Chapter 243 Who is afraid of whom?
"Banking authorities in many countries have placed the Guoshang Bank under surveillance!"

Liu Zhicheng knew the seriousness of the matter and couldn't help but pay attention to it.

China Merchants Bank Hong Kong is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the International Commercial and Credit Bank. It currently has more than 30 branches in Hong Kong and its parent company is registered in Luxembourg.

In the past few years, it was found that the Bank of China had close contacts with third world drug traffickers, drug lords, and fire dealers, and that it laundered money for drug lords, and was therefore known as the Cocaine Bank.

Therefore, the original Pakistani major shareholder Abi was replaced by the UAE government as the major shareholder.

However, many problems still exist. Many national banking authorities have already monitored the China Merchants Bank, but have no evidence.

Although Guoshang Bank Hong Kong operates independently, its depositors' money has disappeared and it has a lot of bad debts.

In the past, due to the long-term illegal operation of the China Merchants Bank, on July 7 this year, central banks of more than a dozen countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, and France took simultaneous action to seal up the bank and freeze its assets around the world.

The Hong Kong Banking Regulatory Office did not take corresponding measures, but instead hoped to find foreign capital to inject into Guoshang and assured depositors that Guoshang was operating normally.

By July 7, the capital injection of Guoshang failed, and the China Banking Regulatory Commission announced that Guoshang (Hong Kong) would suspend operations and freeze deposits, loans and other assets.

On the 17th, after failing to find a buyer, the Financial Secretary announced that he would apply to the High Court for liquidation.

The Hong Kong government will advance HK$20 billion to provide 25% of deposits to state-owned commercial depositors, but the maximum amount will not exceed HK$50.

As one can imagine, the China Merchants Bank Hong Kong incident broke out next, with a large number of depositors protesting and sitting in front of the Hong Kong government and on the streets.

Because the Hong Kong government felt that this was a foreign bank, it chose not to use its reserves to save the China Merchants Bank (Hong Kong). Therefore, the depositors of the China Merchants Bank could not withdraw their money.

The news sparked protests by Guoshang depositors and triggered a run on banks related to Guoshang.

On July 7, bank runs occurred at Dao Heng Bank and Hong Kong Commercial Bank, two banks with Middle Eastern backgrounds. The foreign exchange fund injected capital into the market and the situation was brought under control.

On August 8 and 7, CITIC Bank and Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong experienced bank runs respectively due to market rumors.

With help from the government and peers, the bank runs on the two banks were quickly quelled.

On September 9, Hong Kong Chinese Bank announced the acquisition of Guoshang Bank, and the Guoshang incident came to an end.

“If I handle Guoshang Bank Xiangjiang well, then I will have the greatest advantage!”

However, there were consortiums that wanted to acquire the China Merchants Bank Hong Kong in the past, but all of them failed because the Hong Kong government's foreign exchange fund did not guarantee the bad debts of the China Merchants Bank Hong Kong.

Moreover, during the temporary liquidation period, the predecessor of Chinese Bank, China CITIC Bank, was also interested in taking over. However, an unrecorded overseas debt claim of 25 billion suddenly emerged. Chinese Bank could not afford the debt and had to give up.

If Liu Zhicheng wanted to take over, he had to consider two issues: first, the money of the previous depositors was not paid off until 1999, which showed that the deficit was very serious; second, he had to consider the 25 billion unrecorded debt.

Even if Liu Zhicheng paid a symbolic HK$1 for the acquisition, he would still have to deal with a large amount of debt, which was obviously not cost-effective.

After all, your money doesn't come from the wind.

In the end, Liu Zhicheng decided to put this matter aside and not make a decision in a hurry!
……

"Dong Dong" there was a knock on the door.

Hao Qingwen, general manager of Huangpu Group, came to Liu Zhicheng's office.

This time, Hao Qingwen went to the mainland and returned to Hong Kong ahead of schedule. He has been working in Hong Kong for a week.

After sitting down, Hao Qingwen reported: "Boss, Sun Hung Kai seems to have avoided the Tsuen Wan New Town and does not plan to invest in a shopping mall network in Tsuen Wan. It has announced the establishment of a shopping mall network in Tuen Mun, Sheung Shui and Yuen Long in the New Territories."

Liu Zhicheng nodded and said, "It's a wise choice. If it were me, I wouldn't continue to fight head-on in Tsuen Wan.

Our group does not consider building a large network of shopping malls in major new towns, but focuses on the commercial dominance of Tsuen Wan New Town.”

Tsuen Wan is the largest new town in Hong Kong. Its current population is close to 50, and it is expected to reach 80 in the future.

Therefore, Liu Zhicheng's occupation of the commercial market of this new town was more effective than his occupation of several other markets in the New Territories.

