Li Jiacheng'S Richest Chinese

Li Jiacheng, 72, the richest man in Hongkong, still insists on getting up at six every morning, playing golf or swimming most of the time, and then devote himself to a busy day's work.

Li Jiacheng, chief executive of Hutchison Whampoa, directing the joint large company in the suite of the top floor of the Changjiang group center, which has a worldwide port, a global mobile phone business, a large energy company in Canada, a supermarket in Asia, and a variety of other businesses.

Li Jiacheng, who is estimated to have a net asset value of US $12 billion, looks very neat in his traditional blue suit.

He proudly proudly wears a cheap watch (around 26 dollars) he wears, and says that he spends less money on his body than he did when he was young.

Perhaps the passion for doing business and making money keeps Li Jiacheng struggling. He said, "I never thought of retiring."

Li Jiacheng spends 20% of his time in charitable work. In the future, he will devote more energy and money to charity.

Li Jiacheng has donated $five hundred million to build various schools, hospitals and medical research activities in Hongkong, mainland China, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Nevertheless, the power of the company is still firmly in the hands of Li Jiacheng.

The office of Li Jiacheng, located in the top floor of the Changjiang group center, is simple and graceful. It doesn't look like a lot of other Asian enterprisers' magnificent offices.

Looking out of the window, we can have a good view of the pleasant harbour and distant sea and air.

In the room, four wall decorations are made of Indus planks, with a light brown carpet on the floor, and a number of jade articles neatly placed in the glass cabinet. There is no page on the desk of Li Jiacheng's glass surface. The flat screen computers and printers on the table are mainly used for retrieving data.

In this rare interview, Li Jiacheng is very energetic. He knows every detail of the company's business. Even the pmission speed of 2G and 3G mobile phone is very clear (one is 8 trillion and 400 billion bits per second, the other is 384 megabits per second).

Li Jiacheng imparted three important rules to his managers.

First, buy assets that no one wants; second, never be interested in a particular business so that it can be sold at any time when the time is ripe.

Third, we must let partners share enough profits so that they will give you more returns.

The following is a conversation between Li Jiacheng and Louis Kraar, Fortune magazine reporter: we are not too optimistic when operating principles are good, and we are not too pessimistic when we are not good at the scene.

This has been the principle of our group's operation.

During the recession, we always invest heavily.

Our main yardstick is whether the asset has a profit potential in the long run, not whether it is cheap or whether anyone is interested in it.

We have always invested in long-term investments.

If we sell part of our business to improve our strategic position, we will consider this step.

In addition to considering a reasonable profit, it is more important whether we can invest in the same business area after gaining profits.

For example, last year we sold Orange's 2G business at a price of 31 billion 700 million US dollars.

We expect that the total cost of global 3G business will not exceed $14 billion 400 million, including license fees, equipment fees, interest rates and the cost of creating consumer groups.

Assuming that these two businesses have the same number of customers, if I want to make a choice between the two, I will choose 3G, because it has greater potential for development.

I am interested in the global telecommunications business, and I am always looking for new opportunities for development.

I also believe that wireless data pmission will become an important driving force for future economic development.

Hutchison and Hutchison Whampoa operate 2G business in many countries and regions around the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Hongkong, Israel and India.

The development rate of European telecom industry is the highest in the world.

Mobile phones are increasingly used for data pmission, rather than voice pmission.

Hutchison Whampoa has positioned itself in this business area and has obtained business licenses in the UK, Italy and Austria.

However, we must not bid without restriction for obtaining every 3G business license.

For example, in Germany, the cost of licences is too high and exceeds our budget. We have no choice but to quit.

It is very important to know when to quit. It is important to keep this in mind when managing any business.

I always strive to advance steadily.

We will make budgets in advance and invest at the right time at the right time.

Especially in Telecom projects, you need time to create Internet and consumer groups, and then the harvest season will come.

We are waiting for the US government to issue the 3G business license.

If we can catch a good investment opportunity, we can enter the market quickly because we do not need to borrow money from the bank.

I firmly believe that in the near future we will have the opportunity to invest in the US.

Now there is a project under discussion.

With regard to the huge amount of cash on hand, we can not disclose how much cash we have in accordance with the securities regulations. This information is not publicly available to all shareholders.

However, we can tell you that our cash is billions of dollars, far greater than our liabilities.

