Resource Tycoon Reborn

January 24, 2009, the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month! Although it is winter, for Hong Kong, there is no winter scene in the north. However, although the climate in Hong Kong is still warm, the daily average is the highest

The temperature can reach 20 degrees, and the average daily minimum temperature is 13 degrees, but Hong Kong's economy has fallen into a cold winter!

After Hong Kong's economy experienced the baptism of the Southeast Asian financial crisis, its economy has been growing slowly and slowly. It was not until 2003 that Hong Kong's economy officially recovered. As of the end of 2007, Hong Kong's average annual GDP growth rate

It exceeded 6.8%. Driven by five consecutive years of strong growth, the deflation problem that has plagued Hong Kong's economy for many years has been resolved.

Of course, Hong Kong's economy is mixed with joy. Although the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States has exploded and evolved into a financial crisis, and its influence continues to expand, the impact of the slowdown in the U.S. economy on Hong Kong's economy is not yet obvious.

At the same time, the domestic central government has successively introduced a series of measures to curb economic overheating. In addition, the mainland has vigorously reduced its trade surplus and encouraged domestic demand. The number of goods re-exported through Hong Kong will decline. In addition, the price of oil in the international market is at a low level.

Food prices have also risen sharply. Coupled with the weakening of the US dollar and the appreciation of the Chinese yuan, these have brought pressure and uncertainties to Hong Kong's future economic growth.

Therefore, at the beginning of 2008, the industry and experts were still optimistic that even if it was affected by the financial crisis, Hong Kong's economic expansion should be able to reach about 6%.

In the first half of the year, Hong Kong's economic growth confirmed the expectations of the industry and experts, still maintaining a growth rate of 5.9%, making Hong Kong's economy particularly eye-catching amid the uncertain global economic outlook.

People are overjoyed. But no one expected that in the second half of 2008, Hong Kong's economy would take a turn for the worse. Not only did the GDP growth drop to less than 2%, but it even dropped to 1.4% in the fourth quarter.

, the unemployment rate also increased by four percentage points in half a year!

At the same time, Hong Kong's property market also experienced a situation of first hotness and then coldness, and by the end of 2008, there was a sharp freeze. The primary market basically shrank, and panic selling occurred in the secondary market.

There were even fewer transactions than during the SARS period in 2003. The total transaction amount and number of transactions both experienced a cliff-like decline, and a large amount of capital flowed out of the property market. This also made Hong Kong's economy worse.

This shows that the impact of the financial crisis caused by the United States on Hong Kong's economy has spread from the financial industry to the real economy. A large number of companies have encountered operating difficulties and have had to cut wages and lay off employees to tide over the difficulties. The consumer confidence of Hong Kong citizens has also been severely frustrated.

"There is no need to mention Hong Kong's economy last year. I'm afraid it won't be much better this year. It is very likely to have negative growth!" Mr. Guo sighed lightly. The business of Guo's Shipping Group Company has also been obviously affected, but

Fortunately, Fang Mingyuan asked Guo's Shipping Group in advance to reduce the number of fleets, stop large-scale recruitment of new employees, stop promoting business expansion, and eliminate those old ships. In addition, Guo's Shipping Group has a considerable share of the business

, all serve other companies under the Fang family, so although it is not as prosperous as in previous years, there is absolutely no problem in ensuring a certain level of profit.

"No eggs are left behind when the nest is overturned! The global economy is now in a situation where both prosper and suffer losses. The economies of European and American countries are in a mess. Hong Kong's economy can still grow by a few percent, even if it is very good.

"Zheng Yutong shook his head and said, "Had Mingyuan not been prepared in advance this time, you and I would probably have faced huge losses." The economic downturn will not have a big impact on gold products, but it may even

The price increase will have a negative impact on the sales of other luxury goods, such as jade, jade, and gemstones. Chow Tai Fook Jewelry and Gold Shop also received Fang Mingyuan’s reminder, prepared in advance, and reduced its business.

"You two elders are looking up to me too much, aren't you?" Fang Mingyuan said helplessly, "I'm just talking, the specific things were done by Sister Qiu Xia and Uncle Zhou."

