Historically, negotiations between the mainland government and the British on the return of Hong Kong began in September '82, after the Iron Lady almost fell on the stairs in front of Tiananmen Square.

In fact, whether it is in the business world or the political world, the bigwigs may only talk about an issue casually for a while, but the teams of both sides behind the scenes may invest hundreds or thousands of people to negotiate the details.

As early as 79 years, MacLehose once visited the capital and indirectly asked about the future of Xiangjiang, and the reply he received was very tough: it was inevitable for the mainland government to take back Xiangjiang!

After MacLehose returned to Xiangjiang, he reported the situation to the British government, and the British Foreign Office began to make formal preparations to deal with the affairs of Xiangjiang.

The recovery of Xiangjiang is very simple for the mainland government, but because of the reform and opening up, the closed interior needs the help of Xiangjiang, a combination of China and the West.

Before the Iron Lady's visit to China, the British Foreign Office, the British Government in Hong Kong, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Mainland had actually negotiated and exchanged views on this matter countless times, and although no agreement was reached, the other side's ideas and bottom lines were basically clear.

Political negotiations have always been a process of decision-making, and the two sides can only sit down and negotiate slowly when it is impossible to use force, which is related to the dignity of the two big countries, and all the existence that can be co-opted as favorable factors are the objects of common pursuit by both sides, among which the business tycoons of Xiangjiang are the most important of them.

In a capitalist society, capital is king, not only because the capitalists have money, but because they can provide a large number of jobs for the region, control the economic resources of countless people, and even film and television media are owned by them, which plays a vital role in social stability.

If the economy of Xiangjiang collapses after taking over, the mainland, which has already begun to try to integrate into the global community, will inevitably be questioned by some hostile countries in the West.

At the same time, the British government in Hong Kong has also been courting all parties on the island to strengthen the business community, especially in the past decade, the rise of Chinese capital in Hong Kong, British capital began to decline, or gradually transferred assets out of Hong Kong.

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On April 20th, after nightfall, the lights of the Governor's Mansion on Centipet Road in Central were brilliant, and countless luxury cars drove into the Governor's Mansion one by one, and after the owner got out of the car, he left through the back door.

In order to ensure safety, the police department has arranged thousands of police forces around the Hong Kong Governor's Mansion to ensure the smooth holding of the banquet.

By the time Xu Zhi arrived, there were already many acquaintances in the banquet hall, including Li Jiacheng, Bao Yugang, Lee Shau Kee, Bao Fuda, Niu Bijian and others.

Standard Chartered Bank's Cydes saw Xu Zhi and raised his glass to salute, Xu Zhi also smiled, took a glass of liquor from the tray of a waiter passing by, saluted back, and walked to Cydes' side.

"It's a very interesting scene here today, although there are a lot of people, but it's not lively enough!" said Edus with a smile.

"It's all about your own future, so it's naturally more cautious. Xu Zhi nodded and smiled.

Whether it is the mainland government or the British government in Hong Kong, they all hope that some businessmen in Xiangjiang can stand on their side clearly, and the number of influential tycoons in the entire Xiangjiang exceeds 100, but there are only a handful of people who can really do it.

The Jardine Matheson Group has made it clear that it supports the UK, while the Huo Yingdong family supports the mainland. Most of the others are bets on both sides, or even if they support one side, they only show it through business practices.

On the one hand, it participates in the meeting of the British-funded foreign banks held by the Hong Kong government in the name of the four major British-funded foreign banks, and on the other hand, it has carried out various cooperation with the mainland, and its Cathay Pacific Airways has opened new routes with several cities in the mainland, and has also built a joint venture with the mainland government to build a canning plant specializing in the production of Coca-Cola, and this project has also earned a lot of foreign exchange funds for the mainland.

Representatives of the Chinese, such as Li Jiacheng, Bao Yugang and others, donated to build universities and five-star hotels in the mainland, in fact, to show their position, but it is unlikely that they will be like Huo Yingdong and publicly show it.

This is actually the choice of a normal businessman, two of the world's top regimes clash against each other, and no one wants to get involved, after all, one is bankrupt if one is not careful, not to mention that even if the one you support wins, it is not a good thing to offend the other.

Cydes nodded and said with a smile: "Xu Sheng, I am very interested in the ATMs that the Bank of East Asia has built in various places in Xiangjiang recently, and our Standard Chartered Bank is also preparing to install this kind of equipment in Xiangjiang, I wonder if the Bank of East Asia can provide some technical help?"

Since six months ago, BEA has introduced more than 500 ATMs from the United States, and invited American professional companies to connect with the senior management of BEA, and connected the ATMs released on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon with the IBM servers in the BEA headquarters building, so that BEA has more than 500 "outlets" in an instant.

HSBC, Standard Chartered and other banks are naturally looking at this change, and also want to follow the investment, Standard Chartered Bank has a lot of money, so it is natural to contact professional companies in the United States, but in the financial field, time is money, and American companies can provide technical support, but how to maximize the benefits and effects when operating, Standard Chartered Bank is also ignorant of this new type of ATM equipment, and if it gets the help of the Bank of East Asia, which has been in operation for half a year, Standard Chartered will be able to take the lead in the layout before HSBC.

"No problem, BEA and Standard Chartered are long-term partners and we are proud to grow together. Xu Zhi nodded in agreement.

Even though BEA has expanded several times, it is still far from banks such as HSBC Standard Chartered, and at present, BEA and Standard Chartered are not competitors, and there are many projects to work with, so it is not a problem to help Standard Chartered.

Not to mention that ATMs are devices that will sooner or later be popularized by major banks, and it is useless to hide them now.

Xu Zhi took out a card from his chest pocket and continued: "Mr. Saidus, the Bank of East Asia intends to launch a card called Octopus, which can be used in any of my companies in the service industry, such as Kowloon Motor Bus, Parknshop, and Kuson's Pharmacy, and can also be used to deposit and withdraw money at the ATMs of the Bank of East Asia. ”

"Isn't this the equivalent of a regular bank card?" said Saidus, taking the card and looking at it.

"It's still a little different, this Octopus doesn't involve large-value transactions, and there is no transfer function and password, and the function I define for this kind of card is convenience. Xu Zhi explained with a smile.

Edus is a smart person, and after thinking about it for a while, he understood, and said, "Xu Sheng, are you going to push this kind of card to the entire Xiangjiang?"

"Yes, so I hope Mr. Sides will be able to join the camp. Xu Zhi said with a smile that the number of customers of Standard Chartered Bank is all over Hong Kong, and with the help of Standard Chartered, it will be more conducive to the promotion of Octopus.

"Yes, I'll come up with a plan to add billboards in all branch halls. Said with a smile as he nodded.