Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 359: A famous teacher
Time flies.

Gu'an Construction successfully concluded its supplier negotiations, with 43 suppliers accepting the terms of commercial bill payment. Gu'an Construction only paid 7.5 million yuan for land transfer and tens of millions of yuan for commencement costs, and projects in various regions were launched in full swing.

Local newspapers in Sichuan also began reporting on Hutchison Whampoa's plan to take over real estate plots in Chengdu again.

Local residents now have a new topic of conversation: Li Ka-shing is here again.

This time, the public's voice is completely different from last time.

—The last Nancheng Metropolis project hasn't sold after three years, and now they're starting another unfinished project?

—Hong Kong bosses are shrewd! They hold onto the land for three years, then resell it for double the price!
—You son of a bitch, they're the ones who created the shared area problem! Don't let them fix it! The place they built is so small you can't even fit a mahjong table!
Local netizens posted a message as proof: If this land is still wasteland in three years, dig up the grave if you don't believe it.

Ordinary people aren't stupid; no matter how well a story is told, they'll only believe it once.

Moreover, Huang and his team didn't do any publicity this time. They planned to sneak into the village quietly, without any warning, but they were exposed.

Having tasted the sweetness of his previous outburst against Sharp and the renewed popularity of Kirin phones, Chen Xuebing, the troublemaker, is now acting with even more ruthlessness. Since people in Chengdu don't trust Hutchison Whampoa, he's targeting them specifically.

However, he also knew who the real instigator was, so he made a special trip back to Chongqing to help Rong Xianwen negotiate with Yufu Capital to complete the transfer procedures for Xinhua Trust, thus giving Tomorrow Group no chance to turn things around.

Incidentally, they acquired the long-planned Maotian Cement Plant from Yufu and Maotian Group for 100 million yuan, along with a bank loan of 130 million yuan.

With Chongqing and Yufu backing it up, the entire takeover process went exceptionally smoothly. The bank naturally agreed to let the well-funded Gu'an take over the project. When Maotian learned that the famous General Manager Chen wanted to take over, he put forward a condition: the Long March No. 3 Fund. Maotian also wanted to jump the queue and get a share.

It went so smoothly that even Chen Xuebing felt a little sad.

Once, those at the Golden Core stage spent countless hours scheming and plotting.

Even at the Nascent Soul stage, he had no time to make a move.

When he reaches the Nascent Soul stage, he will only need one move to truly make a move!
Seeing that they were no match for the enemy, the other side surrendered!

However, if it weren't for him holding things back, Mota might have already secured a loan and started construction last year.

In addition, negotiations with Chunying Special Steel have also ended, with 80 million yuan paid out and the steel mill changing hands.

Mr. Chen took over the cement plant and special steel plant with great enthusiasm, and invited Bi Yaxiong to come in person to discuss the sales plan for the local materials.

Steel and cement are both hard currencies in the engineering industry, with high demand.

Sichuan can use the steel produced by the mill itself, and selling it to distant places is not a big problem.

The product costs several thousand yuan per ton and is very sturdy. The cross-province transportation cost is not high, and the quality loss during transportation is also very low. The self-operated profit can fully cover the price difference, not to mention that Chen Xuebing can also benefit from the price cycle.

Cement, however, is difficult to obtain.

The shipping and unloading of cement to Sichuan is not yet mature, and there is a high risk of it getting damp and clumping. If it is transported by land, the transportation cost per ton will be more than 100 yuan, which is not competitive.

However, Chen Xuebing's optimism about this factory was not without reason. Maotian Group had long ago planned its shipping operations and had already selected a location for its own wharf on the riverbank, only a few hundred meters from the factory. It was practically an integrated facility, and the factory area could even be connected to the wharf by belt conveyor. As long as the wharf was built, and the company purchased ships and modified them with sealed cargo holds and moisture-proof coatings, according to the current Yangtze River hydrology, a 2000-ton ship could operate for up to 300 days a year. With a transport distance of 1200 kilometers, the cost per ton of self-transported cargo could be as low as 40 yuan, and even less than 30 yuan for short distances. If the unloading system could be upgraded and automated, the cost could be even lower.

