Chapter 633 Overseas Investment Plan

Li Xiaolong's movies are once again a big hit in Hong Kong and many other Asian countries, including Japan;
In an instant, he became an Asian superstar known throughout half of the world. Many foreign media came to Hong Kong to interview him. With the cooperation of Changxing Group, he also accepted exclusive interviews from several media outlets, which further increased his fame.

On the other hand, Li Xiaolong also started shooting advertisements to promote Red Bull. Once Red Bull is ready in the United States, it can be promoted on American TV stations and newspapers.

In the early stages, Red Bull will not immediately invest huge amounts of money to sponsor various strenuous sports, but will proceed step by step. As sales become more and more successful, the number of sales channels will also increase. After the profits are returned, advertising will be increased. This is also a reasonable expansion process.

Similarly, there are also other brands that invite Li Xiaolong to be their spokesperson. This is also the most profitable part of the entertainment industry, and even the sports industry is the same.

Changxing Film Company excluded some companies that might be competitors based on the group's needs, but other companies could be negotiated. If Li Xiaolong cooperated with several of them, even after the profit sharing, his income would be higher than that from making a single movie.

Of course, movies are the foundation of endorsements. After Yang Wendong negotiated with representatives of several Hollywood giants, it was finally decided to cooperate with Paramount on the next movie. Changxing Film Group and Li Xiaolong also began negotiations with Paramount in this regard, just like before with 20th Century Fox, discussing aspects such as commercial sharing and film content.

Naturally, Yang Wendong would not get involved in such professional matters. He would just wait until both parties had almost finished negotiating before taking a look at the content.

The second step of Hong Kong films into Hollywood has officially begun.

In the 70s, many major events occurred in global history. For example, in February 72, British Prime Minister Edward Heath signed the Brussels Treaty, formally agreeing to Britain's accession to the European Economic Community (EEC). This decision officially came into effect on January 2, 1973, marking the beginning of the economic integration of Britain with the European continent.

After receiving the news, Yang Wendong immediately convened several industrial companies under his control: Changxing Industrial, Honor Electronics, and Watsons.

"You should know the purpose of asking everyone to come here today. Europe intends to create a common market and achieve economic and market integration." Yang Wendong said first: "Although this is ideal, it is difficult to achieve, but at least it is a start, so we also need to discuss internally how to better develop the European market."

The European Community is actually the predecessor of the European Union. In the future, the euro will be born. Its core purpose is to create the world's third pole. Apart from the United States and the polar bear, Europe is the third, or it intends to be tied for third.

It’s just that imagination is beautiful and reality is cruel. Neither the United States nor the polar bear naturally want the emergence of a potential competitor. In addition, there are too many countries in Europe and their interests are different, so every step is difficult. It was not until more than 20 years later, in 1993, that the European Union was officially established. Among them, there are also several countries that frequently request to withdraw, such as the United Kingdom.

Of course, these have nothing to do with Yang Wendong’s current situation. He just needs to avoid getting involved. His goal is still to do business.

Wei Zetao replied: "Within the European Community, many tariffs are mutually exempt or very low, but the problem is that it does not include the British Commonwealth members. In other words, it is still not feasible for our various products to enter the European market by shipping them from Hong Kong to the UK, at least not directly."

"If direct manufacturing doesn't work, then we can do it indirectly." Wang Zhiqun said with a smile: "We can keep some of the assembly process in the UK, so that it can also be considered made in Britain."

"This is indeed a method." Yang Wendong nodded.

In the past, after the mainland became a global industrial giant, it was also targeted by some countries. For example, tariffs were raised. As a result, many domestic businessmen sent goods to Vietnam, and then carried out the final assembly locally. Some might even just put a label on it, which was considered to avoid the tariff issue.

Of course, this was just the beginning. Later, the United States and other countries became smarter and demanded restrictions on material proportions. More than half of the raw materials and components were not allowed to be processed in the mainland, etc. This had a certain impact on the mainland's manufacturing industry, but it could not essentially prevent the rise of mainland industrialization. On the contrary, various obstructive behaviors led to serious inflation in the United States and Europe themselves.

Nowadays, or under normal circumstances, most countries will not force such requirements, and often just turn a blind eye. Wang Zhiqun continued: "But even so, we still need to invest a lot of factories in the UK. This is not the previous investment in the UK, which is just a gesture."

