In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 708 Next Step: A Full-Scale Encirclement and Suppression?

The Hong Kong newspapers did mention Motorola's soaring stock price briefly, but only in the margins.

The reason is simple: this is Hong Kong, and not many people trade US stocks here.

Even those who trade US stocks have their own sources of information.

In other words, whether Motorola's stock price rises or falls, it doesn't attract much attention in Hong Kong; it's a niche news story.

Of course, if the fact that Lin Haoran made a fortune here were to leak out, it would definitely cause a sensation throughout Hong Kong, and the newspapers would be willing to report it extensively.

However, he naturally couldn't make this public. It's better to make money secretly, especially when it comes to exploiting American stock market investors.

He's not George Soros; he doesn't need to be well-known in the financial industry.

As the stock prices he held rose sharply, Lin Haoran was in an exceptionally good mood.

After finishing breakfast, he went straight to Wanqing Building.

Inside the president's office at the headquarters of Wanqing Group.

When Lin Haoran arrived, Burton was writing something at his desk.

Upon seeing Lin Haoran arrive, Burton couldn't help but show a look of surprise.

After all, since acquiring Hongkong Land, the boss seems to have rarely come here anymore.

Despite his surprise, Burton quickly got up and strode outside to greet Lin Haoran.

“Boss, this is quite a rare sight. This must be your third time here this year, right?” Burton laughed heartily.

“Mr. Burton, I’m just trusting you. With you at Wanqing Group, I feel at ease!” Lin Haoran said with a smile, looking at the 95% loyalty rating above Burton’s head.

A score of 95 is indeed enough to make him trust Burton completely; it's an extremely high number.

He remembered that when he met the other party last year, the other party's loyalty was only 92. He thought that the other party's loyalty had stabilized, but he did not expect that it would increase by 3 points in the past year.

If he doesn't trust such a loyal minister, who else can he trust?
"With your words, boss, all my hard work this year has been worth it!" Burton said, moved, and quickly ushered Lin Haoran into his office.

In fact, Lin Haoran's key subordinates had long felt his trust in them, especially in terms of delegating authority in corporate management.

The fact that their boss, who clearly possesses business acumen that they cannot match, is still willing to entrust the company to them with such confidence naturally moves them and fills them with motivation.

Although Lin Haoran rarely visits the Wanqing Group headquarters, it doesn't mean he's unaware of the Wanqing Group's affairs.

Because every now and then, Burton would either go to the Kang Le Building in person or call Lin Haoran directly to report on the recent situation.

Therefore, Lin Haoran was familiar with the situation of Wan Qing Group's subsidiaries, such as Wan An Real Estate, Qingzhou Yingni, and Kowloon Motor Bus.

The Wanqing Building was formerly the once-famous Central Federal Building.

Back then, Lin Haoran seized the opportunity and acquired the Federal Building and the International Building from Wheelock Properties for a "package price" of HK$1 billion.

Unexpectedly, less than a year later, he sold the International Building to Caring Group for a high price of HK$10.68 billion. In Lin Haoran's eyes, Caring Group was definitely a "sucker".

When you do the math, this deal is incredibly worthwhile!
Not only did it mean that Lin Haoran got a Federal Building for free, but he also made an extra HK$6800 million, making him incredibly wealthy.

After purchasing the Federal Building, Lin Haoran felt that this building, which had been the tallest commercial building in Hong Kong in the 1960s, was a perfect match for the Wanqing Group's character, so he made it the headquarters of the Wanqing Group.

From then on, the Federal Building was officially renamed the Wanqing Building.

Lin Haoran walked to the office window and looked eastward, where the silhouette of the Kang Le Building was particularly conspicuous.

The straight-line distance between the two buildings is only three to five hundred meters, and it would even take only a few minutes to walk from here to the Kang Le Building.

“Boss, Qingzhou Yingni’s development in Southeast Asia has basically hit a bottleneck and it’s difficult to make any further breakthroughs. Therefore, I plan to expand into Japan, especially since the Land Group has a considerable presence in Japan. This will help Qingzhou Yingni to cover the Japanese market. What do you think, boss?” Burton walked to Lin Haoran’s side, his eyes also fixed on the scenery outside the window.

Two years ago, Yingni from Qingzhou began a large-scale expansion into Southeast Asia, and with the help of the Guo family, things went very smoothly.

To date, Qingzhou Yingni has become the second best-selling cement brand in the Philippines, and even the number one in Singapore.

In addition, it has become the second to fifth largest cement brand in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and other places.

However, due to various reasons such as policies, it has become very difficult for Qingzhou Yingni to further expand its market share in these countries.

Therefore, Burton, unwilling to stop expanding in Qingzhou Yingni, turned its attention to the Japanese market.

After all, if we're talking about which countries have the most extravagant infrastructure development in this era, Japan would definitely rank among the top three globally.

