Early August, Kwai Chung Pier.

International Terminals Corporation (ICL) held a celebration of 'Handling 20 Million Containers' with a special invitation to the Governor of Hong Kong, 'Fei Peng', who took office in July.

Because, as soon as Fei Peng took office, he showed his 'pro-people' behavior and inspected the 'sufferings' of the people in Hong Kong, so the Hong Kong media gave very good comments one after another, including the public, and Lin Zhichao thought that Fei Peng could be contacted at this time, so he invited him to participate in this celebration.

Of course, if Fei Peng throws out the 'political reform plan' in the future, Lin Zhichao will definitely avoid suspicion a little, and will not get too close to Fei Peng, so as to avoid the excitement of the official opposite.

Although being a businessman is inseparable from politics, don't take sides!

Kwai Chung Pier.

Fei Peng said with a smile: "Mr. Lin, I heard that you are also investing in container terminals in the mainland, aren't you worried that your business will be robbed?" ”

Investing in container terminals in the Mainland, International Container Terminals Company only holds a 50% stake; The rise of container terminals in the mainland will inevitably take away the business of Hong Kong's container terminals.

Lin Zhichao said calmly: "Even without my investment, such a huge market in the mainland will inevitably develop container terminals. Therefore, international containers are now investing and will not worry about the business being robbed. In particular, the container business is gradually increasing, and the Kwai Chung Terminal in Hong Kong has been reloaded, so the market in this industry is very promising, and there is no need to worry about the lack of business. ”

Lin Ruihuan also said on the side: "With the support of the huge market in the mainland, and Hong Kong has various advantages, even many businesses in the mainland need to come to Hong Kong for transit. ”

Fat Peng laughed and said, "No wonder! Mr. Lin is very discerning in business, and Mr. Kobayashi also said very reasonably, Hong Kong is a good place! ”

When the three of them were talking, the reporters pressed the shutter one after another, only to see Lin Zhichao and his son talking and laughing, I believe that they will be in the headlines again tomorrow!

Sure enough.

The next day, many media in Hong Kong used photos of Lin Zhichao and his son and Fei Peng talking and laughing as headlines, although the content was a celebration of the international container handling of 20 million containers, but there were many extraneous sounds.

Now, when Kwai Chung Container No. 9 is approved, it can be said that many people are concerned about the attitude of the 'new government'!

Prior to this, seven of the nine members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council were Lam's 'private aides'. In general, the Governor of Hong Kong will not deny a resolution of the Legislative Council.

Therefore, if the Legislative Council decides that the Kwai Chung Container Terminal 9 adopts the method of public bidding, who in Hong Kong can compete with the Cheung Kong system, which has tens of billions of cash flow?

Hutchison Whampoa alone can also come up with tens of billions of funds to bid, scaring those consortiums with ideas to death.

In the words of some media, it is a global tender, and there is no consortium in the world that can defeat the Lin Zhichao family in Hong Kong!

And now, many consortia that are interested in competing for Pier 9 see the smile of Fei Peng and Lin Zhichao's father and son when they meet, like a cold day drenched in snow, thinking that things are yellow.

Lin Chaoren, who has a favorable geographical location, now occupies the time again.

Of course, there are also many media critics of the Lin Zhichao family for monopolizing the Kwai Chung container (there is no monopoly law in Hong Kong).

Currently, Hutchison Whampoa's 'International Terminals' controls 12 berths at Kwai Chung Container Terminals 4, 6, 7 and 8; Among them, Kwai Chung Container Terminal No. 8 was jointly won by Modern Container and COSCO Container Group Enterprise CHT in 1990, and each won two berths.

That is to say, among the 20 berths in Kwai Chung (only 1 berth for each of No. 2 and 3, 4 berths for No. 678, and 2 berths for No. 145), international containers account for 11 (50% equity interest of CHT, counted as one berth, COSCO counted as one), accounting for exactly 55% of the share; However, if you add commercial facilities such as container buildings and storage yards, it actually gets more than 60% of the share.

Meanwhile:

Container Terminal 1 belongs to the 'Global Sea and Land Container', and the Global Group of the Lin Zhichao family holds 50% of the equity, which is converted into 1 berth.

Modern Containers, which owns 50% of Containers 2, 3 and 5 and 8, has 6 berths, but Wharf Group holds a 16% stake. Maersk and Rail have a 28% stake, China Merchants 20%, Swire 17.5%, HSBC 6.5%, Jebsen & Co. 5%, and the rest are held by Jardine Matheson and Kadoorie. Converted, the Wharf Group also has a berth.

