"I've got another one!" Li Xuan looked at Zheng Yutong, who was walking away, and said to Yang Lingjun and Han Peng beside him with a smile.

Li Xuan profited from the hostile merger and acquisition initiated by Rice Bank against Standard Chartered Bank in the past, and forced the board of directors of Standard Chartered to make concessions with a large amount of equity in his hands, agreeing to let Standard Chartered Hong Kong be separated from the Standard Chartered Group and achieve independent listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Subsequently, Li Xuan carried out a series of complex share swap operations with Standard Chartered Group, replacing his shares in Standard Chartered with shares in Standard Chartered Bank of Hong Kong, thus successfully gaining control of Standard Chartered in Hong Kong. Yang Lingyun, the former chairman of the board of directors of Jiahua Bank, became the new chairman of the board of directors of Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong, representing Li Xuan to control the second largest bank in Hong Kong.

At the dinner just now, Yang Lingjun represented Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong and reached a deeper partnership with Cheng Yutong's New World Group. In view of the high debt of New World Group, Cheng Yutong will launch a series of debt reduction actions. Standard Chartered Hong Kong will become the financial advisor of New World Group in a new round of strategic adjustment.

For Cheng Yutong, with the support of Standard Chartered Bank, the risk of a shipwreck in this round of crisis has undoubtedly been greatly reduced. After all, there has been no significant deterioration in New World Group's main business, commercial real estate. The biggest problem facing the group now is a series of new low-yielding assets that are seriously tying up valuable cash flow.

Standard Chartered was able to provide the cash flow needed by New World Group to help Cheng quickly stabilize the situation. What's more, the role of banks is not limited to the basic business of saving and borrowing money, for example, if you have a Citi black card, Citi's customer representatives can solve all the problems of clothing, food, housing and transportation for you. New World Group will sell some of its assets to recoup cash, and if Standard Chartered can thread the needle through it, the whole process will be much smoother.

Of course, the reason why Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong extended a helping hand to New World Group is certainly not to learn to be a good person. You must know that the banking industry has always been "borrowing umbrellas on sunny days and collecting umbrellas on rainy days", which will only fall into the well, and will not send charcoal in the snow.

Hong Kong Standard Chartered Bank deliberately sent charcoal in the snow this time, and Zheng Yutong naturally wanted to repay the favor. The reward he has to pay is naturally to support Li Xuan's next plan on behalf of the New World Group - to urge the Hong Kong government to increase the annual residential land quota and increase the construction of low-cost public housing. Li Xuan's two plans are by no means good news for Hong Kong real estate developers.

According to the statistics of "Hong Kong Political and Economic Weekly", the personal assets of real estate tycoons such as Li Jiacheng, Guo Desheng, Bao Yugang, Zheng Yutong, and Li Zhaoji have exceeded 1 billion US dollars, and their wealth can be ranked even in the world.

The main reason for the sharp rise in net worth of this cadre is that Hong Kong's real estate industry has risen violently from 1985 to 198-9. The main reasons for this wave are, first, that Hong Kong has a brighter future, and has gradually established itself as an international financial and trade center in the Asia-Pacific region and a bridgehead for international capital to enter China. With the influx of a large amount of overseas funds, the demand for property investment in Hong Kong has continued to peak.

Second, the rapid rise of Hong Kong's electronics industry, represented by the Oriental Bloc, coupled with the fact that the Hong Kong dollar has entered a depreciation cycle along with the US dollar, has led to a sharp increase in Hong Kong's export trade and made Hong Kong's economy grow strongly. And everyone in Hong Kong has shared their dividends from economic growth, such as everyone's wages have begun to rise. It also coincided with the continuous decline in interest rates in Hong Kong's banking industry, especially after the 87 stock market crash, the Hong Kong Banking Association cut interest rates five times in a row, which greatly stimulated the public's enthusiasm for buying houses in peace.

In the face of the surging demand for homeownership, the Hong Kong government is constrained by the agreement in the Joint Declaration that only a maximum of 50 hectares of land can be granted each year, including industrial sites, commercial land and residential land. The imbalance between supply and demand naturally led to the rise in housing prices in Hong Kong, which in turn exacerbated the psychology of speculation and speculation in the property market in Hong Kong society, so housing prices began to soar like a rocket.

