A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

It's April now.

International gold prices have risen to over $500 per ounce, making gold holders around the world overjoyed.

Of course, a large number of investors continue to flock to the gold market, pushing up gold prices.

this day.

Chen Wensheng, general manager of Ping An Financial Group, visited the Hong Kong government's Secretary for Works to discuss the 'Murray Road Car Parking Lot' transaction with Secretary for Works Wu (British).

The current site of Ping An Bank Building was a 1.4-square-foot commercial plot of land auctioned by the Hong Kong government in 1947, which set a record for the highest land price per square foot in Hong Kong at the time (approximately HK$300 per square foot).

However, the Ping An Bank Building is clearly no longer considered a nice building in Central, and there is an urgent desire to build a first-class skyscraper in the 1980s as its headquarters.

Of course, Ping An Bank Building cannot be moved from No. 1 Garden Road; it is naturally planned to be expanded on the original site.

Next to the Ping An Bank Building is the Murray Road Car Park, owned by the Hong Kong Public Works Department, covering an area of ​​approximately 6.2 square feet, which is exactly the site that Ping An Bank needs for the merger.

As Hong Kong's "land tycoon," Wu Deshi naturally understood the importance of this land to Ping An Bank. In fact, Ping An Bank had already discussed this matter with the Hong Kong government three years ago, but at that time the Public Works Secretary felt that the land still had great potential for appreciation, so the negotiations were put on hold.

At this moment, he deliberately said, "Mr. Chen, if this plot of land is directly approved for Ping An Bank, I'm afraid people will gossip and say that our Hong Kong government is being unfair!"

Chen Wensheng knew that Hong Kong's high-ranking officials knew that their Chen family had made a fortune in this wave of gold price increases, and they probably all wanted a piece of the pie.

He calmly said, "Secretary Wu, if the Hong Kong government has such concerns, it can simply hold a public auction. Of course, everyone understands that if a public auction is held, the Hong Kong government's revenue will not be very good."

The reason is simple: the natural land area is 6.2 square feet, but it is generally the Ping An Bank Building, so the space of the building needs to be considered, which means that there are obstructions.

Wu Deshi did not deny this point. After pretending to ponder, he said, "What price are you willing to offer? I hope it will be a price that leaves the public speechless. After all, our Public Works Department also hopes to build first-class buildings on this site, and we believe in Ping An Bank's capabilities in this regard."

To want something and then not want it gives the impression of being overly calculating.

Perhaps this is where the conflict lies: on the one hand, people believe that the Hong Kong government is taking care of the Chan family and winning them over; but on the other hand, the Hong Kong government and related individuals are worried that Hong Kong will really become dominated by the Chan family.

Chan Man-shing immediately said, "HK$12 billion is our most sincere offer. This price will definitely leave the media speechless. Moreover, we promise to build a first-class landmark building in this area. This is our general plan, and we believe the Public Works Department will be very interested."

The Public Housing Secretary not only controls the land granting rights in Hong Kong, but also the approval rights for buildings. Therefore, if Hong Kong's landmark buildings are dazzling enough, the Public Works Secretary will have a record of achievements.

Looking at the simple diagram handed over by Chen Wensheng, Wu Deshi saw that the first dozen or so floors of the building were square, and the top fifty or so floors were composed of eight triangles. There was also a Freedom Tower (later known as One World Trade Center).

He gasped instantly. Just by looking at the exterior, Wu Deshi knew that this would be a world-class skyscraper, a Hong Kong landmark as dazzling as the Shangri-La Hotel Tower built in the 1970s.

“HK$12 billion should be no problem. I will report to my superiors immediately and give you an answer later. Of course, we hope that the Ping An Bank building will be a landmark and beautiful enough.”

"It's natural"

Such a large-scale land approval naturally needs to go through the Legislative Council so that people have no grounds for objection.

Chen Wensheng informed his father, Chen Guangliang, about the negotiations with the Hong Kong government.

Chen Guangliang said with a smile, "At a price of HK$12 billion, the Hong Kong government doesn't lose out, and neither do we. It's a win-win situation."

When the Hong Kong government granted this land to the Bank of China in its previous life, the price was just over 10 billion. It was already the fourth quarter of 1981, and Hong Kong land prices had already begun to fall.

However, the land situation in Hong Kong in this life is definitely different from that in the previous life. The economic level is more than 20% better, and land prices have naturally risen even more sharply.

So at that time, the price of 12 billion was fair for everyone. If it had dragged on until the fourth quarter of 1981, the price might have been slightly lower.

