Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 203 The Road to Urban Development
I'm in Hefei, and the plane is slowing down on the runway.

Chen Xuebing and Cai Zhijian, who were sitting next to each other, were still discussing their stance after arriving at the Hefei government.

The flight attendant in charge of first class suddenly said "Received" in a hurry, walked quickly to the cockpit door, knocked on the door, and went inside.

When she came out, she looked at the first-class passengers with some confusion.

"Excuse me, which one of you is General Manager Chen?"

The confusion spread to everyone.

However, the plane was not large, and the first-class cabin was usually sparsely occupied. Apart from the group from Gu'an Group, there were only two other people, who were probably a couple.

Chen Xuebing raised his hand: "Which General Manager Chen are you talking about? I am Chen Xuebing."

The flight attendant looked at Chen Xuebing with increasing respect.

"Mr. Chen, your company's people will be able to disembark soon."

Chen Xuebing was confused again.

We're already at the airport, so it'll be quick.

First-class passengers can disembark first, but is it really necessary to remind them again?

However, the mystery was quickly solved; the plane didn't go to the terminal's jet bridge but stopped in an open area.

"Mr. Chen, you can disembark now. Someone is waiting for you outside."

As soon as the flight attendant finished speaking, everyone at Gu'an looked out the window. On Chen Xuebing's side, a car and a bus were approaching in the distance.

Damn it.

Everyone was shocked.

Are you picking someone up at the runway?
As the group disembarked, there was a flurry of discussion in the cabin behind them, towards the door.

"Someone has gotten off the plane!"

"Is there a problem with the plane? Can we still get off here?"

"We might have to take a shuttle bus to get out!"

But once the plane's stairs were retracted, the cabin doors were closed, and the plane started moving again, those left on board realized: they had met a big shot.

Those with cameras were snapping pictures through the windows, and some even left their seats to retrieve cameras from their bags during takeoff, causing chaos. Flight attendants quickly came over to stop them.

Chen Xuebing warmly shook hands with Mayor Wu and several government officials upon disembarking from the plane; surprisingly, three members of the leadership team were present.

Executive Vice President and Minister of the United Front Work Department.

He looked back at the plane that had restarted and remarked with some emotion:

"Mayor, I am unworthy of this honor and feel deeply humbled."

Being greeted at the airport is a privilege reserved for foreign dignitaries, and it's not something that can be done casually. Although the Party Secretary didn't come in person, he must have agreed to it.

That's an incredibly generous gesture.

"Not enough, not enough!" Mayor Wu waved his hand with a smile: "We want to sweep the gate to welcome guests from afar, but our poor home is full of moss and yellow leaves. Mr. Chen has seen the world. We, Hefei, are poor. We can't show him enough hospitality, so we can only welcome him in this way. Our sincerity in investing goes far beyond this!"

Mayor Wu started by reciting a poem, and there were government officials taking pictures nearby. Chen Xuebing wanted to reciprocate with a couple of lines.

But a quick glance around revealed that the place was indeed dilapidated.

Luogang Airport is quite small, only able to handle medium-sized passenger planes. The ground is not very smooth, with small cracks visible in the cement. The terminal building is right next to it, making it look like a bus station.

This is still Hefei's only airport.

One can imagine what the scene outside is like.

No wonder Mayor Wu personally came to the airport to pick them up; he probably was worried that they might have some reservations about the place because it was too poor.

He had some knowledge of poetry and literature, but the only thing he seemed to say to praise his current environment was, "This is a humble abode, but your virtue makes it fragrant."

"Haha, a mountain is not famous for its height, but for the immortals who dwell there!"

While Chen Xuebing offered a forced compliment, he secretly resolved to learn a few polite phrases from classical Chinese, as he would need them when dealing with the government in the future.

After exchanging a few polite words, Mayor Wu saw that the same group of people as last time, exactly six, and they all boarded the King Long bus together.

The car drove out of the parking lot passage and found itself on a street. Not far away, it came to an old commercial street with many pedestrians.

The airport is actually located in the city center, so it's practically a train station.

The scenery outside has a strong county town flavor.

The buildings are low-rise and have a simple structure. There are some tall buildings, but they are all square and have almost no distinctive features. They are too practical.

There were quite a lot of people. The old commercial street we passed was packed with people, and the population density was no less than that of Huaqiangbei.

Before coming, he had done his research and found that Hefei's urbanization rate was only around 30%, and its urban population was only around 40%, which was far below the average level of provincial capitals and even slightly below the average level of ordinary cities.

"Mayor Wu, there are quite a lot of people here, aren't there?" Chen Xuebing asked, voicing his doubts.

"Haha, the people here love lively atmospheres and have a great cultural environment. On weekends and holidays, wherever there are businesses, it's packed with people. Now that the New Year is almost here, those shops are doing incredibly well. The Carrefour supermarket that we introduced to Sanli'an in Shushan set a record for the highest single-day customer traffic in Asia in its first month of operation! Now it's a landmark store in East China!"