"Hey, although talents who can do things well are rare, they can be found. But people with your vision are rare." Zheng Yutong said with a proud smile. This time, Chow Tai Fook Jewelry

Jinhang was prepared in advance, so it did not suffer much, that is, its performance declined, but it was still able to ensure profits. However, those colleagues in Hong Kong and at home and abroad have not had such an easy life. The Zheng family has been in these years.

, following the Fang family, every company has stepped in. Now, the income from the Fang family's companies has exceeded the income of Chow Tai Fook Jewelry and Gold Shop itself. In this way, the diversification of the Zheng family's industry has been completed with low risk.

, this made Zheng Yutong very proud. Moreover, Fang Mingyuan was now the son-in-law of the Zheng family, so he himself felt more at ease.

"Hey, please stop praising him. If you continue to praise him, his tail will reach the sky. This time, this kid went to the United States. Do you know who he is going for?" Mr. Guo said.

"Who are you going after?" Zheng Yutong said with some surprise. It is common for elites in the business world to live in the United States today, Japan tomorrow, and France the day after tomorrow. Therefore, although Zheng Yutong knew that Fang Mingyuan came back from the United States, he did not take it seriously.

"He went to plot against Citigroup, General Motors and Chrysler." Mr. Guo said with a smile.

"Ah?" Zheng Yutong was also surprised. Although these three companies are now in trouble, they are still enterprises with huge influence in the global economy.

"Prince Al Saud and I have an agreement to acquire part of Citigroup's shares. As for General Motors and Chrysler, we plan to acquire some of their technologies and equipment and recruit talents. If conditions permit, we may also acquire them.

One of their brands." Fang Mingyuan explained.

"Prince Al Saud?" Zheng Yutong frowned and said, "It sounds familiar."

"That Saudi prince who bought Citibank's shares back then! Citibank's largest single shareholder. When Citibank's stock price was the highest, its shares were worth tens of billions of dollars." Mr. Guo said with a bit of contempt, "You Chow Tai Fook

Jewelry and gold shops also occupy a lot of market share in the Middle East. How can such high-end customers not remember them?"

Zheng Yutong slapped his thigh and said excitedly: "So it's him you're talking about!" At that time, Prince Al Saud's acquisition of Citibank shares was an uproar even among the upper classes of various countries.

Enjoyable anecdotes.

"Why did you get together with him again?" Zheng Yutong said excitedly.

"Grandpa Zheng, he came to me and wanted me to invest in Citigroup and revive Citigroup. Then I persuaded him to cooperate with me and wait for the opportunity to rebirth Citigroup." Fang Mingyuan replied.

Zheng Yutong nodded and said: "Citigroup has fallen so hard this time that it can be said that it has injured all its muscles and bones! What's the result?"

"Currently, we have taken control of part of Citigroup's shares, but the matter is far from settled. Uncle Yu and Uncle Xun are still supervising this matter in New York." Fang Mingyuan said with a smile, "But Citigroup will transfer all the shares in its hands."

An agreement is almost reached on the sale of more than 500 million Shanghai Pudong Bank shares to Gulf Second Bank." Although the more than 500 million shares only account for about 3% of the total shares of Shanghai Pudong Bank, and from then on Citigroup

It has zero shares in Shanghai Pudong Bank, but it gives Gulf Second Bank enough to have a seat on the board of directors of Shanghai Pudong Bank.

"This boy is born in the Year of the Dog and has the ability to seize opportunities... Hehe, if I had your vision back then, Guo's Shipping Group would have been even better than it is now when it was handed over to you." Mr. Guo was deeply impressed.

He said with emotion, "Okay, let's talk about business. He will return to Pingchuan tomorrow. We are short on time and have heavy tasks." Zheng Yutong also put away his smile and sat upright.

"I won't go into details about the current situation of Hong Kong's economy. We all know it well. Ming Yuan, you are not a Hong Konger, but your Grandpa Zheng and I are native Hong Kongers and have deep feelings for this land. Ours

Our wealth and our lives are all on this land. Just as you hope that the domestic economy will prosper and society be stable, we also hope that Hong Kong’s future will also be prosperous." Mr. Guo said seriously.

