In the first five months of this year, public opinion in Hong Kong began to favor property developers, and blamed the Hong Kong government for not selling land.

However, in late May, Hong Kong's major real estate developers jointly 'joined hands to bid for land' at a land auction, which was intended to put pressure on the Hong Kong government.

On May 27, Ta Kung Pao published an editorial that said: "It can be said that this is a rare cold situation in the auction hall in recent years. In the past, most of the bidding was fierce and hit new highs...... In fact, the sudden drop in land prices by one-third is not a blessing for Hong Kong's economy as a whole. Taking the reaction to the land sale on May 26 as an example, the stock market was the first to be affected, and real estate stocks fell sharply, and investors were at a loss......"

"The price of land is too high, and I have to go back; Property prices are too expensive and out of touch with the purchasing power of the public, so adjustments need to be made. This is the consensus of everyone, and we hope to see this situation happen in an orderly, gentle, and slow manner, rather than a sharp rise followed by a sharp fall. The land sale on May 26 is the product of special circumstances and special factors, and cannot be based on this, otherwise it will increase the instability of Hong Kong's economy and be detrimental to a smooth transition......"

"Many people have objections to the practice of 'joint land investment' by developers on the land sale on May 26. This is not to prohibit developers from forming a consortium to buy land, but to prevent a disguised monopoly situation. If that were the case, it would not be a fair market. ”

"Capitalism" magazine said: "Before the 70s, there were often real estate developers cooperating to bid for land in Hong Kong's official land auctions...... With the institutionalization of the official land auction system and payment terms, coupled with the self-discipline of property developers, the old method of working together to reduce prices and privately share profits is no longer the same. The repetition of the old tactics has drawn fierce criticism from the public. ”

According to market analysts, since more than half a year, the Hong Kong government has continuously tightened restrictions on the purchase and sale of buildings, and the effect of stabilizing property prices has been effective.

Some people also believe that the joint monopoly of land prices by real estate developers will reduce the government's treasury revenue, and the government's money will have to be used in Hong Kong, and the UK will not be able to take a cent, so it is not advisable for real estate developers to sacrifice the government's treasury revenue; There are also people who believe that real estate developers will not 'buy flat goods' and will not 'buy flat flats', and home buyers do not want to buy flat buildings, and real estate developers will lower land prices just to make more amazing profits.

Criticism and condemnation poured into real estate developers from all directions. These real estate developers just 'exchanged fire' with the Hong Kong government and 'won a big victory', but they did not hear a single cheer. They were immediately in a situation of 'isolation' in Hong Kong, which they did not expect.

Cheung Kong Group.

Lin Zhichao looked at the news in the newspaper, with a helpless face, Cheung Kong Group was purely 'coerced', after all, as the 'handsome tiger' of Hong Kong real estate, there is no reason not to be on the same front as major real estate developers.

To be honest, with his current value, making a little less money on real estate is nothing at all!

He picked up the phone and dialed a number.

After a while, Lin Ruihuan and Zhou Huaian came to his office.

"Huai'an, you give up the position of manager of those two projects, don't hold it!"

Last time at auction: The auctioneer offered HK$1.8 billion for a piece of land in Fanling, plus HK$20 million per bid. There were 8 minutes after the auction was opened, and in the auction room, the word "long" can be used for 8 minutes without bidding. After that, Oriental Group first undertook the bid, Paliburg bid, and then New World bid to HK$1.98 billion. Several major bidding consortiums are extremely busy. In the bidding process, the consortium finally completed the grand alliance, and finally the Oriental Group came forward to bid for 2.04 billion Hong Kong dollars.

There are 12 developers who have bought the site, namely Cheung Kong, Oriental Group, New World, SHKP, Sino, Kerry, Hang Lung, Henderson, Swire, Paliburg, Development Bank of Singapore and Huaxia Overseas. Among them, Dagu is British-owned; Sino, Kerry and Development Bank of Singapore are overseas Chinese companies in Southeast Asia. Huaxia Overseas is Chinese-funded and subordinate to the Ministry of Construction.

The total investment of the whole development is about HK$3 billion, and Cheung Kong is the project manager.

The second land auction in Yuen Long is simply a copy of the first lot. The starting price was HK$480 million, with HK$10 million per mouth, and after only three orders, the auction was completely cold, and the auctioneer was only able to drop the hammer for HK$510 million.