Therefore, the Whampoa Group first built a pure shopping center on the reclaimed land of the old ferry near the sea.

Then, plans are being made to build a large-scale commercial complex in the northern area, with an investment of up to HK$60 billion to HK$80 billion.

Once this project is completed, the three projects, namely, Citywalk Shopping Centre, Tsuen Wan Plaza Commercial Complex and Grandview Plaza large residential area, will form an inverted T-shape, standing at one end of Tsuen Wan's coast.

This large project has very convenient transportation. The MTR Tsuen Wan West Station, Tsuen Wan Bus Terminal, minibus terminal and ferry terminal are all there.

Very nice investment!
Hao Qingwen said: "Well, they have lost the initiative after all, and we have submitted a letter of intent to the Hong Kong government. If we need to exchange land, we will definitely be the first choice!"

The Hong Kong government has a law that states that the government will participate in land acquisition and can apply to the court for compulsory execution as long as 80% of the owners agree.

There are not many property owners in Yeung Uk Road at present, and the Hong Kong government has been intending to renovate the area, so the land there will be vacated soon and then granted to real estate developers through a land exchange rights certificate.

Of course, the Hong Kong government does not give land to real estate developers for free. First of all, the land exchange rights certificate is a land exchange certificate issued by the Hong Kong government and is valuable.

Secondly, the land exchange rights certificates were used to compensate the farmers in the New Territories, so the land exchanged could only be residential land.

So, if a real estate developer wants to develop a commercial project, he or she will naturally have to pay a high land fee to the Hong Kong government.

Liu Zhicheng said: "This project is very important to us, so the company must pay attention and plan well!"

"Ok!"

Hao Qingwen reported again: "The housing prices in Discovery Bay have risen sharply. It is expected that when the fourth phase is launched, the unit price will rise to more than HK$1000 per square foot!"

Liu Zhicheng naturally knew about this. The housing prices in Discovery Bay would soon rise to the same level as Tsuen Wan.

Although it is far away from the city even though there is an undersea tunnel and airport railway, the environment and planning there are very suitable for vacation, so the houses will naturally be popular.

"Well, although I can earn a lot, it's not a project I lead after all, so there's no need to worry about it!"

"Ok!"

Liu Zhicheng is unwilling to mention a project that he is not leading, even if he makes money!
His most proud projects are of course: Citibank Centre and Sceneway Garden.
Liu Zhicheng asked: "How is the real estate market now?"

Hao Qingwen immediately said: "Prices are rising, but it is a rebound after a sharp drop. People who buy houses in the residential market are all in urgent need, and there are basically not many people speculating in houses.

Hong Kong's real estate, stocks, and even the economy are still deeply affected.

The relocation turmoil was particularly severe. From June last year to the end of last year, the number of listed companies that relocated their registration increased by 42. However, it is difficult to count the number of non-listed companies that relocated their registration overseas.

But don't worry, boss. This year, our Huangpu Group has responded promptly, and the net profit of real estate will not be lower than expected. After all, the housing shortage in Hong Kong is more than 35, so there is no shortage of buyers. "Hao Qingwen quickly finished his work report. He reported very concisely and grasped the key points of the work, because he knew that the boss attached great importance to efficiency and did not like reports that were too detailed.

But if you say that the boss doesn’t understand the details of the work, you are totally wrong. The boss still has a detailed understanding of the company’s affairs, but he just doesn’t like executives to talk about trivial matters in front of him.

After Hao Qingwen left, Liu Zhicheng had already had a clear understanding of Huangpu Group's main business, real estate, and made up for half a month's workload.

After get off work in the evening, Liu Zhicheng drove to the Regal Hotel for a banquet. It was not a social event, but Zhou Huimin invited him to dinner.

The two of them seldom ate alone. Liu Zhicheng was an irresponsible man who would only conquer women with money and energy, and rarely spent any time with them.

But he is open-minded. As long as the woman doesn't remarry and take his children with her, he won't force anyone to leave or stay.

However, since Zhou Huimin took the initiative to invite him to dinner, he had to take other people's feelings into consideration no matter what.

As soon as he walked into the lobby of the Regal Hotel, Liu Zhicheng saw an uncomfortable scene. A man with several followers was talking to Zhou Huimin about something, but she did not show any enthusiasm, probably just responding out of courtesy.

Liu Zhicheng walked up to Zhou Huimin without hesitation. This woman was smart and immediately took Liu Zhicheng's arm.

The intention was to please Liu Zhicheng and also to get rid of this group of people.

"Who are you?" Liu Zhicheng pretended not to know Xiang Huasheng and acted like a big boss.

When Xiang Huasheng saw Zhou Huimin holding Liu Zhicheng's arm, he knew that he had hit a wall. This person was someone he absolutely could not afford to offend. However, some of his younger brothers seemed a little unconvinced.