"Although Hong Kong's economy has enjoyed promising growth for several years since the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis, Grandpa Guo and I feel that Hong Kong's economy has deviated somewhat from the right track." Zheng Yutong sighed, "The mainland's economy is such a

The development has been very rapid in recent years, and it is rapidly catching up with Hong Kong in many aspects. If Hong Kong cannot find its accurate positioning, the whole society may have big problems in the future!"

Fang Mingyuan nodded. He knew the future economic situation of Hong Kong better than these two old people. Although he would not know the next five or eight years, as the ancients said, "A leaf can tell the autumn."

, combined with the experience and knowledge in this life and what he knew in his previous life, he can accurately judge that the future prospects of Hong Kong society are definitely not optimistic.

One country, two systems has established the stability of Hong Kong society after its return, but it is not without its drawbacks, that is, there is no possibility of expanding the land area of ​​Hong Kong. The total land area of ​​Hong Kong is just over one thousand square kilometers, but due to the large mountainous area and Hong Kong

The government has designated large areas of wetlands and forest reserves, which makes the real land available for development in Hong Kong less than 30% of the total land area. This is why the Hong Kong International Airport later had to resort to reclamation.

way to build. And this usable land, which is less than 300 square kilometers, is home to a huge population of nearly 7 million. This does not include the foreigners living in Hong Kong and the huge number of tourists every year.

quantity.

Although Hong Kong's economy is an open free market economy, and it is difficult to form a monopolistic economic structure in most industries in Hong Kong, it has obvious monopoly features in the real estate field. Under Hong Kong's land management system, Hong Kong's land

Supply shortages and serious imbalances between supply and demand have formed a situation of highly concentrated operations! Eighty percent of the market share of the Hong Kong property market is occupied by the top ten developers, and the top three developers account for half of the country! The formation of a monopoly pattern,

The result is that these real estate giants dominate the pricing power of the Hong Kong property market to a large extent!

Hong Kong's real estate economy has continued to develop over the years. Except during the Asian Financial Crisis, which caused the Hong Kong property market to plummet, by 2007, the price level of the Hong Kong property market was close to the level before the Asian Financial Crisis. At the same time, the population grew rapidly.

The huge demand for housing and the sharp contradiction between the government's unrestricted land supply and the shortage of land supply are the fundamental reasons for the disorderly rise of Hong Kong's property market. High housing prices will have a series of negative impacts on economic development.

A large amount of money has been invested in the real estate market, which will naturally affect the real economy, push up residents' living costs, inhibit the development of many industries, and also lay the root of the problem. The subprime mortgage crisis in the United States is a good precedent.

And Hong Kong cannot, like many cities in China, annex neighboring counties, change counties into districts, and expand the area of ​​the urban area. To the north is Pengcheng City, although the land price in Pengcheng City is much cheaper than in Hong Kong.

, the housing prices in Pengcheng are also much lower than those in Hong Kong, but it is impossible for Pengcheng to be merged into Hong Kong, so many people who cannot afford a house in Hong Kong can only buy a house in Pengcheng and live in it, and then live a life of traveling between two places.

However, with the rapid development of the domestic economy, both land and labor costs, as well as residents' living costs are rising rapidly. Moreover, as the Chinese dollar appreciates against the US dollar, the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate is pegged to the US dollar, which has caused the Hong Kong dollar to China

The depreciation of the yuan has caused a relative decline in the income of Hong Kong people.

Moreover, with the deepening of domestic reform and opening up, economic development, and the construction of coastal ports, Hong Kong's re-export trade is actually in a state of decline year by year. Moreover, those enterprises established by Hong Kong businessmen in the mainland have suffered from product upgrading and replacement.

The transformation has not kept up in time, and many enterprises have lost their former glory. This has also caused the income of many Hong Kong companies to decline, and the funds that can be brought back to Hong Kong have also been significantly reduced.

If it were not for the boom in domestic tourism to Hong Kong in recent years, which has strongly promoted the development of Hong Kong's tourism industry, the decline of Hong Kong's economy would be even more obvious. But as the saying goes, only when the tide recedes can the economy

You will know who is swimming naked. This global economic crisis will undoubtedly peel off the gorgeous coat of Hong Kong's economy! (To be continued.) 8