The reason Lin Haoran promoted Burton to general manager of Qingzhou Yingni and then gradually to president of Wanqing Group was because he valued Burton's ability to develop overseas markets when he was deputy general manager of Qingzhou Yingni.

Burton did not disappoint Lin Haoran's visit. After taking full control of Qingzhou Yingni, he quickly led the company to open up the Southeast Asian market.

Today, Qingzhou Yingni has become the most profitable enterprise under the Wanqing Group.

Financial statements for the first half of this year show that Qingzhou Yingni's profit from January to June reached HK$3.68 million.

In other words, even if the profits in the second half of the year are similar to those in the first half, Qingzhou Yingni can still earn more than HK$7 million this year.

This is no small amount; you have to understand, this is just one year's profit.

If these data were released and Qingzhou Yingni were relisted in Hong Kong, with its current performance, reaching a market capitalization of HK$5 billion would not be difficult at all.

Of course, Lin Haoran would never allow it to be relisted; he would never do anything without benefit.

Going public is for financing and for better development. It is something that many companies have to do when they encounter development bottlenecks in order to break through existing limitations.

Clearly, Lin Haoran is not short of money now, so he has no reason to list Qingzhou Yingni on the stock market again.

Lin Haoran turned around, smiled at Burton, and said, "Entering the Japanese market is indeed a good idea. However, the Japanese market is completely different from Southeast Asia. Have you formulated any strategies?"

Burton immediately produced the prepared materials: "Boss, I've done detailed research. The Japanese construction industry has extremely high requirements for cement quality, but their high-end cement production capacity is limited. Our newly developed G80 high-strength cement can fill this gap perfectly."

Lin Haoran flipped through the documents, nodding occasionally: "Not bad, this survey is very comprehensive, but," he closed the document, "the Japanese market is very exclusive, and it won't be easy to find a reliable partner."

Although Hongkong Land Group is now fully committed to developing real estate in Japan and has even directly acquired a company called Changhe Real Estate there, Qingzhou Yingni can indeed have a certain degree of market stability.

However, relying solely on Hongkong Land's Japanese branch, Qingzhou Yingni cannot grow and become a major player in Japan. Relying solely on the small territory of its sister company is not very meaningful.

As an economic powerhouse, Japan faces fierce competition in the market for basic building materials like cement, with domestic giants such as Onoda Cement and Mitsubishi Materials almost monopolizing the market.

Furthermore, these cement brands also intend to enter the Southeast Asian market and will inevitably become competitors of Qingzhou Yingni in the future.

Burton replied confidently, "Boss, last month I made a special trip to Japan for two days to investigate. Thanks to your influence in Japan, I have had initial contact with Sumitomo Realty, and they are very interested in our specialty cement."

In particular, our newly developed seawater-resistant cement is perfectly suited to the construction needs of coastal areas in Japan. While we may not be able to compete with Japanese domestic brands in the ordinary cement market, we have every opportunity to open up the market in the field of specialty cements.

In the first half of this year, Lin Haoran made a fortune of hundreds of billions of yen by accurately investing in Toyota stock, which made him famous in the Japanese business world. Almost all Japanese conglomerates have heard of this investment tycoon from Hong Kong.

Back then, even the president of Sumitomo Realty Industries personally visited Lin Haoran, sincerely wanting to purchase Toyota shares from him.

Although the deal ultimately fell through, Lin Haoran's investment acumen and business acumen left a very deep impression on the president of Sumitomo Realty.

Therefore, it is not surprising that when Lin Haoran arranged for Burton to contact Sumitomo Realty, the other party was willing to give him face and smoothly carry out the negotiations.

Lin Haoran's eyes lit up: "Sumitomo Realty Industries? This is the core company of one of Japan's five major conglomerates. Sumitomo Realty Industries, under its umbrella, is also among the top three in the Japanese real estate industry. Since the 70s, they have been acquiring land on a large scale throughout Japan, involving core cities such as Tokyo and Osaka. If we can reach a cooperation agreement with them, it will indeed be twice as effective with half the effort."

Although the market share of specialty cement may not be as large as imagined, as long as the brand is established in Japan through Sumitomo Realty and JKK Group Japan, the future development prospects of Qingzhou Yingni in Japan will be limitless.

Lin Haoran is very proactive in making money from the Japanese.

“Yes, boss,” Burton said excitedly. “They’ll be sending a technical team to inspect our factory next month, and the land reclamation project in Tokyo Bay by the Land Group can serve as a model project for us.”

Lin Haoran was aware of this. Two months ago, Huo Jianning reported to him that Hongkong Land Group's Japanese branch had acquired a plot of reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, Minato Ward, Tokyo, at a low price. Once Hongkong Land Group completed the land reclamation and paid a certain fee, the land would belong to Hongkong Land Group's Japanese branch.

