Chapter 251: Changxing Building Opening and Fleet Expansion

Chapter 251: Changxing Building Opening and Fleet Expansion

Chapter 251: Changxing Building Opening and Fleet Expansion

We stayed at the Bai family until the evening, and everyone got along pretty well.

At the same time, Yang Wendong also agreed to give the Bai family some business in the decoration business, but the specific cooperation still needs to be discussed in detail. As long as there are no issues of principle, it is basically fine.

January 1, Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong Island:

"Bang bang bang bang bang~~~~~" A burst of firecrackers sounded in front of the main entrance of Changxing Building.

Yang Wendong, Su Yiyi, Bai Yushan, Wei Zetao, Zheng Zhijie, Qin Zhiye and other senior executives of the company gathered together, and several of them were holding cameras and taking pictures of the scene.

After the firecrackers were set off, Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Let's go upstairs together. Inside Changxing Building, we have prepared independent offices for everyone. You can come here to work when you need it in the future."

Today is the opening day of Changxing Building, which will be the headquarters of the group in the future, so all business leaders and important figures of branches have been summoned here.

At this time, Zhang Hui came closer and said, "Mr. Yang, some reporters from tabloids are here too. Do you want to entertain them?"

"Tabloid reporters?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "We can let them go to the reception room to rest for a while, but forget about interviewing and taking photos."

Unlike the previous opening of Changxing Shopping Mall, no outsiders were invited to participate in the opening of Changxing Building this time, because the former was a shopping mall open to the public, while the latter was its own office building.

The media generally does not pay much attention to the opening of this kind of pure office building, unless it is a building of king-level land.

Hong Kong citizens generally don’t care. When the media industry has nothing to report, it will just mention it in a non-important place in the newspaper.

The Hong Kong Chinese Daily has already prepared to announce this matter.

"Okay." Zhang Hui nodded and said with a smile: "Their original intention was to interview you."

"Interview me? Let them go through the normal process!" Yang Wendong said with a faint smile.

Although his name is now well known in Hong Kong society and he will not refuse an interview, it is definitely not something that can be done by just any tabloid.

"Okay." Zhang Hui agreed.

……

Everyone followed Zheng Zhijie into the Changxing Building. After acquiring the building, he was also responsible for the subsequent decoration business.

The main building has 25 floors. The top floor is naturally the office of the boss Yang Wendong. The heads of several other businesses are also on this floor, which facilitates the efficient handling of various businesses.

The two floors below are where the group headquarters office is located. This department does not participate in creating value, but is specifically responsible for coordinating, supervising, and reviewing various branches.

"This office is really big." Bai Yushan said in surprise after arriving at Yang Wendong's office, "It's even bigger than the office of the HSBC executive."

Yang Wendong said with a smile: "With an area of ​​more than 2000 feet, it is of course large."

Now that he had arrived in the heart of Central, he naturally wanted to give himself a large office, which would come with a rest area, an internal meeting room, a bathroom, a sleeping room, etc.

To exaggerate a little, if you are a workaholic, you can definitely live here forever.

Su Yiyi held the child in her arms and asked curiously, "Yushan? Have you ever been to the office of HSBC boss?"

"I have been there, but not to see the boss. I'm not at that level." Bai Yushan said with a smile, "Once my boss forgot some information and asked me to deliver it. That was the only time I entered the boss's office."

"Is your boss going to retire soon?" Yang Wendong suddenly asked.

Bai Yushan nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Guy once said that he was going to retire. He has been working as a HSBC manager for nearly ten years. According to HSBC's rules, it is almost time for him to retire."

"Who will be the next head manager? Has it been decided?" Yang Wendong asked.

He naturally knew it was Sanders, but his butterfly effect might have a significant impact on Hong Kong.

Bai Yushan replied: "It is said that it is very likely to be Mr. Sanders, but this kind of thing is just a rumor. Before it is completely confirmed, we small characters will not know."

"I feel it should be him." Yang Wendong smiled.

Before 60, HSBC mainly focused on cooperating with British companies. On the Chinese side, unless they were families like the Ho Tung family and the Lee family, they were not eligible to cooperate with HSBC.
Even ordinary Chinese people who want to deposit money in HSBC are faced with a series of threshold restrictions.

Only Sanders attached great importance to cooperation with the Chinese. Perhaps it was because he saw that the Chinese banks that were looked down upon by the British banks, such as Hang Seng Bank, Bank of East Asia, and Liao Chong Hing, all rose to prominence with the help of the Chinese.