Chen Wensheng nodded and said, "Yes, now we're just waiting for the Legislative Council to pass it, and I believe there won't be any problems. However, Ping An Bank completed this huge project in the 1980s at a tremendous cost, probably at least HK$3 billion. Therefore, we can only use part of the profits from the gold!"

Chen Guangliang said, "When we negotiated the fund transfer with the Hong Kong government, we requested that it be paid in full within one year. As for the gold cashing out, we will cash out when the international gold price is above US$600 per ounce next year. In this way, Ping An Bank can make a profit of more than 3 billion, which is enough for us to build a first-class landmark building."

Chen Wensheng was used to it; his father's vision was very advanced, and his judgment was always very confident, and crucially, he had never made a mistake.

"Good. Ping An Bank's normal profit this year will exceed 350 million, and the 1980s will also usher in better development."

At this point, Ping An Bank had reached a bottleneck, with only a small amount of business in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The reason its domestic business was doing so well was mainly because so many Hong Kong citizens were working for the Chen family, naturally creating a close business connection.

Of course, Chen Guangliang's attitude toward commercial banks has changed; he now prefers to let things improve naturally rather than forcefully pushing for their development.

In contrast, Ping An Investment, as an investment bank, has even greater opportunities for future development.

The Hong Kong Legislative Council quickly approved the transfer of the Murray Road car park, and after media coverage, it fueled the already volatile Hong Kong real estate market.

With a price of nearly HK$2 per square foot, it has once again set a new record for land prices per square foot in Hong Kong.

Upon learning the news, HSBC convened an emergency high-level meeting.

In the conference room, Boss Sir Michael Sandberg said, "Ping An Bank's move aims to build a first-class skyscraper in Hong Kong as its headquarters, which will undoubtedly greatly benefit their reputation. On this point, HSBC can no longer delay and needs to prepare to build its fourth-generation HSBC Tower, and it must be even more luxurious!"

Back in the day, the HSBC Building (No. 9 Huangpu Beach) in Sheung Wan cost 1000 million taels of silver, making it the most expensive building in the Far East. But now in Hong Kong, HSBC is no longer the largest conglomerate; it ranks only third locally, something they've always been very concerned about.

HSBC Vice Chairman Paul Smith immediately stated, "That's right! In Central in the 1980s, a battle for top-tier buildings is bound to ignite! Originally, Ping An Bank's strength was insufficient to compete with us. However, Ping An Bank imported a large amount of gold as reserves last year and has now profited handsomely, which has given Ping An Bank a huge cash flow."

Everyone couldn't help but take a deep breath. Ping An Bank and Ping An Investment's move to "import gold" naturally couldn't be kept secret from senior figures in Hong Kong, and in fact, it wasn't kept secret at all.

This has now proven one thing: experience counts. Such a massive investment must have been orchestrated by the cunning Chen Guangliang.

In this lifetime, HSBC lost Hang Seng Bank and was also impacted by Ping An Bank in the 'personal retail banking business', so its strength was significantly diminished.

Therefore, other senior executives became somewhat cautious about the construction of the fourth-generation HSBC building.

Some people ask, "Is it worth it for us to get involved in a competition and spend a lot of money on a building?"

Some have said, "Our current strategy is to develop our overseas business and make HSBC a world-class bank; that's the key."

Sir Michael Sandberg certainly understood these things, but he understood even more clearly that Hong Kong and Asia were the main sources of HSBC's profits; while overseas development was forced by changing circumstances—with the opening up of mainland policies, it had no choice but to develop overseas.

Without the support of profits from Hong Kong and Asia, HSBC would find it difficult to expand into North America and Europe.

Therefore, HSBC must have the most luxurious headquarters building in Hong Kong, which is where its reputation lies.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what you're saying is common knowledge. But don't forget, Hong Kong is where our profits truly lie. Without credibility, we will continue to face competition from Chinese-owned banks, and even mainland Chinese banks are starting to rise again. Therefore, even if we use depositors' funds to build the most luxurious buildings, it's entirely worthwhile. After all, in terms of credibility, HSBC remains the No. 1 bank in Hong Kong."

The group was then persuaded and decided to build the most luxurious headquarters building.

This marked the beginning of the offensive in the Central battles of the 1980s!
this day.

Chan Kwong-leung brought his two sons, Chan Man-kit and Chan Man-kai, to Tin Shui Wai in Yuen Long.

In 1977, Cheung Kong Holdings acquired 488 hectares of land in Tin Shui Wai, Yuen Long (equivalent to 20 Taikoo Shing properties) from a prominent local family and subsequently began development.