Lin Haoran nodded in satisfaction, tapping his fingers lightly on the table: "This is a good idea. Start with high-end specialty cement, avoiding direct competition with local giants. Once you've established a foothold, gradually expand your market share."

Burton nodded and said, "I have already instructed the R&D team to prepare three series of specialty cement products to meet the specific needs of the Japanese market. In particular, our latest marine cement has 30% higher resistance to chloride ion penetration than similar Japanese products, which is our advantage."

"Yes, you can make the decision. I trust your abilities. Also, Mr. Huo Jianning will cooperate with your work. You can discuss anything with Mr. Huo Jianning regarding the Japanese market!" Lin Haoran said with a smile.

He didn't intend to pay too much attention; he believed in Burton's abilities.

There is an old Chinese saying: "Trust those you employ, and don't employ those you don't trust!"

Lin Haoran trusted their loyalty and their business management abilities, so he could confidently delegate authority to them.

To others, Lin Haoran was undoubtedly a business genius. But only Lin Haoran himself knew that his current wealth was entirely due to his transmigrator's foresight and his ability to see through loyalty.

As for his own business management talent?

Don't be ridiculous. I bet any middle manager at Wanqing Group would be far more talented than him.

If you don't have the ability, don't give orders blindly. This has always been Lin Haoran's principle.

"Don't worry, boss, I will definitely live up to your expectations!" Burton said solemnly.

Burton, in his forties and at the peak of his career, understood how precious the trust Lin Haoran had placed in him was.

Lin Haoran nodded.

“Oh, right, boss, there’s something else I was planning to tell you over the phone, but since you’re here, I’ll report it to you in person,” Burton continued.

"Oh? What is it? Just tell me." Lin Haoran looked at Burton with a puzzled expression.

"That's right. Langwei Group needs to build several fast-moving consumer goods manufacturing plants in Pengcheng, right? Mr. Ma Shimin already discussed this with me last month."

Because our Wanqing Group entered Shenzhen more than a year earlier than Zhidi Group, and Zhidi Group's industrial park is not yet completed, we have already built several large industrial parks there.

Therefore, the first plan of Hongkong Land Group and Langwei Group is to rent our industrial park so that these fast-moving consumer goods brands can start production as soon as possible. At the beginning of next month, our largest industrial park in Shekou will officially open.

The local government wishes to invite you to the opening ceremony. They emphasize its importance, noting that major media outlet CCTV will be filming and reporting on the event. Therefore, they urge you to attend.

Lin Haoran was aware of the plans by Langwei Group to build factories in Pengcheng for the FMCG brands it acquired, and the fact that they were leasing Wanqing Group's industrial park to expedite the process.

Lin Haoran agreed because Ma Shimin had mentioned this matter to him before, since Wanqing Group didn't actually have much manufacturing industry under its umbrella, and the completed project was currently empty.

It would be better to lease it to Longway Group, a subsidiary of Hongkong Land Group. This would accelerate the development of manufacturing in the mainland, satisfy the mainland, reduce Longway Group's costs, and prevent the industrial park built by Wanqing Group from being empty in the short term. In this way, it would be a win-win-win situation.

"Early September? What date?" Lin Haoran frowned and asked.

He hadn't forgotten that his engagement date with Guo Xiaohan was September 3rd, which was the sixth day of the eighth lunar month. If the date was close to that, he would have to postpone it.

Now, Lin's parents are busy arranging his engagement, so he doesn't need to put in much effort.

Engagement in a wealthy family follows a set procedure, with the elders handling all the arrangements; he simply needs to attend on time.

“Boss, please rest assured, we took your engagement into account when we finalized the date. Mr. Ma Shimin and I both knew that you were getting engaged on September 3rd, so we specifically discussed it with the local government and finally set the date for September 6th. Do you think this arrangement is quite suitable?” Burton replied with a smile.

As Lin Haoran's capable subordinates, Lin Haoran did not hide his engagement from them and would invite them to attend.

However, since this is only an engagement, not a wedding, there won't be a big celebration.

Lin Haoran had previously told his father, Guo's father, and even Guo Xiaohan that the engagement ceremony should be low-key, and a grand wedding would be held when they got married.

Lin Haoran breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

That makes the timing suitable.

He laughed and said, "Okay, I agree. Please reply to them for me."

Having not been here for a long time, Lin Haoran, accompanied by Burton, specially inspected various departments of the Wanqing Group.

He left the Wanqing Building at noon.

However, after leaving, he did not rush to the Connaught Building, but instead asked Li Weidong to drive to Kai Tak International Airport.

Because Ma Shih-min had already flown back from Singapore that morning.

According to the flight information provided, the plane will arrive in Hong Kong around 12:30 pm.

Therefore, his arrival at this time was just right.

Since he had nothing else to do, Lin Haoran decided to go and greet this great contributor.

