Chapter 146 Billion-dollar Investment

According to my memory from my previous life, when the mainland was reformed and opened up, the communications industry developed rapidly. It could be said that it was forced to develop because foreign investors would definitely require smooth communications.

At this stage, telephones still use the ancient transfer method. At least Liu Zhicheng had seen it around 2000 in his previous life.

Why did we lag behind so much? The main reason was that the switches used for program-controlled telephones could not be produced domestically and had to be purchased with foreign exchange.

The cost would certainly be too high. If this equipment could be produced domestically, the communications industry could certainly be advanced by more than ten years and fully modernized.

This is also a good thing for the country's future development. At least it can help economic development and save a lot of foreign exchange reserves.

The second project is the pager, which is a dividend project for more than ten years, at least in the mainland. If it can be domestically produced, it will enter the peak period ahead of schedule.

Moreover, pagers and switches require a lot of chip support, which is related to Liu Zhicheng's next layout.

In fact, it is very simple. Liu Zhicheng has received confirmation from Lyon that simple chip production lines can be exported to the third world.

In the next step, Liu Zhicheng will also entrust relevant units to develop CDA mapping tools and enter into chip research and development under his own complete control.

As a recognized big entrepreneur in Hong Kong, many state-owned enterprises in Beijing and local enterprises in other places all want to cooperate with Liu Zhicheng.

Huangpu Trading and Chigo Electric are both well-known companies. Huangpu Trading has already cooperated with domestic companies and has earned a lot of foreign exchange.

Earning foreign exchange at this time is the supreme honor, and it will be easier for employees in the company to find partners when they go out.

Because they can get subsidies from the government, the company has money and the employees' benefits are good.

Even many company executives and outstanding employees have obtained the qualifications to go to Hong Kong or even the United States, which makes countless people jealous.

You have to know how many people in our country today are willing to pay a huge price just to go abroad.

However, it is not so easy to meet with Hong Kong businessman Liu Zhicheng. All these are arranged and negotiated by the commerce department, and it is impossible for anyone to come and meet him.

Even Liu Zhicheng's entourage was not so easy to see.

All the companies that come here are only required to submit their company information and the content plans they want to cooperate with, and the Ministry of Commerce will make the overall arrangements.

Even so, there are certain restrictions, and companies without a certain scale can forget about it.

Those who can meet with Hong Kong businessmen are also leaders in Beijing at the national coordination level in a certain field. These people will come forward to discuss some possible cooperation plans.

Every Hong Kong businessman who comes here will definitely make a gesture, and some will invest a few million Hong Kong dollars.

But I still have some reservations about super large projects.

Even the ship charter king is no exception. Apart from investing in a hotel, he is still hesitant about purchasing a few ships.

Of course, Liu Zhicheng is the only exception. As long as it is a beneficial matter, he will select it and hand it over to his team to handle.

Before coming, Liu Zhicheng had made preparations, and a team of dozens of people led by Huo Haiqing served him on the periphery.

Their current job is to analyze manufacturers that can be cooperated with, and to supply if they can, and cooperate with if they can have other cooperation.

In fact, this arrangement has both pros and cons. We don’t know which companies really need help.

For Liu Zhicheng, this is just the right time to relax and have time to arrange some activities for himself.

Afterwards, Liu Zhicheng accompanied Yang Minli to climb the Great Wall, visit the Forbidden City, tour the Summer Palace, etc., and experience the scenery of Beijing in the 80s.

One morning, Liu Zhicheng did not go out for fun because Han Chunxi told him last night that Hu Yingxiang would visit him today.

There must have been progress on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway project. It is impossible for Liu Zhicheng to give up such a huge investment and go out for fun.

However, unexpectedly, Hu Yingxiang also brought a guest.

"Mr. Liu, this is Director Duan from the Ministry of Transport, who is in charge of national road planning. Director Duan, this is Mr. Liu Zhicheng, the most successful Chinese entrepreneur in Hong Kong," Hu Yingxiang introduced.

"Hello, Mr. Liu. I have heard of your name in the mainland for a long time." Director Duan said with a smile and shook hands.

"Hello, Director Duan." Liu Zhicheng also smiled and shook hands and said, "Please take a seat."

The three of them sat down on the sofa in the living room, and Han Chunxi brought them the hot tea that he had prepared. In the mainland, guests are served a cup of tea when they meet.

This is basic hospitality, and even decades later, not many people use coffee to entertain guests.

What's more, the tea here is first-grade tea prepared for them by the mainland, and it tastes very good. Liu Zhicheng plans to purchase some when he returns.

Hu Yingxiang said first: "Mr. Liu, I brought Director Duan here today because he heard that you were going to invest in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway project, so there is something he needs to discuss with you."

"Is there any problem with investing in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway?" Liu Zhicheng asked. Although Yuezhou and Pengcheng are not too far away, only more than 100 kilometers.

