The Industrial Giant Reborn

As a Chinese, Chen Zhiwen naturally wants to fly his own plane in the sky of Hong Kong. Even if the airline is not his own, it is enough to have a part of the shares. Cao Guangbiao has this ambition and has certain abilities. , at least in the original history, there has been back and forth with Cathay Pacific.

But because of this, Chen Zhiwen also needs to remind him where there are problems and where there are risks. Many things are not guaranteed to be successful if you are full of enthusiasm. Facing a strong enemy, it is more important to use methods and strategies to avoid the enemy. There is no such thing as long-term, steady development, waiting for the opportunity, and the weak defeating the strong, but behind the invisible lies a long period of preparation and patience.

Chen Zhiwen is definitely willing to invest. Even if he doesn't make money or even loses money in the future, it doesn't matter. But if there is no plan and no preparation to confront strong competitors, it means nothing. Is it possible that he has been burning money? Ten years? It's definitely unsustainable. It's not a matter of money. If we go the wrong way, it will only get further and further away.

Furthermore, routes, like highways or railways, are mostly exclusively operated. If there is no competition in the early stage, you will not be able to do it even if you want to burn money. To be able to compete, you must at least have the same route, right?

"A plane dedicated to cargo? This kind of plane is usually bought second hand. In terms of cost, it is indeed much cheaper than a new plane. Cao Sheng, Chen Sheng's suggestion, you can seriously consider it, or even if you still want If you insist on being a passenger airline, you can also do cargo transportation. This does not require much cost. From a business perspective, it is indeed a very unwise business choice to go head-to-head with Cathay Pacific. If one day in the future, you really If we can get the full support of the mainland government, it will not be too late to consider investing funds and resources." Bao Yugang said after thinking for a moment.

"Yes, even if you can get the full support of the mainland government, it will be very difficult to defeat Cathay Pacific. Unless there is a real break-up and the Hong Kong government introduces policies to deal with Cathay Pacific after 1997, otherwise it will be impossible. And in this way, It will also damage Hong Kong's international image very much. The mainland government will not do this." Chen Zhiwen added: "If you want to be an airline, you actually have a chance, but don't think about replacing Cathay Pacific first. If you misplace competition, you can still survive. As for whether it can become bigger in the future, it’s hard to say now. It depends on the specific situation and opportunities.”

Even Chen Zhiwen would not spend money to compete head-on with a mature company. It would be almost impossible to win. It is equivalent to mobile instant messaging in 2020.

Historically, after Dragonair was acquired by Cathay Pacific, it focused on cargo. As Hong Kong’s air freight market became more and more open, demand also increased sharply, because first, many places in the mainland did not compete with International metropolises have air connections, or even if they do, they cannot meet the demand, because in this era, there are more goods going abroad but fewer people going abroad, and there are naturally fewer airplanes, so there will naturally be too much air cargo.

The second is that before the 21st century, most domestic factories exported goods through Hong Kong for trade transit, not only the goods themselves, but also order procurement, etc. This also resulted in a substantial increase in the volume of air freight in Hong Kong. After all, Even the simplest samples require going through middlemen. Especially now that the existence of Galaxy Trade has doubled this demand.

Chen Zhiwen didn't pay attention at first, but when Cao Guangbiao came to talk to him about aviation, after a little analysis, he remembered that because of his existence, Hong Kong's maritime trade has increased a lot, not to mention aviation. Midea, although most goods are shipped by sea, sometimes in case of emergencies or high-value and small goods, they are shipped in batches by air.

But no matter what, this air freight market is currently nothing in Chen Zhiwen's major industries. But since there are local Hong Kong businessmen who want to enter this market to compete with foreign investment, appropriate support is okay.

"Thank you Chen Sheng for your advice. I need to think about it again." Cao Guangbiao said after hesitating for a moment. This was something he had been planning for more than a year. Even if there were difficulties, he was still a little reluctant to give up like this, but now After being analyzed in this way by Chen Zhiwen, he suddenly discovered that the zz resources behind him that he was counting on were not so determined to support him.