Under the background of everyone queuing up to buy pre-sale, various real estate companies naturally make a lot of money. Therefore, the stock price of the real estate sector in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has also soared, and the assets of the major real estate tycoons have swelled sharply in just a few years. Whoever wants to suppress property prices and the property market is undoubtedly cutting meat from the major real estate tycoons.

Li Xuan has this confidence in the whole of Hong Kong, because his assets alone are equivalent to the total wealth of a real estate tycoon. Li Xuan has the qualifications to flip the table directly without playing with me, and under such a strong deterrent, coupled with his initiative to attack vertically and horizontally, he can convince the Hong Kong real estate industry to act according to his wishes.

"Li Sheng, let's strike while the iron is hot, and finally finish the Xinhe Group! I have already made an appointment with Xiao Huangsheng to have lunch together tomorrow, do you want to come forward to entertain you?" Han Peng asked with a smile.

The little Huang Sheng in Han Peng's mouth is Huang Zhixiang, the chairman of Sino Group, and the Huang family is the same as the Guo family of Guo Henian that Li Xuan knew before, they are all cross-river raptors. Kwok Ho Nian is the richest man in Malaysia, while Wong Chi Siong's father, Wong Yan Fang, is the richest man in Singapore.

Wong started his foray into the real estate industry in the early 60s, first with the establishment of the Far East Organization in Singapore, followed by the establishment of Sino Group in the early 70s. Today, Far East Organization has developed into the largest private real estate company in Singapore, and Huang Yanfang has handed over the management of his youngest son. And Huang Yanfang's property in Hong Kong, Sino Group, was handed over by him to his eldest son Huang Zhixiang to take care of.

Prior to joining Oriental Group, Han Peng was responsible for running an electronics factory in Singapore. Part of the shareholding structure of this electronics factory comes from the Huang family's investment. Therefore, Han Peng and the Huang family also have a certain relationship, and with the rapid rise of the Eastern Group, as the second-in-command of the group second only to Li Xuan, the founder, Han Peng's status in Hong Kong is naturally rising.

He is no longer an ordinary worker, but Hong Kong's number one "working emperor". After Huang Zhixiang knew that he still had such a relationship with the chairman of the Oriental Group, he naturally quickly took advantage of this to get up and became friends with Han Peng.

"Are you making an appointment with Xiao Huang Sheng for lunch or dinner? If it's lunch, I really can't spare time! President Zhou of the Hong Kong Xin-Hua Branch invited me to have dinner together, and I can't help but save face when a new official takes office!" Li Xuan said with a smile.

"I'm making an appointment for dinner!" replied Han Peng.

"Then it's okay, you can just stagger it! I will also take this opportunity to meet this little Huang Sheng, the Huang family is very influential in the Chinese capital in Southeast Asia, and we in the Eastern Group can carry out more in-depth cooperation with them!" Li Xuan nodded and said.

According to Li Xuan's current status, he can be on an equal footing with Huang Zhixiang's father Huang Yanfang. But he wasn't actually a person who liked to put on music, and he never felt that he was superior. Of course, Li Xuan's image in Hong Kong's upper-class circles is not an easy person to contact. The reason for this is not that he is arrogant, but that he is lazy and does not want to go to parties with a smirk and talk about non-nutritious topics.

"The previous president Xu went to Los Angeles to 'recuperate', presumably the Xinhua branch should be a chicken flying and a dog jumping these days! I don't know what kind of character this new president Zhou is?" Yang Lingjun answered on the side.

Not long ago, a very shocking incident occurred in the Xinhua branch of Hong Kong, where Xu Jiachun, who had just stepped down from his post as president, did not choose to return to the mainland to spend his old age in peace, but secretly boarded a plane to the United States in the name of "going abroad to recuperate."

This should be the highest-ranking official to stay abroad in an irregular manner since the founding of the People's Republic of China. You must know that before Xu Jiachun became the head of the Hong Kong branch of the Xinhua News Agency, he was already the secretary of the Jiangsu-Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, and a proper ministerial-level official.

"This April is really not very peaceful, there is a mess of Xu Jiachun in Beijing, and the life of the Iron Lady Thatcher in London is even more difficult!" Han Peng also shook his head and said.

This past weekend, nearly 200,000 protesters took to the streets of London to resist the newly introduced poll tax in Downing Street. Margaret Thatcher has reached the point of rebellion, and the British middle class, the most important foundation of her rule, has begun to stand in opposition to her, and it can be said that the Prime Minister of the Iron Lady has become precarious.

