Chapter 275 It's a Miracle

This year, the Whampoa Group is also preparing to distribute HK$15 billion in dividends, and he personally will receive around HK$10 billion.

And basically there will be no more rights issue this year. All investments are in the form of loans, so the cash on the account is enough to start many large projects.

There shouldn't be a shortage of money!

The Crocodile Group held a press conference for its new high-end women's clothing brand 'Hongliu' at the Regent Hotel.

At the same time, a banquet was organized and many Hong Kong socialites were invited to attend.

At the banquet, Li Zhi, as Liu Zhicheng's lover, naturally attracted the most attention;

I don’t know since when, a most dazzling socialite appeared in the socialite circle of Hong Kong, that is Li Zhi.

Generally speaking, to be a socialite in Hong Kong, one must meet three conditions:
1. You need to have connections with rich people, whether you marry a rich man or a rich girl, or even if you make money yourself, you need to have connections with rich families.

Because of this, many celebrities in the Hong Kong entertainment industry often attend parties even though they earn a lot of money.

But people always define them as just stars, and never refer to them as socialites when reporting on them.

Second, you need to maintain a certain exposure rate, often attend some public events or appear in gossip magazines. The socialite who is more famous does not depend on whose family is richer.

For example, Zhu Lingling married into a wealthy family, but her family is extremely strict and she would not show up in public unless necessary.

Although she meets the requirements of a socialite, her exposure rate is so low that no one would remember that she exists among the socialites.

Third, the appearance must be presentable. Basically, socialites are not ugly. The reason is very simple. Even if they were not good-looking originally, they can just spend money on plastic surgery to make their faces look better.

Other things, such as being able to dress well and understanding fashion trends, are no longer basic requirements for socialites; they are their "instinct."

Logically speaking, I have never heard of a rich man’s lover being considered a socialite.

But no matter what, whether it is the media or the socialite circle, no one dares to say "Li Zhi, you don't deserve to enter the socialite circle."

The reason is simple, as long as a man is strong enough, then let alone a lover relationship, even a gossip relationship can make a man's value increase a hundred times.

At the banquet, Li Zhi competed with other Hong Kong socialites for beauty.

A socialite looked at the big pink diamond on Li Zhi's hand and praised, "How many carats is this diamond ring?"

Li Zhi was so proud when someone brought it up, and he took the opportunity to show off his delicate hands.

"Six carats! I don't wear diamond rings under five carats!"

When the socialites heard this, they immediately felt that Li Zhi was showing off.

Miss He on the side couldn't help laughing. She felt that she and Li Zhi were two different types of people, mainly because Li Zhi loved to show off too much.

However, she likes to be with Li Zhi because she can get some useful information from her, such as real estate investment.

Not only that, because she and Liu Zhicheng are friends and their families have a good relationship, she and Li Zhi are recognized as good friends in the socialite circle.

However, some celebrities also said: "Miss Li, no matter how rich you are, you are not as glamorous as others! Others have careers!"

Although the threshold for entering Hong Kong's socialite circle is high, it is ultimately a circle of women, so naturally there are a lot of gossips.

It looks like a provocation!
But Li Zhi is young after all, so he immediately said: "I now have investment companies in the United States and Hong Kong, and that is also my career!"

When everyone heard that there was an investment from the United States, they couldn't help but marvel at how generous the richest Chinese man was.

Miss He couldn't help but wink at Li Zhi, meaning: "Don't tell everything to others!"

"What are you investing in?" All of a sudden, all the socialites became curious.

"I have investments in properties and stocks!" Li Zhi said proudly.

Fortunately, Li Zhi also knows the seriousness of the matter and will not reveal everything.

During this period, he naturally attracted the flattery of celebrities, who wanted to invest with Li Zhi. Everyone knew who was behind this person!

The chaebols in Hong Kong gradually began to be divided into different levels. Some people gradually placed Liu Zhicheng above the four major families and gave him the reputation of "Chinese General D".

Because Liu Zhicheng not only controls the largest wealth, but also controls public opinion in Hong Kong.

Below the four major families are the ten major chaebols;

Below the top ten chaebols are the top ten candidate chaebols.

As for some of the old families, who knows whether they have declined or hidden their wealth.

