The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

After the Spring Festival, Lin Zhichao went to Japan to participate in a summit of the Japanese shipbuilding and shipping industries, and he attended the meeting as a guest.

Since the outbreak of the Suez Canal crisis, all countries have been discussing the development of ocean-going ships in a "big" direction.

Because everyone understands that the Middle East is a powder keg, so we cannot rely solely on the Suez Canal; in this case, everyone's idea is to pass through the Cape of Good Hope. Although the shipping distance is increased, if the ship is large enough, it can offset the time consumption.

In later generations, the world divided seagoing vessels into: Panama, Suez, and Cape Ships.

it means:

The maximum load capacity of ships that can pass through the Panama Canal is about 60,000 tons, so ships of about 60,000 tons are called "Panamax ships";

The maximum load capacity of ships that can pass through the Suez Canal is about 150,000 tons, so ships with a load capacity of about 150,000 tons are called "Suez ships";

As for those with a load capacity of more than 150,000 tons, they are called "Cape type", and Taiwan calls them "Cape type".

Lin Zhichao is now a shipping expert. Japanese shipbuilding experts and government departments specially invited him to a meeting. Of course, the underlying meaning is that they 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 should not be less than 80,000 tons and the cargo ship should not be less than 50,000 tons.

You can build one each first and lease it to Japanese customers on a long-term basis. It doesn't matter if the price is cheaper; the real large-scale shipbuilding began in 1959.

Back to Hong Kong.

Lin Zhichao attended the founding ceremony of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association non-stop. This business organization was initiated by 12 local Hong Kong shipowners, including Lin Zhichao, the largest Hong Kong shipowner.

The participants at the meeting were more than 12 local shipowners, as well as some shipowners who joined later, as well as many non-shipowners, who are other professionals and institutions serving the shipping industry.

Everyone at the meeting started talking to each other.

"Dong Sheng, congratulations on the launch of the new ship and the good timing!" Lin Zhichao greeted Dong Haoyun.

A bulk carrier built by Tung Ho Wan was launched last year. He is the second shipowner in Hong Kong to build new ships, and Lam Chi-chao is of course the first shipowner to build new ships (ocean-going ships).

"We are all happy together. I heard that Lin Sheng built many large oil tankers and it just happened to be a good time."

Lin Zhichao said modestly: "Where is it! Dong Sheng is a senior in the shipping industry, and I am just a junior." Dong Sheng wrote the books "China Ocean Shipping Industry and China Shipping Company" and "China Shipping Industry in the Past Twenty-Five Years". I read them carefully."

Dong Haoyun replied: "I have also carefully read "On the Prospects of Containers" written by Lin Sheng in "Shipping" back then, and I deeply agree with it. Moreover, Americans have proven Mr. Lin's ideas through practice."

Lin Zhichao published "On the Prospects of Container Containers" in 1954. At that time, his idea was to improve his reputation; however, he did not have the strength to develop it. After all, he had to convince two regions to invest. American Malcolm McLean invested more than 40 million US dollars in the container industry, purchasing transportation fleets, ports and other facilities.

For such a large investment, even if Lin Zhichao persuaded the Hong Kong government and Japan (the trade volume is large), he would not be willing to invest. Although he did not succeed in practice, he was still regarded as the world's "long-term vision" shipping expert.

"That's it! I'm just talking on paper. Malcolm McLean is the real industry contributor and the father of the container. I believe that the container will definitely become an important part of the world's shipping in the 1960s."

"I agree with Mr. Lin's view. The advantages of container shipping are: convenient unloading, reduced unloading costs, and maximum guarantee of the integrity of the goods."

The two started chatting on the spot, which attracted many people to watch.

At this time, Lin Zhichao already had an idea in mind, which was to invest in container terminals in the early 1960s.

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

But one good thing is that HSBC is British-owned, and Jardine Matheson and Swire are probably not interested. They have their own terminals. Therefore, all they need to do is get HSBC and Wheelock to join, Lin Zhichao takes the majority, and then win over Dong Haoyun.

that's it!

Lin Zhichao and Dong Haoyun exchanged business praise.

At present, the three largest Chinese shipowners in Hong Kong are Lin Zhichao, Xu Aizhou, and Dong Haoyun. Among them, Dong Haoyun owns and manages a fleet of about 200,000 tons.

Next, Lin Zhichao greeted Dong Haoyun's father-in-law "Gu Zongrui". Gu Zongrui was a "big ship owner" in the Mainland in the early years; in 1949, Gu Zongrui and Dong Haoyun both moved to Hong Kong.

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, and sunk the ship in the Yangtze River to organize the Japanese invaders. Many things he did were fearless. One of the four forgotten people, the other three are: Zhang Zhidong of heavy industry, Zhang Qian of light industry, and Fan Xudong of chemical industry.

Next, the meeting officially begins.

The meeting unanimously elected Gu Zongrui as the first president of the "Hong Kong Shipowners Association". Although Lin Zhichao has more careers, his qualifications are obviously more important; in addition, Lin Zhichao has no intention of competing for this position.

In October 1949, Gu Zongrui won the bid for the 5,000-ton "Ramona" ship for US$105,000 and renamed it the "Wanli" ship. With his outstanding reputation and good connections, he obtained a mortgage loan from the British Chamber of Commerce Defeng Company and owned He got the first ship after arriving in Hong Kong, and founded Wanli Shipping Company with his eldest son Gu Guomin as the general manager.

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

To be honest, an ocean-going ship is already a company of considerable size, after all, its assets are at least one million Hong Kong dollars.

The first 'Hong Kong Shipowners' Meeting' went very smoothly, and everyone also invited Lin Zhichao to come on stage to give a speech. After all, the most charming person present was of course Lin Zhichao, a millionaire shipowner. Gu Zongrui was chosen as the chairman because he was old and became famous early; if Lin Zhichao wanted to compete, the result would not be certain.

