1977: The beginning of the blind date with the daughter of the king

Chapter 551 Wei Li’s suppression!
Hong Kong Island, Central!
Standard Chartered Bank's headquarters in Asia.

At this time, the young and beautiful female secretary hurriedly walked into the office of the boss Ron.

"Boss, there's a call from Landmark Group."

"Oh? Landmark Group? What's going on?"

Ron put down the pen in his hand and asked his female secretary curiously.

"Mr. Bao invites you to a banquet at the Mandarin Hotel tomorrow at noon. He wants to invite you to attend!"

The secretary said softly.

"Mr. Bao?"

"This person actually holds a banquet?"

Ron was a little surprised.

Mr. Bao seldom holds banquets or attends them.

Many people were expecting to see this little Baosheng in person at the Governor's banquet, but unexpectedly, he didn't even go.

However, when they learned that he was attending the US President's New Year's Day banquet, everyone present was deeply moved.

Before this, they all felt that they were not much different from that little Baosheng. Even though there was a gap in their wealth, their social status, especially their status in the Hong Kong government, was higher than that little Baosheng.

After all, many of them are older generation businessmen at the same level as Bao Yugang.

But after that night, most of the wealthy people in Hong Kong Island realized that there was a gap between them and that little Baosheng. This gap was not only in money, but also in the world level.

Many times, a party can reflect many things.

Just like Bao Yugang, he also has close relations with many politicians from various countries, but this closeness is a friendship based on the importance of shipping, which is often reflected in official affairs rather than private matters.

However, the invitation to the president's private New Year's Eve party shows that the young man has an extremely close personal relationship with the newly elected US president, and even includes many forces behind the president.

And this has highlighted the gap.

"By the way, did the other party tell us the theme of this banquet?"

Ron continued to ask at this time.

"said."

"They said that two senior executives from Bank of America and Wells Fargo came to the United States. Mr. Bao held a welcome ceremony for them and hoped that you would attend."

"The invitations will arrive later."

Hearing the secretary's words, Ron looked surprised.

“Bank of America and Wells Fargo?”

"Okay, I understand, get out!"

After sending the secretary away, Ron thought for a moment and then picked up the phone.

"Hello, Weir, I'm Ron!"

Ron planned to check with Wei Li to find out the purpose of tonight's party.

At the same time, in the office of the Landmark Building, Li Changhe was sitting in Wei Li's office.

"Boss, it's Ron!"

Hearing Ron's voice on the phone, Wei Li covered the microphone and whispered to Li Changhe.

Li Changhe nodded, indicating that he could tell him the truth.

Wei Li then enthusiastically praised Ron: "Congratulations, Ron."

"Hmm? Congratulations?"

Standard Chartered Bank, Ron was a little confused.

Immediately afterwards, Wei Li's voice on the other end of the phone made him ecstatic.

"Standard Chartered is going to cooperate with Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Shouldn't we congratulate them?"

"Wei Li, are you telling the truth? Could it be Mr. Bao?"

"Yes, our boss has helped you to cooperate with Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Of course, you have to discuss the specific cooperation plan yourself."

"But the top executives of both banks have been convinced by our boss. Congratulations, Ron!"

On the other end of the phone, Ron was so surprised that he was speechless after hearing Wei Li's statement.

"Wei Li, thank Mr. Bao for me."

"I'm sorry, but I have to report this surprise to the London headquarters now."

"Please forgive my gaffe."

Ron first apologized to Wei Li, then hung up the phone in a hurry.

Then, he sat at his desk with a flushed face and excitement on his face.

This is a collaboration with Bank of America and Wells Fargo!
On the other side, Wei Li put down the phone.

"Boss, it sounds like Ron can no longer control his joy."

"Is this gift we gave him too big?"

"I think we can actually negotiate with them for a portion of the shares first."

Wei Li spoke seriously to Li Changhe at this time.

He felt that they could take the opportunity to negotiate with Standard Chartered Bank, and at least there would be no problem in getting some shares.

Because the gift Li Changhe gave to Standard Chartered Bank was indeed sincere.

You should know that HSBC only opened up the US market last year, and it was through acquisitions rather than expansion.

And all this is due to the US protection of the banking industry.

