We're building a super chaebol in Hong Kong

As time swiftly flowed, 1982 was upon us in the blink of an eye.

Since mid-last year, Hong Kong's real estate market had quietly entered a period of adjustment, its once-vigorous development momentum seemingly encountering unprecedented resistance.

Entering the new year, this trend not only failed to ease but became even more pronounced.

Since the end of last year, transaction activity in the real estate market had declined significantly, with trading volumes falling like autumn leaves, silently one by one.

This change undoubtedly cast a faint shadow over the entire industry.

Although, on the surface, housing prices did not fluctuate dramatically, only showing a subtle downward trend, this slight change was enough to touch the sensitive nerves of the market.

After all, in the vast economic system of real estate, any slight fluctuation may foreshadow the future direction.

However, during this period, most market participants seemed able to maintain a certain degree of rationality and patience, taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the small price declines, without triggering a large-scale panic or sell-off.

The reason for this may be that the market generally believed that this was only a temporary adjustment phase, and with economic recovery and timely policy adjustments, the real estate market would eventually regain its vitality.

At the same time, investors and consumers were also waiting for clearer signals to make more informed decisions.

Therefore, in this period of uncertainty, remaining calm and rational may be the best strategy to cope with market changes.

Originally, according to various predictions, the crisis in Hong Kong's real estate market should have fully erupted in September, due to a certain lady's fall.

However, Su Cheng keenly perceived that this crisis seemed to be showing signs of erupting ahead of schedule, and its possibility was rapidly increasing.

This judgment was based on a series of unusual moves by Cheung Kong Holdings in recent times.

Since the end of last year, the group had been quietly selling off its properties in large quantities on the market, an act so secretive that it did not attract widespread attention in the early stages.

However, as the properties continued to change hands, Cheung Kong Holdings successfully recovered huge amounts of capital.

It wasn't until the beginning of this year, with the continued selling, that the market finally began to notice this anomaly.

Cheung Kong Holdings' actions were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, quickly triggering widespread discussion and speculation in the industry.

People speculated whether this large-scale sell-off, coupled with various signs, foreshadowed an unprecedented storm in Hong Kong's real estate market.

As news of Cheung Kong Holdings' property sales was widely reported by the media, housing prices plummeted in response, spreading rapidly like dominoes throughout the Hong Kong real estate market.

In January 1982, Hong Kong's housing prices suffered a severe blow, falling directly by about 10%, a shocking figure that caught market participants off guard.

At the same time, transaction volumes plummeted to a freezing point, with buyers and investors holding cash on the sidelines, and the market fell into an unprecedented state of depression.

The once-bustling sales offices were now deserted, with both buyers and sellers waiting for further clarity in the market.

At this moment, Hong Kong's real estate market was filled with unease and anxiety.

Everyone was deeply afraid that this sudden real estate crisis would relentlessly devour their hard-earned wealth like an uncontrollable flood.

People began to re-examine the risks and opportunities in the real estate market, filled with uncertainty about the future direction.

It is worth noting that, looking back at the beginning of last year, the price of industrial land in Hong Kong had actually shown a downward trend, but because the price of commercial land was still stubbornly maintaining an upward trend, the overall market still looked prosperous.

This apparent prosperity undoubtedly masked the deep-seated problems within the market, leading many to mistakenly believe that real estate prices could continue to rise sharply.

However, reality proved in a cruel way that any bubble will eventually burst.

In addition to the market panic caused by Cheung Kong Holdings' continued property sales, two recent events in Hong Kong further exacerbated public concerns about the real estate industry.

First, two land transactions involving Government House released a strong signal that the market might collapse.

Among them, Government House announced an agreement with developer Wei Cheng Company to recover 488 hectares of land in Yuen Long Tin Shui Wai at a price of HK$2.25 billion.

This move was interpreted by the market as the developer's development plans on the plot being hindered or abandoned, further proving that in the current market environment, even large-scale land development projects face huge uncertainties.