In fact, the Lin family can be regarded as controlling 15 berths (CHT company, global sea and land control, modern container control 1), accounting for more than 75% of the berths of Hong Kong's Kwai Chung container, counting other commercial parts, that is 80% of the share.

So.

The media used the terms 'estate king' and 'container terminal king' to describe the dominance of the Lin Zhichao family in these two fields.

And now, Lin Zhichao is still not satisfied, and is bound to take the No. 9 container terminal into his pocket.

The international container industry has impressive performance and rich experience, and is known as the head snake in Kwai Chung.

'Kwai Chung Pier No. 9, whose house is the flower'

Many media have followed up and reported and conducted all-round analysis and reporting.

A month later, Lin Zhichao returned to Hong Kong from Panama.

This trip to Panama is at the request of the Panamanian government to invest in an airport and hotel on a tourist island; The two sides talked very happily, and the Panamanian government even wanted to give Lin Zhichao a gambling card, but Lin Zhichao politely refused.

He will not take the gamble, even if it is business, even if this gambling card can be sold at a very high price, but Lin Zhichao still did not take it. In any case, his relationship with the Panamanian government has always been extraordinary.

As early as the fifties, he had ships registered in Panama, and in these years he also acquired some assets in Panama, but not many; However, this investment is still relatively large, involving 200 million US dollars, and the investment is made in the name of Hutchison Whampoa.

Panama is the southernmost country in Central America, and in the eighties the United States intervened in the country and propped up a pro-American government that came to power, because Panama controlled the management of the Central Panama Canal.

In fact, Lin Zhichao's investment in Panama is also to take the ports at both ends of the Panama Canal. Under normal circumstances, whether it is through the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal, there is a queue. And during the waiting time, you need to call at the local port and miss it, so if you take the ports at both ends of the Panama Canal, it is equivalent to getting a stable source of income.

What's more, as a tax haven, Panama has a lot of entrepot trade business, and the port business is naturally not worried.

Today, Hutchison Whampoa's energy and telecommunications are still in the investment stage, and there is almost no profit; However, the profit of the port business has accounted for 35% of the group, which is about the same as retail and real estate.

However, Hutchison Whampoa's real estate profits are not promising, because it will be developed soon, it is not a real estate developer, it is only using its own land for development, and it is the same as the nature of HK Electric.

In addition to energy, telecommunications, ports, retail, and real estate, Hutchison Whampoa also has a large number of other businesses, such as finance, manufacturing, trading, shipping, etc., which are quite a lot of businesses, but other businesses are not major investments.

Cheung Kong Industrial.

Lin Ruihuan reported: "Dad, Fei Peng removed four members of the Legislative Council and replaced him. ”

Lin Zhichao was not surprised, and said: "A gentleman, a courtier - what the ancients said is very reasonable, so there is no need to be surprised, we never rely on political and business collusion." ”

Although 7 of the first 9 legislators are Lin Zhichao's 'personal staff', in fact, everyone has no 'interests', and in the end, many of them joined Lin Zhichao's company and served as a director, in fact, they were nominal, or some of them had invested in the 'real estate trust REITS' established by Lin Zhichao and made a lot of money. And what Lin Zhichao got from them was nothing more than one - fair competition.

For example, in the dispute over the No. 9 container terminal, Lin Zhichao just hopes to adopt the method of 'open bidding', which is very reasonable!

Lam said: "I heard that there is a voice from members of the Legislative Council that the bidding method for Pier 9 is no longer open bidding, but agreement bidding - not based on high price as the only criterion for winning the bid, but on the comprehensive conditions of the bidders. ”

Lin Zhichao said: "Comprehensive conditions are a soft indicator, and there is a lot of flexibility. However, the comprehensive conditions of the international container terminal company are very good, the design and planning, construction and management experience of the container terminal are all international benchmarks, and it is also the world's largest container terminal company (the number of containers handled). ”

In fact, he already had a bad premonition in his heart, but he wouldn't say it.

Soldiers will block the water and cover the earth, this is his consistent style!

You have a good plan, I have a wall ladder to see who has the last laugh in the end.

Lin Ruihuan said too steadily: "Dad, public opinion outside generally believes that the Hong Kong government does intend to weaken our family's monopoly position in the container terminal. I'm afraid that the Hong Kong government is also isolated now, so now many other consortia are ready to move and start gangs and factions, intending to seize the No. 9 container terminal! ”

Since the beginning of this year, Ma Shimin has been somewhat neglected, mainly reflected in the fact that Lin Zhichao did not take him to the mainland project, and secondly, Lin Ruihuan began to participate in the affairs of Hutchison Whampoa and served as an executive director.