Dockside barges can also be used as transit warehouses, saving on warehousing costs.

All things considered, the construction of the dock costs 50 million yuan, and the purchase and modification of thirteen 2000-ton ships (each costing approximately 2.5 million yuan plus 700,000 yuan in modification costs) would be sufficient to meet the requirement of selling 600,000 tons per year along the river.

The renovation cost a total of 90 million.

During the high-water season of the Yangtze River, supplies can be directly provided to the Yangtze River Delta region; during the dry season, sales can only focus on Chongqing.

Overall, as long as the sales plan is done well, production capacity can continue without stopping. One million tons can be produced at the maximum capacity every year. If the self-operated ships can help transport goods on their return trips, they can earn an extra few million yuan every year.

After some discussion, it was decided that one factory manager would be in charge of sales, one executive deputy factory manager would be in charge of production, and two deputy factory managers would be responsible for transportation and daily system management.

Both factories were brought under the name of Gu'an Construction. Regarding the capital expansion and share conversion, there are now only two shareholders: Chen Xuebing owns 97%, his uncle owns 3%, and the rest are stock options. Bi Yaxiong also receives project commissions. Chen Xuebing did not complain and maintained the original share ratio, and also included the factory's profits in Bi Yaxiong's commission scope.

Chen Xuebing also handed over the tasks of recruiting and managing personnel to Bi Yaxiong.

Recently, the group purchased 3 million shares of Panzhihua Iron & Steel Vanadium, paid 2 million to a trust, 1 million to Maotian, and 8000 million to Chunying Special Steel. It also lent 9000 million to Gu'an Construction for shipyard renovation and 7.5 million to Sichuan land transfer fees (excluding Chengdu). The group's balance was originally over 29 billion, but now it has 13 billion.

The acquisition of Maotian Cement led to an increase of 1.3 million yuan in bank liabilities, and the China Development Bank syndicate owed 7.5 million yuan, bringing the total liabilities to 8.8 million yuan.

It looks like we're going to run out of money again.

Bi Yaxiong was very worried about the auction of the Chengdu land plot, fearing that it would delay the subsequent construction plans.

Chen Xuebing calmly stated that there was no need to be nervous.

Bi Yaxiong was still worried, so he called Cai Zhijian and learned that the group would have an investment fund available for withdrawal after March. After doing the math, he figured that even if the auction price exceeded 13 billion, the payment could be partially delayed, and most of the construction material costs could be paid through commercial bills, so he felt relieved.

However, he put his heart in the wrong direction.

Chen Xuebing meant that 13 billion yuan was more than enough.

On January 20, the State Administration of Taxation suddenly issued a document entitled "Notice on Issues Concerning the Settlement and Management of Land Value Added Tax for Real Estate Development Enterprises" and forwarded it to local tax bureaus in more than a dozen cities, requesting the relevant cities to take the lead in implementing the document.

This is not a new system; the land value-added tax was first formally incorporated into law on December 13, 1993, through the "Provisional Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Land Value-Added Tax" promulgated by the State Council. However, this time, a mandatory liquidation time limit has been clearly defined, and real estate companies can initiate liquidation once they meet any one of the following conditions:
1. The project is completed and ≥85% sold.

2. The pre-sale permit has been issued for more than 3 years and the units have not been sold out.

3. Transfer of land use rights.

This time, a cross-provincial collaborative collection mechanism was established, a national database of overdue land value-added tax was created, and the rules for calculating late payment fees were upgraded: late payment fee = tax payable × 0.05% × number of days overdue.

Cost deduction vouchers will be strictly reviewed. If a company refuses to declare its costs even though it meets the liquidation conditions, the tax authorities will levy taxes based on the assessed profit rate. The focus will be on cracking down on companies that have long-term outstanding advance payments and inflate development costs.