He waited in the arrivals area for less than five minutes before he saw Ma Shimin.

When Ma Shimin and his assistant walked out of the passage, they were visibly surprised to see Lin Haoran personally come to pick them up.

"Boss, why did you come in person?" Ma Shimin stepped forward quickly, his face full of surprise.

Lin Haoran smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "You must have had a hard business trip to Southeast Asia. Isn't it only right that I pick you up at the airport?"

Ma Shimin nodded gratefully, "Thank you, boss. But you're so busy; sending a driver would have been enough."

"Let's go grab a bite to eat first, then we can talk again back at the company," Lin Haoran suggested.

The group took a car back to Central, had lunch at Joyful Restaurant first, and then returned to Connaught House.

Back in Ma Shimin's office, Ma Shimin eagerly took out some contracts and other documents from his suitcase.

"Boss, these are all agreements reached with Singapore. The Raffles Hotel in Singapore, a luxury hotel, has been officially acquired by us. The strength of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has reached a new level."

Lin Haoran took the document and carefully reviewed it, a satisfied smile appearing on his face: "Not bad, thank you for your hard work."

"Boss, I dare not take credit for this. It's all thanks to you. I was just going over there to go through the formalities," Ma Shimin said, shaking his head.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

The person who arrived was Cui Zilong, but Lin Haoran had called him in advance to ask him to come.

"Boss, Mr. Ma," Cui Zilong greeted the two men as he entered.

"Okay, let's sit down and talk!" Lin Haoran nodded.

Ma Shimin got up and specially pulled out a chair for him.

After everyone was seated, Cui Zilong spoke up: "Boss, Mr. Ma, we have been secretly and closely monitoring the movements of Mr. Li Jiacheng, Mr. Brown, and others these past few days. They are indeed very clever. In just a few days, the major luxury hotel brands in Hong Kong have reached an agreement to establish a luxury hotel alliance."

In addition, these individuals followed the example of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and began to establish 'strategic partnership programs' with many British-owned enterprises and even some Chinese-owned enterprises in Hong Kong, providing exclusive benefits and customized services to the executives of these enterprises.

Furthermore, Mr. Brown leveraged Standard Chartered Bank's influence in the UK and its network within the UK Global Chamber of Commerce to conduct targeted marketing to high-end consumers of British-owned conglomerates visiting Hong Kong. It can be said that their counterattack was extremely swift.

This is because their actions were too blatant; otherwise, investigating their movements would have been quite difficult.

After listening to the report, Lin Haoran tapped his fingers lightly on the table, a playful smile appearing on his lips: "It seems our actions really hit a nerve."

"When the general manager of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group called me this morning, he did report that the occupancy rate of several of its luxury hotels had started to decline in the past two days. It is undeniable that we have indeed begun to be affected to some extent."

Moreover, if they achieve great success in the hotel industry, they will inevitably turn to other sectors and launch a campaign to encircle and suppress your businesses, such as Landmark Group and Wanqing Group. The hotel industry is just the beginning. Ma Shimin said with a furrowed brow.

Luxury hotels have a limited customer base, and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel's earlier initiative did indeed have some effect.

However, the fact that luxury hotels across Hong Kong have united to exclude the Mandarin Oriental has indeed put considerable pressure on it.

In reality, even if the Mandarin Oriental Hotel loses some of its customers, it doesn't really matter.

After all, thanks to Lin Haoran's numerous business partners, Mandarin Oriental can still be profitable even if its occupancy rate decreases.

The problem is that the hotel industry is just the beginning. What Ma Shimin is most worried about is that after these people feel they have won back the game, they will launch a full-scale attack on Lin Haoran's industries in other fields such as finance, retail, and ports.

“I estimate that their next step will be to take advantage of this opportunity to encircle and suppress your business, boss, and start seizing the market!” Cui Zilong agreed.

Lin Haoran nodded and began to think.

He has indeed become the largest conglomerate in Hong Kong, but that doesn't mean he can rest easy.

The British-owned conglomerates in Hong Kong have deep and complex roots, while some of the Chinese-owned conglomerates they persuaded are equally powerful and not to be underestimated.

If these two forces unite, even someone as powerful as Lin Haoran will have to face considerable pressure.

Lin Haoran was fully confident that he could defeat them in the business war, but he really hated this kind of deceitful and scheming life.

Furthermore, his expansion in Hong Kong had already crossed a red line. He worried that if he expanded further, the British government would intervene, since Hong Kong was still a British colony and Britain would never stand idly by and watch a Chinese conglomerate completely control Hong Kong's economic lifeline.

Today, British-owned conglomerates still have a fairly deep foundation, and only in this way can the British government maintain its influence over Hong Kong's economy.

"To stop them from launching a full-scale attack, it seems I have to do something that will make those people wary," Lin Haoran muttered to himself.

(End of this chapter)