Lin Zhichao said: "It's useless to think too much, let's make a good plan!" ”

Lin Ruihuan nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go to Ma Shimin and Huo Jianning to discuss and come up with the best plan!" ”

Lin Zhichao has 'taken a back seat', so naturally he will not participate in the specific plan.

Three days later, an incident occurred that made the ownership of Container Terminal 9 confusing.

Fei Peng invited Lin Zhichao to join the 'Governor's Commerce Committee', but Lin Zhichao politely refused, and asked Lin Ruihuan to participate in his place; Fei Peng readily agreed, and then invited Lin Ruikai, the president of the media group, to join the Commerce Committee.

As the so-called county officials are not as good as the current management, Fei Peng is still Lin Zhichao's 'boss', and he has to give face. Eventually, two second-generation members of the Lin family joined the 'Governor's Business Council'.

For a time, the whole Hong Kong was in an uproar!

It has also become evidence that the hypothetists believe that the relationship between Lin Zhichao and Peng Du is extraordinary.

79 Deep Water Bay.

Lin Zhichao was in the study and had a meeting with his five sons.

'Lin's Five Tigers' and 'Lin's Shuangfeng' are nicknames given by Hong Kong public opinion, describing Lin Zhichao's five sons and two daughters as 'successors' to a group company. The tiger is in the middle, forming a powerful local wealthy family.

In fact, neither of the two phoenixes has yet reached the level of succession, at most, they are the vice presidents of Shangri-La Hotel Group and Uniqlo Enterprises.

"Since Fei Peng came to power, various behaviors have shown that he came with a kind of political manipulation. Therefore, after the two brothers Ruihuan and Ruikai entered the Business Committee, they should not participate in political-related topics, speak less, and keep a low profile. ”

Lin Ruihuan and Lin Ruikai immediately nodded and agreed!

"Good"

"Hmm"

Lin Ruicheng asked curiously: "Dad, what is the idea of this fat Peng?" As soon as he came to power, there were all kinds of pro-people shows, which were very different from the previous Hong Kong governors, and he felt very eager to behave. It stands to reason that the British will withdraw from Hong Kong in five years, so what else to toss? ”

Lin Zhichao said thoughtfully: "Under the British system, Hong Kong has no right to choose - the governor of Hong Kong is appointed by London, officials are appointed, and legislators and district councilors are not elected by one vote. ”

The five brothers were suddenly surprised, and Lin Ruicheng said: "Of course it's big, wouldn't it leave the trouble to the new government in the future?"

Lin Ruihuan said: "I am afraid that there will be many contradictions with the other side, and more seriously, there will be shocks in Hong Kong, which will affect the economy."

Lin Zhichao waved his hand and said: "It's not a big problem, the important thing is that we don't get involved, and you should be cautious in your words and deeds in this regard." If you are in business, don't get involved in this kind of thing, and make sure that you don't get a leaf on your body! ”

"Yes, Daddy!" The five brothers said in unison.

Don't look at the fact that my father made friends with many political leaders, including Thatcher, Reagan, Kennedy and others, and he is a very close existence; But I never found out that my father was involved in other national politics, and he didn't use these connections to make profits, but more about mutual benefit - I will invest, and you will give me fair opportunities and a good environment.

Then, Lin Zhichao said: "After the 90s, Hong Kong people's worship of tycoons gradually decreased, especially under the high housing prices, the society will pass on the conflict to businessmen like us. Of course, we don't need to care about this, we are all doing business legally, and charity is not less, as long as we have a clear conscience. ”

The five brothers nodded, and Lin Ruikai said: "We don't just have a clear conscience, what my father brought to Hong Kong is a huge wealth of the whole people. In the early days, the Universal Group."

Lin Zhichao smiled: "You still care a little about those public opinions!" ”

Lin Ruikai said: "A little bit, after all, what we have brought to Hong Kong is far from other rich people. ”

What he meant was that Cheung Kong's technology, manufacturing, and video games, as well as the media group's 'comics' and 'Hong Kong culture', were all gifts from the Lam family to Hong Kong.

Lin Zhichao said seriously: "We are also profiteers, so we don't need such thoughts." What's more, Hong Kong is the root of our Lam family, and we have an obligation to develop it. ”

At his age, he doesn't care too much about fame!

Lin Ruikai nodded and said, "Well, I understand!" Lin Zhichao said with satisfaction: "It's good to understand, don't be attached to some things."

In fact, he originally wanted to say that some Hong Kong people will become more and more dissatisfied with the tycoon, and they want everyone to strengthen the safety of their families.

But come to think of it, there is no need to intervene so early.

The kidnapping of the rich man by the Big Circle Gang began in 1996, and another thing happened in advance - Ye Jihuan entered Hong Kong with arms and was seriously injured and arrested.

