My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 703 I was really just trying to fool the Hong Kong businessmen

In 1987, Shanghai Port, the largest container terminal in the country, did not even have the capacity to berth Panamax cargo ships!
So if you send Wei Dong to tell the Shanghai Shipyard that they're planning to build a Panamax-class cargo ship, they'll definitely think he's a fool.

If it weren't for Lao Zhong's mediation, he would probably have called to report Wei Dong and sent him to eat at No. 600 Wanping Road.

The two existing container terminals were built in recent years.

The water depth limits the berthing of container ships to 10,000 to 20,000 tons, which are then slowly loaded and unloaded using gantry cranes. The quay cranes were also newly imported and installed.

Therefore, 60% of import and export containers are transshipped through Hong Kong or Kobe.

They would load the cargo onto smaller ships first, then transport it over there to exchange it for larger ocean-going vessels. This inefficiency and cost-saving measures hindered the growth of total exports.

Wei Dong seemed to be acting in his own self-interest: "In the entire eastern Guangdong region, only Yuezhou Port can accommodate cargo ships of over 10,000 tons, so most of them gather there for loading and then transport them to Hong Kong for transshipment. Mr. Fang and his investment bureau are building the Pengzhen West District Wharf in the Pearl River Estuary, which can load and unload 30,000-ton cargo ships by relying on the tides. After the Shanghai Port Machinery installed the quay cranes, its business capacity has been greatly improved. It is said that the investment bureau is also trying to establish a customs office, so that it can independently handle foreign trade containers, and the foreign trade products of the entire South China region can be sent out simply, efficiently and cheaply."

Several people from Shanghai, who were busy with their own things, gradually came over to sit down and attend the meeting. Now, as they listened, they couldn't help but comb their hair with their fingers, feeling a strong sense of urgency.

"Pengzhen is catching up very quickly!"

"Special economic zones really do have 'special economic zone speed'..."

"Shanghai cannot afford to fall behind in this race!"

However, some people familiar with this business have doubts: "The tonnage of ships that can dock at Shanghai Port can't go up right now, and the loading and unloading speed is also not good. Even so, last year there were still a lot of ships queuing up for loading and unloading. Pengzhen Port... mainly provides feeder services to Hong Kong Port, right? Why are you messing around with super-large ships again? They can't dock these kinds of ships either."

Wei Dong was still getting familiar with the business during this process: "The port itself has limitations in terms of water depth and loading and unloading equipment. Of course, there is also a core issue: whether there are ships coming to dock after the wharf is built, and whether there is enough cargo to go out."

Someone immediately nodded: "Goods exported from Shanghai have been piling up for years. The port has constrained the scale of foreign trade exports, and ocean-going freighters have limited the export volume..."

He also explained to others: "Cargo ships can't just stop whenever you want. The entire international shipping market is controlled by European and American countries. Inland ports that have just started ocean shipping are not in their international shipping alliance network. Ships call at hub ports like Hong Kong, Singapore, and Kobe. We can only transship."

To put it more aptly by Wei Dong: "Our conditions aren't good enough. Buses and long-distance buses don't have fixed stops here, so we have to rely on tricycles and rickshaws to go to and from the bus station."

Only through comparison can we truly understand the differences.

Previously, it was completely closed off, and people thought Shanghai was already very high-end. Only after getting electricity and internet access did they realize that there was still a big gap.

My classmates are still frantically trying to catch up: "The processing and export industries in eastern Guangdong are growing rapidly. If we develop them a little earlier, we can avoid future restrictions on export trade. If we try to expand the construction of transportation ports and wharves then, we will miss the opportunity. So the goods are not the problem. The main restriction is the ships. If international shipping does not set up a station here, will we always be exploited by them? Or to put it bluntly, will Hong Kong always have to eat this transit food?"

Wei Dong was very straightforward: "Impossible! How could such a big country, with such a large foreign trade market, be held hostage by such a small place? So we must build our own ships and run our own transportation."

Looking at how Hong Kong has slumped in 30 years, it's clear that the situation of the whole country supporting one city has been broken.

For Wei Dong to say it so matter-of-factly was still somewhat shocking in 1987.

But in Shanghai, which has been competing with Hong Kong for international status as the Pearl of the Orient for over a century, everyone agrees.

"Yes, that's the idea. They're working on it, aren't they? The Ocean Shipping Group is doing it, specifically responsible for developing ocean-going cargo ships..."

"It's just that the economic difficulties of the past two years have slowed down the construction of new ships for ocean-going vessels, so we still have to rely mainly on international shipping capacity..."

"Is Xiao Ting pushing Hong Kong businesses to build ships? Pushing them to build bigger ships? Does this actually enhance Hong Kong's carrying capacity, or is it destroying their own industry?"

Everyone present was a master, a seasoned veteran with a keen understanding of human nature.

Was Wei Dong doing this to make a lot of money for him, to open up new opportunities for foreign trade in the mainland, or both? Or was he acting as a comprador for Hong Kong businessmen to secretly carry out their schemes?
Some people must have looked doubtful.

This is normal.

He frankly admitted that he had a clear conscience: "As the investor of the West Wharf and the National Group, I must do my best to help the West Wharf run well. I even paid out of my own pocket to buy two quay cranes from Shanghai Port Machinery..."

Shanghai Port Machinery Co., Ltd. did not even purchase them from its own port machinery factory.

On the one hand, there was a shortage of foreign exchange, and very few people could get a share here. On the other hand, we adhered to the principle of using the best resources where they were most needed, and we didn't dare to use our own products to test such high-end goods.

Shanghai also particularly believes in the idea that international standards and imported goods are reliable.

So Lao Zhong traveled around for a year or two, but didn't sell a single unit in China. He didn't dare to open the door to this business casually, even though it cost four or five million US dollars!