Thatcher's forcible push for a poll tax is definitely the biggest stain on her political career, and it is likely to directly destroy all the political prestige she has accumulated before! The contradictions between him and the right-wing factions within the Conservative Party have become irreconcilable. If the Conservative Party wants to avoid a split, then Thatcher's resignation is the best option!" Li Xuan also joined the conversation.

Property tax, a very important part of British taxation, has always been progressive, and the higher the price of the property, the longer the tax will be paid. These taxes are used for public sector expenditures such as education and policing. And this creates a difference between the rich and the poor, like heaven and hell.

The value of real estate in wealthy areas is high, and so is the tax revenue. So the community can build better schools, hire more police, etc. This, in turn, attracted other affluent classes to settle down, resulting in a virtuous cycle of rising property values. On the other hand, there are slums, where a vicious cycle goes on day in and day out.

Thatcher's poll tax changed from the previous progressive tax system to an equal share per person. Her original purpose in formulating this policy was to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor in British society. But in fact, the poll tax has aroused the resentment of all classes in Britain.

Low-income earners are dissatisfied with the fact that they earn as much as the rich pay in taxes. High-income earners are even more dissatisfied with the fact that the taxes they pay are not spent on themselves, but are being used to subsidize those who are left behind. It can be said that since the introduction of the poll tax, Thatcher seems to have become a rat that has been loaded into the bellows, and he is angry at both ends.

Li Xuan naturally didn't care about Thatcher's psychological feelings, what he really cared about was what kind of chain reaction the sudden change in London politics would bring to Hong Kong. The Conservative Party is the majority party in the British Parliament, and even if Thatcher resigns, the new successor prime minister will still be elected from within the Conservative Party.

And now the influence of the right-wing forces within the Conservative Party is rising, and they are dissatisfied with Thatcher's comprehensive compromise with China on the Hong Kong issue. Once Thatcher steps down, the right-wing faction will inevitably gain even more power within the Conservative Party! In another time and space, the next Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten will be a supporter of the right-wing hawks within the British Conservative Party.

As governor of Hong Kong, he immediately became more hawkish on the Chinese side, becoming a powerful-stirring stick in the last few years before Hong Kong's return to the motherland. Li Xuan could almost have predicted that even if the last governor of Hong Kong was not Chris Patten, London would send another hawk figure over.

The new prime minister must use this to appease the right-wing forces in the party. Of course, Thatcher has not resigned yet, and even if she does, it will take time to elect a new prime minister. Hong Kong has never been at the heart of London's politics, and the new prime minister will certainly prioritize those important issues when he takes office.

Li Xuan expects that when the new prime minister is busy with other important matters and has his hands free to change Hong Kong to a new governor, it will be a year later. Therefore, the window period of the next year may be the last quiet period before Hong Kong's return to the motherland, and the next wrestling between China and Britain will only become more and more intense.

In fact, the current Governor of Hong Kong, His Excellency Wilson is quite good, except for the Rose Garden Project, his communication with Beijing is relatively smooth! But it is this Rose Garden Project that is likely to become the Waterloo of his political career. The situation is now developing in a direction that is becoming more and more unfavorable to the Hong Kong government, and the final result is very much a compromise on the part of the British!

And there have been criticisms in London before that Wilson is too weak! So once the Rose Garden project disgraces Downing Street, Wilson should be a scapegoat, and the next governor of Hong Kong is likely to be a hard-line hawk! So while Wilson is still in power, we should seize the time to promote our own plans!" Li Xuan continued to analyze seriously.

In the past few years, Li Xuan has been a centrist who rides the wall, and rarely takes the initiative to speak out about the wrestling between China and Britain. But at this time and then, the strength of the Eastern Bloc was not strong enough, and Hong Kong was still a long time away from the return to the motherland, if Li Xuan chose to stand on the side of Beijing, he would probably be put in small shoes by the Hong Kong government.

More importantly, the date of Hong Kong's return to the motherland is approaching day by day, and everyone knows that the British are already grasshoppers after the autumn and will not be able to jump for long!

At this time, Li Xuan naturally didn't need to hide it anymore. In fact, after surviving last year's landmine, the Eastern Bloc is also adjusting its development strategy for the mainland, changing its cautious and conservative style in the past, and preparing to enter this vast market with the greatest growth potential with a more positive attitude! )