Chapter 279 The Rise of the Magical Weapon
After finishing the inspection in Jiangcheng, Liu Zhicheng returned to Hong Kong and did not go to Zhejiang Province to inspect Qiandao Lake.

Nongfu Spring is an investment plan for the second half of next year or early next year, so there is no need to rush.

Because, first of all, the market for mineral water in the mainland is not yet mature, and secondly, Zhong, the richest man in China, only launched Nongfu Spring in 1996 in his previous life, so there is plenty of time.

On April 4, the 'Central Whampoa Plaza' in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, was topped out and immediately attracted much attention from the industry.

The roof has been capped, but it will not be put into use until the end of the year!

Another major project, the Mall of Asia Pacific, was topped out in January and put into use in the second half of the year because the two buildings each have only more than 40 floors.

In other words, this year Whampoa Group will have 300 million square feet of office space occupied.

In the past one or two years, some media criticized Liu Zhicheng for investing too much in rental properties, which was a "not a good" decision.

At that time, Whampoa Group's response was simple: most of the money invested in properties was "non-recurring profits".

This kind of profit is not available in other real estate companies, so it can be considered a long-term investment project.

This rebuttal is perfect!

Investors all know that Huangpu Group has two magic weapons for its rise:

The first is the annual non-recurring profit, which is the credit of "stock god" Liu Zhicheng.

These non-recurring profits, accumulated over time from investment and rental properties, have already grown larger and larger.

What’s more, Whampoa Group’s new rental properties are all located in core commercial areas such as Central, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, etc., with the lowest vacancy rate in Hong Kong and the best management.

Not to mention, these properties were bought at the bottom and are very cheap.

Second, it is Huangpu Group's ability to raise funds. The major shareholder always takes the lead in offering full shares (according to the shareholding ratio), and investors have great trust in Liu Zhiben himself, so fundraising has always been very smooth.

What's important is that the share price of Whampoa Group is really willing to rise, currently at 15.75 billion shares (the price per share has risen to nearly HK$70).

Just based on the share price per share, the increase in more than ten years is more than 20 times, which is definitely an investment tool.

When the "Central Whampoa Plaza" was topped out, the Hong Kong media praised Liu Zhicheng's wisdom.

"Sing Tao Daily": After the deepening of reform and opening up in the mainland, overseas companies have hoped to use Hong Kong as a springboard to enter the mainland to expand their business, and the demand for office buildings has begun to flourish.

At the same time, as the mainland expands its opening up to the outside world, mainland institutions in Hong Kong will develop very rapidly and they will also need a large number of office buildings.

All the above facts prove that Mr. Liu Zhicheng's vision is world-class!
"Economic Daily": Warren Buffett, the stock god of the United States, praised Mr. Liu Zhicheng, "Some people say that I am Liu Zhicheng of the United States." I feel very honored for this.

Facts have proved that in Hong Kong, no one has ever called Mr. Liu Zhicheng "the Buffett of Hong Kong".

As everyone knows, it took Mr. Liu Zhicheng only a dozen years to build a multi-billion-dollar empire (the Whampoa Group alone had over 100 billion Hong Kong dollars).

He doesn't have Buffett's background, but he has a smart brain and sharp eyes.

Sing Tao Daily: The demand for office space in Hong Kong is growing day by day. It was obviously short-sighted to use commercial land for residential purposes in the past few years.

It was quite wise for the Whampoa Group to invest heavily in rental properties over the past decade.

Analysts pointed out that in the next two years, the absorption of office space in Hong Kong will be around 600 million square feet, and the Whampoa Group will account for more than %.

All of a sudden, it received rave reviews!
Investors were all smiling as Whampoa Group's shares rose another 3% that day.

"Investing in HSBC is not as good as investing in Whampoa Group. This is because Whampoa Group also pays large dividends every year, and more importantly, the share price increase is much higher than HSBC."

"The net profit of Whampoa Group has exceeded that of HSBC for two consecutive years, making it the most profitable company in Hong Kong. Compared with HSBC, Whampoa Group is more worthy of investment!"

"With the opening up of the mainland, I heard that Mr. Liu Zhicheng has won several projects in Beijing and Shanghai by virtue of his good relationship with the mainland. This is great news!"

"Huangpu Group invested 1 million US dollars in the shares of Citibank in the United States. The price per share was only 8.8 US dollars. It was a bargain. This year, Citibank's operations are normal and its stock price has begun to rise."

For a time, investors gave rave reviews and regarded Liu Zhi as the "God of Wealth".