(according to the latest information, Hutchison Whampoa's total debt at the end of 1999 was $11 billion 500 million).

This is my first time to talk about cash matters to others.

Even the banks do not know.

The income earned from this cash is enough to cover the annual dividend.

I don't want any financial pressure on managing the company.

We are continuing to accumulate cash. Once we encounter exciting and attractive investment opportunities, we will be ready to take action.

How can we make this year's profits a record? Because we sold Orange business in 1999, making profits record breaking, so it is difficult to recreate such splendor.

However, I believe our business will maintain a good momentum of development.

First of all, 99% of our existing businesses are profitable.

Second, all our telecommunications businesses are growing rapidly and have bright prospects for development.

We expect the next three years to become an investment period (for telecom industry), but in some countries, we may be able to make profits in 18 months.

The change in short-term stock prices of Hutchison's stock price in Whampoa will not have a big impact on the group.

Stock price is not the only yardstick for measuring profit and development prospects.

We are confident that the company will be able to get the best return from the global telecommunications business and create shareholder value.

We will identify the next three years as a time for companies to invest in the telecommunications industry, and we believe that the harvest season is not far away.

The business of the group is developing healthfully, and their performance can help us resist the vicissitudes of the external environment and achieve the long-term profitability of the company.

And we have always adopted conservative accounting principles.

In the first half of this year, we made prudent preparations for the holding of shares (including [Vodafone] and stream company) and foreign exchange movements, and this was not due to reduced operating profits.

Hongkong needs to introduce professionals from overseas and Mainland China.

"Hongkong's economy has begun to recover after three years of recession. Hongkong's GDP growth rate this year is estimated at 8%, indicating that Hongkong's economy has begun to recover.

But next year's economic development will not be as strong.

In the recent economic pition period, people with lower education level were most affected.

Hongkong needs to consolidate its position in the field of high technology.

In the near future, Hongkong needs to introduce professionals from overseas and Mainland China.

Hongkong should catch up quickly.

With China's accession to the world trade organization, the Chinese market will bring unlimited business opportunities to Hongkong and other parts of the world.

Although Hongkong will face more severe challenges, foreign investors will increase their direct investment in mainland China, but no one can understand China's development better than we do.

China's economic development prospects are very strong. China has implemented the policy of reform and opening to the outside world and has made remarkable achievements.

The annual growth rate of GDP in China is 7% to 8%.

With the rapid economic growth, the quality of life of the people has improved significantly, and the judicial system has been further improved.

After China's accession to the WTO, it will become more open, business laws and regulations will be further improved, and the judicial system will become simple and clear.

All this will increase investor confidence.

The report on the European Parliament pointed out that Li Jiacheng's strong corporate strength in Hongkong was recently visited by Hongkong's representative of the European Parliament and explained the report.

John Cushnahan, the author of the report, clarified that he was not criticizing us for monopolizing the market. He admitted that he had visited some people in Hongkong before they wrote the report (they criticized Li Jiacheng) and simply reflected their views in the report. "Cushnahan"

We applaud him for coming to Hongkong to clarify this matter.

In the absence of confirmation, a small group of media in Hongkong said that the market value of our group's listed companies accounted for 1/4 to 1/3 of the total value of the whole Hongkong stock market.

This is the exact figure quoted in the report.

Even pupils can figure out that our market capitalisation only accounts for 15% of the total stock market value.

It seems that no one has noticed that our overseas assets and profits play an important role in the company's performance.

If we separate the overseas business from the Hongkong business and then divide the market value representing the overseas business, the market value of the company in the local market will be greatly reduced.

This is an indisputable fact.

We are glad that the European Parliament has made a clarification of the matter, and this report will not affect our investment in Europe.

Overseas investors will compete equally with local businesses under the same rules.

It is sheer nonsense that the right-wing groups in the United States accuse the Whampoa group of operating a commercial port at one end of the Panama Canal, to some extent, to help China control this channel's dispute over the Panama Canal.

I don't even have a pistol. Where can I control the Panama Canal?

I like to read all kinds of books, but mainly in philosophy, politics, economics, Chinese culture and new technology.

Some of them are Chinese versions.

The world is moving at a fast pace. If you do not speed up your pace, you will soon be left behind.

When I'm on holiday, I usually rest for four days, and I play golf.

Even if I have only two days off, I will be very happy.

I never had a formal Golf class, so my posture was not very right, but my skills were still good.