Therefore, when he was the head of the credit department, Sanders promoted cooperation with Chinese capital many times. After he became the new boss of HSBC, he made every effort to promote cooperation with Chinese capital, including real estate and shipping.

Bai Yushan said with a smile: "If that's the case, it would be a good thing for us."

"Yeah." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "It just so happens that I'm going to go to HSBC in the next two days, and I'll also visit Sanders by the way."

This is also a good thing for Yang Wendong. As long as he seizes the opportunity, HSBC is willing to cooperate with the Chinese, and his business in real estate and shipping will definitely be more effective.

"Okay, then I'll take you there." Bai Yushan said with a smile.

On the third day, Yang Wendong brought Zheng Yuhua from Changxing Shipping to the headquarters of HSBC and met Sanders.

"Hello, Mr. Sanders." Yang Wendong shook hands and said with a smile, "I heard that you are going to be promoted."

"Hahaha, Mr. Yang is really well-informed." Sanders said, "Please take a seat."

After they sat down and exchanged pleasantries for a while, Yang Wendong got straight to the point and said, "Mr. Sanders, I ordered five new DC5 cargo ships in Japan for a total price of 267 million US dollars;
A local Japanese bank will provide half of the loan, I will pay $100 million, and I want to borrow the remaining $260 million from HSBC."

"Mr. Yang, buying five ships at once is quite a big deal." Sanders smiled and said, "I heard that you are going to buy a large number of second-hand cargo ships. From the perspective of a business partner, I am a little curious, is your expansion speed too fast?"

Yang Wendong shook his head and said: "I am very optimistic about the shipping market. Now, driven by the United States, many countries have begun to gradually lower trade barriers. The demand for shipping will inevitably increase in the future.

However, the speed of building various cargo ships and oil tankers cannot keep up, so for a long time, shipping will not lose money. Since I am optimistic about it, of course I have to invest heavily. "

Even without the Middle East crisis in 67, the shipping market would have been a very good business in the next decade. The fundamental reason was the beginning of global trade.
Especially after the 70s, the container reform would greatly reduce the cost of shipping, but it mainly hurt the dock handling business, and the ship industry would make a lot of money. It was not until the early 80s that there were too many ships built around the world, and the supply exceeded the demand, which led to the outbreak of ship disasters. "Mr. Yang's point of view is very similar to Mr. Bao's. I am also very optimistic about the future shipping market." Sanders paused and said, "It's just that, Mr. Yang, you only invested one million US dollars, and the rest was borrowed. Isn't it too risky?"

Yang Wendong said: "As long as the subsequent ships are built, the funds earned will definitely exceed the interest. I have also brought the future operation plan. These ships will be leased to several Japanese shipping companies. You can take a look."

After that, Zheng Yuhua handed over the information and said, "Mr. Sanders, please take a look."

"Okay." Sanders took the information, looked at it for a while and said, "It looks like there's no problem. If it's a long-term lease, then there's basically no risk."

Yang Wendong said: "A long-term lease with guaranteed birth is indeed a good method, but it is not suitable for me at the moment."

This is difficult to explain in detail, and there is no need to. Many shipping tycoons currently do not accept Bao Yugang's method, for fear that shipping prices will skyrocket again in the future, and once a long-term lease is signed, they will not make any money.

It is a bit short-sighted, but this is the normal reality.

"I understand." Sanders didn't ask any more questions, and finally said, "As long as Mr. Yang is willing to provide personal guarantee, HSBC can lend the money."

As the quasi-central bank of Hong Kong, HSBC is very clear about many economic data within Hong Kong. The export data of Changxing Industrial is very scary, almost breaking 100 million last year.

This year, we have the 10,000-person industrial park in Kwun Tong, and given that production capacity has not been reduced in other places, it is very likely that the output will exceed 100 million or even higher this year.

In addition, although these industries are not super profitable, they are much better than ordinary factories in Hong Kong. Sanders naturally knows Yang Wendong's repayment ability.

"Okay, no problem." Yang Wendong agreed and said, "Mr. Sanders, you know I'm going to buy a lot of second-hand cargo ships. If I guarantee it, can I get a mortgage loan from HSBC?"

Although he could take out this amount of money on his own, Changxing Industrial had been in operation for several years and still had a considerable amount of funds in its account.

