After the Spring Festival, Lin Zhichao went to Japan to attend a summit of Japan's shipbuilding and shipping industry, and attended the meeting as a guest.

Since the outbreak of the Suez Canal crisis, countries have been talking about the development of ocean-going steamers in the direction of 'big'.

Because everyone understands that the Middle East is a powder keg, you can't rely on the Suez Canal alone; In this way, the idea is that although the distance of the voyage has increased, if the ship is large enough, it can offset the consumption of time.

In later generations, the world divided maritime ships into: Panama ship type, Suez ship type, and Cape of Good Hope ship type.

This means:

The maximum number of ships that can pass through the Panama Canal is about 60,000 tons, so ships of about 60,000 tons are called 'Panama ship type';

The maximum number of ships that can pass through the Suez Canal is about 150,000 tons, so ships of about 150,000 tons are called 'Suez type';

As for the deadweight of more than 150,000 tons, they are called 'Cape of Good Hope type', and Taiwan Island is called 'Cape type'.

Lin Zhichao is now a shipping expert, and Japanese shipbuilding experts and government departments specially invited him to a meeting; Of course, there is also a potential meaning, that is, I hope Lin Zhichao can build ships in Japan.

Of course, Lin Zhichao did not refuse, saying that he could place an order at any time, provided that the oil tanker could not be less than 80,000 tons and the cargo ship could not be less than 50,000 tons.

You can build one for each of you first, and Japanese customers will lease it for a long time, and it doesn't matter if the price is cheaper; Large-scale shipbuilding began in 1959.

Back to Hong Kong.

Lin Zhichao also participated in the inauguration ceremony of the 'Hong Kong Shipowners Association', a business organization initiated by 12 local shipowners in Hong Kong, including Lin Zhichao, the largest Hong Kong shipowner.

The participants at the conference were not only 12 local shipowners, but also some shipowners who joined later, as well as many non-shipowners, who were all professionals and institutions serving the shipping industry.

At the meeting, everyone talked to each other first.

"Dong Sheng, congratulations on the launch of the new ship and catch up with the good time!" Lin Zhichao and Dong Haoyun greeted each other.

Tung Ho-wan's bulk carrier, which was launched last year, is the second owner in Hong Kong to build a new ship, while Lam Chi-chiu is of course the first to build a new ship (an ocean-going vessel).

"I'm happy and happy, I heard that Lin Sheng has built a lot of big oil tankers, and it's just in time for a good time."

Lin Zhichao said modestly: "Where, where!" Dong Sheng is a senior in the shipping industry, and I am just a junior. I have carefully read the books written by Dong Sheng, "Huaxia Ocean Shipping Industry and Huaxia Shipping Company" and "Caring Between China's Shipping Industry in the Past 25 Years."

Dong Haoyun replied: "Lin Sheng's "On the Prospect of Container Containers" written in "Shipping" back then, I also read it carefully and thought it was true. And the Americans have proved Mr. Lin's ideas through practice."

Lin Zhichao published "On the Prospect of Container Containers" in 1954, when his idea was to raise his reputation; However, he did not have the strength to develop, after all, he had to persuade two regions to invest. Malcolm McLean, an American, invested more than $40 million in the container industry to purchase transportation fleets, ports and other facilities.

Such a large investment, even if Lin Zhichao persuaded the Hong Kong government and Japan (the volume of trade is large), he was reluctant to invest. Although he did not succeed in practice, he is still regarded as the world's 'long-term vision' of the shipper.

"It's over! I'm talking on paper, but Malcolm McLean is the real contributor to the industry, the father of containers, and I believe that containers will become an important part of the world's shipping in the sixties. ”

"I agree with Mr. Lin that the advantages of container shipping are: convenient unloading, reducing unloading costs, and ensuring the integrity of goods to the greatest extent"

The two chatted on the spot, causing many onlookers.

At this time, Lin Zhichao already had an idea in his heart, that is, to invest in the container terminal in the early sixties.

Of course, it is impossible to eat alone, and the Hong Kong government will not agree to it, because they will definitely join the British capital.

However, there is an advantage that HSBC is British-owned, and Jardine Matheson and Swire are probably not interested, they have their own docks; Therefore, it is only necessary to let HSBC and Wheelock join, Lin Zhichao takes the majority, and then pull Dong Haoyun in.

That's it, that's it!

Lin Zhichao and Dong Haoyun, the two boasted about each other's business.

At present, the three largest Chinese shipowners in Hong Kong are Lin Zhichao, Hui Aizhou, and Dong Haoyun; Among them, the fleet owned and managed by Dong Haoyun should also be about 200,000 tons.