Mayor Wu said, turning to the side with a mysterious expression:
"Mr. Chen, if you know any mall owners, bring them here to build a new mall, and business will definitely boom."

It looked like he was imparting some business secrets.

Chen Xuebing just chuckled.

The city is underdeveloped, and land prices are not much cheaper than in other provincial capitals. There are many people, but their purchasing power is not necessarily strong.

Why?
"If you grant me a plot of land in the city center for free, I'll build you a luxurious commercial complex, an absolute city landmark."

This statement piqued the interest of all three members of the leadership team on the bus.

"Commercial complex? What does that mean?"

These days, this concept is rarely mentioned.

"It's a multi-functional, high-efficiency building complex that integrates shopping malls, hotels, office buildings, and mixed-use residential buildings, combining multiple elements such as offices, entertainment, catering, and residences, making concentrated use of land, and providing one-stop commercial services. You know Beijing's International Trade Center, right? As long as you attract a lot of foot traffic, once the surrounding land is developed and high-rise buildings are built, it becomes a city's CBD."

Chen Xuebing didn't say much, but every word he uttered struck a chord with the leaders.

"How much does this cost?" Minister He of the United Front Work Department asked, somewhat naive.

Chen Xuebing extended two fingers and flipped them back and forth.

"At least two billion."

Two billion isn't much. Building a skyscraper will cost several hundred million, not to mention the commercial plaza, public facilities, and green spaces.
"How much land do you need?" Mayor Wu asked tentatively.

Chen Xuebing smiled and said, "At least 20 square meters, right? We can build as big as you're given. There's no upper limit. 20 square meters is about the same as the Zhengda Plaza in Shanghai. If you give me 50 square meters, I can build a 50 square meter one, which is even bigger than the newly opened South China Mall in Dongguan."

Building commercial complexes will be the ultimate goal of the real estate industry in the future. Chen Xuebing is not just talking nonsense. As long as Hefei dares to give him land for free, he really dares to build it.

Commercial land prices in the city center here are at least 2,000 yuan per square meter. A plot of land of 200,000 square meters would be worth 400 million yuan, not even counting its appreciation value.

If you take it to a bank, you can easily get two or three hundred million yuan. That's enough to lay a foundation and work on it for a year or two. If you had your own team do it, you might have already built the floors.

After a year or two, the stock market opportunity will have passed. If you have money in hand, just keep going. Even if you work slowly, you can still build a large square in three years.

By then, as Hefei's industries develop, land prices will have at least doubled, allowing them to recoup most of their investment. They'll also have a landmark plaza in hand, which, if sold as a whole, will fetch at least three to four billion yuan.

If one is shameless enough to follow Huang Guali's path, they could even invest nothing, relying solely on bank loans, maneuvering and stalling through policy restrictions, and then reselling the project to someone else at a higher price once the environment improves. Mayor Wu, of course, also had these concerns, and tentatively asked, "Could it be built if we expand the city's land?"

Chen Xuebing gave a dry laugh.

"Expanding the urban area means going outside the city, where there are no people. What's the point of building there? It's a waste of money."

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to mention it.

Mayor Wu turned around dejectedly and sighed.

Chen Xuebing had no idea that the "outside the city" that Mayor Wu was referring to was the site of Hefei's new, unfinished municipal government building, which would later become a popular tourist destination called Swan Lake, priced at 30,000 yuan per square meter.

The newly excavated Swan Lake is a beautiful place, and Mayor Wu really wants to give him 50 hectares (10,000 square meters) to develop.

It's near the Economic Development Zone, so there are fewer people there.

But right now, there's only so much land in the city center, and we really can't find a single piece of land this big.

“President Chen.” Mayor Wu turned back again, unwilling to give up: “If you can sign the contract and build the commercial complex you mentioned, there’s a 270,000-square-meter plot of land in the city that I can give you at a discounted price, 60% of the listed price.”

Hefei is planning a new urban area and desperately needs a CBD.

Not only the new urban area needs it, but the entire city of Hefei needs it.

Currently, there is only one "CBD Shopping Center" built by Baida Group in the city. Although it is called CBD, it is actually just a shopping mall building and does not reach the scale that Chen Xuebing mentioned at all.

Chen Xuebing shook his head again: "Let's talk about it later. This land is key to Hefei's asset securitization loans and industrial development."

270,000 square meters, worth hundreds of millions, and you're offering a 40% discount?
Even if I broke my bone, I still couldn't afford it.

If I could afford it, why would I be making empty promises to you?

Mayor Wu frowned upon hearing this, but said nothing.

The further the car drove, the more open and spacious the surroundings became.

"Mayor Wu, where are we going?" Chen Xuebing asked.

Mayor Wu pointed ahead: "It's still early, Mr. Chen, are you in no hurry to rest? Let's go take a look at the Economic and Technological Development Zone."