In short, its influence has declined, and naturally it is ranked behind the top ten candidate chaebols.

…………

Kowloon, China Merchants Bank Building.

The senior executives of Octopus Financial Group held a meeting with Liu Zhicheng in the conference room.

The president of Octopus Financial Group is a Chinese named Liu Guoquan; the vice presidents are He Changhong and British-born David Loretta.

Among them, Ho Chang-hung is the CEO of China Merchants Bank (Hong Kong) and will also be the CEO of the upcoming 'Octopus Bank'.

Although there are some foreign executives in the entire Octopus Financial Group, they mainly serve as consultants, ensuring that Octopus Bank does not have the common problems of family banks and giving the company the concepts and experience of Western banking operations (for reference only, not copied verbatim).

In other words, Liu Zhicheng is the sole shareholder of Octopus Bank.

However, Octopus Bank still has to operate and manage in accordance with Hong Kong banking rules and regulations and international banking general standards.

Octopus Bank cannot be considered as Liu Zhicheng’s personal bank, otherwise problems will arise sooner or later and it will not be conducive to its development;

So, when the time is right, Liu Zhicheng will organize it to go public.

Only through listing can Octopus Bank essentially become a public bank.

Of course, the Liu family can still influence Octopus Bank through Octopus Financial Group, instead of handing everything over to outsiders.

At the beginning of the meeting, Liu Zhicheng, as the chairman of Octopus Financial Group, took the lead in saying: "The two banks must complete the merger and change their names this year. This is the primary task.

He Changhong, Li Rongheng, and Li Huimin, the three of you are the leaders of the 'Bank Merger Group'. He Changhong will serve as the CEO after the merger, and Li Rongheng and Li Huimin will serve as executive vice presidents. "

"Yes, boss!" the three answered immediately.

Liu Zhicheng added: "Liu Guoquan leads Octopus Financial Group to support and supervise them to ensure that nothing goes wrong and no mistakes are made!"

Liu Guoquan nodded and said, "Okay, boss!"

Liu Zhicheng continued: "Octopus Bank itself has become a large Chinese bank in Hong Kong. Logically, it does not need to find a big backer like the local small Chinese banks.

However, Octopus Bank has a big backer like me, so the loan-to-deposit ratio can be slightly higher, set at 49% for me. "

Banks like Bank of East Asia and Hang Seng Bank are generally below 50%, with Bank of East Asia only 43% and Hang Seng Bank 45%.

The collapse of Chinese banks has also scared off some small banks. For example, Wing Lung Bank's loan ratio is below 40%.

However, Liu Zhicheng felt that since he had Hongli Investment, the loan-to-deposit ratio of 49% was already conservative.

If a bank run occurs, Liu Zhicheng will have no problem raising 50 billion Hong Kong dollars in a few days.

What's more, every bank run was caused by "external factors", and as far as Liu Zhicheng knew, a banking crisis would only occur during the Asian financial crisis.

In that case, be a little bolder.

Ho Chang-hung said: “49% is not very high. Compared with Hong Kong Bank’s 90% or more, it is nothing.

The boss has an excellent reputation, and with Hongli Investment being a private investment company, the 49% loan-to-deposit ratio is still very safe.”

Hong Kong Bank is indeed very powerful, with deposits of HK$60 billion and loans of HK$56 billion, leaving only a little cash reserve.

Of course, if a bank run occurs, with the support of Arab Bank and the backing of oil dollars, it can also get through it safely. Last year, the Guoshang Bank broke out, and all banks with Middle Eastern backgrounds experienced bank runs.

But the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Bank managed to get through it safely, and is still doing its own thing and lending heavily now. Isn't it because it has the support of "Ah Hong"?

Then, Liu Zhicheng said: "When you lend money, please note that the mainland is opening up the market with greater efforts.

At that time, our real estate developers and factory owners will soon invest heavily in the mainland and can consider this kind of loan. I think it is very reliable. "

Everyone did not doubt Liu Zhicheng's vision, so they nodded in agreement.

Then, Liu Zhicheng stopped speaking and let the professionals continue the discussion, while he took notes with paper and pen, which was considered as learning.

