Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1389 A desperate move

Lin Xianhui stood behind Li Dongling, looking at the construction site of the projects in front of him. These projects were all under Lin Xianhui's responsibility.

Lin Xianhui was well aware of the significance of the entire Beisha Bay project in the entire port city. It could be said that the housing prices in the entire southern district of the port city depended on the Beisha Bay Metropolis project.

Cyberport acquired 300 acres of land in Bel-Air Bay. This amount might not seem like much inland, but in the context of the entire port city, given its real estate development, unless land supply is liberalized, this amount of land is incredibly significant for the city.

If too many houses are built in Bel-Air Metropolis, other houses in the southern area will definitely be affected, and house prices will not rise.

The future prices of high-end houses in the southern part of the port city will depend on the number of houses released by Beisha Bay Metropolis and their pricing.

If the Silicon Harbor plan comes to fruition, the Bel-Air Bay metropolis will attract a large number of middle-class and wealthy people to live here!

"Mr. Li, the first two office buildings of the Cyberport Technology Centre have been completed and are currently under renovation."

By the end of the year, Cyberport, Ning's Trading Company, China.com, and 3721 Port City Company, among others, will be among the first to relocate their offices here.

Lin Xianhui introduced to Li Dongling, "The residential project of Beisha Bay Metropolis will launch a residential building with units mainly of 100 square meters and an apartment building with units mainly of 50 square meters this year."

Both residential buildings are positioned as high-end residences and high-end apartments, with 40% of the residential units to be allocated to companies within the Cyberport Technology Centre, through methods such as gifting or selling at a discounted price.

The remaining 60% of the residential units will be sold gradually!

The Bel-Air Metropolis project is primarily designed to provide office space and staff for the Cyberport Technology Centre.

Among them, top technical experts and specially recruited technical personnel will be provided with free housing or rented out at low prices. Those who are willing to settle in the port city can be given a 100-square-meter apartment as a gift. These are all necessary means to attract talent.

If even the housing problem cannot be solved, how can we recruit top talent? The saying "spend a fortune to buy a horse's bones" will never be outdated.

Aside from being used to recruit talent, the remaining residential units are intended to be sold to recoup costs. By selling properties in Bel-Air Metropolis, Cyberport can recover its financial burden and raise funds for continued development.

Currently, more than HK$20 billion has been invested in the Cyberport Technology Centre Industrial Park and the Bel-Air Metropolis project!
Some of these funds came from Cyberport's own pocket, while the rest were borrowed from banks such as Bank of China Hong Kong City.

Selling the residential and apartment units in Bel-Air Metropolis will recoup some funds to continue subsequent development.

"The supporting facilities for the Cyberport Technology Centre are still under construction."

Future commercial centers, international schools, private hospitals, yacht clubs, golf courses, and other facilities will all be built here.

The entire construction period is expected to take eight years, or even more than ten years, to complete. If the project is fully completed, the total investment is estimated to be over HK$100 billion!

A project worth hundreds of billions of Hong Kong dollars is one of the largest in the entire port city; it can be considered a mega-project. And all of this is in service of the Silicon Harbor project.

As for whether or not you will lose money, there is definitely a risk involved. What business can you do without risk?

The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish. This will happen when the Cyberport Technology Centre, Bel-Air Metropolis project, shopping mall, hotel and other facilities are all completed.

With income from selling residential properties and apartments, renting out Grade A office buildings, shopping malls, and hotels, and with the recovery or even surge in Hong Kong property prices, it is conservatively estimated that they could recoup their investment of 300 billion HKD, or even earn a return of more than 400 billion HKD!

These are just the profits from selling residential properties, apartments, and office buildings. Once all the investment is recouped, there will still be income from apartment rentals, office rentals, hotel revenue, property management fees, etc. It will still be a huge pie, generating billions or even tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars annually, and it is a guaranteed income regardless of economic conditions.

If it weren't profitable, why were Hong Kong's major real estate giants, such as Jardine Matheson, Swire Properties, Cheung Kong Holdings, Henderson Land Development, and New World Development, so eager to acquire the Bel-Air Bay land from Cyberport when the Hong Kong government did so?
For Cyberport, with these revenues, the money invested in the Silicon Harbor project is not a loss. Even if it is currently losing money, it can gradually recover its investment in the future.

Upon hearing Lin Xianhui's words, Li Dongling couldn't help but sigh. No wonder the Li family of the Yangtze River were so desperately investing in real estate; the money was just too easy to come by.
As long as you acquire the land, build tall buildings, and speculate on the market, you can recoup your investment in three to five years at most. There are risks, but you can earn even more.

You work hard on science and technology, invest a lot of money, but you may not see any return.

Whether the Silicon Harbor project will actually succeed is anyone's guess. If someone were to grit their teeth and abandon the Silicon Harbor plan and focus solely on real estate speculation, they could potentially earn hundreds of billions of Hong Kong dollars in just a few years.

But Li Dongling looked at the Cyberport Technology Centre in front of him, then turned to look at the residential buildings of Bel-Air Metropolis, and slowly shook his head.

Seeing Li Dongling's actions, Lin Xianhui, who was eloquently describing his grand vision for the future of this area, couldn't help but feel a chill.

"No matter how many projects are here, the Silicon Harbor plan cannot stop!"

