We're building a super chaebol in Hong Kong

This subway line will officially open on October 1st.

The current trial operation is just for advance publicity. You can tell from the fact that they invited representatives from all walks of life to try it out.

The line, from Tseung Kwan O to Shek Kip Mei, takes about forty minutes.

Stepping out of the Shek Kip Mei subway station, Su Cheng was filled with emotion. He never thought he would ride Hong Kong's subway in the late seventies, and this subway wasn't even officially open yet.

Outside the subway station, Su Cheng's Rolls-Royce had been waiting for a long time.

Under normal circumstances, as long as the roads are not congested, driving is definitely faster.

Originally, the MTR Corporation also invited Su Cheng to give a speech, but he refused. He wasn't very interested in these things.

After Murray MacLehose finished his speech, today's subway ride experience was considered over.

"Mr. Su, would you like to go to Government House for a chat?" Murray MacLehose said with a smile after stepping down from the stage.

"Of course, how could I refuse the Governor's invitation?" Su Cheng laughed.

Shek Kip Mei is actually just west of Kowloon Tong. Standing outside the Shek Kip Mei subway station, Su Cheng could even see the two dozen-story apartment buildings of Hutchison Whampoa Plaza in the distance.

Originally, Su Cheng planned to go to Hutchison Whampoa Plaza after arriving in Shek Kip Mei to see how their preparations for the official opening were going.

However, since Governor Murray MacLehose personally invited him, he naturally put the matter of going to Hutchison Whampoa Plaza aside for now.

Half an hour later, Su Cheng's Rolls-Royce was already parked steadily in the parking space outside Government House.

Afterwards, he asked the driver to send Zhong Chuhong back first, while he himself walked into Government House.

Su Cheng hadn't been to Government House for a long time, but he was still familiar with the corridors here.

"Mr. Su, I heard that your Tianyuan Investment Company has purchased a car company in the UK?"

In the Governor's office, after the two sat down, Murray MacLehose asked curiously.

As the 'parent official' of Hong Kong, coupled with his special status in the UK, it was naturally easy for Murray MacLehose to know about this matter.

"That's right. By the way, Governor, I actually wanted to ask you for advice. I want to build a complete automotive industry chain industrial park in Hong Kong. I don't know where it would be better to put this industrial park? As you know, the automotive industry is currently a weak industry in Hong Kong. As a member of Hong Kong, I still hope that Hong Kong can develop comprehensively," Su Cheng said after thinking about it.

In fact, he had been considering where to put the industrial park for some time. It was definitely impossible in the city center, and it was also difficult to find a suitable place in the suburbs, because if the complete vehicle business developed, there would definitely be large-scale production. At that time, not to mention anything else, just the space for parking new cars would require a very large area.

Therefore, even in the suburbs, it was difficult to find a suitable location.

After Zhang Qizheng came back, Su Cheng discussed this matter with him.

Although Su Cheng's various companies currently own a lot of land, none of them are suitable, either because the area is not large enough, or because they already have other uses.

For example, in Tseung Kwan O, that piece of land has already been fully planned and utilized.

On the Clear Water Bay Peninsula, a large film and television city also needs to be built. Besides that, it's all mountainous and not suitable for an automotive industrial park.

The piece of land owned by Hutchison Whampoa in Tuen Mun has now been divided and given to Tianwen Petroleum Company to build a oil refining base.

The remaining land reserves are basically either in the city center or in the suburbs, and the land area is not large enough.

Therefore, after discussion, Zhang Qizheng and Su Cheng both agreed that it would be best to get the support of the Hong Kong government. As long as the Hong Kong government supports it, then everything will not be a problem.

"Mr. Su needs a very large area?" Murray MacLehose asked in surprise.

According to his thinking, the sales volume of Austin Motors and Jaguar Cars acquired by Tianyuan Investment Company were not large, and the factories in the UK were not very large, so even if the entire line was moved over, the area occupied would be about the size of an ordinary industrial park.

As a member of the UK, Murray MacLehose didn't feel anything about the acquisition of a British car company.

After all, the UK is a major automobile country, with countless British automobile brands, and even has Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, McLaren, and so on. Although Jaguar can also be regarded as a well-known luxury car brand, the loss of one or two automobile companies will not have much impact on the British automobile industry.

The world's top automobile industrial power, this is the pride of their British people.

Moreover, Hong Kong is currently a British colony, and it seems that there is nothing wrong with one or two British brands being acquired by Hong Kong companies.

Therefore, Murray MacLehose doesn't care much about Su Cheng's acquisition of British automobile brands.

Moreover, he, Murray MacLehose, is now the Governor of Hong Kong. As the saying goes, do what you do in your position. As the Governor of Hong Kong, he is naturally focused on considering how to develop Hong Kong.

Since the British National Assets Committee has agreed to sell, there is no need for him to consider too much.

"Yes, Governor. The area of ​​this automotive industrial park that we are planning is no less than one million square meters, which is much larger than their current scale. After all, Hong Kong's automotive industry is equivalent to a blank slate. There are no parts manufacturers. We can initially purchase complete vehicle production from overseas parts merchants, but in the long run, we still need to have our own parts supporting manufacturers.

Therefore, in addition to our complete vehicle production plant and complete vehicle parking area, this automotive industrial park must also have enough area for building parts factories. One million square meters is already the smallest area we have planned. If it can be larger, that would be the best."

One million square meters, converted into square kilometers, is an area of ​​one square kilometer. For Hong Kong, a city with a land area of ​​only over one thousand square kilometers, an area of ​​one square kilometer is already very large.

"One million square meters? If such a large area is needed, according to the current land use situation in Hong Kong, only the New Territories, Tai Po, Yuen Long, Tuen Mun, Islands, Sha Tin, and Sai Kung ​​can be considered. As for Hong Kong Island, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung, Kowloon Peninsula, urban areas, etc., it is definitely impossible.

If Mr. Su really needs it, I can ask the Lands Department to see where is suitable, but I will state in advance that even if the government has suitable land, you will need to purchase it at market prices, and our government currently does not have any preferential policies for the automotive industry," Governor Murray MacLehose said after thinking about it.

The automotive industry is different from the oil industry. The Hong Kong government itself has no plans to develop the automotive industry, so they naturally cannot give any special preferential policies.

(End of this chapter)