Therefore, Lin Zhichao only needs to arrange strong security in 1995, and then arrange some grandchildren to study abroad in advance, which is not a big problem.

Especially when there is a signal of Ye Jihuan's arrest, of course, it is possible that history will not repeat itself, but the kidnapping must have happened around that time.

Because at this time, Hong Kong citizens are not enough dissatisfied with the tycoons, and the kidnappers will not realize that there is a kidnapping of rich people to make money by robbing jewelry.

Hong Kong's 'king of thieves' also has a 'generation', and there is no time for the next generation to be renewed.

Jardine Headquarters.

Jardine Matheson and Sun Hung Kai are negotiating about the battle for Container Terminal 9.

This time, Jardine Matheson and Sun Hung Kai formed a consortium to win the No. 9 container terminal.

Simon Keswick said: "Mr. Guo, the key point of this victory is to directly exclude international containers! ”

Guo Bingxiang and other Sun Hung Kai executives suddenly became curious, and Guo Bingxiang said: "How can I exclude it? ”

International containers, both in terms of financial strength and experience, far exceed their consortium; The only advantage of their consortium is that it has collected both British and Hong Kong capital.

Simon said: "As far as I know, the Hong Kong government intends to exclude international containers, but it must be worried about many things. Therefore, if public opinion from outside supports them, then the Hong Kong government will naturally exclude them. Therefore, we need to build momentum and attack the international container monopoly in the newspapers, and believe that more people will join it. ”

Guo Bingxiang is not Guo Desheng, and he is still grateful to Lin Zhichao for his kindness back then, so he was quickly persuaded by Ximen.

What's more, competition in business is no longer avoidable.

The competition among Hong Kong tycoons is also becoming more and more intense.

The days that followed.

The monopoly of the Hong Kong market by the International Container Terminal Company has been attacked by various consortia that want to seize Pier 9, and their "self-interested" views are very popular in the industrial and commercial circles, the media circles, and the Hong Kong government.

Some legislators said in the media that experience and financial resources should not be the first condition, but should consider the seriousness of the monopoly. According to the general international rules, if a company's market share reaches more than 5%, it can be determined to be in a monopoly position; If it is more than 7 percent, it is a high degree of monopoly.

Some economists believe that monopoly is not conducive to the development of the industry, and will also cause government management to get out of control, and manufacturers in a monopoly position can monopolize prices, and because there are no competitors or their opponents are too weak, they do not want to reform their operations and improve their technology.

There are also legal experts who argue that the government exercises patent management and price control for industries that are not subject to monopoly (water supply, electricity supply, gas supply, etc.), while allowing and encouraging free competition in other industries. Unlike other countries, the Hong Kong government does not enact anti-monopoly laws (the core of which is to curb the development of the monopoly party and support the weaker party), and the Hong Kong government pursues an active non-interference policy in the operation and development of enterprises. However, when it comes to exercising its limited rights, "balance" should be one of the factors in its choice.

Late September.

The Hong Kong government officially announced that the four berths at Pier 9 will be granted to British-funded Jardine Matheson and Chinese-funded Sun Hung Kai consortiums for construction and operation.

Public opinion is in an uproar!

It's one thing to have public opinion in advance, it's another thing to really grant it directly.

In other words, even if the international container directly has absolute strength, the Hong Kong government directly excludes it.

Doing so is actually unfair!

Cheung Kong Group.

Lin Zhichao, who learned the news, did not get angry because of this!

He knows that things will still turn around, because the Hong Kong government will not get the support of the mainland if it does this!

According to the agreement negotiated between China and Britain that year, major projects need to be communicated, and now the Hong Kong government does not issue cards in accordance with the regulations, and the mainland can use it completely - I will not admit this 'approval' after 97.

Let's ask, do Jardine Matheson and Sun Hung Kai dare to invest a penny?

The answer is no.

What Lin Zhichao has to do is not to express his stance and not to participate in Feipeng's next political reform, so he is bound to win the No. 9 container terminal!

"Guo Desheng Family"

He muttered softly, and then did not follow.

Of course, Lin Zhichao would not have the idea of deliberately targeting Guo Desheng's family, after all, his current social status is much more exquisite.

Although the consortium formed by Sun Hung Kai and Jardine Matheson criticized the media for being too monopolistic in international containers, this is not excessive, and it belongs to business.

If he targets others because of this, he will be called a small belly.

Moreover, other consortia have joined in the attack.

In business, if it is Lin Zhichao, he will also use such a competitive method.

So in the future, if it is Lin Zhichao, he will not be merciful.

(End of chapter)