In fact, when it comes to trade protectionism, the United States is definitely the world's number one regional protectorate, especially in the banking industry, where there is almost no room for foreign banks to enter.

Although American bankers are fighting each other to the death and using all kinds of dirty tricks, their principles are consistent when it comes to external affairs, which is not to allow foreign banks to enter the U.S. market.

Therefore, many foreign banks have almost no way to enter the US market. Even if they do, like HSBC's acquisition of a US bank, the end result is that there are many restrictions, and even US capital has the majority of control.

Therefore, for many banks, expanding market business in the United States is the top priority at the moment.

As the world becomes more and more open, the United States, as the world's number one capitalist country, has become the global business center. This also means that almost all high-net-worth clients of global banks have a demand for U.S. commercial banks.

Whether it is business activities, asset acquisition, or travel, studying abroad, investment and other needs.

This also requires that banks must provide customers with channels in this regard.

Otherwise, these high net worth clients will gradually disappear.

This is the dilemma that Standard Chartered is facing now. Limited to Asia, it can only connect the financial channels between Hong Kong Island and Europe, but it does not have a complete channel for the United States.

If this situation continues, Standard Chartered's clients, especially many of its high-quality asset clients, will gradually be lost.

It’s a very simple logic. If you can’t provide the banking services I need, why should I cooperate with your bank?
Therefore, Standard Chartered has always dreamed of accessing the financial channels of the United States.

But the reality is, it can't.

The reason is very simple. The big banks in the United States look down on it.

To American bankers, Standard Chartered is just a small bank in a tiny place in Hong Kong, Asia, and not even the largest one.

This kind of small bank may be famous in places like Hong Kong Island, but it is nothing outside of Hong Kong Island.

As for the financial market in Hong Kong Island, they don’t need it at the moment, after all, it’s too small. Even if they need it in the future, they can set up their own branches or cooperate with HSBC.

Banks like Citibank, Chase Bank, etc. have all set up their own branches in Hong Kong Island.

Therefore, for Standard Chartered, the big banks in the United States are the unattainable white, rich and beautiful goddesses of the top society.

After all, the goddess has countless dogs all over the world chasing after her, and Stanchard is just one of the local rich men. Although he has British blood, to put it bluntly, he is just an unpopular bastard.

Li Changhe introduced Bank of America and Wells Fargo to Standard Chartered, which actually helped Standard Chartered open up financial channels in the United States.

As long as the three parties reach a cooperation, Standard Chartered can be said to have a complete business partner there through the financial network of Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

This also means that Standard Chartered has established a trinity financial capital network in Asia, Europe and North America, covering the core capitalist regions.

For Standard Chartered, this is definitely a qualitative leap.

"No hurry, Bill."

"We Chinese have an old saying, if you want to get something, you must give it first!"

"What we need to do is to build up trust with Standard Chartered and then have them welcome us in, rather than forcing them to acquire Standard Chartered."

“So there’s no need to ask for Standard Chartered shares right out of the gate, as that will only make them wary of us.”

"In fact, as long as Standard Chartered sees the prospect of cooperating with us, I think it will not refuse to gradually integrate with us."

"You may think my gift is too big now, but if you think about it from another perspective, we are just finalizing our own U.S. financial network in advance."

“Doesn’t this make more sense?”

Li Changhe said to Wei Li with a smile.

He certainly would not give up the opportunity to get shares from Standard Chartered, but these shares would not be taken by Jardine Matheson, as that would be too obvious.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo will help him acquire some shares of Standard Chartered Bank, but there is no need to tell Wei Li about this.

"Okay, boss, you are the boss, everything is up to you."

"By the way, a new manager has recently taken over at Hutchison Whampoa."

Wei Li spoke to Li Changhe again at this time.

"Oh?"

Li Changhe looked at Wei Li with some curiosity.

"Simon Murray, whose Chinese name is Ma Shimin, was a former employee of Jardine Matheson and is a very capable person."

"When he was young, this man worked as a mercenary and explored many places around the world. He was a tough guy with a strong sense of adventure."

“I didn’t expect that Li Ka-shing would invite him to be the head of Hutchison Whampoa.”

"I heard that HSBC invited him back from Singapore, and then he joined Hutchison Whampoa."

Wei Li spoke seriously to Li Changhe at this moment.

Li Changhe was a little surprised after hearing this.

