The Industrial Giant Reborn.

Chapter 438 Starts the U.S. Dollar Exchange Frenzy
"Chen Sheng is really good at planning." Youde said with a smile.

"Three gains with one stone, everyone is good." Chen Zhiwen said: "I can get the land I want, and the Hong Kong government can get a large amount of US dollars. After the exchange rate crisis is resolved, the real estate market will also benefit from this." Why not restore some of your confidence by doing so?"

The Hong Kong government has bid for land many times in the past year, but a large number of real estate companies have no money, making them unable to compete. A few wealthy companies have also had to give up because of strict development restrictions in the bidding. , cannot be built. Construction must start within the stipulated time and be completed within the stipulated time. If the real estate market does not recover or even declines before completion, then buying this land will be a loss. Hutchison Whampoa also has to give up because of this. For most land auctions, only a small number of properties suitable for self-sustaining after completion can be selected.

As for the land that has been forced to give up, many of the locations are very good. If they can be acquired without development requirements, then in the bull market in a few years, profits can increase tenfold.

"It's not a problem to give you these lands. The Hong Kong government can indeed get a lot of funds, but now I hope that a large number of construction sites will be started so that more people can be employed. You should also know, Mr. Chen, that a large number of What does the unemployment of young people mean to the government," Yoder said.

"This is not possible. If I want to develop these lands directly, why bother discussing it here? I can just buy it directly at the auction." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.

"Chen Sheng, I hope you can also understand the principle issue of our Hong Kong government. If this hole is opened, there will be many loopholes that can be exploited in future auctions." Youde thought for a while and said.

"Then there is no other way. If this is the case, I think it is better to invest my dollars in Japan. I am also very optimistic about the future there." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

What bullshit principles? The Hong Kong government has many principles, including the price difference that needs to be paid when converting industrial land to commercial land. In many cases, this price is fixed because it will affect the Hong Kong government’s land auction revenue, but the original history In 1985, the Hong Kong government converted the Whampoa Garden land into commercial land for less than HK$5 million. Relying on this, Li Ka-shing made a net profit of more than HK$60 billion in the next few years. Money is also one of the foundations for the Li family's future big investments.

The reason why he broke the habit is actually to restore the real estate market, so anything can be discussed. What Chen Zhiwen wants is land without any requirements. In the future, he can develop it whenever he wants. Otherwise, there will be a lot of requirements. It would be better to just build a house and worry less.

"Let's do this, how about we each take a step back." Youde couldn't be tough and could only say: "Let's discuss it later. Some of the land needs to be developed, how about it?"

"It's not impossible, but it can only be commercial office land. After I develop it, I can freely choose to hold it myself or sell it." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.

The annoying thing about the Hong Kong government auction is that it not only has regulations for development projects, but also regulations for sale after completion or self-sustaining model. When the real estate market is not good, developers are required to self-sustain part of it. When it is good, there are Sometimes it is necessary not to be self-possessed.It can be regarded as a means of stabilizing the market.

"That's okay." Yoder paused, nodded and said.

"Okay, then it's settled. Starting tomorrow, Hisense Bank will officially begin to accept acceptance business on a large scale, and Hutchison Whampoa will also send people to negotiate with the Hong Kong government to purchase the previously unsold land." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. .

"OK." Youde nodded and asked: "Sheng Chen, the Hong Kong government is still encouraging real estate companies to start construction to a certain extent. You, Hutchison Whampoa and Wharf also own a large amount of land. Have you considered building some large-scale projects now?" architecture?"

"Mr. Governor, we have no such plan for the time being. The only one we have is the Midea Building. However, it will take at least half a year before the construction of the Midea Building starts." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said, even if you have money at this time, you should take advantage of the low price. To hoard land or properties instead of investing a lot of money to build super buildings.

Midea's new building is a special situation. A group as big as Midea also urgently needs a large headquarters. Compared with this, the benefits of real estate speculation are incomparable.

"Then if Mr. Chen is willing to start construction now, I can make a certain promise of tax benefits. For example, after the completion of the shopping mall or building, can we get a certain degree of tax benefits or even free policies?" You Dexiao said.

"In this case, I need to think about it. After all, I haven't thought about it before." Chen Zhiwen paused and said.

No tax benefits can match the investment income from the Golden Finger advantage, but you have to give the Hong Kong Governor some face!

"Well, we will discuss this matter after the current exchange rate crisis is resolved." Youde said with a smile.

...As agreed upon, the Hong Kong government responded quickly. In the afternoon of the same day, Hutchison Whampoa sent relevant experts to the Lands Department to discuss the one-time purchase of land that the Hong Kong government had previously failed to sell at the land auction. The main issues were There is money involved and what land is needed for what kind of buildings.

