The Industrial Giant Reborn.

Chapter 435 The Outbreak of the Hong Kong Dollar Crisis

Since Chen Zhiwen traveled through time and came to Hong Kong, too many things have changed. For example, many large British-funded consortiums were intercepted by Chen Zhiwen in advance. Under Chen Zhiwen's operation, Hutchison Whampoa, an unlisted company, has obviously become the largest in Hong Kong. One of the consortiums, it is no worse than Land Land at its peak, and the existence of Midea has made Hong Kong's electronics industry extremely developed. Tens of thousands of people work in this field, and in the original history, these positions were basically unavailable. Yes, although most of the income from a large number of export products is taken away by companies, even a small part flowing into Hong Kong's professional market can greatly stimulate Hong Kong's economy.

For example, Yuen Long has been able to maintain stable volatility despite the real estate crisis. There are highs and lows, but there is almost no decline. The fundamental reason for this is naturally the performance of Midea Industrial City from the most basic employees to the top management. R&D engineers, more than 4 people, have considerable spending power. Their demand has maintained the economy of Yuen Long, and apartments, shops, and residences close to Midea Industrial City are even on the rise. This can be said to be Hong Kong’s real estate market now has a unique landscape.

However, some major historical trends are of no use to anyone, such as the real estate bull market from 75 to 81, the real estate and economic crisis from 82 to 84, or the Hong Kong dollar crisis that is about to break out. These are historical trends that cannot be stopped. , just like the oil crisis.

The cause of the matter is actually very simple, that is, the Hong Kong government is running out of foreign exchange.

Hong Kong has always had a policy of free currency exchange. That is to say, anyone can take Hong Kong dollars and go to the bank to exchange major global currencies such as US dollars, Japanese yen, British pounds, and German marks. Of course, too large amounts still need to be reviewed. The process is reasonable, but as long as it is reasonable and does not involve money laundering or tax evasion, it can basically be passed. Chen Zhiwen arranged for Hisense Bank and Hutchison to gradually convert the Hong Kong dollars in his hands into US dollars. In fact, he took advantage of this and gradually cashed out.

Most people in a region do not need foreign exchange. They only live locally. Only a small number of people and companies need foreign exchange. Therefore, under normal conditions, when there is no problem with the economy of a region or country, foreign exchange can be maintained. It is exchangeable, but if something goes wrong and many people exchange it, it will be like a bank run, out of control. No country can withstand endless foreign exchange runs, except the United States, whose own currency itself is foreign exchange.

Before 82, the exchange rate of the Hong Kong dollar was actually depreciating slowly, but at a very low level. The fundamental reason for this was to stimulate exports. Although the exports of the consortium headed by Midea were strong, the growth of high labor costs has made many small businesses Unable to bear it any longer, the Hong Kong government can only slowly devalue the Hong Kong dollar.

After the economic crisis broke out in 82, a large number of people wanted to immigrate, and many companies also wanted to move out of Hong Kong. This led to a run on the Hong Kong government's foreign exchange. However, in the early days, the Hong Kong government was still adhering to the The principle of free exchange was adhered to, but after a long time, it was completely unbearable. Therefore, the previous free exchange policy was overturned, and daily restrictions were imposed on everyone. At the same time, a certain review system was implemented for large transactions.

However, as long as a flood control dam is not completely blocked and leaves an opening, it means that it is not blocked. There are policies and countermeasures, and a large number of scalpers can still make profits from it, exchange foreign exchange for others through various means, and earn new money. stipulated gaps.

The Hong Kong government cannot do too much, otherwise it will affect the image of Hong Kong's free market. At most, it can only catch scalpers, but with huge profits, if one batch is caught, ten more will appear.

In this way, the Hong Kong government has spent a year. The economic crisis this time is different from any previous ones. The foreign exchange was run on unbearably. Therefore, at the end of August, the government directly cut off the exchange of foreign exchange from the source. , causing scalpers to be unable to exchange a large amount of foreign exchange even if they have channels.

A large number of banks have also begun to stop the business of exchanging U.S. dollars. Even HSBC and Standard Chartered also require one person to exchange 100 U.S. dollars within a day, and the process is very slow, deliberately delaying the time. This has also led to long queues at the door of the two banks. .

Eventually, a large number of people who could not exchange for U.S. dollars began to panic, and panic would spread. When the news spread, people who were not in a hurry to exchange U.S. dollars began to do so on a large scale, which led to further devaluation of the Hong Kong dollar. Pressure, and once the Hong Kong dollar depreciates, normal people will also want to exchange. They do not want to immigrate, but they do not want to suffer losses caused by the depreciation of the Hong Kong dollar. This is also the basic logical thinking of ordinary normal people.In 1997, Soros led American funds to sweep across Asia. He actually took advantage of this to get all the people in the country to help him.