Each line, each item, conveys the message: This time, we're serious.

On the day of the announcement, Vanke A shares plummeted 9.2%, wiping out 86 billion yuan in market value; Poly Real Estate fell 10% to its daily limit, wiping out 41 billion yuan in market value; and Gemdale Group fell 8.7%, wiping out 29 billion yuan in market value.
It is said that Beijing R&F Properties has to pay 2.1 million yuan in back taxes for a single project and has also been charged 3600 million yuan in late payment fees.

Earthquake in the real estate industry.

The Gu'an Group was not present at the scene of the incident.

It has no past projects and no real estate holdings.

They also heavily bought more shares when real estate stocks were at low valuations, causing Vanke's management's original share buyback plan to fall through.

At the end of January, after settling things in Chongqing, General Manager Chen received a call from Kan Zhidong on his way back to Sichuan.

"Yu Liang from Vanke called me and questioned me for a long time, asking if we were really that confident in real estate stocks, hahaha. Their management is getting anxious. Every time they try to buy back some shares at low prices, they put them back in their own hands. This time, Vanke fell for four consecutive days, from 18.58 to 14.42. Just as they were about to sell, we bought in at the low price and pushed it back up to 15.73. Now they want to know when we're going to sell! Vanke is, after all, the leader in real estate. Do you think we should leak some information and try to improve our relationship with them?"

"Why bother trying to please them? Vanke's management has such a low shareholding, relying on China Resources, a major shareholder, to ensure their voice. They might be ousted from the board one day. They are competitors, so there's no need to waste time arguing with them. The real estate market is at its trough in the current bull market, and there may be another one or two times increase in the future. However, in the long run, it is at a high level. If they dare to pick up shares and hold them, they can expect to be hoarded in the sky later."

Although Chen Xuebing outwardly expressed disdain, he subtly conveyed some information to Kan Zhidong.

The group's senior executives expanded their network by relying on some insider information released by Chen Xuebing. This was the source of Kan Zhidong's advance knowledge of the national tax policy, which gave the group a head start.

So he still gave the information to Kan Zhidong. As for who Kan Zhidong wanted to confide in private and who he wanted to build a good relationship with, that was his own business.

"Yes, the policy has finally arrived, and the real estate industry is going to be tough," Kan Zhidong sighed.

"Hehe, it's going to be tough for those who hoard land. They'll have to do everything they can to defy the policies. As for those who do legitimate business, they can just do whatever they want. Commercial real estate, in particular, is going to take off this time. We need to pay attention to the financing projects of Wanda and AVIC, especially their equity financing. After the New Year, we'll move to Shanghai and start operating trusts. We'll not only be doing real estate, but we'll also be monitoring the real estate information of other companies and using trust funds to invest in some good projects."

AVIC Real Estate is listed on the stock exchange. Although Wanda is not listed, it has also raised funds through some projects and accepted some equity performance agreements. When it is short of funds, it may be able to accept equity agreements for certain project companies.

Good land plots are never enough for Gu'an; the trust pool will continue to grow, and in the future, they will need to find projects from some strong companies to invest in.

"China Resources Land is also developing MixC, right? And Vanke registered a brand called 'Vanke Plaza' last August."

Although Kan Zhidong doesn't know much about real estate, he is very well-informed about the news from major companies.

"Vanke's plaza project is probably a long way off. As for China Resources Land? Their parent company is so rich, why would we get a chance to invest?"

"Hey, you're wrong about that! China Resources Land doesn't lack financing, but they know how to sell projects!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuebing slapped his forehead.

Right.

"Okay, then keep an eye on it."

Three incompetent generals are as good as one Zhuge Liang.

"I'm afraid Hutchison Whampoa won't be making a move this time, will they?" Kan Zhidong said with a smile.

