The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 601 Drink Soup and Eat Meat
Integration of Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

This issue has been discussed in Hong Kong and Shenzhen for several years.

The pros and cons have already been clearly analyzed.

However, it is still quite difficult to truly achieve integration between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

It’s not about ideology or culture, but the economic gap between the two sides is too big.

To promote the integration of Hong Kong and Shenzhen at this time is undoubtedly equivalent to forcing a beautiful, rich woman to marry a poor loser.

It’s a very cool plot for a poor loser to marry a beautiful, rich girl, but the world is so big, how many such cases happen in reality?
If there is, it will only be ten years later that the Samsung Princess will marry a security guard!

Liu Tao is not in a hurry to push for the integration of Hong Kong and Shenzhen at this time. He has the time and patience to promote this matter.

If it doesn’t work now, try next year. If it doesn’t work next year, try the year after!
One day, everything will be ready, except for the east wind!

Everything will fall into place.

What's more, Hong Kong is just a small corner of the whole of China!

He still has a lot to do, and there are still many places waiting for the Chinese people to cultivate.

He would not have any ill feelings towards those Hong Kong businessmen. After all, everyone has their own ideas and interests.

Hong Kong is not only a transit station for the export of Chinese goods, but also a bridgehead for foreign countries to enter China. There are many fakes and many forces here, and the situation is very complicated.

Even Liu Tao, anyone who knows him well, would find him very complicated.

In Hong Kong, there are both remnant British forces and American forces. Japan also has considerable influence in Hong Kong.

In addition to foreign forces, there are also many different factions within China itself. Many people fled the mainland in disgrace. It is nonsense to say that they are patriotic.

That afternoon, after having lunch with other shareholders, Liu Tao met Dong Jianhua, the current leader of the Dong family, in the hotel's tea room.

A few years ago, the Dong family was in debt of more than 25 billion and almost went bankrupt. It was Ho Ying-tung who stepped forward to help the Dong family overcome the difficulties.

Liu Tao still has a good impression of this man who is currently a prominent figure in the Mesozoic era, because his position is relatively firm and his vision is relatively big.

"Mr. Liu!" Dong Jianhua saw Liu Tao coming in and quickly stood up to greet him.

Liu Tao nodded with a smile, "Mr. Dong!"

Afternoon tea was simple, some desserts and then tea.

After the two exchanged greetings, Dong Jianhua began to talk about the purpose of his visit.

Currently in the Persian Gulf, the largest number of ships sunk are from Asia, followed by those from Europe and the United States.

This makes everyone worried about traveling to the Persian Gulf.

Even though the United States has announced that it will send warships to the Persian Gulf for escort, it has not been able to dispel everyone's concerns.

After all, Iran and Iraq would even attack American warships, not to mention warships from other countries.

Currently in the market, the transportation price of crude oil in the Persian Gulf has risen to US$1.2 per barrel, which means that the freight alone for a 88-ton tanker trip is as high as US$.

Coupled with the increased insurance and the high offshore price of international crude oil, one can imagine how terrifyingly high the landed price of international crude oil is now.

This is also why people in various countries are now feeling very strongly about the price of oil, as they can no longer afford to fill up their tanks.

Although the profits are so high, shipping companies are still worried.

A large oil tanker can easily cost tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars. Not many shipping companies are willing to take the risk of being sunk and losing all their money for a trip costing hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.

Unless there are warships to escort them. But now, the United States is shouting that it will send an escort fleet, and other European countries are also saying that they will send an escort fleet. The problem is that no one is sure what effect it will achieve.

Dong Jianhua also coveted the profits from shipping to the Persian Gulf, but the problem was that he did not dare to take such a big risk.

Therefore, he hopes to earn transportation fees through Liu Tao's channels while ensuring the route is safe.

Orient Overseas Container Line owns 500 tankers with a total carrying capacity of 4400 million tons. As long as the trip is safe, the freight alone can reach million US dollars.

At least two trips can be made in a month, which means the freight can reach 8800 million US dollars.

It only takes one year to earn $10.56 billion just by transporting oil.

This is very important for Orient Overseas Group!

Liu Tao hesitated for a moment, then smiled and nodded, saying, "No problem, I will send someone to follow your ship so that it can enter and exit the Persian Gulf safely!"

His shipping company, as well as that of Henry Fok, had limited tankers, which were only enough to transport oil from Persia and Iraq.

But you have to know that in addition to Persia and Iraq, the Persian Gulf also includes Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, all of which have rich oil reserves and are oil-producing countries.

Although Saudi Arabia can transport oil through the Red Sea, it also has a large number of oil wells in the Persian Gulf.

Now Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other countries are beginning to be dissatisfied with Iraq because the Iran-Iraq conflict has seriously affected their oil sales.

Now with the Dong family’s additional transportation capacity, more oil can be shipped from the Persian Gulf.

The Dong family can make some money and have a share of the profits, but he is the one who makes the biggest profit.

Dong Jianhua couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw Liu Tao agreed.

"Thank you, Mr. Liu!" Dong Jianhua said quickly.

Liu Tao smiled and said, "I just hope that when the Huo family wants to order cargo ships in the future, they can consider domestic shipyards. Domestic shipyards are still very powerful now."

"Of course, of course!" Dong Jianhua said quickly.

After finishing their business, the two started chatting about other things.

At about 2:30, Liu Tao's secretary came in to remind them that it was almost time to start the meeting.

Only then did Liu Tao leave.

Dong Jianhua personally sent Liu Tao to the door and watched him leave.

Dong Jianhua had a bright smile on his face. This time the goal had been achieved, and it could be said that the Dong family would make a lot of profit.

The money earned in shipping is hard-earned, because shipping prices are relatively low, especially after the first oil crisis broke out in 1973, which meant that the world economy was not very prosperous. The United States and Europe were greatly affected. Although there were countries like Japan that were developing rapidly, they could not make up for the demand from the United States and Europe. Therefore, shipping prices were very low, and it was even normal for the fleet to be idle.

Now, if everything goes well, the profits earned from transporting oil in just one year will be much greater than what was earned in the entire year before.

Merchant ships are often used for decades after purchase, and the cost recovery period is also relatively long.

For example, the current freight cost for transporting oil from the Persian Gulf can reach US$1.2 per barrel, which is the highest record in history.

Now that they have caught a ride, the Dong family can live a better life.

Although the Dong family has survived the bankruptcy crisis in recent years, to be honest, it is not as prosperous as before, and the status of the Dong family has declined a lot.

As the head of the Dong family, Dong Jianhua was under a lot of pressure, fearing that his father would hand the Dong family over to him but he would bankrupt the family.

(End of this chapter)