The second consortium has an even larger number of portfolios, reaching 14. In addition to the above 12 consortia, Chuang's Enterprises and Kwong Sang Hong are also pleased to join.

The two Cheung Kong groups did not shout prices, but they were elected as the 'leaders' by everyone, after all, Cheung Kong Group is a 'handsome tiger'.

Now, Lin Zhichao sees that public opinion is so turbulent, and he has to start expressing his stance on what he says!

Zhou Huai'an nodded and said, "Okay, I'll do it right away!" ”

He also understands the seriousness of the matter, and if he goes down with the Hong Kong government, the major real estate developers will not please him. And the boss is a person who cherishes his reputation more, so he will definitely resign.

Lin Zhichao said to Lin Ruihuan again: "The Hong Kong government will not give up, and will definitely launch a more severe crackdown on property speculation." If this is the case, we will arrange for the real estate association to express its support in principle for the Hong Kong government's plan to crack down on property speculation. In this matter, we must communicate with the people of the real estate chamber of commerce, and don't resist any longer. ”

Lin Ruihuan nodded and said, "I understand what my father meant!" ”

Of course, the real estate association will not hold on any longer, and I believe that it will also judge the situation and make appropriate concessions. (At present, the chairman of the real estate developer is Ho Hong, and the spokesperson of the real estate association is Liang Zhijian, general manager of New World Development)

A week later.

The Hong Kong government, which has lost its 'silver paper' and 'face', has introduced more severe measures to crack down on speculation.

The medium- to long-term measures plan to increase the supply of land and increase the supply of 'medium-priced' flats in public and private housing within a few years to ensure the stability of the property market.

The measures in the first phase include: internal subscription from 5% to 1%; From the current 2 years before the occupation can be sold, to 6-9 months before the occupation can be sold; The deposit for buying a property has been increased from the current 5% to 10%.

Hong Kong government officials said that the reduction of government tax revenue is not the most important consideration, and the most important thing is to enable ordinary citizens to afford to buy their ideal flats.

Hong Kong real estate developers have wisely issued a statement expressing their "agreement in principle" with the Hong Kong government's measures to combat speculation.

Leung Chi-kin, spokesman for the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong and general manager of New World Development, expressed support in principle for the Hong Kong government's measures to curb property prices, and believed that the measures could effectively prevent speculators from entering the market. However, there are reservations regarding measures to shorten the time taken to sell a property and restrict purchasers from signing deeds before resale of properties.

He said that the measures announced this time are very comprehensive, including several short-term measures to crack down on speculators entering the market, curb property prices, and long-term measures to increase land supply, which can alleviate the tight demand for housing in Hong Kong. The Real Estate Developers Association will try its best to cooperate with the Government to comply with and implement the announced measures.

After the implementation of the measures, the speculation in Hong Kong's property market gradually faded, and property prices fell.

Users are happy, speculators are stupid, and developers are pessimistic.

Lin Zhichao came to Wharf Group, and Lin Ruihai walked in happily.

"Dad, Southeast Asian countries have realized free convertibility under the capital account, and their financial markets are basically completely open. It's time for us to cash out! ”

Lin Zhichao smiled, the net capital value of Wharf Group in Southeast Asia (excluding Singapore) has been as high as 160~18 billion Hong Kong dollars, and they invested a total of only 2 billion Hong Kong dollars that year, and now they have made a profit of 8~9 times, which is quite ideal.

In general, it is the leverage (loan) multiplied by 4~5 times the appreciation.

And now, these countries are taking the initiative to achieve 'free convertibility', which means that the money they make is very easy to get out, just like Japan did back then."

Of course, it is not that these countries are stupid, but that they believe that 'freely convertible' is a means to attract foreign investment and improve the business environment in the local market.

Of course, there are pros and cons to this kind of thing, for small countries, it is advantageous, attracting foreign investment is conducive to economic development; For large countries, they have the ability to 'self-develop and self-digest', so it is not impossible to implement capital controls.

Of course, the final test still needs to be written in history.

According to Lin Zhichao's understanding, Malaysia's per capita GDP in later generations is higher than that of China, Thailand is only less than 70% of China's, and Singapore is seven times that of China.