"In March, Li Chaoren, Robert Kuok, and Kazuo Wada (Yaohan) invested HK$60 billion to invest in real estate in R. It's really confusing. It is said that Fu Diyi first approached Mr. Liu Zhicheng, but was rejected!"

"Li Chaoren is no match for him. He is not as smart as Mr. Liu Zhicheng! He was a step slower in reaction. Mr. Liu Zhicheng made a wise decision not to invest in local real estate but to enter the mainland real estate market instead."

"Of course, I heard that Li Chaoren is also investing in the mainland. If everyone is investing, it means that the prospects for mainland real estate are better!"

In mid-April,
In the morning, Hao Qingwen from Whampoa Group, accompanied by Swire Group Chairman Stephen H. Smith and Swire Properties Chairman John C. Johnson, came to Liu Zhicheng's office.

Liu Zhicheng was quite surprised that he could arrive so quickly.

But no matter what, a visitor is a guest, not to mention that Liu Zhicheng and Shi Yadi's father Shi John are old friends.

He extended his hand politely and said with a smile: "What wind brought you two distinguished guests to my office!"

Shi Yadi responded with a smile: "Of course it was Mr. Liu's style that brought us to your office."

Liu Zhicheng invited several people to sit down and pretended to be ignorant and asked, "Why?"

Shi Yadi said seriously: "It's like this, we want to buy the two buildings in Quarry Bay that Whampoa Group bought last year!"

Liu Zhicheng suddenly felt embarrassed and picked up the teacup to drink tea.

Shi Yadi immediately continued, "I know this is a bit abrupt. After all, with Mr. Liu's vision, he must have seen the prospects of the Hong Kong office building. Therefore, we are willing to buy it at a 30% premium!"

Swire Group does not dare to play tricks in front of Liu Zhicheng now, so its offer is reasonable.

Of course, this only seems reasonable, but in reality it is far from what Liu Zhicheng wants.

At the beginning, he bought these two buildings with two thoughts in mind:

First, speculate in buildings; second, invest in buildings.

These are all businesses that are sure to make money, but in reality they are more like speculation in buildings. The development prospects of Quarry Bay are still limited.

Liu Zhicheng put down his teacup and said, "Mr. Shi Yadi, why don't we, the Whampoa Group, buy your three buildings in Quarry Bay?

To be honest, there are eight buildings that can be rebuilt. My original intention was to rebuild all of them and connect them together as a long-term development plan.

By then, some tenants who can no longer afford to live in Central and Wan Chai can use those places as their second office space.”

Shi Yadi and Jian Jifu were stunned because Liu Zhicheng's idea coincided with theirs.

There are two reasons why Swire Properties brazenly came to the door to buy the property: first, the office space in Hong Kong is on the rise;

Second, Quarry Bay is the old nest of Swire Properties. With the booming prospects for office buildings, the eight commercial buildings there can be rebuilt into high-rise buildings one by one and planned as a whole to become a commercial centre.

Now that Liu Zhicheng has put forward this point of view, it shows that this place is of great value.

Shi Yadi immediately said: "Mr. Liu, we have three buildings and you only have two. Moreover, Quarry Bay has a different meaning for us at Swire Properties.

We are willing to continue to negotiate on price!"

Liu Zhicheng thought for a while, then said: “30% is impossible, this price will be worth it if I wait until the end of the year, and long-term investment will bring huge returns.

If it really doesn't work, we can jointly develop the commercial center here. The building will have independent property rights, but will be rebuilt under a unified plan.

This way, we can not only be more efficient, but also have the best of both worlds.”

Shi Yadi didn't want to cooperate, he just wanted to buy it back, he gritted his teeth and said: "We are willing to pay 50% of the price!"

At this point, Liu Zhicheng also bargained: "If you insist, we can also help you, but the price must be 16.5 billion Hong Kong dollars, not a cent less.

Or, you can come back and negotiate the price with me in two years!"

Two years later, HK$16.5 billion may not be enough to buy the two buildings, and still be able to collect two years of rent.

Seeing Liu Zhicheng so determined, Shi Yadi also knew that others were very familiar with the market and would not easily hand over the two buildings.

As for two years later, I might have to pay a higher price.

"HKD 16.5 billion, deal! But we want to keep the price of this transaction confidential to avoid causing too much impact on the market!"

He was not worried about the market impact, but was worried that it would hamper acquisition negotiations for other buildings.

Liu Zhicheng smiled and said, "Next year, our company's annual report will definitely be made public."

"That's no problem!" "Okay then! Since this cooperation didn't work out, I hope we can work together next time!"