Executive Director Guo chimed in, "Our Economic and Technological Development Zone is a national-level zone, ranking among the top ten in the country. It has a very large area, exceeding 250 square kilometers, divided into a south zone and a north zone. It includes a logistics park, a bonded zone, and will eventually have an airport!"

"Oh"

Chen Xuebing saw that the road was indeed well-constructed, flat and wide, with the grandeur of a big city. He figured that since they had brought him here for a visit, they must be heading to the city's highlights.

The scenery along the way is really nice.

Some new housing developments, though sparsely distributed, are all high-rise buildings with elevators, giving them a modern urban feel.

It seems that Hefei is already planning to expand its urban area.

There's plenty of open space here, and the potential for growth is huge. It's also not far from the main urban area, so expanding the city in the future should be relatively easy.

There are no limitations in terms of potential.

Nanjing, located more than 100 kilometers away, made the same mistake. With nowhere else to expand, it tried every means to include Ma'anshan, causing Hefei and even Anhui to be on guard day and night.

If Nanjing were any bigger, the neighboring cities in Anhui wouldn't be able to retain their populations.

Including Hefei.

However, Anhui later came up with a killer move: splitting the nest into three parts.

In 2011, the three cities of Hefei, Wuhu, and Ma'anshan divided up the entire city of Chaohu, forcibly expanding the area of ​​Ma'anshan. Ma'anshan's strength increased significantly, and it was no longer something that Nanjing, a prefecture-level city, could swallow up, completely killing Nanjing's hopes.

Chaohu Lake, the fifth largest freshwater lake in my country, covers an area of ​​780 square kilometers. A prefecture-level city was built specifically for this lake. After the three entities split up Chaohu Lake, it became a county-level city under the administration of Hefei, and most of its water resources were transferred to Hefei.

This city is a place of both hard work and good fortune.

Chen Xuebing recalled the short videos he had seen about Hefei's rise in his previous life, and compared them with the budding Hefei before him, he felt even more that this city was worth investing in.

However, Mayor Wu didn't say much along the way; it was mostly government staff who made the introductions, which made the atmosphere somewhat strange.

The car stopped at a residential area.

As I got off the bus, I came to a sign that read, "Welcome to invest and build in the development zone."

"Mingzhu Square! This will be the new Hefei!" Mayor Wu said with a smile, one hand behind his back and the other sweeping across the area in front of him.

"Over there, there's a company called Lucky Film, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, that makes optical thin films. They've received support from three banks!"

"Gree's new factory is over there!"

"There's a Xinyada Blue Sky Environmental Protection Company there!"

"Changhong also invested in our Meiling at the end of last year, and the joint venture factory will be located not far from here! There was also an introduction from Chairman Zhu of Gree."

Chen Xuebing was astonished.

So, this is what the Changhong Meiling brand is all about.

While digging for Gree, they also brought along Changhong. Hefei really doesn't forget to try its hand at something no matter where it goes.

At this moment, the secretary walked over, unfolded a document, and handed it to Chen Xuebing.

"Mr. Chen, take a look. These are the companies we've recently attracted investment from. Many of them are high-tech enterprises with great potential."

Chen Xuebing was stunned.

Then, a bad feeling arose.

This guy dragged me to the middle of nowhere and forced me to invest in other projects?

What if I don't vote? Are you going to take me back?
"Mayor Wu, this is..."

Mayor Wu turned around with his hands behind his back and sighed, "President Chen, we've talked to BOE, but I'm afraid they can't come up with the money. You've seen that financial report, haven't you? According to your plan, getting them to come up with 60 billion yuan is as difficult as climbing to the sky. They negotiated with the Shenzhen government to have TCL, Skyworth, Konka, and Changhong, the four TV manufacturers, invest, while BOE only contributes 20 billion yuan and technology, with a 40% controlling stake. This condition is really difficult for us."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuebing's expression relaxed.

He already knew about these things.

In the previous life, Hefei invested in BOE in 08. Now it's 06. Although BOE is in a bad situation, it hasn't been stood up by Shenzhen and Shanghai twice. Although Sharp is causing trouble in Shenzhen, it hasn't completely given up. At this moment, BOE will definitely speak louder and the terms it proposes will definitely be different from those in the previous life.

20 billion, a 40% stake, that's outrageous! They really dare to dream of it.

BOE is constantly being criticized by the media, partly because it lacks self-awareness.

But that’s fine.

Giving Hefei a heads-up will help them put aside their illusions and focus on raising funds, instead of always thinking about doing big things with small amounts of money.

"What about the funding for building the factory? How much is needed? Have they said?"

This was the only question Chen Xuebing was unsure about.

"This is closer to your assessment. They said it was 140 billion, but I suspect there's some exaggeration in that figure."

Mayor Wu's words brought a relaxed smile to Chen Xuebing's face.

He pushed aside the "investment menu" his secretary handed him and smiled:

“Mayor Wu, we are a fund, and our first priority is to consider exit channels. We must invest in listed companies, and only those listed companies that I am optimistic about. I will not invest in other projects. However, we can discuss BOE further.”

(End of this chapter)