Next, Lin Zhichao greeted Dong Haoyun's father-in-law, 'Gu Zongrui', Gu Zongrui was a 'big shipowner' in the mainland in the early years; in 1949, Gu Zongrui and Dong Haoyun both moved to Hong Kong, both smart people, did not learn the king of ships.

Lu Chuanwang is the idol of all Chinese shipowners, during the Anti-Japanese War, he transferred industrial equipment to the southwest to protect the national industry, scuttled the ship and sank the Yangtze River to organize the Japanese invaders, and many things were done by the Dagong and fearless, and he was known as "one of the four most unforgettable people in the Chinese national industry", and the other three were: Zhang Zhidong of heavy industry, Zhang Qian of light industry, and Fan Xudong of chemical industry.

Next, the meeting officially began.

The conference unanimously elected Gu Zongrui as the first president of the 'Hong Kong Shipowners Association', although Lin Zhichao has more career, but seniority is obviously more important, and Lin Zhichao has no intention of running for this place.

In October 1949, Gu Zongrui won the bid for the 5,000-ton "Lei Mengna" ship for 105,000 US dollars, renamed the "Wanli" ship, and with his outstanding reputation and good connections, he mortgaged the British Chamber of Commerce Defeng Company, owned the first ship after arriving in Hong Kong, and founded the Wanli Steamship Company, with the eldest son Gu Guomin as the general manager.

Although his son-in-law is not as big as his son-in-law's development career, he is also steady and has several ocean-going freighters.

To be honest, an ocean-going ship is already a fairly large company, after all, it is at least an asset of more than one million Hong Kong dollars.

The first 'Hong Kong Shipowners Association' went very smoothly, during which everyone also invited Lin Zhichao to give a speech on stage, after all, the most attractive person present is, of course, Lin Zhichao, a million-level shipowner. Gu Zongrui was chosen as the president because of his age and early fame; If Lin Zhichao has the heart to compete, the result is not certain.

Lin Zhichao saw that everyone was looking at him very eagerly, so he didn't shirk it, he walked up to the podium and began to give an off-script speech.

"Hello everyone, today you have kindly invited me to speak a few words, then I will say a few words. The theme of my talk today is "On the Development Prospects of Hong Kong's Maritime Industry".

As we all know, when it comes to 'shipping', of course, the first thing that comes to mind is the 'European and American fleet', Britain and the United States and other countries used to have or are now the world's largest fleets, but due to the sharp increase in the salaries of shipowners, European and American shipowners have become more and more overwhelmed; these countries have strong seafarers' unions, and if shipowners adopt low wages or hire third-world crews, they will inevitably attract the intervention and accusations of seafarers' unions, in this case, shipowners can only tighten the size of their fleets.

Next, there are the second-generation shipping stars Greece and Japan, which rose rapidly in the mid-fifties, with the Greek Onassis and Livanos, and the Japanese steamship, the Japanese Sanko, and the Yamaguchi steamer. However, these countries will also encounter the difficulties of Western shipowners, and it is only in the past few years that they have come to an end.

Therefore, we in Hong Kong belong to the third generation of shipping stars. Hong Kong's industrial economy is growing rapidly and has great potential for overall economic development. The wages of Hong Kong seafarers are relatively stable, affected by the steady flow of workers from the Mainland and Southeast Asia. Hong Kong's tax rate is the lowest in the world, which is suitable for shipowners to avoid tax reasonably. Hong Kong is a free trade port, and capital comes and goes freely

Finally, let's talk about the development potential of world shipping: since the Battle of the Peninsula, it is difficult for the world to have a large-scale battle in the world, and countries also need to develop their economies; In this way, trade around the world will be facilitated. Currently, 90% of the world's trade is carried out by sea. Therefore, some economists assert that the world's shipping has a 25-year development period.

Under the circumstance that the external and internal conditions are very good, I am personally very optimistic about the development of Hong Kong's shipping industry, and I am willing to make progress together with you and make my own contribution to Hong Kong's shipping industry. ”

Applause!

Thunderous applause!

The speech was 'ordinary', it didn't talk about seamanship or seamanship management, but it was about 'confidence'. In terms of Lin Zhichao's own experience, he is a legend, and these words are more convincing than anyone else.

Mid-February, Star Island.

In a restaurant, Lin Zhichao and Councillor Li sat together, and every time he came to Sing Tao, he would find an opportunity to ask Councillor Li to get together. After all, Sing Tao is a place dominated by Chinese after all, and it can be used as the second base of the Lin family in the future.

"Mr. Lin came to Sing Tao this time, what project are you going to invest in?" During the meal, Councillor Lee asked casually.

