him get on board.

Chen Xuebing did indeed intend to put Liu Chuan on board, but not on a domestic giant ship, but on a Somali pirate ship heading overseas and robbing along the way.

Chen Xuebing chuckled faintly, finished his drink, and raised his glass again: "Alright then, Mr. Liu, Mr. Ma, and Mr. Cai have come all this way to support me today, so I'll toast you all separately. I wish Taobao's business will mature quickly, and Alibaba's second-stage rocket will ignite rapidly. I also wish Mr. Liu's investment... well, I don't think I need to wish him that. Mr. Liu's investment will definitely be successful."

"Hahaha!" Liu Chuan burst into laughter: "I have always trusted President Chen!"

Jack Ma regained his composure and said with deep emotion, "Mr. Chen, everyone is wishing us a successful IPO, but only you understand us! The IPO of Alibaba's B2B business this year is just the first stage of our strategy! The core driving force is still the merger and IPO of Taobao! I believe that when the value explosion point of C2C arrives, the true value of Alibaba will be revealed!"

Today everyone is talking about Guo Guangchang's proposal for a 100 billion yuan IPO, which breaks the boundaries of private enterprises in mainland China, but no one is mentioning Alibaba, which is also going public this year.

He is not satisfied.

He even wanted to promote Tencent.

Even if a privately-owned company with assets exceeding 100 billion yuan were to emerge in mainland China this year, it would likely be Tencent in the internet sector, right?

Taobao is still losing money, with annual losses exceeding 200 million yuan, and it was not included in this year's listed assets. Once this business turns profitable and is incorporated, the value will be more than 100 billion yuan.

"Hehe, Alibaba's prospects are certainly huge. Mr. Guo's Fosun and Tencent are expected to compete for hundreds of billions this year. I am even more optimistic about the overall value of your C2C platform. It is expected to become the company with the highest single market value. However, the time is not right yet. If you offer a portion of your C2C equity to me for strategic cooperation, that moment may come sooner."

Jack Ma offered him shares in the pre-IPO B2B business a few days ago, but he wasn't interested. Alibaba later withdrew from the Hong Kong stock market and went on to have the largest IPO in US history, raising $2300 billion. The majority of the market capitalization came from the still loss-making C2C business, which is worth at least $2000 billion.

Moreover, Alipay wasn't included in this US stock listing.

Jack Ma's most impressive feat was successfully launching three IPOs: one B2B, one C2C, and one Alipay, each time resulting in massive growth.

When Ant Group was founded, the industry valued it at two to three trillion yuan, which was equivalent to the entire Tencent company.

If it succeeds that time, that would be amazing.

If Ant Group increases its capital from 3000 billion to 300 billion to cover the conventional risks of 2.1 trillion in credit, and communicates with regulators to come up with a policy to force financial data to remain in China, it is possible to succeed.

To put it another way, a company that earns tens of billions annually could potentially see profits exceeding hundreds of billions during the mask season due to increased demand. Why not just stay in the domestic market? Why go public and make that quick money?
Even at its worst, Ant Financial is still comparable to a medium-sized city commercial bank, so Chen Xuebing's first target was Alipay, followed by Taobao.

Jack Ma, beaming with pride after receiving such praise, said, "Mr. Chen has excellent taste! We'll talk later!"

Those around them couldn't help but glance at them.

Even more optimistic? Wouldn't that also break the 100 billion mark?

"Hehe, Mr. Chen, your company, Changzheng, is making a fortune every day. Its profits in the three months before New Year's Day exceeded the total profits of all the companies here, right? If Alibaba has the highest market value, how much would your company, Gu'an, be worth?" Xie Ping, the general manager of Shenyin Wanguo Securities, asked with a mysterious smile.

With these words, Chen Xuebing's assets were immediately quantified.

Total profit for everyone here?!

You're kidding me!
Who among us doesn't earn hundreds of millions a year? Just Shenyin Wanguo and Fosun alone must earn at least a billion a year!
If everyone adds it all up, wouldn't it break 10 billion a year?

That's two or three billion in a quarter!
But these words came from Xie Ping's mouth.

The chairman of Shenyin Wanguo Securities is actually Vice Chairman Wang of Central Huijin Investment Ltd., who comes from a regulatory background.

Moreover, I heard that Central Huijin is one of the financing parties for this Mr. Chen.

Chen Xuebing smiled and said, "I was referring to individual companies. Mr. Ma's business is interconnected, but our three companies cannot be merged."

The fact that he didn't refute this statement is considered an admission.

Everyone's expressions became somewhat puzzled.

Damn, I knew this General Manager Chen was even more cunning than Guo Guangchang!
Kan Zhidong also secretly gave Xie Ping a grateful look.