In response to Octopus Financial Group’s big move, Liu Zhicheng immediately asked the heads of all branches to be alert and see if any depositors withdrew their deposits out of concern.

Theoretically, there would be no such thing. After all, Liu Zhicheng has an excellent reputation in Hong Kong, and he acquired the company directly with cash.

But he won't take it lightly!
Of course, the confidence lies in the fact that Li Hongli Investment successfully closed its foreign exchange positions and cashed out HK$49.5 billion in cash.

Even if HK$25 billion is spent, there will still be HK$24.5 billion left.

In addition, Liu Zhicheng also deposited 10 billion Hong Kong dollars in the China Merchants Bank, a total of 34.5 billion Hong Kong dollars in cash.

Hongli Investment invested HK$4.4 million in the May index futures and purchased 1 futures contracts. By then, the liquidation of the positions will also bring back more than HK$10 billion (the stock market surge was caused by mainland factors).

For a time, Liu Zhicheng's pockets became fatter and his confidence increased greatly.

.........

On Saturday morning, Liu Zhicheng convened a meeting. The management present at the meeting were all senior executives of Huangpu Group (Huaxia).

Huangpu Group (Huaxia) is responsible for real estate investment projects in the Mainland, including real estate development (sale) and real estate investment (rent collection), excluding industries such as ports, retail, beverages, and infrastructure.

At the meeting, Liu Zhicheng said: "Lv Jianhua, lead the team to the mainland immediately and prepare to set up offices in Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing, and recruit local employees."

Lu Jianhua was shocked, it was finally his turn to perform!

He is the Huangpu Group executive recently hired by Liu Zhicheng and will be responsible for the mainland real estate business.

Today, Huangpu Group (Huaxia) is finally going to invest heavily in the mainland. According to the boss, mainland investment will account for 20% to 25% of the group.

Therefore, Huangpu Group (Huaxia) has great potential.

"Okay, we'll be ready by the middle of this month and we'll be setting off next Monday!"

Liu Zhicheng nodded and said, "Okay, time is money! I estimate that I will go to the mainland in March and discuss many cooperation projects with the local government. I hope you are well prepared.

At the same time, you should also take the initiative to find more real estate projects and then discuss and approve them.”

Lv Jianhua said: "Well, while setting up the office, we will learn about local policies and regulations, familiarize ourselves with the local environment, and make full preparations for the next investment."

After writing it down, Liu Zhicheng appointed the heads of the three offices and encouraged everyone.

Beijing also wants to build a 'Huangpu Plaza', but considering the unpleasantness and losses of the previous 'Oriental Plaza' (Li Chaoren said that 80% of the projects in the mainland were successful, while Oriental Plaza accounted for more than % of the unsuccessful ones);

Therefore, Liu Zhicheng planned to develop Sanlitun according to the model of Taikoo Li in his previous life, and the building was planned to have ten floors and two underground floors.

The waters in the capital are too deep. Although Liu Zhicheng's status is higher than Li Chaoren in his previous life, even if the people at the top agree to him, the people below will cause all kinds of trouble.

But Liu Zhicheng was somewhat unwilling to give up the large-scale commercial project in Beijing. It was not about how much money he could make, but a question of influence.

Therefore, Sanlitun is just right for his idea. As long as it is well developed, wherever Huangpu Square is, it will become the commercial center of the city.

In the past, Sanlitun Taikoo Li was more profitable. It was made up of 19 low-density buildings of about 10 stories high. Liu Zhicheng happened to have been there. Although he didn’t refer to the exact same design, it at least served as a reference.

.........

The last week of January is also the last week before the Lunar New Year.

For many Hong Kong citizens, Wednesday finally marked the finale of "Autumn in My Heart". The result is predictable. Not only did the male and female protagonists die, but the "second male lead" also died.

This caused a lot of public opinion in Hong Kong for a while. Fortunately, ATV used the media to calm the public's anger the day after the finale, and the explanation given was: the hero and heroine were truly together in another way.

After all, the heroine died of cancer, and it would be unreasonable to leave the hero alone in the world!
Liu Zhicheng has also noticed the huge influence of "Autumn in My Heart" and couldn't help but sigh that it is worthy of being a TV series that caused a huge sensation in Hong Kong and Taiwan in its previous life.