"Then gradually sell off the assets in Southeast Asia, Singapore does not need to pay attention to it for the time being, and strive to gradually sell it in 1 and a half ~ 2 years. Times Shopping Center retains part of the shares and continues to manage. ”

Times Square is the signature shopping mall of Wharf Group, but it is not a registered brand, but a worldwide brand.

"I see!"

With his father's guidance, Lin Ruihai suddenly became full of confidence.

Every time the assets are transferred, my father is an absolute authority figure, and he has never missed a deal (almost 50 years)!

Then, Lin Zhichao said: "How is the progress of investing in commercial real estate in the United States? ”

Although Wharf Group does not have the strong profitability of Cheung Kong Group, Lin Ruihai has the support of Lin Zhichao, so it carried out a rights issue at the beginning of the year, raising a total of 2.5 billion Hong Kong dollars; Lin Ruihai gave a lot of rights issue (more than 1 billion), and the funds for the rights issue were Lin Zhichao's loan from Hengfeng Bank to him and repay it in the future.

Originally, there was no problem with giving it directly, but with Lin Ruihai's worth, there would be no problem in repaying it in the future, so it would be no exception. Moreover, Lin Ruihai has his own private investment company, which can be regarded as a small net worth.

"It's going very well, we're buying some well-managed commercial properties, and we've bought about HK$2 billion in assets," Lin said. ”

Lin Zhichao nodded, Wharf Group's investment in the mainland is not small, the tallest building in Shanghai (investment of 6~800 million US dollars), Shanghai Times Square (investment of 300 million US dollars), as well as Times Square and Lane Crawford Department Store in many cities, especially in the development of real estate (residential) field, has a similar area as Cheung Kong Group. In short, the mainland market is huge, and there is no need to worry about the lack of funding channels.

Of course, the Wharf Group can also expand overseas, especially into the commercial real estate market in Europe and the United States.

"Well, but you have to remember that with my backing, you can be a little more indebted; After all, if I command wrong, I will pay you a loss. But if I don't give you advice, then you have to be conservative in your investments, keep your debt low, and the world won't always be so peaceful. ”

Lin Ruihai said seriously: "Remember my father's teachings, these enterprises are all built by my father's hard work, and our brothers know how to cherish them very much, and we will invest cautiously." ”

With their father Lin Zhichao here, their brothers have backers, but they never thought about what to do without their father?

It's not that their brothers are incompetent, it's that their brothers have also understood over the years that they can't live past their father, or that's another story.

It's not that they're 'pessimistic' or 'pleasing their father', it's that the brothers, when they're with their father, find that their father's mental state is better than that of their sons.

Of course, they also hope in their hearts that their father can raise a third generation from one generation to another.

As fathers' 'virtuous helpers', they have always thought like this.

Time flies, and it's autumn in the blink of an eye.

Autumn is a great time for outdoor activities, and the wealthy generally want to play golf for fun.

Lin Zhichao, Cheng Yu-tung, Lee Shau Kee and Lee Ka-shing are frequent visitors to Fanling Royal Golf, and they compete more on weekdays and have become 'dead feet (dead friends)'.

On this day, the four of them played golf again, winning or losing 250,000 Hong Kong dollars in one stroke.

Since the level and physical strength of the four people are different, everyone knows the roots, so it is natural to implement the 'hand-off system'.

Fanling golf is an '18-hole', and one hole requires several strokes to be scored, and everyone knows each other's level.

Li Shaoji's physical strength and ball skills are not as good as Zheng Yutong, and Li Jiacheng's physical strength is not as good as Zheng Yutong.

Li Shaoji took the lead in playing the war-free card and said: "No, Lin Sheng and Brother Tong are better than us in physical strength and technology, and after this game, I am afraid that we will have to lose to tens of millions, and it will be too wild!" ”

Zheng Yutong showed a smile of Maitreya Buddha and said: "Let the pole hit, you haven't won, first talk about the conditions, and then decide whether to fight or not?" ”

Li Jiacheng also joked, wanting to resign from this game, and said: "My physical strength is not so good, and now I am fighting with those young people, such as Lin Jianyue and Zhao Shiguang, I can compare!" ”

Lin Zhichao immediately arched the fire and said: "It's all here, it's a big deal to let you have two shots per hole, Ah Tong will let you have one shot, what do Zhaoji and Ah Cheng think?" ”

Lee Shau Kee and Li Jiacheng suddenly became interested, after all, it is only six or seven holes in one hole, and it is really hard to say whether this win or lose!