"I don't know." Chen Xuebing laughed. "If we back out, Hutchison Whampoa's reputation will become our stepping stone. If we don't back out, we'll have to pay compensation. It all depends on what Li Ka-shing chooses. In any case, we should thank the whistleblower." The land plot that was originally agreed to be sold to the High-tech Zone for 13 billion yuan, which was a low-price agreement, is now worth less than 13 billion yuan due to the uncertain future appreciation prospects after the land value-added tax policy was introduced.

Whether it's worth it or not, this land is definitely not a good place to hoard.

Chen Xuebing knew that land prices across the country would rise to some extent this year, but others in this situation certainly wouldn't be so sure.

Even if Hutchison Whampoa does acquire the land for development, given their development speed, they won't be able to sell it before the turning point in 08, and they will definitely lose money.

The auction, scheduled for February 2nd, attracted many participants invited by the government, but few were truly interested.

Even Secretary Jin of the High-tech Zone called to sound out the situation, hoping that the stock market would not be affected and that Chengdu land prices would definitely continue to rise in the long term.

What else could President Chen say?
It certainly expresses negativity and helplessness.

However, he also expressed a responsible attitude towards stock market safety to Secretary Jin.

This land was obtained from the government by Gu'an, and Gu'an will definitely take full responsibility for it.

However, Mr. Chen also put forward a condition.

March 2th, morning.

The weather is slightly cooler.

At the entrance of the Chengdu Land and Resources Bureau building, the banner for this land auction fluttered in the wind.

Several media outlets set up their equipment and waited outside the door.

As a Mercedes pulled up and a young figure stepped out, the camera flashes went off in the morning mist.

"Mr. Chen!"

The reporter from 21st Century Business Herald was the first to rush out of the crowd.

"I heard that you publicly promised to acquire the 2007-03 plot of land auctioned today, claiming that you would acquire Hutchison Whampoa. However, the recent national tax policy has had a significant impact on the real estate market. Do you still have the determination?"

Chen Xuebing stopped and smiled.

This is another problem that could lead to trouble.

"First of all, I did not make any public promises. Secondly, the impact of the real estate market will not affect our determination to implement the comprehensive development plan in Sichuan. Investment in Chengdu is an important part of our development plan."

"Rumor has it that Hutchison Whampoa has prepared 20 billion in cash checks this time. Are you worried about repeating the mistakes of Jianchuan Group?"

Chen Xuebing waved his hand with a smile: "Don't make things up. President Li's money didn't come from thin air. 20 billion? If they can come up with 20 billion, then I'll admire them."

Wow!
Mr. Li?
Are you talking about Li Ka-shing?
It should be noted that when more than 30 prominent mainland entrepreneurs visited Li Ka-shing in Hong Kong last year, they addressed him as "Chairman Li" or "Mr. Li," and the most casual way to address him in public reports was as "Superman Li."

Mr. Li, what an unfamiliar title!
"Mr. Chen, what are your thoughts on Li Ka-shing?"

The reporter was about to ask more in-depth questions when a long Lincoln sedan pulled up behind them and stopped in the yard.

Chen Xuebing then pointed behind him and said, "There's been a lot of news about Hutchison Whampoa lately, you should go and interview them."

Reporters immediately swarmed forward.

"Mr. Huo! The South City Metropolis project has not started construction for three years, and citizens are questioning whether Hutchison Whampoa is hoarding land. How do you respond?"

Huo Jianning, the "King of Hi-Tech's Hi-Tech Workers," who had just gotten off the bus, shook his head repeatedly, appearing very impatient.

"We've been working on it! Chengdu's rainy season last year lasted 183 days, and geological subsidence monitoring takes time!"

"The Qinglong plot of land that failed to sell at auction last year has been relisted as 'commercial supporting facilities land.' What do you think of this land 'makeup' tactic?"