However, even for small developed countries like Europe, it is difficult to use their own fiscal revenue to build highways.

Because the funds involved in building a highway are huge, even though Liu Zhicheng is a super-rich man in Hong Kong, it is difficult for him to raise the funds needed for this 100-kilometer highway all at once.

Therefore, Liu Zhicheng agreed to Hu Yingxiang's participation at that time, with only one purpose, which was to obtain construction fund loans.

One more person means more strength, and the banking group will feel more at ease. After all, the security of funds is of course more important than the risk of interest.

"No problem. We welcome Mr. Liu to invest in China." Director Duan smiled and said, "I came here to see Mr. Liu today. Actually, I want to ask if Mr. Liu is willing to invest in a similar highway in other places?"

"Highway? Where is it?" Liu Zhicheng paused, but asked without showing any strangeness on his face.

Seeing that Liu Zhicheng did not refuse but asked for details, Director Duan was overjoyed and immediately answered.

"It's the section from Beijing to TJ City. It's mainly for the convenience of exporting goods from a large number of factories in Beijing. The highway also needs to be extended to Tanggu, where there is an export port."

Liu Zhicheng nodded and said, "We do need one."

Beijing City is the economic center of the north. It is a place where industries are concentrated and has a large number of factories. It produces a large amount of goods every day for export or transportation to other cities in the country.

If Beijing wants to export its goods, it has to use sea transportation, and it is normal to extend it to Tanggu.

You know, the role of the port is not just export, it can also deliver goods to all coastal areas in the country.

Sea transportation can be much cheaper than land transportation and is convenient for large-scale transportation.

However, before the reform and opening up, everyone had already gotten used to it and didn't think there was anything wrong with it. But after the reform and opening up, when foreign investors came, the first thing they considered was infrastructure such as transportation.

This is also Liu Zhicheng's original intention to invest heavily in domestic infrastructure, and of course, it is also to get a return.

However, the cost of building a highway is too high. Even if the land cost in the country is extremely low, the construction cost will reach nearly 10 million US dollars per kilometer, which is unaffordable for the mainland's finances.

The model proposed by Hong Kong tycoon Liu Zhicheng of building roads first and then charging tolls has given everyone hope.

However, there is too much such investment, and the country is still unable to raise so much funds, so it can only rely on foreign investors.

How could ordinary overseas businessmen invest so much money to build a highway? Only Liu Zhicheng, who was devoted to building the motherland, had the courage and ability to do so.

Now that this patriotic businessman is in Beijing, Director Duan will definitely come to visit him in person and solicit investment.

Since Hu Yingxiang has been busy with the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway project recently, the transportation department contacted Hu Yingxiang to learn about the situation after some communication before coming.

Participating in the construction of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway would basically require all of Hu Yingxiang's resources, leaving him with no ability to build another expressway.

Some people in the ministry suggested that Hu Yingxiang should be persuaded to abandon the construction of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway and instead build an expressway between Beijing and Tianjin.

However, what was unexpected was that when Hu Yingxiang heard the news, he was unwilling to give up the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway, but instead suggested that they seek financing from the wealthy Liu Zhicheng.

When they received Chen Yingxiang's suggestion, they found that the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway was first proposed by Liu Zhicheng.

Moreover, Liu Zhicheng's wealth and financial resources are obviously stronger and more capable than Hu Yingxiang.

This has given the entire Ministry of Transport new hope. With the construction of this expressway, the economy near the capital may be able to reach a higher level.

"From Beijing to Tanggu? This road should be more than a hundred kilometers, right?" Liu Zhicheng said after thinking for a while.

"Yes, we haven't measured the specific expressway route yet, but we estimate it to be around 120 kilometers," said Director Duan.

Measuring the land also requires a huge investment, which requires line surveys, soil bearing tests, etc.

If there is no capital investment, then the relevant departments can only roughly calculate the mileage and investment amount.

"Then this highway also requires a joint venture, right?" Liu Zhicheng asked again.

The Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway project is currently under negotiation, and the shareholding ratio is basically that the domestic party will hold 51% of the capital by investing in land.

In the early stage, we were completely dependent on the Hong Kong side for advance payment, and then we took out a loan from the bank for construction. The only advantage was that there was no shortage of high-quality construction teams in the mainland.

"Yes, this is stipulated by the laws of the G country, and we have no way to circumvent it. For specific cooperation plans, we can refer to the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway cooperation model in Nanyue." Director Duan said with a smile.

"Okay, Director Duan, I personally have the intention to invest. Specifically, shall I invest personally or shall I invest together with Mr. Hu? We will discuss it and then get back to you, how about that?" Liu Zhicheng said after thinking for a moment.

Without talking about national justice, just talking about the return on investment, this highway is also a good project because it will be the most profitable highway in the country in the future.

(End of this chapter)