Next, the four of them had a fight.

In a four-man tournament, it's about who scores 18 holes, and then the last one loses the most because he has to pay the other three. It is almost the same as the bloody battle of Sichuan mahjong, and the loser really loses three money.

It's game on!

For 18 holes of golf, the foursome team basically plays a round of 4~5 hours, but the foursome sets three rounds, which takes two days.

During this period, Lee Shau Kee was unlucky and did not want to give up halfway.

However, due to the agreement in advance, giving up halfway requires losing 1 million to the other three.

Lee Shau Kee was unwilling and insisted on compensating everyone for the fight.

As a result, Lee Shau Kee lost 14 million!

Li Jiacheng also lost 6 million, and Lin Zhichao and Zheng Yutong became winners at the same time, winning 12 million and 8 million respectively.

Lin Zhichao can make two strokes per hole, and Zheng Yutong can make one stroke per hole, you can imagine how good Lin Zhichao's physical strength and skills are!

You must know that the golf level of Hong Kong's rich people is not bad!

After it was over, Lee Shau Kee and Lee Kar-shing shook their heads one after another.

"The physical strength is too far behind, even compared to Brother Tong, it can't be compared!"

"That's it, it seems that I will have to fight with young people in the future, although their physical strength is good, but their skills are poor, and they can still fight!"

"Lin Sheng, I said you should just go to a professional competition, Brother Tong doesn't have a certificate for the London competition!"

Afterwards, everyone bowed to the wind!

Lin Zhichao is also satisfied, he can still win a lot of money with two strokes per hole, which he didn't expect.

Of course, with three rounds of golf in two days, Lee Shau Kee and Lee Kar Shing did suffer a big loss of physical strength!

"What a picture! Those professional players, I may not be able to beat. Playing a business game, I can't win this again. ”

"Haha, that's true!"

Everyone ended the battle happily, as for the money won or lost, the check will be sent later, of course, the check will not be written on the spot, otherwise it will be known, and the impact of 'gambling' is not very good.

Following.

A pervasive weekly magazine still broke the big news that caused a sensation in Hong Kong: there was a golf game with tens of millions of wins and losses at Fanling Golf Course. The HK$20 million (nearly US$2.5 million) 'bonus' golf tournament is just a world-class professional tournament!

For a time, Lin Zhichao, Lee Shau-kee, Zheng Yutong, and Li Jiacheng stood at the peak of public opinion.

Golf is regarded as a noble sport for the wealthy, and a membership in Hong Kong is about the same price as a high-end residential unit. The transferable corporate membership of the Royal Golf Club was more than 3 million Hong Kong dollars in 1992, and by mid-1994, it was 12 million Hong Kong dollars! Non-transferable General Memberships will not be available for 20 years.

Golf was originally a fashionable thing for foreigners, but with the rise of the Chinese, the number of friends among the Chinese gradually increased. Friends are either rich or expensive. Lin Zhichao, Zheng Yutong, Lee Kar-shing, Lee Shau Kee, the late Kwok Tak-sheng, as well as business upstarts Lin Jianyue, Tang Youqian, Zhao Shiguang, Rong Zhijian, etc., are all big friends on TRON.

Rumors of rich gambling have been around for a long time, and the rich have avoided talking about it or denied it.

So this time, there is no substantial evidence for a certain weekly. After all, the rich play golf, only verbally promise, and will not write checks on the spot; And the employees of the golf course did not dare to take the risk of saying a word more.

So the content of this weekly magazine has not been corroborated!

On the contrary, Zheng Yutong, who has always been 'breathless' in the media, confided some news: "There are gambling waves, but only among friends. In fact, to put it bluntly, gambling is fake, today you are the winner, tomorrow he is the winner, in the end it is not a draw, there is no win or loss. It's just a game with a gambling nature, so you can make yourself more attentive and make progress faster! ”

Although it did not reveal more, it also proves that the rich play is colorful!

Cheng Yu-tung and Ho Hung are rich people who prefer to be interviewed by the media, Lee Shau-kee has always been relatively low-key, and the late Kwok Tak-sheng and Chan Tseng-hee are all 'hermits'.

As for Lin Zhichao, he is not a rich man who likes to be interviewed, but he is relatively easy to talk. (End of chapter)