Unlike Li Jiacheng, Chen Guangliang did not wait for the right opportunity to develop Tin Shui Wai, nor did he develop Tin Shui Wai purely for real estate purposes.

The reason he developed Tin Shui Wai was that Cheung Kong Group, a huge conglomerate with 100,000 employees, needed a new factory site to relocate regardless of production capacity.

For example, the Tseung Kwan O production base, one of the two major bases of Rongchang Heavy Industry Group (Tseung Kwan O and Tsing Yi Island), is more suitable for developing residential and commercial complexes in the future, as Tseung Kwan O has become a 'new town'; and the textile park of Sun Fung Textile Group in Tsuen Wan, which is more than one million square feet, is also more suitable for developing residential and commercial complexes because Tsuen Wan has become the largest new town in Hong Kong.

Therefore, the development of Tin Shui Wai is intended to increase both the number of residential units and the creation of a large industrial park.

It is precisely because of these conditions that Chan Kwong-leung believes that Tin Shui Wai, developed by the Chan family, will become a happy community in the future, since there are jobs here and people no longer need to rush to the city for work.

“Dad, the first phase of this industrial park will be put into use the year after next (1981), and we plan to start selling the first phase of Jiahu Villa next year.” Chen Wenjie took the initiative to introduce the progress of the project to his father.

The entire industrial park is expected to accommodate 2 to 3 jobs. In addition to the relocation of the four major industrial groups—Xinfeng Textile Group, Rongchang Heavy Industry Group, Huatai Group, and Midea Group—regardless of their industry, the park will also attract investment from other sectors. At least, the supply chain or related companies of the four major groups will be of great interest.

As for the entire residential area, the current plan is for 20,000 residential units, twice the size of Taikoo Shing, which can house around 100,000 people. Of course, it will take at least ten years to sell, and this part alone will be completed by the 1980s.

Looking at the industrial park that had already taken shape, Chen Guangliang asked, "How is the infrastructure development in Tin Shui Wai progressing?"

Chan Man-kit said with a smile, "Just as you expected! The Hong Kong government saw that our planning was so good and strongly supported the related infrastructure facilities. However, the Hong Kong government hopes to purchase some land from us for the construction of public housing estates."

The London government did not directly profit from Hong Kong, so the Hong Kong government did a very good job with public welfare projects; at least its public housing policy was excellent, without a doubt. The British profited from Hong Kong mainly through British-owned companies.

Chan Kwong-leung strongly supports the Hong Kong government's idea of ​​building public housing. He said, "In that case, let's sell it to the Hong Kong government, but at a lower price to avoid criticism."

"Yes, that's what I think too. Building public housing is a great thing for Hong Kong and its people. As a local listed company, Cheung Kong Holdings will naturally give it its full support."

However, even if CK Asset Holdings were sold to the Hong Kong government at market price, there wouldn't be much negative publicity. After all, CK Asset Holdings is a listed company, and being responsible to its shareholders is the best justification.

Moreover, the success of Yuen Long Tin Shui Wai was due to Cheung Kong Holdings' excellent planning and bold investment, as well as the participation of Cheung Kong Industrial Group.

No conglomerate in Hong Kong, even a combined conglomerate, could have accomplished this.

Then, Chen Guangliang turned around and said, "Wenkai, you need to pay close attention to the development of Changgong Group in the 1980s. It's not just about investing in research and development, but also about choosing production strategies."

Chen Wenkai nodded and said, "Yes, Father! In the 1980s, Cheung Kong Group's industries will undergo a gradual shift, with some moving to the mainland, some to Tin Shui Wai, and some developing overseas. Meanwhile, Cheung Kong Industrial Group's high-value-added industries will remain in Hong Kong, resulting in an industrial upgrading transformation."

Chen Guangliang nodded in satisfaction. Now, he only needed to give his sons a few pointers, and they would know how to make decisions.

However, starting in the 1980s, Hong Kong's industries began to move to the mainland, and in addition to real estate, trade, and finance, a new industry was needed to fill the gap.

Of course, this was Chen Guangliang's vision and strategy, which is Hong Kong's 'Greater Cultural Industry'.

As the 1980s approach, Chan Kwong-leung will continue to direct from behind the scenes to make Hong Kong's foundation even more solid.

In particular, once this 'major cultural industry' is established, even if Hong Kong faces a blizzard in the future, Hong Kong will still have something to boast about—Hong Kong pop culture. (End of Chapter)