Immediately afterward, Government House announced the sale of the Murray Road parking lot in Central, a prime property, for HK$1 billion.

This decision was even more shocking, as the Murray Road parking lot is located in the core area of Hong Kong, and its commercial value is self-evident.

However, Government House chose to sell it, which undoubtedly revealed the government's financial constraints and urgent need to recover funds.

The recovery of land means that developers lack confidence in the future market, while the government's sale of prime properties directly exposes financial pressure.

This series of events intertwined, making everyone worried.

In addition, Cheung Kong Commercial Group, a giant in Hong Kong's real estate industry, was also selling off properties in large quantities, which made everyone feel as if the wolf was coming, and if they didn't run, they would have no chance.

As a result, a vicious circle quickly formed, and more people dared not buy houses, fearing that they would be standing at the top.

On the other hand, the previous actions of Tianqi Property Company did not have any impact on this matter.

Because everyone knows that Su Cheng controls a lot of properties in Hong Kong, selling two buildings is nothing.

Therefore, this matter was not caused by Su Cheng, but by Li Ka-shing.

Behind the scenes, I don't know how many real estate tycoons secretly scolded Li Ka-shing for doing something wrong and insisted on selling off properties on a large scale.

Now, the transaction volume was already stagnant, and now the transaction volume has plummeted even more.

As a result, houses cannot be sold, and the houses developed by developers cannot recover funds.

Ordinary people are okay, but the most worried are those real estate companies that are constantly expanding their scale with high leverage, such as Jardine Matheson, Great Eagle, Hang Lung and other large groups.

In particular, Hang Lung Properties Group, one of the five tigers of Hong Kong real estate, led three consortia last year to win the development rights of nine subway upper-gai properties along the Hong Kong subway line in one fell swoop.

Originally, if Hong Kong's real estate market continued to improve, they would definitely be able to make a lot of money.

Unfortunately, when they entered the market, it was already the peak period of Hong Kong real estate.

After Land Securities' failures at Wharf over the past few years, they have begun to expand aggressively in other areas, acquiring several Hong Kong companies, including Hong Kong Telephone Company.

Overseas, Land Securities has also been reckless, and its debt now amounts to over 10 billion Hong Kong dollars.

If a real estate crisis does occur, they will clearly be the first to bear the brunt and suffer the greatest impact.

But Su Cheng was not worried about any of this.

He knew that Hong Kong would face a real estate crisis.

Moreover, the most important point was that his company had no debt ratio whatsoever!

Since his development, Su Cheng had never borrowed from banks.

As far as he was concerned, he couldn't even spend all his own cash, so why borrow from banks? It was purely superfluous.

Therefore, no matter how severe the Hong Kong real estate crisis was, it would not pose any danger to Su Cheng.

Moreover, his source of income was never primarily from the real estate industry; the technology and oil energy industries contributed the most funds to him.

At China Building, the headquarters of Cheung Kong Holdings, an assistant came to the chairman's office with a wry smile and said, "Mr. Li, hundreds of people have called today to scold us, believing that we are accomplices in the real estate crash."

"Ignore them. If it's those calls, just hang up," Li Ka-shing said with a smile.

At this moment, he didn't care about this bit of infamy. Getting out early was the key. After these past few months of signs, he was even more certain that Hong Kong would face a terrible real estate crisis, one that would be far more terrifying than the one from 1973 to 1974.

Fortunately, he had a premonition and followed Su Cheng in selling buildings and properties.

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Although it was impossible to sell everything, they had already sold nearly a third of their properties from last year until now. As a result, their company had recouped a lot of capital, and even in the face of a very terrible real estate crisis, Cheung Kong Commercial Group would be able to weather it safely with this capital.

What puzzled Li Ka-shing was why Su Cheng hadn't taken any subsequent actions after selling the two buildings?