"Cyberport Technology Centre, Bel-Air Metropolis, and their projects all exist because of the Silicon Harbor project."

"If the Silicon Harbor project comes to a halt, then all of this will have been meaningless!"

Li Dongling spoke succinctly to Lin Xianhui, his words conveying his determination. The Silicon Harbor project is everything, not about how much profit they could make from the land. If the Silicon Harbor project fails, why would the philanthropist Li bother with all this just to cash out on the land?
It's important to understand that Li Dongling risked his reputation for the Silicon Harbor project. If the Silicon Harbor project turns out to be nothing more than a land-selling scheme disguised as a business, then while it's hard to say about other places, at least in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, Li Dongling's reputation will be completely ruined.

"You only get one chance!"

"Whether it's Hong Kong or Cyberport, once you miss it, the opportunity will never come again."

"When time becomes history, history will not give Cyberport a second chance, nor will it give the city a second chance!" Li Dongling said in a deep voice.

Lin Xianhui could hear the resolute meaning in Li Dongling's words. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.

At this moment, Lin Xianhui truly felt the fundamental difference between Li Dongling and other wealthy families in Hong Kong.

Whether the Silicon Harbor project will succeed is uncertain. If other port city giants were to take charge of the project, they would definitely prioritize recouping their investment before considering any opportunities to implement the Silicon Harbor project.

"These projects will continue, but the Silicon Harbor project also needs to be expedited. Once the second phase of the Port City Future Industry Fund is fully funded, we will need your help!"

Li Dongling said to Lin Xianhui that when he talked about these things, he was also telling him to distinguish between primary and secondary matters. Those things like selling residential properties were for the Silicon Harbor project, and not the other way around.

……

The Peninsula Hotel is now a popular venue for banquets held by Hong Kong's elite and powerful figures.

The Peninsula Hotel, already a hub for luxury cars, saw an even greater influx of vehicles today. Outside, numerous reporters from Hong Kong's financial media, as well as entertainment and gossip journalists, gathered to join the commotion.

Today's banquet is being held under the guise of Cyberport, but these well-informed reporters know that this is the first banquet held by the philanthropist Li since returning to Hong Kong.

After the invitations to the banquet were sent out, all sorts of rumors began to circulate in Hong Kong. But one thing was certain: whoever attended the banquet would be able to acquire shares in companies such as 3721, which were about to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange!

How many wealthy and important figures will be here today?

"The Bank of China Hong Kong City, Taifu, China Merchants Hong Kong City, the Huo family, the Bao family, the Dong family, the Wang family from Taiwan, and the Xie and Guo families from Southeast Asia have all sent people over!"

Several Hong Kong reporters gathered together, their eyes fixed on the hotel entrance, discussing amongst themselves. The people they were talking about were all from wealthy Southeast Asian families.

As they were talking, several more cars arrived one after another, and groups of people got out of the cars in batches. Among them were Chinese faces and quite a few foreign faces.

"That's Wei Jiaxuan, President of Bear Stearns Asia!"

A reporter from the financial industry couldn't help but exclaim in amazement when he saw the people getting off the bus.

"People from Goldman Sachs and Citibank are here too!"

As more and more names were mentioned, these financial journalists were secretly alarmed. They even saw some people with cloths wrapped around their heads entering the banquet hall. Seeing their attire, they knew that these people were representatives from Middle Eastern oil-producing countries.

Seeing that Cyberport had invited so many big names and giants, they had no idea just how big a deal Cyberport was planning this time.

The banquet hall at the Peninsula Hotel was already brightly lit and bustling with activity as the banquet time approached.

Cyberport, Ning's Trading, Tse Sui Luen, China.com, and Ya'an Security—these all belong to the Dongling High-Tech Port City Company.

Torch Group, 3721, Kingsoft, Jiangmin Technology, and others are all people from the Dongke Group who came from the inland.

Upon entering the banquet hall and seeing the East China Sea City team standing alongside the East China Sea City inland team, everyone, including the East China Sea City Chinese-funded consortium led by General Manager Cao Zongyan, as well as Wei Jiaxuan, Goldman Sachs Asia Pacific President Cornell, and others, couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

Especially when they met Zhang Xiaocheng, the general manager of Torch Group, Wei Jiaxuan and Cornell felt as if they had seen a gold mine built of US dollars.

They really want a piece of the pie with Ruyan e-cigarettes. The whole of Wall Street is also eagerly waiting for the day when Ruyan e-cigarettes will raise funds. They don't know how long they have been waiting.

Looking at the two groups of people from Dongling High-Tech Port City and the inland area, Cao Zongyan couldn't help but sigh. Back when Li Dashan first came to Port City, he still needed to ask for help from Bank of China Port City and pay homage to his port.

Now, several years later, Dongling High-Tech has become a force to be reckoned with in Gangcheng, a new powerhouse in the city, even showing a tendency to surpass established giants like the Li family of Changjiang and become the largest powerhouse.

Cao Zongyan was unaware that the rivalry between the two Lis, which was hyped up by the Hong Kong media back then, had once again become the Li family, the richest family in Hong Kong. But would this Li family become the Li family of Cyberport?

As the banquet doors opened, a round of applause erupted throughout the hall as Ning Wenke, arm in arm with Li Dongling, entered the banquet hall with the Hong Kong government's leader.

(End of this chapter)