After all, even if it is your own land, you have to negotiate with the Hong Kong government on what kind of building you want to build, because you need to take into account the rights and interests of surrounding people (sunlight, noise, views, etc.), or aviation safety and other factors. Nowadays, there is a lot of land involved. , even if both parties want to get it done quickly, it will take some time.

At the same time, the Hong Kong government once again officially announced that in order to maintain the stability of Hong Kong's exchange rate and ensure the rights and interests of Hong Kong citizens, the Hong Kong government urges major banks and consortiums in Hong Kong to conduct foreign exchange settlements while appropriately complying with market rules.

This is a hint, that is to say, the Hong Kong government no longer forces the exchange rate to be settled according to the current official exchange rate of 5.5 Hong Kong dollars per US dollar. Many bankers understand the meaning, but they suffer from the lack of foreign exchange in their hands, and even if they do, this Sometimes it's better to hold it in your own hands.

The market's response to this situation has been mild. The Hong Kong government has always adhered to the principles of free trade and non-intervention. Occasionally, there are some exceptions, that is, when some banks have problems, they will intervene because they are afraid of triggering a domino effect. And most of them In some cases, HSBC or Standard Chartered are entrusted to come forward, and the Hong Kong government and others provide guarantees.

Based on this logic, the foreign exchange exchange rate should also be free. However, the Hong Kong government itself set an exchange rate between 4.5 and 5.5 in the past. And because it has the largest foreign exchange reserves, the market follows this exchange rate. But theoretically Generally speaking, if a transaction between two people requires one US dollar to be exchanged for ten Hong Kong dollars or one Hong Kong dollar, as long as it does not involve illegal activities such as money laundering, it is legal and free.

But under normal circumstances, no one would do this, because with the official stable exchange rate, anyone who does this is a fool and will lose money.

This time, although the Hong Kong government's exchange fund still has money, it is obviously not too afraid to use it to supply the market for exchange. After all, normal import and export trade requires exchange from the Hong Kong government's foreign exchange bureau. Many large banks in Hong Kong Companies are like this. This is the last bottom line for any government. Once the money is gone, the economy will be completely ruined.

Under such circumstances, the Hong Kong government issued this hint to let people who hold U.S. dollars and still have some confidence in Hong Kong use their foreign exchange to reduce the pressure on the Hong Kong government.It is a kind of concession. After all, if the Hong Kong dollar really collapses, there is no need to insist on this unnecessary principle. Anyway, in the eyes of normal people, the Hong Kong dollar at this moment is definitely not worth the official exchange rate.

The next day, all banks were still the same as before and did not open exchange services. Even HSBC still maintained the previous queue speed, but the price immediately increased.

Only Hisense Bank immediately announced various dividends. From now on, anyone and any company can exchange Hong Kong dollars into U.S. dollars at Hisense Bank, with no upper limit.

As soon as the news came out, the whole Hong Kong was in an uproar. Many people dropped what they were doing and queued up at Hisense Bank.

At the headquarters of Yangtze River Industries, Li Jiacheng looked at the front page of the newspaper and did not speak for a long time. He just kept drinking tea.

"What's wrong?" His wife Zhuang Yueming asked when she saw that Li Jiacheng seemed a little worried.

"Hisense Bank has relaxed the exchange of U.S. dollars, do you know?" Li Jiacheng put down the newspaper and tea cup and said.

"I've heard of it. It's not surprising. Didn't you investigate Midea Group's overseas profits in the early years? It was at least several hundred million U.S. dollars that year. In addition, Chen Zhiwen also had Costco and many investments in the United States. He had U.S. dollars in his hands. It's normal. I guess the Hong Kong government has reached some agreement with him, right? What? Are you still thinking about how you can surpass Chen Zhiwen?" Zhuang Yueming asked curiously.

"No, I haven't had this idea for a long time. I'm just wondering, why did Chen Zhiwen do this? He must not be short of Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong, but he is willing to exchange a lot of US dollars for it?" Li Jiacheng said with a smile and shook his head.

Midea Group is an independent company. Outsiders don't know its financial situation, but if you want to do a rough investigation, it's no problem. Especially for several major products, you can find out the cost by asking an electronics engineer to dismantle them. The terminal selling price of Midea's products is also known. Although the profits of intermediate dealers are not clear, for such a strong company, dealers' profits are also limited.

Li Jiacheng also investigated this matter, and the result was that Midea Group's overseas profits were at least US$5 million a year, which made him completely give up his dream of surpassing Chen Zhiwen.

"You mean, the Hong Kong government may be preparing to fix the exchange rate?" Zhuang Yueming is also a smart man, and he immediately gave his judgment.

(End of this chapter)