If it is a funding problem, there is always a way to solve it, but now there is no way to solve this problem.

"Of course, but although I am not very optimistic about this investment, I still support Cao Sheng's concept. It is indeed very bad for British capital to completely control the sky of our Hong Kong people." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

Although Dragonair failed completely in history and was eventually acquired by Cathay Pacific, how could Cathay Pacific be listed without the emergence of Dragonair? And in the process of competition between the two parties, even if Cathay Pacific wins, it will definitely make some concessions to consumers in terms of price and service. Generally speaking, for ordinary people in Hong Kong, appropriate competition is definitely more beneficial. .

"Unfortunately, as Chen Sheng said, it is too difficult to defeat Cathay Pacific." Cao Guangbiao said with an embarrassed smile.

"Actually, there are not no opportunities for manned aviation services." Chen Zhiwen paused and said: "The aviation strategy implemented by the Hong Kong government is one route, one company. Cathay Pacific has now mastered the services of many international metropolises. It is impossible for you to grab air routes, but there is no space in other cities. Once you get it, it is also impossible for Cathay Pacific to grab it from you."

"Chen Sheng means to compete for those non-international metropolises? But the reason why Cathay Pacific did not choose these cities is because the economy of these cities is not good and there are not many tourists coming and going. Otherwise, they would have got it long ago. Even if we get it , I will definitely keep losing money." Cao Guangbiao asked puzzledly.

Many businesses are logical. If no one makes money from something that seems beneficial for a long time, there must be something wrong. The simplest thing is that if you want to open a store and choose a location, just pay attention to the nearby stores. You can tell by the speed of new store openings.

"Of course it won't work internationally, but you can think about it domestically. At present, Hong Kong only has flights to some mega cities in China, and those second-tier provincial capital cities basically don't have them. You can focus on developing this market and win it first. Later, based on the number of people, You can fly once every few days, so that one plane can be used on multiple routes." Chen Zhiwen said: "In the first few years, we will definitely lose money, but as long as the mainland economy gets better and better later, the flow of people will definitely increase. Come up, and by then, Disneyland will almost be built, and I will also come up with some strategies to attract people from the mainland to come to Hong Kong. As long as they come, they will definitely fly on your plane."

"If you do this, you are completely betting that the domestic economy will develop rapidly." Cao Guangbiao also understands the commercial nature of this.

"Yes, do you expect the mainland to introduce any policies to interfere with Hong Kong to help you? It is more practical to expect the domestic economy to develop rapidly." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "The former requires the government to break certain rules. This cost is too high. Moreover, Cathay Pacific is not a freeloader. The Shihuai Ya family also has the ability to contact the central government of the mainland. For the sake of Hong Kong as an international metropolis, the mainland cannot suppress British capital in an aboveboard way. If it is not aboveboard, you basically have no chance. .

The latter has the same interests as the mainland, and the domestic government will inevitably find ways to develop the economy. You can get the routes in advance and wait for the future. In fact, this is similar to many of my investments in the mainland, except that I am in infrastructure, factories or hotels. You invest in shipping routes first, which is of a nature. "

"I understand what Chen Sheng means, but the operating expenses of routes are also very high. If we take so many routes, if we don't run them for a long time or run less, the losses will be very big." Cao Guangbiao said with some embarrassment, if it is really As Chen Zhiwen said, this method can indeed make a turnaround in the future. Even if it still cannot beat Cathay Pacific, it can at least persevere.

But the problem is that no one knows when the domestic economy will be able to support a flight from a second-tier city to Hong Kong to turn a profit. If we keep waiting, it will require too much funds.

