Chapter 726 New Agricultural Base

Judging from the current financial data of Hutchison Whampoa, Qi Dezun's early operational capabilities have given Hutchison Whampoa a lot of foundation, whether it is funds or various practical resources, there are always some goods in hand, so even after more than a year of economic crisis, even if some data may be weak or even false, it can still hold up in the short term;
Yang Wendong was naturally not in a hurry to add insult to injury. Anyway, the longer time went on, the bigger the debt of Hutchison would become. By that time, even the Hong Kong government and other banking groups would have to be very cautious.
In fact, even in the original history, when HSBC forcibly took over Hutchison Whampoa, judging from the social conditions at that time, Shen Bi also took certain risks. If Hutchison Whampoa had not been revived in the hands of HSBC, Shen Bi's business career might have been ruined. However, Shen Bi was an absolutely capable person, and perhaps he was also confident in his choice.

However, in this life, he has participated in Hutchison Whampoa's related affairs many times, and has used Hang Seng Bank to become Hutchison Whampoa's largest creditor bank. If Hutchison Whampoa is really in trouble, he will act quickly;

But it was hard to say what to do, and it also depended on the specific situation at the time. In addition, although Qi Dezun was arrogant, he was also a talented person and was quite polite to him. If he had no choice, he actually didn't need to kill him.
History has changed too much. Now all we have to do is wait. Anyway, according to the general trend, the ending of Hutchison Whampoa will be the same. After all, Qi Dezun's early behavior was to infinitely expand the scale of his company. If he encounters the same type of economic crisis again, what will happen will inevitably be similar.

Time soon came to the end of May. After Wharf Holdings was privatized, other capitals of Changxing Group did not make any further moves, which led to many capitals in the market once again being bearish on Hong Kong stocks.
The Hang Seng Index successfully reached 198.9 at the end of the month, breaking through 200 points for the first time, causing a wail in the market;
Too many people thought that the market was about to reach its peak, so they poured money into it, and some even used leverage to enter. As a result, when the stock market fell slightly or did not move, they suffered heavy losses.
Even during the economic crisis, there are still many people who are full of "gambling nature". They all think they are the chosen ones of heaven and want to win a future Lang Lang life by gambling, but they don't know that they are the biggest "leeks".

During the period when Hong Kong's economy had not yet recovered, there was nothing much for Yang Wendong to pay attention to. In the 70s, the core of his career direction was overseas. In Hong Kong, he just needed to seize a few special opportunities.

One day in early June, Yang Wendong welcomed an old customer;
"Hello, Mr. Zhang." Yang Wendong greeted him with a smile, "Sit here. I bought some local fruits from Europe. Let's taste them together."

Zhang Guangdou smiled and said, "Mr. Yang, you're welcome, but I've never seen some of these fruits before."

Yang Wendong said: "Some local specialty fruits, I just want to change the taste, in fact, the nutrition is similar, I guess it's still not as good as the ones imported from China to Hong Kong."

"Haha, yes. Recently, Hong Kong has had a lot of demand for fruit, which has helped China Resources do very well in this area." Zhang Guangdou continued, "I have to thank Mr. Yang for this. Your Carrefour is much better than other channels in the fruit trade."

"It's OK. I also want to run my own business." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "This supermarket also sells fruits."

Zhang Guangdou nodded and said, "Yes, in fact, fruits from the mainland were also shipped to Hong Kong in the past, but it took too much time and they were easy to spoil on the road. Not to mention the roads in the mainland, even the turnover efficiency in Hong Kong is extremely low. Only a few fruits such as apples can be stored for a long time, so they are convenient to transport."

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Carrefour has now maximized its turnover efficiency to ensure that China Resources' vegetables, fruits and meats are always fresh in Hong Kong. This is good for both you and me."

"Of course, a lot of China Resources' business now relies on Mr. Yang." Zhang Guangdou nodded and said, "Mr. Yang, I came here today to tell you that the central government has agreed to establish a new agricultural product supply area in East Guangdong Province, which will be dedicated to supplying Hong Kong or other surrounding areas."

In the past, China Resources was the only company that provided all kinds of food, and multiple channels in Hong Kong jointly purchased the food. At that time, China Resources did not really worry about the terminal issues, as they were responsible for transporting the goods to Hong Kong.