The first principle of doing business is to use other people's money if you can. This not only reduces risks, but also ensures that you have sufficient funds.
The funds in your own account are the last guarantee for your own business. Unless you can achieve a level like Apple in its previous life where you have too much money to spend, this is how you should run your business.

"How many second-hand cargo ships do you want to buy? What's the total price?" Sanders asked again.

Yang Wendong said: "There are 19 cargo ships in total, and the price is estimated to be around 550 million US dollars."

"Not that much." Sanders thought for a moment and asked, "The price is so cheap, the quality of the boat must not be very good.

Mr. Yang, generally speaking, only people with limited funds who want to do shipping will like second-hand ships. "

"I know." Yang Wendong explained, "Once my team is more complete, I will definitely continue to purchase new ships."

The 60s was a period of rapid development in shipbuilding technology, and ships began to grow rapidly. Before, ten thousand tons was considered a large ship. Many of Hong Kong’s shipping kings in the 50s still used cargo ships of several thousand tons.

A few years later, cargo ships and oil tankers of 5 or even 10 tons began to go to sea in large numbers.

The fundamental reason is that large ships are much more efficient than small ships, and can save almost half of the fuel and several times the time, which is of course why they are favored by the shipping industry.

After completing this expansion, cultivating a sufficient management team and adding sufficient maintenance resources at the shipyard, we will also prepare to purchase larger ships.

"Okay, as a bank, I can't interfere too much with your business's freedom." Sanders nodded and said, "I can agree to Mr. Yang's application, but I can only lend half of the funds, and the interest rate will be a little higher;"

"Okay, half is fine, and the interest rate can be negotiated." Yang Wendong nodded and said.

A second-hand old ship is difficult to mortgage, just like a second-hand car in the past. It is also difficult to mortgage it with a regular large bank.

Sanders added: "Also, this matter is not up to me alone. We need to discuss it within the bank first."

"I understand." Yang Wendong smiled. In fact, at this point, it has basically been settled.

The boss of HSBC has absolute power. For example, in history, HSBC sold Hutchison Whampoa shares to Li Jiacheng at a very low price without notifying Jardine Matheson and Swire, which were also shareholders of HSBC.

Finally, he used a little trick to make the two men late for the board meeting that decided to sell Hutchison Whampoa shares, and then counted their options. This kind of gameplay would never happen in a normal company.

Of course, Sanders has not yet officially become the head of HSBC, but it’s almost the same.

"Then I wish us a pleasant cooperation." Sanders was in a good mood. He had negotiated a business worth tens of millions in just a short period of time.

He had confidence in the shipping market, so he pushed HSBC to start participating in the shipping market. At the same time, Yang Wendong had multiple industries and his personal abilities were very strong, so lending money to him was basically risk-free.

"It's a pleasure to work with you." Yang Wendong also said, shaking hands.

With the support of HSBC, my future development in the shipping industry will surely be smoother.

This is a mutually beneficial cooperation for both parties.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Yang Wendong wanted to invite Sanders to lunch, but unfortunately he had an appointment with someone from the government, so he had to change the date.

After leaving the HSBC gate, Zheng Yuhua said, "Mr. Yang, as long as HSBC gives us the official paper documents, I can sign cooperation agreements with the Japanese shipyard and the European shipping companies at the same time."

"Well, it's okay." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "It's not bad to settle these two things before the New Year;

Next, we need to train the team as quickly as possible. We can recruit people when necessary, train them ourselves, or go to the maritime academy in cooperation with Bao Yugang. When our team is strong enough, I will still buy a ship. "

The shipping market is also related to scale. The larger the scale, the lower the cost. In any case, the next 20 years will be an era of huge profits.

"Okay." Zheng Yuhua also knew the boss's ambition, and then said: "Mr. Yang, there was news in the market that we want to buy a large number of ships, and now we are basically going to sign the contract;
Anyone we trade with, or HSBC, will make this public.”

"It doesn't matter." Yang Wendong was no longer interested in keeping a low profile and said, "It just so happens that the Oriental Daily is about to publish, so this can become a headline news."

After more than half a month of preparation, Oriental Daily has completed all preliminary preparations and is ready to be published.

"This isn't too far from the Hong Kong China Building." Zheng Yuhua said, "I'll go discuss it with Qin Zhiye."

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, let's go together. I want to find out more."

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(End of this chapter)