"Routes do burn money, but it mainly goes to the governments where the routes are located. If the mainland can really support you, they can charge less of this revenue, at least when you are still losing money. No matter how you say it, This also increases the connection between the mainland and Hong Kong, and in a general sense, it helps the country develop, and it is appropriate to get some discounts. The most important thing is that this is an internal strategy of the mainland, and it does not need to involve Hong Kong, which will save a lot of trouble." Chen Zhiwen analyzed and said.

Except for some special industries, the mainland government is actually more receptive to foreign investment than many Western countries. Therefore, even if Dragonair can really persist, the mainland cannot really suppress Cathay Pacific, at least not openly. model.

Even with the rise of mainland trams in later generations, when there was no longer a great need for foreign-funded fuel vehicles, no specific policies were issued. Instead, they restricted emissions and forced joint venture fuel vehicles to increase costs. This at least showed the sign of "environmental protection" , it can be regarded as a reverse revenge, because at the beginning of the 21st century, the local brands of mainland fuel vehicles at that time had poor technology and emission control could not match that of joint venture brands. Many joint venture brands at that time also used "environmental protection" to force the mainland government to restrict emissions. volume, thereby directly suppressing or even extinguishing the domestically produced local car brands that had just taken shape at that time in a broad sense.

All operations must be "reasonable". Even if you really want to suppress it, you can't be divided into "domestic and domestic capital".

"I understand what Chen Sheng means." Cao Guangbiao nodded and said, "I don't know if Chen Sheng is still willing to invest in Dragonair."

If Chen Zhiwen can be brought in, then the entire capital market is likely to be optimistic about Dragonair. After all, Chen Zhiwen has never failed in business so far. Even investment is the same. He has strong capital and Hisense Bank is behind him. It puts a lot of pressure on Cathay Pacific.

Although the Swire family has controlled more than 50% of the Swire Group's shares, they are still very afraid of the richest Chinese man in Hong Kong. It is true that they cannot acquire him, but if they really make enemies, there are many ways to deal with them.

"Okay, how many shares can you give me?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"10%, how about it?" Cao Guangbiao had obviously prepared his words a long time ago and said: "Mainly, Dragonair needs to give Bank of China 20% of the shares, and China Resources also needs almost 20%. This is also to enable the entire company to be able to Get maximum help from the mainland."

"Well, it doesn't matter if the mainland holds a large share." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "There is no problem with my shareholding, less than 16%. That will also facilitate Hisense Bank to give you loans at the right time, but I think it won't be needed in the short term. Well, Bank of China should also help you."

"The Bank of China has agreed to lend us US$30 million to purchase aircraft. How we can help in the future depends on how our business goes," Cao Guangbiao said.

"Well, this is the share, but the prerequisite for me to buy shares is that you need to have a stable enough plan. Either you can come up with a paper promise that the mainland government will help you in some way, or, Mr. Cao, you need To make a reasonable business plan without the help of the mainland government, I don’t need to start making money in the first few years, but I need to know how much loss you can make?” Chen Zhiwen added. He doesn't care about money, but he cares about the company's development plan. It doesn't matter if he loses hundreds of millions of dollars, as long as it has value.

"Okay, no problem. I will prepare a plan within three days and send it to Chen Sheng's house." Cao Guangbiao nodded and said. If you want others to spend tens or even hundreds of millions, it is definitely not possible to just talk, especially For Chen Zhiwen, money may not mean anything. The important thing is that the new company will rely on his reputation. Once the investment fails, his investment myth will be shattered.

After a while, Cao Guangbiao said goodbye and left. Bao Yugang made two more cups of tea himself and said with a smile: "Sheng Chen, do you attach great importance to Dragonair? Are you so demanding?"

"This is my first time investing in a headwind situation. Of course I have to pay attention to it. Money actually doesn't matter, but what I care more about is whether Dragonair can persist in the long term." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. He will not personally invest in the aviation industry, but if he can just provide a little help so that Chinese planes can fly over Hong Kong, it will be worth it.