Did Ma Shimin go to Hutchison Whampoa so early this time?
He remembered that historically, the other party did not enter Hutchison Whampoa until 84.

This man is indeed very capable. Hutchison Whampoa's expanded empire, Island Electric, and Husky Energy were all acquired during his tenure.

Ma Shimin worked as the head of Hutchison Whampoa for ten years, followed by Canning Fok.

So now, because he poached Wei Li in advance, Ma Shimin also took over Hutchison in advance?

"Wei Li, do you have any idea about this guy?"

In fact, Li Changhe has not paid attention to Li Jiacheng for a long time. To him, Li Jiacheng is nothing to be afraid of now.

Li Ka-shing's business empire consists of Hutchison Whampoa and Hong Kong Electric, both of which provide him with stable returns.

The most valuable assets under Hutchison Whampoa are its land and its various retail companies, such as ParknShop.

But Li Changhe now also owns Hong Kong Land and Dairy Farm.

Moreover, under Li Changhe's early planning, Wellcome has now begun to expand frantically in Hong Kong Island, squeezing the living space of ParknShop supermarket.

It can be said that except for the real estate aspect, where Li Changhe did not suppress this "Superman Li", in other aspects, this Superman Li is now completely suppressed by Li Changhe.

Of course, Li Changhe did not deliberately suppress him. To put it bluntly, apart from the matter of poaching Wei Li, Li Changhe really did not suppress this future superman.

But as I said, Hong Kong Island has limited resources, and if Li Changhe gets them, he will actually suppress Li Jiacheng's development.

Take electricity for example. There are only two power companies in Hong Kong Island. One is now in the hands of the Kadoorie family and the other is in the hands of Li Changhe. So there is no hope for Li Jiacheng in the future in the power industry.

But who can blame the Electric Light Group, which is under the control of Jardine Matheson?

"I've learned a little bit about Ma Shimin. He's a man of character. With him taking over Hutchison, the people I left behind can no longer cause any trouble."

"Boss, I want to pull those people out and set up a new company."

Wei Li spoke seriously to Li Changhe at this time.

Li Changhe asked curiously, "Re-establish a company? What company?"

"Dock Group!"

"Boss, I think it's necessary to set up a dock group under our company."

"For the company, the shipping chain is currently our main supply and transportation chain, especially for high-quality goods from Europe and the United States, which must be in line with your membership supermarket strategy."

"But we don't have our own shipping channels. Of course, Global Shipping has a close relationship with you and is currently our main partner. This can guarantee our transportation chain in the short term, but I think, from the company's perspective, this is not our own transportation chain after all."

"Generally speaking, large group companies will ensure their own supply chains, either by investing in them or building their own."

"But under the current circumstances, it is difficult for us to get involved in the equity of Global Shipping."

Wei Li analyzed the situation to Li Changhe in a serious tone.

Li Changhe nodded in approval.

For retail groups, the transportation chain will be a very important link in the future.

Apart from anything else, let’s look at how JD.com will break through Alibaba’s blockade in the future. JD.com’s self-built express delivery system will play a big role in this.

Even until later, JD.com's logistics system was its trump card.

Alibaba has continued to invest in the three express delivery companies, but ultimately it lags behind JD Logistics by one level.

The same is true for the supply chain at the shipping level. Having your own transportation chain and not having your own transportation chain are two completely different things.

This is also the embarrassment of Swire Properties at present. Global Shipping is Pao Yu-kong's company, and the shareholders behind the scenes are the Pao family and HSBC. Not only do the two parties not need investment, it is also difficult for Li Changhe to ask for a stake.

To some extent, this has restricted the development of Swire Properties in the retail sector.

“So, you want to avoid shipping and directly get involved in the terminal container industry?”

Li Changhe asked thoughtfully at this time.

Wery nodded.

"Yes, boss. We may not be involved in shipping, but we can be involved in dock containers."

"As long as we have our own dock containers, the only thing missing in our transportation chain is the ship."

"As for simply finding a ship, it's actually not a big problem. There are many shipping companies in Hong Kong Island and around the world. This will not affect our supply system."

Li Changhe nodded thoughtfully after listening: "What you said makes sense, but Wei Li, for now, we can't get the wharf in Kwai Tsing."

(End of this chapter)