Originally, he thought that after selling these two buildings, Su Cheng would continue to sell off properties relentlessly.

But from the looks of it now, the other party clearly had no intention of doing so.

Li Ka-shing had no idea that Su Cheng simply didn't care about that small price difference, and he didn't plan to take on the infamy either.

If he sold off massively, the people of Hong Kong would definitely think that Su Cheng caused the real estate crisis.

But now, Su Cheng was not selling off massively. Instead, his Tseung Kwan O headquarters base, several residential areas, and the Cathay Film City on Clearwater Bay Peninsula were completed and opened one after another, making people feel as if Su Cheng was very confident in Hong Kong's real estate industry.

In this situation, who could blame Su Cheng for causing this?

"Mr. Li, it's very difficult for us to continue selling the remaining properties unless we drastically lower prices," the assistant continued.

"Withdraw all these listings. Selling one-third of the properties is almost enough," Li Ka-shing thought for a moment and replied.

"Okay, Mr. Li, I'll take care of it right away!" The assistant respectfully left the office.

Li Ka-shing stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass window in his office, looking at the bustling Central streets outside, wondering what he was thinking…

In February, Hong Kong's real estate market continued to cool down.

Not only that, but stocks related to the real estate industry had basically entered a downward trend, and this situation had been going on for more than a month.

In particular, the stock of Land Securities Development Company had fallen by a full 42% in just over a month.

The reason was simple: media analysis showed that Land Securities' current debt and reckless expansion in recent years would cause a fatal crisis for Land Securities if a severe real estate crisis occurred.

Therefore, many people chose to sell.

This situation was very favorable to Su Cheng.

Su Cheng had been planning for Land Securities for more than two years.

During these two years, the trading team of Tianyuan Investment Company had never stopped absorbing the stocks of Land Securities and Jardine Matheson.

Although the progress was slow in the later stages, the slow progress also continued to increase with the accumulation of time.

Now, the sharp drop in Land Securities' stock was definitely a great opportunity for Su Cheng.

Without Su Cheng's reminder, under the command of Zhang Qizheng, and without being noticed in the stock market, Tianyuan Investment Company had been massively absorbing Land Securities' stock for more than a month.

They would not fix on one price to absorb; they would leave a portion of the stock at each price unabsorbed. As a result, the price continued to fall because some people's stocks had not been traded.

But everyone was afraid that if Land Securities collapsed due to the real estate crisis, the losses would be huge.

In the office of Tianyuan Investment Company, Zhang Qizheng and his subordinates were very satisfied with today's task.

It wasn't even the closing time yet, and from morning until now, they had actually absorbed a full 1.3% of Land Securities' stock.

If this had been before, it would have taken at least half a month to absorb so much.

Moreover, after absorbing so much, the price had not risen but was still hovering at a low level.

This was simply because there were too many sell orders today.

"You guys continue, and be careful not to be discovered. I'll call the boss," Zhang Qizheng instructed.

"Don't worry, President Zhang, we know what to do!" A smiling voice came from the office.

The trading team led by Zhang Qizheng had basically maintained the same people all along, without any changes.

These people also had enough loyalty.

Now, there were too many secrets within Tianyuan Investment Company, so it was not appropriate to increase manpower. If manpower was increased, it would also be necessary to ensure trustworthiness.

After all, Su Cheng's goal was too big, not only targeting Land Securities and Jardine Matheson, but even targeting HSBC Group.

If this were to be exposed, it would definitely cause a great impact.

Causing an impact was nothing to Su Cheng, but it would definitely make it more difficult for him to continue absorbing shares.

Moreover, it would also make the other party more wary.

Therefore, Tianyuan Investment Company would not easily recruit people again.

And the internal members could not resign. Following Su Cheng, the benefits and treatment were too good. Any one of them was a multi-millionaire.

If this were outside, an ordinary trader would earn a million or so in a lifetime, which would already be very good. (End of chapter)