The few people whispering amongst themselves knew the weight of Wei Dong's subtle boast: "Moreover, the unique feature of our West District Port is its location at the mouth of the Pearl River. The future plan is to expand the port by reclaiming land in the open, deep water area. This avoids competing with local entities for land and also deepens the port's water level. So, we were originally very confident in building Pengzhen West District Port into the largest port at the southern gateway, competing with Hong Kong for this hub port status." Transshipment and export to Hong Kong would definitely be more costly; that's the logic behind establishing West District Port—even a small share would be substantial.

When you hear the original words, you know there's been a change, so you listen more attentively.

“This expansion will definitely cost a lot of money, and I don’t have that much capital, so I went to Hong Kong to beg for money and analyzed the pros and cons for Hong Kong businessmen, right? The Hong Kong docks are indeed a treasure trove, but not everyone can benefit from them. I could always persuade someone to invest in the Western District docks. As a result, the speaker didn’t mean anything by it, but the listener took it to heart. They already had all sorts of ideas, and someone immediately went to Pengzhen to get the land in the Eastern District to build a deep-water port, a 17-meter deep-water port that can berth ships of 50,000 to 60,000 tons or more. I got a real scolding from Old Fang!”

The matter of Li Bancheng going to Pengzhen to apply for the construction of a wharf will definitely be reported to Pingjing, but it may not be reported to Shanghai so quickly.

Anyway, everyone on this side looked at each other in disbelief, with "Holy crap!" in their eyes.

I was just saying that your West Wharf has the potential to develop and compete with the Shanghai Wharf, and now it's starting at double the price.

Moreover, it is a super port whose basic natural conditions far surpass those of Shanghai Port. Is this going to completely dethrone Shanghai Port from its position as the number one port in the country?
Those who were previously scratching their heads in frustration were now at their wits' end, probably wanting to give Wei Dong a good dressing down.

But their status means they can remain stable.

Let Wei Dong explain: "But Mr. Fang's conclusion is a good thing. Even if we all know that Hong Kong businessmen are only interested in making money, it is still a good thing. As long as the construction drives productivity, we will judge by the results, not the intentions. If in the process we also buy Shanghai Port Machinery and build new cargo ships, in the end our mainland economic development will benefit, including Shanghai Port. There will even be a catch-up and comparison, which can also motivate Shanghai Port to work harder."

What he was originally expressing was the money-making mentality of Hong Kong businessmen, which netizens later came to know about. At this time, they had little money, but they were able to lure Hong Kong businessmen to invest and build these large-scale supporting facilities. Even if they sold a few more bags of cement in the process, they would still make a profit.

Everyone present felt that it was all about vision and perspective.

A visionary and broad perspective.

It's said that Wei Dong's greatest strength is "foresight," even though he can't see many details clearly.

For example, he changed the landscape of Shanghai's ocean-going terminals.

Because among those present, only a few are in charge of ocean-going terminals, and now everyone has been taught the importance of water depth; large ocean-going vessels must have sufficient water depth.

The two wharves that Shanghai has recently renovated and expanded with great effort both suffer from insufficient water depth.

After all, Shanghai is located on the alluvial plain at the mouth of the Yangtze River Delta, making it difficult to find a natural vertical deep-water port.

In ancient times, ships were mostly large wooden boats, and iron-hulled ships were one thing. It's understandable that they didn't understand international trends a few years ago.

However, the 60,000-ton Panamax-class ships became the standard for dominating global trunk lines in the 1980s.

In the future, it will far exceed this ship type.

Therefore, this must be taken as the standard.

Now, Wei Dong unintentionally brought out this core point: "Why build big ships? Which is cheaper, a ship with 4,000 containers or 20,000 containers? The costs of fuel, wages, port fees, and agency fees cannot be increased fivefold, so the profit will increase significantly. Lowering costs will boost competitiveness, right? So from a businessman's perspective, the bigger the ship, the more money you make!"

"The limitations are the two canals, the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal. The Suez Canal is fine; ships of 100,000 to 200,000 tons can pass through. The key is that the Panama Canal restricts the width of ships to no more than 40 meters. So when the whole world revolves around Citibank, cargo ships have to consider that they can't be too big to pass through the canal. But if the volume of foreign trade in the mainland rises in the future, and ships are sent to Europe and the west coast of North America, most of them won't need to pass through the Panama Canal. Wouldn't these ships be able to grow as big as they want? You have to believe that capitalists will do anything to make money."

This was his general impression after watching the videos of shipping sailors: "Some people in Hong Kong have calculated that a large ship with 20,000 containers can actually break even after a few or ten trips. After that, it's all about huge profits. It all depends on whether this route can deliver a large amount of cargo in a long-term and stable manner. If the mainland develops well, these shipping companies will make a fortune."

Well, these guys from Shanghai have left an impression: building big ships and deep-water ports.

Later, when various parts of Shanghai requested the construction and renovation of ports, the city adopted this standard for all of them.

This allowed Shanghai to avoid many pitfalls and directly jump into the era of deep-water ports with super-large cargo ships.

After all, port terminals require huge investments. If the boom of a quay crane is not long enough when it is lowered, then replacing it would cost only a few million dollars.

If the deep-water capacity is not met, large ships cannot dock, and the port is excluded from the list of new hub ports, resulting in a failed investment that could easily cost hundreds of millions!

The real super-Panamax ship was not expected to appear for several years, and to usher in a new era ten years later.

This even led to a decrease in the throughput of the Panama Canal locks at one point, and thirty years later the canal had to adjust the locks to accommodate these super Panamax freighters.

The reason now is simply that Wei Dong wanted to lure Hong Kong businessmen into investing!

(End of this chapter)