"Autumn in My Heart" is a tragedy. In order to make up for the "harm" to the citizens, Liu Zhicheng plans to start filming "Full House" in the second half of this year and give everyone a comedy Hong Kong drama at the beginning of next year.

The contrast between tragedy and comedy is powerful, and also shows that Hong Kong culture dramas can handle both tragedy and comedy with ease.

Of course, there are plans to shoot three Hong Kong dramas this year, namely adaptations of "Dae Jang Geum", "Stairway to Heaven" and "Paris Lovers". Except for "Dae Jang Geum", which needs to be renamed, the other two will use the original names.

The final product will certainly not be exactly the same as the previous one, but the subject matter will definitely be similar. "Heaven Stages" will continue to follow the tragic route, and that kind of heartbreaking love story will be brought to the fullest.

"Lovers in Paris" is crazy about creating romance and coincidences. These characteristics are also the essence of the previous "Korean drama".

In short, if you compare the works of the two lives, you can definitely see at a glance that there are many similarities.

After "Autumn in My Heart" is broadcast on ATV's Chinese channel, it will soon be rebroadcast on Asia Satellite TV. Based on the previous public opinion, I believe that many Hong Kong citizens will not miss it a second time.

The most important thing is that it can be broadcast overseas through satellite TV; whether it is to spread Hong Kong culture or to attract the attention of overseas TV stations, these are the results that Liu Zhicheng wants.

Liu Zhicheng took a tour of the ATV building and had a few brief chats with the staff and artistes to show his friendliness.

In fact, compared to Uncle Shaw at TVB, Liu Zhicheng at ATV gives people a more majestic feeling.

Old men definitely make people feel closer!
What's more, Liu Zhicheng's wealth and status in Hong Kong are not comparable to that of his sixth uncle.

Therefore, whether it is ATV staff or ATV artists, they are all respectful to Liu Zhicheng.

come back to the office.

Liu Zhicheng found Li Zhuanglie, the director of the drama department, and asked, "How is the preparation for "Swordsman" going?"

Li Zhuanglie said: "We have already started filming in January and it is expected to be completed in March!"

TVB bought all of Jin Yong’s adaptation rights in the 80s and filmed almost all of them.

In the previous life, in the 1990s, the copyright was purchased again and then filmed again.

After Liu Zhicheng took over ATV, relying on his prestige, as long as he opened his mouth in Hong Kong, his requests would be almost always granted, and the money was just a formality.

Therefore, Liu Zhicheng has already acquired all of Jin Yong's copyrights.

At present, ATV shoots 4% to 5% more dramas than TVB because it has Asia Satellite TV and is considering selling copyrights for profit.

Jin Yong's dramas are not to be missed. Liu Zhicheng remembered the Jin Yong dramas from the 1990s in his previous life, and many of them had their copyrights sold to the mainland.

It was not until the millennium that mainland China began to produce its own Jin Yong dramas.

What's more, Jin Yong's dramas are a great tool for promoting people, so Liu Zhicheng naturally cannot miss it.

Of course, with the rise of Hong Kong-style dramas, Jin Yong's dramas were completed before the mid-1990s. After the mid-1990s, Hong Kong-style dramas accounted for more than 50% of ATV's broadcasts.

Liu Zhicheng nodded and said, "Swordsman" is starring Louis Koo and Weng Hong, and we will try to film The Return of the Condor Heroes by the end of this year or early next year to star Louis Koo and Li Ruotong."

Li Zhuanglie immediately said: "Okay, I'll remember it!"

As far as the performance of costume dramas is concerned, ATV's level in the 1980s was no worse than TVB, so Liu Zhicheng didn't worry about the quality.

What’s important is that ATV has always been more generous than TVB in terms of production costs, so it will naturally produce better works.

Throughout the morning, Liu Zhicheng called senior executives in turn, listened to their work reports, and gave them some pointers. He was very busy and had a lot of fun.

I work in the communications industry not for the money, but for a sense of accomplishment.

It is especially so when I think about the fact that in the small city of Hong Kong, a local TV station actually produced a large number of the world's best programs and dramas and made countless Hong Kong idols famous. It is simply a miracle.

(End of this chapter)