Li Ka-shing laughs off disinvestment rumors
- By Li Jingrong
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, November 29, 2013
Billionaire Li Ka-shing has laughed off rumors that his holding groups Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa Property were pulling out of the property business in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.
|
|
|
Li Ka-shing, 85, the richest Chinese and Asian. [Photo/nandu.com] |
In an interview published Thursday by the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Media Group, Asia's richest man said the gross earnings of both groups reached approximately HK$430 billion (336 billion yuan) last year, while their two overseas investment in New Zealand and Holland totaled HK$8 billion.
This accounted for less than two percent of the total, compared with investment in Hong Kong's cargo terminal project that had already reached HK$4 billion.
Li's remarks were in response to the question of whether he planned to exit Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland after the sale of 10 billion yuan of commercial properties in Shanghai and Guangzhou along with other assets in Hong Kong this year, while his mainland PARKnSHOP operation was for a time the subject of transfer negotiations.
"It doesn't make any sense to suggest that Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa are pulling out of Hong Kong and the mainland. That's fanciful, a big joke!" he said.
Li explained that his group operates in more than 50 countries and regions. If there was a reasonable price involved, the group would continue to buy, sell or list properties, whether in Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland or elsewhere.
"All these are normal commercial activities," Li said, adding that PARKnSHOP wasn't sold because the price was not appropriate.
Regarding the "disinvestment" rumor, he said: "The people involved might want to stir up trouble, while others might not understand the situation and only pass on the information without thinking. But what they have said is unhealthy for both the government and business people."
"Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa have operated in Singapore for decades and made a large amount, having enjoyed a very harmonious relationship with the local people. Although in the past two years we haven't bought any land at an appropriate price and have little land available for development, nobody in Singapore is suggesting I am about to pull out."
Li said that while large residential real estate remained his core business, it was true that so far this year the group had only earned HK$4 billion from sales of buildings in the region, only about 15 percent of the previous two years' total sales volume.
Business in Hong Kong had declined mainly because the government had approved fewer projects, but Li said: "We are coordinating with the government in the hope of increasing the amount."
Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa have numerous rental properties in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai with a total market value of HK$170 billion, while those in foreign countries only reached 0.5 percent of this amount.
"None of these properties are for sale," Li said. "My home is in Hong Kong, Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa are based in Hong Kong, and we will never leave Hong Kong. Future sales will be all for commercial considerations, and they have nothing to do with disinvestment."
Li said the wide gap between the rich and the poor was a global phenomenon. "We have a comparatively large investment in Hong Kong and that can easily lead to misunderstanding. I forecast the situation of Hong Kong 30 years ago.
"Some reporters asked me why I haven't increased investment in retail sales in Hong Kong. I said that my group has 12,000 retail outlets worldwide, 600 of which are in Hong Kong. How could it hold more? It is stupid to focus investment in Hong Kong, so we began to invest overseas many years ago."
As an international conglomerate and responsible listed corporation, the groups had to pay close attention to changes in the political and economic situations in target markets, he said.
His principle of doing business is to deal cautiously with debt and loan issues while consolidating real estate operations at every step. "When the price of real estate is too high for ordinary people, business will be risky. I won't take risks to earn every last penny," he said.
Li ranked eighth on the 2013 "Forbes" global billionaires list with net assets of US$31 billion. As the richest Chinese and Asian, Li, aged 85, still oversees one of the world's most far-reaching business empires with 260,000 employees in 52 countries.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)