Panic spreads faster and faster. In the end, many people are worried that the Hong Kong dollar will continue to depreciate and even become waste paper. Therefore, they are willing to exchange for U.S. dollars on the black market at very ridiculous prices. Those who cannot exchange are Go to supermarkets and shopping malls to buy various supplies. No matter what the monetary value is, supplies are always useful. The PARKnSHOP supermarket owned by Chen Zhiwen was almost emptied, and some gold stores were also completely emptied. Gold will always be valuable. of.

In order to save their property, a large number of people choose various ways to cash out. This has also led to a large number of jobs in Hong Kong taking leave, even in Midea Industrial Park. Even many civil servants and police have done the same thing. matter.

The entire social operation of Hong Kong has become chaotic because the Hong Kong dollar cannot be converted into US dollars.

Since then, the Hong Kong dollar crisis has officially erupted.

A big crisis never affects only within its own scope, but affects the overall situation. Together with the real estate market and the stock market, there has also been a sharp drop.It's normal. After all, many people don't want Hong Kong dollars anymore. Why do they still want Hong Kong houses and stocks?

Star River Building:

"Now the U.S. dollar exchange rate on the black market exceeds 8?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile after listening to the reports of Zhou Jiayang and Huo Jianning.

"Yes, it was still 7 a few days ago, but this morning it was generally 8. I estimate that according to this trend, it will soon reach 9, or even 10." Huo Jianning replied that the boss originally let them all hold For Hong Kong dollar companies, except for the necessary funds for daily operations, everything else is converted into U.S. dollars in advance. Even many deposits from Hisense Bank are transferred out. Now the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate has plummeted. If calculated in Hong Kong dollars, it is really a huge profit return. .

"This thing is just slow in the early stage. Once it fails, it will be defeated like a mountain. The Hong Kong government has been holding on hard before, but today it can no longer hold on, and the market confidence suddenly disappeared." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.

Most of the governments in the world, when problems arise, don’t want to solve them early, but procrastinate until the problems get bigger and bigger, and they can’t hold back. Just like the Hong Kong dollar crisis, If restrictions were started at the end of last year, even mild restrictions, although this would not solve the problem, it would at least postpone the crisis until the end of next year.It is a pity that the Hong Kong government did not care about it in the early days. In order to maintain the "free market", it allowed free exchange at will. The result is today's situation. Then it still needs to break the "free market" policy that it was reluctant to give up in the first place.

"So Mr. Chen, what should we do now? Should we open the door now and exchange Hong Kong dollars? Currently, Hisense has more than 10 billion US dollars in foreign exchange." Huo Jianning said with some joy. Since the beginning of last year, Hisense Bank has I started to exchange foreign exchange, using various methods, including official, underground, and overseas consortium exchanges. A total of 11.3 billion US dollars in foreign exchange was exchanged, which is almost equivalent to 1/4 of the entire bank's deposits, and this can almost be cashed out. After all, 25% of bank deposits need to be guaranteed, and the rest will be loaned out. And even this 11.3 billion U.S. dollars, according to the current exchange rate, can make a net profit of more than 20 billion Hong Kong dollars.

"You can open the door, but you can't go through formal channels. The official exchange rate of the Hong Kong government is still 5.5. We can't do transactions at the black market exchange rate." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said: "Just give it to those scalpers, give them some. Then the news was released, saying that Hisense has a lot of US dollar assets, and we want the Hong Kong government to come to us."

Although Hisense Bank is the third largest bank in Hong Kong, it is not an officially supported bank, so it has no absolute obligation to open exchange business. In other words, it can be done or not. Under normal circumstances, even if this business is done, it will be a service for HSBC. Earn some handling fees from it, and since the economic crisis started in September last year, Hisense Bank has stopped its exchange business.

It is true that Hisense can earn 20 billion Hong Kong dollars through currency exchange now, and it may be more in a week or two, but purely making money is of little significance to the entire group. What he needs is that the Hong Kong government comes to him, and then through some Negotiate to obtain other benefits, and the US dollars that you have exchanged early can also be put on the market. After all, the Hong Kong government needs a large amount of US dollars to stabilize the currency.

"Okay, I understand." Huo Jianning nodded and said with a smile.

"Zhou Jiayang, Hutchison Wong also have a lot of US dollars in their hands. I know you need to invest in Japan. The rate of return in Japan is indeed very high, but it is impossible to compare with it here in the short term. We must mobilize some funds to come back and prepare Put it to some wealthy people or medium and large companies who need to transfer assets, we will provide US dollars, and they will provide land or properties, just take this opportunity to kill them severely." Chen Zhiwen added.

When the economic crisis was still there, many people would not let go of high-quality properties at will. But with the outbreak of the Hong Kong dollar crisis, these people may only want US dollars in their eyes now, and killing them may make them happy to death.

"Okay." Zhou Jiayang naturally understood this opportunity.

Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, "The next step is to wait for the Hong Kong government."

(End of this chapter)