"Mr. Liu, I'm sorry, I didn't know Miss Zhou was your girlfriend! I'm Xiang Huasheng, from Yongsheng Company."

Liu Zhicheng then said in a gentle tone: "People from the Xiang family, please be careful in the future. How come you poached people from our company?" Although his tone was gentle, he did not take the Xiang family seriously at all.

When Xiang Huasheng heard Liu Zhicheng give him a way out, he quickly said, "Yes, yes, yes, I was wrong. I'm sorry!"

Liu Zhicheng nodded. His meaning of giving me a way out was very simple. If you say you are chasing my girl, wouldn't that make me lose face?

However, Xiang Huasheng was just saying hello, and Liu Zhicheng couldn't really cause trouble for others. After all, the relationship between Zhou Huimin and him was not public.

"Yongsheng is good, do a good job!" Liu Zhicheng patted Xiang Huasheng on the shoulder and said before leaving.

"Thank you for your compliment!" Xiang Huasheng said with a smile.

Seeing Liu Zhicheng and Zhou Huimin leave, Xiang Huasheng's younger brother said unconvincedly: "Brother, why are you so afraid of him?"

Xiang Huasheng turned around and said, "Say less, don't offend Liu Bancheng! Don't you know how others will play tricks on you? And you can't even get close to him, but he has a security company with hundreds of people."

What's more, Liu Zhicheng's reputation is well-known in Hong Kong.

Although I am not convinced, the boss is convinced, so what can I do?

In the restaurant, Zhou Huimin explained what happened just now and said, "He didn't do anything excessive or say anything, so I didn't feel comfortable to drive him away. I just planned to say a few words to him and leave."

Liu Zhicheng said nonchalantly: "I saw it. If he really did something excessive, he would be in trouble soon!"

Zhou Huimin immediately perked up and said, "Will you move people from the Xiang family for me?" She felt valued and was very happy.

Liu Zhicheng smiled and said, "Sometimes, you don't have to fight and kill to get someone, you know!"

Zhou Huimin nodded, not quite understanding.

After they ordered their meals, Liu Zhicheng asked, "Do you have something to ask me out?"

Zhou Huimin said coquettishly: "Why can't I ask you out if there is nothing going on? We can't always talk about things in bed!" After saying that, she began to provoke seductively.

Liu Zhicheng suppressed his inner restlessness and said calmly: "But I can see that you are in trouble!"

Zhou Huimin said happily: "You still know me very well. In addition to wanting to date you alone, I mainly want to tell you that I am so tired from filming!"

Liu Zhicheng immediately said: "Then tell the company. I'm afraid you don't need money if you want to shoot it!"

Zhou Huimin immediately laughed and said, "I thought you wanted me to film a movie!"

"Well, whatever you want! But if you don't film, have you decided what to do?"

He was very worried that Zhou Huimin would give birth to a child for him!
Zhou Huimin showed interest on her face and said, "How about doing business like Sister Li Zhi?"

Wasn't this woman very quiet in her previous life? She never made any noise or quarrels in her life.

However, Liu Zhicheng didn't care. It was better to make a small loss so as to avoid thinking that money was easy to make.

"I won't interfere with you, but I'll give you some advice. Don't do it if you're not familiar with it! Don't lose all the wealth I gave you, or you'll be in a passive position!"

Zhou Huimin's net worth is approximately 3000 million Hong Kong dollars, but she owns properties worth over million.

By next spring, his net worth will have more than doubled, and he's likely to reach the threshold of becoming a billionaire.

"I'm not that stupid. Since you're here to guide me, of course I trust your judgment! At most, I'm just following Sister Li Zhi's example and doing some small business to kill time."

Liu Zhicheng nodded, she was still a smart woman.

In fact, everyone in Hong Kong knows that real estate speculation is the most profitable business.

Liu Zhicheng is the businessman with the best vision in Hong Kong, and women are not so stupid as to disobey him.

After having dinner with Zhou Huimin, the two returned to Diligen Pavilion.

During this real estate crash, Zhou Huimin and Li Zhi basically used their money to buy residential units at bargain prices, so they both temporarily lived in Block 2 of the Terrace, but this was a bargain for Liu Zhicheng.

As soon as they returned to Zhou Huimin's house, the woman put her arms around Liu Zhicheng's arms. She was only about 1.62 meters tall, which was considered short among Liu Zhicheng's women.

The beauty was slightly tipsy and said with a dazed look in her eyes: "Tonight you only belong to me!"

Liu Zhicheng naturally would not force anyone to do anything, but just said contemptuously: "Then you better take a day off tomorrow!"

Zhou Huimin dodged for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said, "Whoever is afraid is a puppy!"

Liu Zhicheng put an arm around Zhou Huimin's waist and said, "Let's see who is the puppy!"

(End of this chapter)