Xie Ping isn't a fool; he wouldn't casually reveal someone's assets. If he did, it must have been at Chen Xuebing's behest.

Chen Xuebing's own words might sound like boasting, but Xie Ping's words carry undeniable authority.

Once this topic is brought up at the start of the meal, we can move on to the next topic.

"Mr. Chen, do you have any plans to purchase land since you've just arrived in Shanghai?" Song Weiping from Greentown asked.

He's not a shill; Greentown does have land acquisition plans this year. They've already set their sights on the Guangfulin Road plot in Songjiang, which is 9.5 square meters and they plan to acquire it for under 15 billion yuan.

But judging from Mr. Chen's attitude, if he gets involved, it's hard to say whether he'll actually get the 15 billion.

Real estate developers are also feeling a bit nervous.

Fosun is preparing to participate in the Bund K. Wah project.

Zendai plans to expand its land plot in Lianyang Community, Pudong New Area, to build a commercial plaza.

Shanghai Industrial Development Co., Ltd. has its sights set on Yongle Village in Jiading, China International Capital Corporation (CICC) plans to acquire Huamu Xinmin North Block in Pudong, and Dahua Group has its eye on Liandong Village in Dachang Town, Baoshan District.

All three companies plan to buy land redeveloped from urban villages.

Even Ping An Insurance in Shanghai plans to provide financing for the Nanxiang plot that Gemdale Group intends to bid for.

Shanghai held a land auction at the beginning of the year, and the remaining new land parcels will be released around June and September. There weren't many bids to begin with, but now suddenly a cash king has appeared, making so much money in just one quarter. Who the hell wouldn't be worried?
Chen Xuebing smiled slightly: "I plan to start with urban redevelopment."

These words brought a sense of relief to Fosun, Zendai, Greentown, and Ping An.

Shanghai Shih-Hsin, Chung Hwa, and Da-Hua all became very anxious.

Dahua Jin Huiming suddenly smiled leisurely: "In June this year, the hottest property was No. 163 Nanjing East Road, which is 23,000 square meters and has a construction area of ​​up to 100,000 square meters. Mr. Chen has abundant funds and is new to Shanghai. If he wants to make a name for himself, he can try to win this top spot."

Chen Xuebing naturally understood.

All of this year's central goals are in his mind.

He had gathered a lot of information before coming, including what plans the real estate companies present had.

There are too many people eyeing No. 163 Nanjing East Road. The price per square meter of building area is going to be over 30,000 to 40,000 yuan, which is not worth it at all.

To be precise, none of the properties in downtown Shanghai are good value this year. Prices will continue to fall next year and won't recover until at least the middle of the following year.

But since he's brought such a large group of people together to build relationships, it's impossible for him to do nothing.

“I’m not talking about land that has already been redeveloped, but land that is being demolished on the spot. I heard that Shanghai is going to launch the ‘Eleventh Five-Year Plan for Urban Renewal’ this year, aiming to complete 400 million square meters of urban renewal by the end of 2010. This year, land in the core areas of the old city, such as Jing’an and Huangpu, is being released for urban renewal, and I plan to work on the urban renewal in this area.”

Chen Xuebing expressed his thoughts.

He learned this news from the city government.

A few days ago, Leader Yan called to express his condolences. He intentionally mentioned the land swap in Lujiazui in order to inquire about some details.

Land in Lujiazui costs billions of yuan per plot, so how could they possibly offer him a low-price replacement just because he moved to Shanghai? But that's not his intention either; by asking for a higher price, he can give the other party room to negotiate.

So they found out about the urban renewal project.

Those present suddenly realized what was happening.

“Urban renewal is not something that can be accomplished in a short time,” Guo Guangchang said. “A few holdouts can put the project on hold, leading to endless meetings and dragging it out for far too long.”

If urban renewal projects are launched this year, demolition will take more than a year, and in some cases it may even take three to five years, which means the land will no longer belong to this year.

Fosun's Yu Garden is located in Huangpu District, in the northeastern part of Shanghai's old city. The demolition work has been going on for several years, involving the demolition of a large number of old alleyways in the surrounding area. Guo Guangchang knows all too well how difficult it is to deal with those old ladies and gentlemen.

Chen Xuebing shook his head and said, "We won't demolish it; let the government do it."

"As for the speed of demolition, I plan to make a bet with the government."

“We will provide initial funding so that the government can complete the demolition within two years. If it is completed, we will supplement the funding and purchase the land at the average land price within two years. If it is not completed, the government will compensate us with this money at an annualized rate of 10%.”

“This piece of land, from Nanjing West Road to the Shikumen protected area, covers an area of ​​more than 15 square meters. Everyone knows its location; it is absolutely in the city center.”

"I plan to share this with everyone."

(End of this chapter)