Newbikin, who had just returned to Jardine House, was so angry at the news reported by his assistant that he threw his glass. Just this afternoon, Chen Yulian, Li Jianhui's assistant, accused Jardine and Swire of wantonly creating rumors in the Jiashi live broadcast room in an attempt to make Xin
The Jian Clan's capital chain was broken, causing the Xin Jian Clan to collapse, allowing Jardine and Swire to continue to be the overlords of the Hong Kong business community.
The most important thing is that Chen Yulian produced a series of evidence to prove that Yihe and Taikoo were indeed behind this.
What’s even more frightening is that senior executives of the Xinjian Group, including Huihong Group, Wheelock Group, Hutchison Whampoa Group, Xinjian Group and Jiayi Group, have written a petition to MacLehose on behalf of their own company employees, asking the government to severely sanction Jardine Matheson.
With Taikoo.
Feng Jingyao, chairman of the board of directors of Daoheng Bank, Li Guobao, chairman of the board of directors of Bank of East Asia, Zhang Guangwen, chairman of the board of directors of Guanghua Construction Group, Chen Zhiyong, chairman of the board of directors of Xinhui Group, Ye Han, general manager of Haojiang Tourism and Entertainment Company, etc. were interviewed by Jiashi,
They all said that the era of the four major foreign companies in Hong Kong has passed, and it is just a foolish dream for Jardine and Swire to try to restore the previous situation.
At the same time, Xinjian Department also announced the third quarter financial statements of several of its major groups. Wheelock Group and Hutchison Whampoa Group's profits far exceeded those in the second quarter.
The first financial report released by Huihong Group blinded most people's eyes. Even Newbikin was shocked when he looked at the numbers above.
According to the financial report of Huihong Group, in the third quarter, pre-tax profit reached 485 million Hong Kong dollars.
With such a weak money-attracting machine, it would be a joke for the Tianshui City project to collapse the capital chain of the Xinjian Department.
Thanks to the favorable news, the market values of Wheelock Group, Hutchison Whampoa Group, and Wheelock Real Estate Group, which are already listed under Xinjian Group, have all soared. Many investors are even looking forward to the split and listing of Hutchison Real Estate next Monday.
With Xin Jian's series of attacks, Newbijian knew that many of the back-ups they had prepared could no longer be used, and they had to try their best to put aside the relationship between this public opinion and their company.
Facing Li Jianhui's vigorous actions, MacLehose must have an attitude. If the government ignores this time, there is no guarantee that Li Jianhui will not spread some rumors without incident.
You must know that Li Jianhui needs a newspaper and a TV station, and he also has 14k behind him. It is too easy to release some gossip.
Nubigian immediately asked its assistant to issue a statement, stating that what Chen Yulian said was completely unknown to the top management of Jardine and that the Jardine employees who spread this information were acting as individuals and did not represent the Jardine Group.
He also said that Xiangjiang is a city shared by more than 5 million citizens. No matter which company is in Hong Kong, it serves the citizens of Xiangjiang instead of competing for dominance in the business world.
Coincidentally, Swire also issued a statement at the same time, with the same meaning as Yihe's.
Seeing that the Xin Jian Department was about to quarrel with the British-owned enterprises in Hong Kong again, MacLehose specially hosted a banquet for Li Jianhui, Li Guobao, Feng Jingyao, Shen Bi, Nubigian, and Shi Huaiya at the Government House that night.
"Everyone, Xiangjiang's economy is currently developing rapidly. Xiangjiang is already relatively sensitive. The current situation is hard-won. I hope everyone will not cross the line."
Li Jianhui said solemnly: "I originally just wanted to develop my own business in peace, and I never thought about targeting anyone. It's just that some people always keep an eye on me, so I have no choice but to fight back.
I also hope that Mr. MacLehose will not treat people differently when handling matters, which will only make the more than five million Xiangjiang citizens feel disappointed."
Nubigian and Swire International immediately rebutted, accusing Li Jianhui of making false accusations, slandering Jardine and Swire without concrete evidence, and deliberately stirring up dissatisfaction among Xiangjiang citizens against the two major groups in order to combat the development of Jardine and Swire.
Seeing the two sides endlessly blaming each other, MacLehose patted the table and said loudly: "I communicated with you at the beginning of the year. Some commercial competitions are your business, but you must not manipulate public opinion. You cannot
Creating conflict between the two sides, but you don't seem to take it to heart.
It has only been a few months, and you are once again using public opinion as a spear to attack each other. What do you want to do? Do you think the development of your company is too comfortable? You hope that government officials will come to your headquarters to sit there."
Feng Jingyao raised his glass and said with a smile: "Mr. MacLehose, don't get excited. The situation is still under control. It's nothing major. Everyone is looking up and not looking down. I'd like to toast you all."
Li Jianhui, Nubigian and others knew that if they continued to make trouble, they would not be able to please everyone, so they all raised their glasses to calm down the conflicting mood.
MacLehose glanced at Feng Jingyao with satisfaction. Although Li Jianhui and Li Guobao controlled huge companies, they were still younger and not as smooth as Feng Jingyao.
As for the Newbigian people, MacLehose had long been dissatisfied with them. If they hadn't put pressure on him through London, he wouldn't have favored Hong Kong's British companies on some matters.
With a glass of wine in his throat, MacLehose said: "I know it is unrealistic to restrict your competition, but one thing is that you must not try to use public opinion against the other party.
As an old Chinese saying goes, one can do two but not three. If you continue to manipulate and incite public opinion again and again, then don’t blame me for being unkind."
Listening to MacLehose's categorical words, both Li Jianhui and Nubigian understood that MacLehose was definitely serious. If they played like this next time, they would probably be severely suppressed by MacLehose.
In order not to cause trouble for themselves, both parties have stated that they will never use means to manipulate public opinion in the future.
MacLehose just needs to take office and leave future matters to the future governor. As for whether British-owned enterprises in Hong Kong can hold on to the Hong Kong market, it depends on the capabilities of these enterprises.
If they have so many advantages but are squeezed out of Hong Kong by Chinese-owned enterprises, it only proves the incompetence of the top management of these enterprises.
Although both parties secretly wished that the other party's company would go bankrupt immediately, they seemed to be quite harmonious during the dinner at the back of the table, without any of the competitive atmosphere at the beginning of the dinner.
As for public opinion outside, both sides said they would stop early tomorrow morning.
In order to eliminate the misunderstanding between the two parties, Yihe and others will donate HKD 5 million to Tiu Keng Leng Secondary School to improve the school's hardware facilities.
In response, Li Jianhui reached an agreement with Jardine Matheson and Swire Beverages, and the products of Jardine Matheson International Milk Company and Swire Beverage Company will enter Lane Crawford supermarkets and IKEA convenience stores.
Whether it is sincere or not, at least the attitude of both parties today is quite respectable to MacLehose. In the future, whether the two sides can turn their rivalry into friendship, perhaps only God knows.