"Haha, when Cao Sheng found me, I knew that this investment would not have much return, and would even result in losses for many years. But this is a major event that affects us Chinese. Even if we lose a little money, we still have to invest. ." Bao Yugang laughed.

"Yes, as long as there is hope, it is still worth giving it a try." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

In fact, anyone with some brains knows that this business is definitely not easy to do. If you invest in this business and buy some property anywhere in Hong Kong, you will definitely earn more than investing in this airline, and the risk will be much smaller. However, Cao Guangbiao still attracted more than 20 people. This is the reason why Chinese rich people are entering the market.

After the wealthy Chinese in Hong Kong have money, they will continue to pursue more money, but they will also pursue more external things, such as fame, fighting against British capital, etc. This is also the reason why so many Hong Kong wealthy people do charity. , regardless of whether people do charity for fame or for personal gain, as long as they do it, it is a good thing. As for being able to invest in a Chinese airline and defeat the British giant, perhaps few people dare to do it themselves, but there is still no problem in helping.

Of course, this may also be because so many people are working together and not much funds are needed. If such a thing succeeds, it may be able to leave a name in Hong Kong's business history, so for some wealthy people, it doesn't matter if they participate in a small amount.

In its original history, Dragonair continued to suffer losses until the 1990s. Some people gave up and others persisted. Finally, it was not until Cathay Pacific was listed in Hong Kong that it became Hong Kong-owned and attracted mainland state-owned enterprises to take shares. Many Chinese people died. He finally gave up his equity and sold it to Cathay Pacific at a high price.

In this life, if Cathay Pacific can persist longer and lose less or even no money after the 1990s, it will definitely be considered to be completely stable. If it survives until the 21st century, if it holds the power from Hong Kong to many second-tier cities in China, Even if the flights are still not as good as Cathay Pacific, it is considered a success.

Of course, this company is not worth much. Again, it is definitely not as valuable as real estate, but it does mean something.

"Yes, I think so too." Bao Yugang said with a smile.

"Wheelock's property allocation, what do Mr. Bao think of our proposed plan?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.

After the Southeast Asian tycoon Qiu Teck Puat gave up the acquisition of Wheelock, Pao Yugang and Chen Zhiwen acquired Wheelock. After a few acquisitions, they reached 34.9% of the shares. Later, Land and Land stepped in to purchase some of Wheelock's properties. It can also give the Bao family a certain amount of funds.

Chen Zhiwen also reviewed the relevant transaction list and then gave it to the Bao family.

"It's not a big problem. Just let our men fight for some minor disputes. In fact, Wheelock doesn't have any core properties, so I don't care." Pao Yugang said with a smile.

"Indeed, Wheelock has a lot of properties, but there is nothing that is worth it." Chen Zhiwen said that for ordinary real estate companies, Wheelock does still have many good properties, but for Hong Kong's top wealthy people, these locations But it's just so-so. What they can take a fancy to are those asset properties that are unavailable in the city, such as urban buildings, shopping malls in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, or villas in Victoria Peak, etc.

Wheelock once had two buildings in Central, but they were acquired by Chen Zhiwen very early.

"How about I exchange Wheelock's large amount of land for the Central Building in Chen Sheng's hands? One building is enough!" Pao Yugang laughed.

"That's not possible." Chen Zhiwen quickly shook his head and said: "Once you reach the Central Building in my hands, it is impossible to get out again!"

Unless the area of ​​some scattered land is really large enough to build a super fenced village and a residential community for tens of thousands of people, no matter how large the amount is, it will not be able to compare with the Central Building.

"That's all I know. All my life, I have dreamed of owning a building in Central. Unfortunately, it's difficult now!" Bao Yugang sighed, paused, and then said, "Sheng Chen, I'm going to Ningbo in China." , we are going to build a university and a port there. I can come to the university alone, and I can speak to the port. Is Mr. Chen interested?" (End of Chapter)