Shi Yadi responded: "I am very happy! This can be considered as cooperation, but we want to make Quarry Bay the company's long-term development plan in the future.

Given the strength of the Huangpu Group, it may not be willing to make a long-term plan of ten or twenty years!"

Liu Zhicheng said generously: "It is indeed too long, and it does not fit my style of doing things!"

Hao Qingwen couldn't help but admire his boss, it was obvious that his subjective intention was to speculate in real estate, and he put it so grandly.

In less than half a year, he earned more than 50%, a total of more than 500 million Hong Kong dollars. This money was really easy.

The South China Morning Post Building and Toppan Building cost less than HK$11 billion in total, and now they have made a net profit of more than HK$5 million, which is indeed a huge profit.

In fact, Liu Zhicheng is not a cruel person. If he offers HK$18 billion, Swire might agree to it by the end of the year.

The two buildings themselves are not worth such a high premium, but considering the overall plan, they can appreciate by another 10% or 20%.

After Shi Yadi and Jian Jifu left, Liu Zhicheng said to Hao Qingwen: "We will start renting out Central Whampoa Plaza and Citizens Plaza in July, and we must manage them well.

For companies with good reputation, the rent can be appropriately discounted to prepare for long-term investment. Be wary of straw sandal companies to avoid reputation loss. The lease period should not be too long, as the rent has been on the rise in recent years.

Huangpu Group is not a simple rental company, but an excellent commercial real estate management company.

Shopping mall management is a sophisticated industry. How to attract world-renowned brands, how to allocate the shopping mall structure, and how to manage it are all very challenging for the management.

Over the years, Whampoa Group has accumulated a lot of experience in this regard, and Lane Crawford has conducted long-term inspections of shopping malls in Europe, the United States, Japan, etc., to further strengthen its management capabilities in this area by leveraging its strengths and avoiding its weaknesses.

In this way, we can not only manage the shopping mall network in Hong Kong, but also manage the shopping mall network in the Mainland.

Hao Qingwen nodded and said, "Well, we will definitely keep a close eye on it. Especially Central Whampoa Plaza, which is the flagship commercial center of our Whampoa Group. We will definitely manage it into the best commercial center in the world.

As for the Citigroup Center, we will also work with Citi to create an Asian financial core area.”

Liu Zhicheng said with satisfaction: "The Wan Guo Bao Tong Center can be regarded as a financial building experience for our team.

Later in Shanghai, I will also invest in a world financial center, so the team needs to learn more. "

"Ok!"

Liu Zhicheng is an important shareholder of Citibank. Although he does not have the right to participate in management, it does not affect the relationship between Liu Zhicheng and Citibank in any way.

In addition, Liu Zhicheng himself is a bank boss and has the reputation of being a stock god.

Therefore, Huangpu Group will definitely not miss the Shanghai World Financial Center.

The Whampoa Group is the biggest weapon and shield in his hands. He will work hard to develop and expand it and eventually form a comprehensive group with real estate as its core.

The Fortune 500 is just a small goal; his goal is to be in the top 100.

The bonds issued by Whampoa Group this time were all purchased by local Hong Kong residents, which is undoubtedly a symbol of greater strength than those real estate companies that need to promote themselves overseas.

Of course, Liu Zhicheng's leading role should be credited with 30% of the credit! His personal charm, that is, he is the chairman of the board of directors of Huangpu Group, also added 30% of the credit.

The remaining four achievements are the performance of Whampoa Group and the good market conditions.

But no matter what, the Whampoa Group obtained HK$50 billion in cash in a short period of time, which shocked Hong Kong and Kowloon for a while.

Saturday, October 5.

Liu Zhicheng came to ATV. Last night, ATV's second "Hong Kong-style" TV series, "Stairway to Heaven", was officially broadcast. It was still a 20-episode tragedy.

In his previous life, Liu Zhicheng had watched this drama, which was even more tragic than "Autumn in My Heart". He still remembers one sentence in particular: I want to take you to a place, a world where there is no more sadness, no more heartache, and no more separation: heaven.

ATV has the successful experience of producing "Autumn in My Heart", and Liu Zhicheng has provided guidance on the script outline, so this will be another drama with a high acceptance rate.

The copyright of the previous Hong Kong-style drama "Autumn in My Heart" has been purchased by Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Mainland China, and Thailand. It can be said that it has set off a "Hong Kong-style" trend in Asia.

And now, this "Stairway to Heaven" plays a consolidating role.