But the situation is different now. After the emergence of containers, the cost of cross-sea transportation has been reduced, and China Resources' goods have been subject to very strong competition. On the Hong Kong terminal side, supermarkets led by Carrefour have gradually taken control of the channels. Not to mention food, even clothing, daily necessities, etc., Hong Kong citizens have begun to get used to getting everything they need in one-stop shopping supermarkets.

"Really? That would be great." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "In this way, the cost of living for the millions of people in Hong Kong will definitely be lower, and the mainland will definitely be able to obtain greater trading volume and foreign exchange."

Previously, many materials in Hong Kong were transported to Hong Kong via three express trains from Shanghai, Hankou and even Tianjin. Although trains were efficient, the loss was still very high and it was a waste of resources.
Now that we can build a new large-scale agricultural product base near Hong Kong, the transportation cost is almost reduced to zero, and there is also the time cost;

This is not only a major cost reduction for Carrefour, but also very good news for Watsons, which is already producing various foods on a large scale. Industrial costs can be reduced through various methods, but agricultural costs can only be reduced by relying on agricultural countries. Hong Kong has no agriculture, and this is Watsons' biggest problem.

Zhang Guangdou added: "Yes, so I hope that we can cooperate more in the future, not just in Hong Kong." "What do you mean? Do you also want to do business in other parts of Asia?" Yang Wendong asked back.

Zhang Guangdou smiled and said, "Of course, we also want to use Carrefour's channels to send some mainland products to other parts of Asia. Even if fruits and vegetables are not allowed, other commercial products are also possible."

"As for light industrial products, if there are suitable ones, I can also do it, but Carrefour is not very large in Asia now." Yang Wendong thought for a while and said, "However, Changxing Trade has cooperated with many supermarket retailers overseas. I will ask them to communicate more with you. How do you think?"

Carrefour has developed rapidly in Hong Kong and Singapore. With its early advantages and good management, it has become the largest retail supermarket chain in the two cities. However, outside these two places, the development speed is relatively slow. Although it has cooperated with local giants, all aspects are still not as smooth as normal, and transportation factors also need to be considered.

Changxing Trading, on the other hand, focuses on developing cooperation with overseas retail companies. With the help of Carrefour's existing channels and its advantages in transportation, it is easy to reach cooperation with overseas companies. After all, no matter how different the cultures are, most of the products in the supermarket are still similar. As long as Asia can buy high-quality and low-priced products, overseas retail groups are happy to cooperate.

Zhang Guangdou said: "Okay, we also hope to have more business cooperation with overseas countries."

Foreign exchange is important at all times, and mainlanders know this. Even in the 50s, the country needed foreign exchange to buy supplies from polar bears, and polar bears would not refuse even US dollars.
Now that the mainland has good relations with Europe and the United States, the domestic industrial difficulties also urgently need a large amount of foreign exchange to fill the gap. Although the previous 43 acquisition seems very cool, such a large amount of funds is also a serious blow to the national economy. There is an urgent need for some foreign exchange to flow back, even if it is a small amount of blood.

As a long-term source of foreign exchange for the mainland, Hong Kong's importance today is even more self-evident, but it is also a "free market" and faces competition from many rivals, so even China Resources has to work hard to maintain this income.

Fortunately, Changxing Group has developed very well in recent years, not only in Hong Kong, but also in Asia. China Resources' cooperation with it has also brought it very lucrative income.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, I'll have people sort out the various lists of requirements, and then we'll negotiate. It's not just food, but also some other supplies, including some raw materials for my factories. As long as the prices provided by the mainland are cheap and the quality is okay, I will naturally give priority to purchasing from the mainland."

One of the core elements of industry is raw materials, which will have little impact unless we enter the era of software and the Internet, when various services can be replicated wirelessly;

All industries of the Changxing Group rely on raw materials. Even Hong Kong as a whole was able to achieve such industrial success before the 80s. On the one hand, it was due to the efforts of the Chinese community itself, and on the other hand, many basic materials in the mainland were much cheaper than overseas. This created the glorious decades of Hong Kong's industry.

"No problem. The supplies I can provide are absolutely good quality and low price." Zhang Guangdou said with a smile.

Yang Wendong asked again: "That's good. Which city in East Guangdong Province will the agricultural product base be located in?"

"It has not been decided yet, but it should still be near Yuezhou City. This way we can make full use of the existing facilities and also meet the needs of surrounding cities." Zhang Guangdou replied.

Yang Wendong said: "That's right, but if possible, we should consider building some commonly used facilities near Hong Kong. This will be more convenient."

PS: Ask for monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)

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