When the Qinglongchang plot failed to sell at auction for the first time in 2006, Cheung Kong Holdings' Chengdu branch requested the soil testing report for the plot under the guise of "commercial inspection"—a typical precursor to Li Ka-shing's group picking up a bargain.

After converting residential land to commercial supporting land, the maximum plot ratio can be increased from 2.5 to 4.0, the land transfer fee payment cycle can be extended to installment payments, and supporting land can also circumvent housing restriction policies.

This plot of land is located on the East 2.5 Ring Road of Chengdu, bordered by Fuqing Road Section 3 to the east, Qinglong Interchange to the west, Balizhuang Freight Railway to the south, and Zhaojuesi South Road to the north, covering a total area of ​​approximately 318 mu.

Its official name is: Chenghua No. 101 Residential Land.

Upon hearing this, Huo Jianning frowned even more deeply and did not reply.

I didn't get any benefits and I got myself into a lot of trouble!

If it weren't for this recent incident, some of the things that happened before wouldn't have been exposed.

He walked straight ahead, but the reporter asked more bluntly: "Was the failed auction at Qinglongchang a deliberate attempt to drive down prices?"

"Nonsense!"

Huo Jianning walked in with a flick of his sleeve, and his assistant immediately blocked the reporters from his side.

9: 15.

Chengdu Land and Resources Bureau Auction Center.

The air conditioning was set to 23°C, and the old air conditioner hummed loudly, but it couldn't drown out the whispers of the small developers in the back row.

When Huo Jianning and his assistant pushed open the glass door, a young figure was already sitting in the first row.

He paused as he passed the young man, hesitated for two seconds, and then looked at him and said, "Mr. Chen, your company has bribed several newspapers to say that we and Huang maliciously reported and manipulated the land plot. Some of these statements should be kept to themselves."

The young man raised an eyebrow and met his gaze.

Two seconds later, he retorted, "When did I say anything about Huang?"

Seeing that he dared not admit it, Huo Jianning chuckled: "Those reporters at the door were also arranged by you, weren't they? Everyone knows who did what."

He had just finished his demonstration and was about to leave when he heard that voice again, drifting over.

"Hehe, I did say that, but wasn't I talking about Li Ka-shing? When did it become Hutchison Whampoa?"

When he said that, the room was silent for a full five seconds.

Then the discussion grew even louder.

However, this was not a class discussion, and no one interrupted.

Huo Jianning almost lost his composure, turning his head with a furious expression: "Young man, how dare you call me that?"

Chen Xuebing suddenly revealed a bandit-like smile, his eyes carrying a hint of threat: "A name isn't something you call out, so why bother with it? Since you didn't report me, why did you come here? Old man, let me tell you, if you dare to report me and block my money-making, I won't give Li Jiacheng any face even if he comes in person."

The air fell silent again.

It was eerily quiet.

The formidable reputation that General Manager Chen had built up in Sichuan's underworld during this period was now firmly established.

He called that guy's top manager an old geezer!
They even called him by his name and threatened him.
Huo Jianning was so angry that his hands were trembling.

He really wanted to argue that it wasn't Huang who reported him.

But to explain to this ignorant and arrogant young man would be even more beneath me.

"Hmph." Huo Jianning nodded emphatically, then laughed in exasperation, "Then let's auction it off! Let's see if you can afford to compete!"

Seeing that the truth had been revealed, Chen Xuebing's lips curled into a slight smile.

During this period, he was determined to pin the blame for the whistleblower report on Li Changjiang and didn't want to hear any explanations.

If it weren't for Li Changjiang's report, how could he have reported Cheung Kong Holdings' operation of the Chenghua No. 101 residential land plot without any reason?

We are a righteous and benevolent army and will not be the first to use nuclear weapons.

Now his land has been reported and is being auctioned off.

The Chenghua No. 101 residential land, which Cheung Kong Holdings had almost acquired, was also reported and put up for auction.

This is called having a legitimate reason for attacking.

(End of this chapter)