Then, ATV will also air the historical drama "Da Yunxian" (an adaptation of Dae Jang Geum) in July and "Lovers in Paris" in September.

Next year there will be three TV series selected by Liu Zhicheng: "Full House", "My Sassy Girl" and "My Sassy Teacher".

It instantly changed the style of Hong Kong pop music and turned it into a comedy.

Of course, there are many Hong Kong dramas that were not selected by Liu Zhicheng, and they are no longer within Liu Zhicheng's consideration.

By then, Hong Kong-style TV dramas, both tragedy and comedy, will be handled with ease, and the whole of Asia will know about the "Hong Kong style".

Held a meeting with senior executives.

Liu Zhicheng asked with concern: "How are the preparations for Chinese Idol going? When will the auditions start?"

Variety shows are major copyright holders and are very popular among European and American TV stations. Recently, NBC, the American TV station, made a comeback with "The Voice of America", which is comparable to "Who's a Millionaire?"

All of a sudden, European TV stations also started to negotiate for copyrights!
ATV Program Director Zhao Zhenqiang said: "It's all ready. The audition will start in the middle of this month and is expected to end in mid-July!
For this Chinese Idol, we have expanded the scope overseas, and we have also negotiated with the government in Guangdong Province, so there is no need to worry about overlapping with The Voice of China."

Liu Zhicheng said: "Overlap is inevitable! We are not interested in the wine, and the real idol can only be obtained by luck.

What is important is the ratings and copyright income. To put it bluntly, "Chinese Idol" is tailor-made for the American ABC TV station."

Everyone laughed!

I thought to myself, the boss is really smart. He let several TV stations in the beautiful country compete with each other, and Asia Television reaped the benefits in Hong Kong.

The TV stations in the beautiful country don’t care whether ATV is a small TV station or not. They only care about how to defeat their competitors and how to make huge profits.

Therefore, since How to Be a Millionaire was introduced by ABC in the United States and made a lot of money, TV stations in the United States have set their sights on Asian TV stations.

Liu Zhicheng then asked: "Director Shi, please report to me on the overseas promotion of our Asia Television Group!"

After Shi Nansheng was lured to ATV by Liu Zhicheng, he was specifically responsible for the promotion of ATV overseas and in the mainland. Simply put, his job was to sell ATV's works.

Liu Zhicheng knew from his memory that she was a strong woman and that she had done a lot of work for TVB and satellite TV in her previous life.

For example, she was involved in the overseas sales of copyrights and the licensing of satellite TV fees. To put it bluntly, she is a female PR expert.

Now, she has begun to concentrate on working for ATV, with a salary of HK$350 million, which is considered a high-income job salary in Hong Kong.

More importantly, she gained more connections and more resources for her man's film career.

Shi Nansheng immediately reported on his work, including the sale of copyrights and prices, in a very clear and orderly manner.

Liu Zhicheng was very happy to hear this. Copyright income has blossomed across the board, including programs, dramas, etc. Even mainland China is now a major copyright customer of ATV.

Then, Liu Zhicheng learned that the number of satellite TV viewers had exceeded 3200 million, covering 38 countries in Asia, and his mood immediately improved.

Based on the current performance of Asia Satellite TV alone, the value of Dragon TV in Li Chaoren's hands will be reduced compared to his previous life.

YG Entertainment President Yu Xiaoming also reported the situation. Through last night's "Music Bank", Gao Yaotai's group officially debuted.

The electronic music group received a huge response in Hong Kong today and it is expected to be a harbinger of another big success.

In fact, although they are very popular, the record sales of the four groups and individuals debuted by YG Entertainment in Hong Kong are still not as high as those of the Four Heavenly Kings.

However, in terms of influence overseas, the Four Heavenly Kings are not as influential as the debut artists of YG Entertainment.

Liu Zhicheng concluded that Hong Kong is still too focused on "Cantonese songs", but there is no such problem overseas, especially in Taiwan.

But no matter what, singing and dancing styles, rap styles, electronic music, etc. are also very popular in Hong Kong.

The successful transformation of ATV has made Liu Zhicheng very optimistic about the prospects of "Hong Kong culture", which is a large industrial chain layout.

It is estimated that it will be mature by 1995. As for the future, it will be time to harvest foreign exchange!

Developing the 'Hong Kong Wave' in Hong Kong has more advantages than developing the Korean Wave in South Korea, because the number of tourists in Hong Kong each year is more than twice the number of local residents.

Hong Kong is a place where four directions meet, and the entertainment industry has been popular in Asia since the 70s.

(End of this chapter)