Yang Wendong said: "I know. In fact, I am also preparing to invest heavily in the UK. Now that Europe and the UK have preferential tariffs, it is more suitable for my plan."

It was still a long time before the mainland rose to prominence. The reform and opening up began in 78, and it took 30 years for the mainland to have a certain voice in the international arena, and 40 years later it reached its peak.
Although Yang Wendong was happy to provide some help, his business group could not rely on domestic resources for a long time in the future;
In this case, the United Kingdom is a good choice. Although it has declined, at least its influence is still there, and it will still have some international voice in the next 10 to 20 years.

Of course, if the Hong Kong issue is involved in the future, he will definitely choose the right direction, or not participate. Anyway, even if he does nothing, what happened in history will still happen now. Some of the business behaviors of time travelers are unlikely to affect some international events, such as the oil crisis that will break out next year.

Wang Zhiqun said: "The UK is indeed a very suitable country for us to invest in. It is relatively close to the east coast of the United States. South America is also OK. Large-scale production there is also very convenient for material transportation. This also avoids the concentration of all our group's production bases in Asia.
It’s just that the local labor costs are still too high. Many of our industries are crowd-intensive, so if we want to produce in the UK, we have to choose the right industry.”

Yang Wendong smiled and said, “Labor costs do need to be considered. Overall, they may be a little higher than in Asia, but they are still necessary for political purposes;

Some complicated parts are still produced in Hong Kong, and the UK is mainly responsible for assembly. It is no problem to recruit some white people. Some of our products are now about to move towards a high-profit model, especially the electronics industry. "

There are two other purposes for investing in the UK, which are difficult to explain clearly. The first is that the oil crisis is coming. In those years, the cost of shipping will rise sharply. Even if you have a fleet, it is impossible to transport your own goods cheaply. This is also a kind of internal loss. It is also feasible to move appropriate production capacity to Europe and America.

After the two oil crises in the 70s, oil prices soared 10 times and it is difficult to fall down in the future. If it were not for the popularization of containers, such oil prices would have been a fatal blow to global trade. It is reasonable to place some suitable industries outside Asia and then consider the local market. After all, this is not the era when mainland industry will dominate the world as it will be in a few decades. Many global companies will invest and build factories in many places around the world.

The second reason is that he will soon prepare to take action against British capital. The British Hong Kong government may not dare to stop him openly, but it may also use some indirect policies. At this time, if he has a large number of factories in the UK or is about to invest in a large number of factories, which will drive employment in the UK where the economy is getting worse and worse, then naturally there will be ZZ forces to stand up and help him. This is a community of interests.

While obtaining some of the benefits of the UK, one can also get better profits in Hong Kong. This deal is still cost-effective. The factory in the UK has lower profits or even no money, but as long as the investment in Hong Kong or even some other promising British colonies is successful, that is enough. Sometimes, some investments are not for profit, and large conglomerates often know their limits.

Wang Zhiqun nodded and agreed: "Okay, I will research which electronic products would be more cost-effective to produce in the UK after deducting tariffs."

"Okay, your industry will still be the core of our group." Yang Wendong nodded and looked at Zhou Haoran: "Old Zhou, how about building a factory in the UK for your food industry?"

Zhou Haoran thought for a moment and said, "Our main products, instant noodles and ham sausage, have been sent to Europe and the United States. Instant noodles have almost no market, and local people don't eat them at all.
Some people like ham sausage, but Europeans prefer pure sausage with more meat. There are many local brands, and they also make ham sausage. It was not difficult for us to build a factory in the past, but it was difficult to sell it. This is a difficult point. "

Many products are too easy to make. As long as you have money, open a factory, buy equipment, find a few professionals and a group of workers, you can make more than 80% of the goods in the world, except for some high-tech products or those protected by patents and copyrights.

But the biggest problem in doing business is still orders. Without orders, a factory will only go bankrupt. On the contrary, it can ask others to do the work.

This is also the reason why Hong Kong trading companies control most of the Hong Kong factories. Orders are the foundation.

Yang Wendong thought for a while and said, "You can discuss it with Fang Xianming. He has invested in many supermarkets in Europe, and the business of these supermarkets is getting better and better. Maybe this will be an opportunity."

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(End of this chapter)

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