Lin Zhichao saw that everyone was looking at him eagerly, so he didn't shirk. He walked up to the podium and began to give a speech without script.

"Hello everyone, today you kindly invite me to speak a few words, so I will say a few words. The theme of my speech today is "On the Development Prospects of Hong Kong Shipping Industry."

As we all know, when mentioning 'shipping', the first thing that comes to mind is 'European and American fleets'. Countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States used to or now have the largest fleets in the world. However, due to the surge in crew wages, European and American shipowners have become increasingly overwhelmed; these countries Seafarers' unions are powerful. If a shipowner adopts low wages or hires third-world crew members, it will inevitably lead to intervention and prosecution by seafarers' unions. In this case, shipowners can only tighten the size of their fleets.

Next, there are the second-generation shipping stars of Greece and Japan, which rose rapidly in the mid-1950s, including Greece's Onassis and Livanos, as well as Nippon Steamship, Japan's Sanko, and Yamaguchi Steamship. However, these countries will also encounter the plight of Western shipowners, and it is 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 the overall economic development potential is huge; the wages of Hong Kong seafarers are relatively stable due to the continuous flow of labor from the mainland and Southeast Asia; Hong Kong's tax rate is the lowest in the world, suitable for shipowners to reasonably avoid taxes; Hong Kong is a free trade Hong Kong, funds come and go freely

Finally, let’s talk about the development potential of world shipping: Since the Peninsula War, it has been difficult for the world to have a large-scale global war, and countries also need to develop their economies; in this way, trade around the world will be promoted. Currently, 90% of global trade is carried out by sea. Therefore, some economists assert that world shipping has a development period of 25 years.

With both external and internal conditions being very good, I personally am very optimistic about the development of Hong Kong's shipping industry and am willing to make progress together with everyone and make my own contribution to Hong Kong's shipping industry. "

applause!

Thunderous applause!

This speech was very 'ordinary'. It didn't talk about navigation technology or management, but it talked about 'confidence'. In terms of Lin Zhichao's own experience, it is a legend, and these words are more convincing than anyone else.

In mid-February, Sing Tao.

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

"Mr. Lin is coming to Xingdao this time, what project are you planning to invest in?" Councilor Li asked casually during the meal.

He has a favorable impression of Lin Zhichao because Lin Zhichao has always been very optimistic about the development prospects of Xingdao and Lin Zhichao has become an influential Chinese businessman.

Lin Zhichao said: "I plan to open a department store on Orchard Road, and it is expected to open within three years."

Cheung Kong Real Estate owns two land parcels on Orchard Road. Lin Zhichao plans to quickly open a department store first, then demolish it at worst and then build a complex of shopping malls and office buildings.

Councilor Li suddenly said out of curiosity: "The Orchard Road area has not yet been developed. If you develop a department store, will there be any risks?"

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "The Cathy Building (16 floors), the first skyscraper in Sing Tao, was built on Orchard Road in the 1940s. Although there is still only The Cathy Building now, I believe that Orchard Road will become a star in the future. It is a prosperous area on the island because its location is close to the city. At the same time, wherever I open a department store, it will increase popularity."

At this time, Councilor Li has naturally not thought about planning Star Island, but he still has a favorable impression of Lin Zhichao's investment in Orchard Road.

"It makes sense! Maybe with your commercial building, someone will invest in Orchard Road, thereby driving the economic development of Orchard Road. Mr. Lin's department store, what kind of product collection is it? Is it a Hong Kong product? "

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

When Lin Zhichao saw that Councilor Li was interested in business, he felt that he could establish a good relationship in advance.

"I plan to cooperate with Japanese department stores and introduce them to Orchard Road, Sing Tao. In recent years, Japanese products have become popular all over the world, so Japanese department stores are also relatively mature. What do you think, Mr. Lee?"

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

Although he somewhat dislikes private businessmen, he does not dislike Lin Zhichao, because Lin Zhichao's achievements in the shipping and industrial fields will be helpful to the development of Xingdao in the future.

"I think there is no problem! Although Japan has brought great harm to Asia, if it can develop the local economy, then there will be no problem in introducing it."

A pragmatist indeed.

Lin Zhichao said: "Introducing Japanese department stores can cultivate the growth of local counterparts, learn from others' strengths and make up for our own shortcomings."

Councilor Li simply ignored Lin Zhichao's flaunting of "Chinese culture" and asked: "Mr. Lin, what do you think of XXXX?"

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

Congressman Li then understood that Lin Zhichao had no intention of interfering in the politics of Sing Tao. He came to invest because he believed that Sing Tao had a Chinese base.

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

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

"I plan to build a four-story department store on this land. The building shape is similar to an inverted '凵', and the appearance can be modernized with a bit of European style. After the building is completed, we will introduce Japanese department stores, and we will build a new building on top. Set up a theater on one or two floors, and rent out part of the catering shops to the outside."

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

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

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

Huang Changhong quickly understood his boss's idea. The development of real estate and commercial real estate should be separated. Although it is still part of a group company, the management will definitely be clearer.

"Then we have to prepare a separate project team for this project. It is best to recruit some local talents and transfer some management personnel from Cheung Kong."

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "You come to make preparations!"

"OK"

Next, he stayed in Xingdao for another two days, not only went to inspect the factory, but also inspected the environment of Xingdao.

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

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

Of course, the land still belongs to Lin Zhichao, and it is impossible for the Singapore government to confiscate it. Lin Zhichao only needs to build a shopping center.

And if we build a shopping center plus office building model now, there will be no leased office at all, after all, Sing Tao is not even a country. It really developed only in the 1960s, when Mr Lee happened to be in office. (End of chapter)