He has a good impression of Lin Zhichao, because Lin Zhichao has always been very optimistic about the development prospects of Sing Tao, and Lin Zhichao has become an influential Chinese businessman.

"We plan to open a department store on Orchard Road, which is expected to open within three years," Lin said. ”

Changjiang Real Estate has two plots of land on Orchard Road, and Lin Zhichao plans to open a department store quickly, and then demolish it in the future and build a complex of shopping malls and office buildings.

Councillor Li suddenly said curiously: "The place on Orchard Road has not yet been developed, will it be risky for you to develop a department store?" ”

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "The Cathy Building (16 storeys), the first skyscraper in Sing Tao, was located on Orchard Road in the 40s. Although there is still only The Cathy Building, I believe that Orchard Road will become a bustling area of Sing Tao in the future due to its proximity to the city. At the same time, wherever I open a department store, it will drive popularity. ”

At this time, Councilor Li naturally hadn't thought of planning Sing Dao, but he still had a good impression of Lin Zhichao's investment in Orchard Road.

"Makes sense! Maybe with your commercial building, someone will invest in Orchard Road next, which will drive the economic development of Orchard Road. What kind of product collection is Mr. Lam's department store, which is it a Hong Kong product? ”

He knows that Hong Kong's industry has developed well in the past three to four years.

Seeing that Hon Lee was interested in business, Mr Lam Chi-chiu felt that he could build a good relationship in advance.

"I'm going to work with a Japanese department store to bring it to Sing Tao Orchard Road. In recent years, Japanese products have become popular all over the world, so Japanese department stores have become more mature. What does Hon Lee think? ”

When Lin Zhichao asked himself, Councilor Li was a little surprised, and then he figured it out again. This super-rich man is investing in himself, betting that he will become a political figure and escort his business in the future.

Although he hated private businessmen a little, he did not hate Lin Zhichao, because Lin Zhichao's achievements in the field of shipping and industry would be helpful to the development of Sing Tao in the future.

"I don't think there's a problem! Although Japan has caused great harm to Asia, if the local economy can be developed, then there will be no problem in introducing it. ”

Sure enough, it's a pragmatist.

Lin Zhichao said: "The introduction of Japanese department stores can cultivate the growth of local peers, learn from the strengths of others, and make up for their own shortcomings. ”

Councilor Li skipped Lin Zhichao's 'Chinese culture' directly, and asked, "Mr. Lin, what do you think of XXXX?" ”

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "I don't ask about politics, I only look at the local business environment, economic development, and people's living standards, if these ideals are all utopias for investment." ”

Councillor Li then understood that Lin Zhichao had no psychology of interfering in the politics of Sing Tao, and completely fancied that Sing Tao had a Chinese foundation, so he came to invest.

That's right, Sing Tao welcomes such people to invest, provided that they invest under the guidance of the government.

After the meeting with Councillor Lee, Lin Zhichao came to Orchard Road, followed by Huang Changhong and other men.

"I plan to build a four-storey department store on this site, which is similar to an inverted 'stilt' and can be modern with a bit of European style. After the building was completed, we introduced Japanese department stores, and we set up theaters on one or two of the upper floors, and rented out some of the restaurants to the public. ”

He introduced Japanese department stores because Japanese products sell well, and the Japanese department store industry is developed and the service is considerate. But it doesn't mean that he will completely hand over the management, restaurants, theaters, etc., that is, he will use the popularity of Japanese department stores to complete a 'shopping mall' layout.

Huang Changhong nodded and said, "Then we have to set up a retail department, otherwise we will work in this area." ”

Lin Zhichao said: "Not only that, but I also plan to position Changjiang Real Estate as a 'commercial project management company' and be responsible for rent collection projects in the future." ”

Huang Changhong quickly understood the boss's idea, the development of real estate and commercial real estate are separated, although it is still part of a group company, but the management is definitely clearer.

"Then this project also has to prepare a separate project team, it is best to network some local talents, and then transfer some management personnel from Cheung Kong."

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "You can prepare!" ”

"Okay"

Next, he stayed in Sing Tao for two more days, not only to inspect the factory, but also to inspect the environment of Sing Tao.

For the Orchard Road department store project, he has more of a 'preconceived' attitude. And this four-story department store building may be demolished in about 20 years.

Because at that time, Orchard Road is planned to be a shopping street, and everyone is a high-rise shopping mall, and his four-storey department store building is naturally out of place.

Of course, the land is still Lin Zhichao's, and the Singapore government cannot confiscate it, only Lin Zhichao needs to build a shopping center.

And if you build a shopping mall and an office building model now, there will be no leased office at all, after all, Sing Tao is not even a country. It was only in the 60s that it began to develop slowly, and at that time, Congressman Li happened to take office. (End of chapter)