Today is the 225th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to html. In these 25 years, Hong Kong has undergone earth-shaking changes, and people's lives have become better and better. We will never forget that there was a group of Hong Kong tycoons who worked hard and continuously for the prosperity of the motherland and Hong Kong. Let us review their touching deeds on this special day today.
The Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee asked Zhuang Shiping to borrow money, but Zhuang Shiping said: Everything you step on is money
Zhou Enlai once said: "Chaoshan contributed two economic talents to the Chinese revolution, one is Xu Dixin in theory, and the other is in practice Zhuang Shiping. ”
Zhuang Shiping
Zhuang Shiping was from Guangdong. During the war years, he was actively engaged in the patriotic and national salvation movement under the leadership of the party. One day in the midsummer of 1949, Zhuang Shiping was invited to the residence of Fang Fang, the representative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Hong Kong. Fang Fang said to him: "In Hong Kong, we now have some companies, banks, newspapers, but it is not enough, because these It is still difficult for entities to shoulder the important task of communicating with overseas Chinese and breaking the blockade. So I want to build a core project in Hong Kong before the country is liberated. "
Zhuang Shiping fully understands the importance of finance in economic work. status, so he blurted out: "Let's open a bank, finance is the core of the entire economic system!"
Fang Fang said: "You have hit the point, are there any difficulties?"
Fang Fang
Zhuang Shiping replied: "From the capital It cannot be said that there are no difficulties in finding talents, but isn’t everything we have today created and developed from scratch, from small to large, from weak to strong?”
Fang Fang held Zhuang Shiping’s hand tightly. He said excitedly: "I will leave the big task of setting up a bank to you!"
Zhuang Shiping started it alone. He borrowed 10,000 US dollars as start-up expenses , and established the first bank in Hong Kong on December 14, 1949. At No. 167 Des Voeux Road Central in the bustling Central District, " Nanyang Commercial Bank " was founded. On the day the bank opened, Zhuang Shiping hung the first five-star red flag on Hong Kong Island!
Nanyang Commercial Bank
Adhering to the purpose of "facilitating overseas remittances and serving overseas Chinese", Nanyang Commercial Bank quickly established business relationships with Bank of China and People's Bank of China in various regions in the country. Not only in Overseas Remittances In terms of business, it has won praise and trust from compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao, and it has also served as a bridge of communication and publicity for some overseas Chinese who do not know enough about New China and the Communist Party of China.
At the end of 1979, it was the critical moment when the central government decided to establish the special zone. The Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government invited people from Hong Kong and Macao to Guangzhou to hold a symposium. Zhuang Shiping was also invited to participate. Before the meeting, he had carefully read the documents on various specific methods that had been drafted and felt very disappointed: there were too many restrictions and restrictions. In particular, the income tax rate is as high as 30%. Although it is slightly lower than that in the mainland, it is almost double that in Hong Kong (the tax rate in Hong Kong is 16.5%). Who would come to such a special zone?
Zhuang Shiping then began to persuade the heads of relevant departments. He said: "If we do not act in accordance with economic laws and international practices, what is the use of such a 'special zone regulation'?"
But at that time, people's thinking was It has not been reversed, because the tax rate is lower than that of Hong Kong, which implements capitalism . Wouldn't it be questioned that "we are more 'capitalist'"? Zhuang Shiping's suggestions were not adopted by the government.
Zhuang Shiping finally got angry. In early 1980, when people were discussing the special zone regulations, Zhuang Shiping said frankly: "If such regulations are put to a vote, the representatives of Hong Kong and Macao and I will abstain from voting!"
Zhuang Shiping
At that time, he said this It takes great courage to speak up. Fortunately, Yang Shangkun, the second secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, quickly came to Zhuang Shiping to understand the situation and finally adopted his opinions. The "Guangdong Province Special Economic Zone Regulations of the People's Republic of China" approved and promulgated on August 26, 1980, set the income tax rate of the special zone at 15%, which is lower than that of Hong Kong. It soon attracted a large number of Hong Kong businessmen to invest.
In March 1980, the central government officially approved the establishment of special economic zone .Wu Nansheng, secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and also secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee, took the initiative to come to Zhuang Shiping, hoping to get a loan from Nanyang Commercial Bank. Zhuang Shiping rejected the business that came to his door. He said: "What are you going to use to repay the loan? I am a commercial bank here, and the money belongs to the client. When the time comes, you will have to repay the principal and interest. If you borrowed the money If you can't pay back the money, won't it cost me my life?"
Wu Nansheng was silent after hearing this, and Zhuang Shiping said with a smile: "Why do you still need to borrow money? As long as you have money under your feet, you will have money! Ah! If you open this road, you will be full of money!”
Wu Nansheng
This suggestion was a huge risk at the time, because Article 10, Section 4 of the Constitution clearly stipulates: No organization or individual may Seizing, buying, selling, leasing or illegally transferring land in other forms . Zhuang Shiping's words will inevitably make people question: When we set up a special zone, we even ignore the constitution?
But Zhuang Shilai believes that China has always mixed land ownership and use rights, resulting in a waste of resources and a lack of construction funds. It would be a good idea if we could learn from Hong Kong and implement special administrative measures to separate land ownership and use rights and auction the use rights.
Wu Nansheng listened to Zhuang Shiping's opinions, but this method caused huge controversy within the SAR. Many people believed that "the SAR is not a colony" and firmly opposed it. Zhuang Shiping personally stated his position: "The purpose of establishing a special zone is to introduce market economy to China!"
With the efforts of Zhuang Shiping and others, on April 12, 1984, the Constitution of the People's Republic of China was amended to include land ownership and use rights. Carry out cutting and add the clause "the right to use the land can be transferred in accordance with the provisions of the law". Zhuang Shiping's suggestion triggered a new breakthrough in the state-owned land management model.
Ye Jianying meets with Zhuang Shiping
On December 1, 1987, the Shenzhen Special Administrative Region Government withstood the pressure and "braised the world's disapproval" and sounded the hammer. After 17 minutes of bidding rounds, Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Real Estate Co., Ltd. became the "winner" of the mainland's first land use rights auction with the highest price of 5.25 million yuan. Since then, the SAR government has begun to obtain large amounts of funds from land use rights, and the SAR has entered a "golden period" of rapid development.
Although he has made such great contributions to the country and Hong Kong, Zhuang Shiping has been honest and self-disciplined throughout his life. He had almost no expensive clothes on him, and his watch was an old-fashioned Seiko watch. When Nanyang Commercial Bank had tens of billions of dollars in assets, Mr. Zhuang, as the chairman, was reluctant to buy a special car for himself. He walked to work or took the tram, and his house in Hong Kong was allocated by the Bank of China in Hong Kong decades ago. , just over 100 square meters. When he went out to negotiate business, he never flew in first class, only ordinary class; when he was on a business trip, he always insisted on doing his own laundry...
On June 2, 2007, Zhuang Shiping unfortunately died of illness at the age of 96. On July 8, Hong Kong Funeral Home held a public memorial and funeral ceremony for Zhuang Shiping. The funeral was held according to the specifications of a state funeral. The then Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang went to pay his respects in person. During the funeral, in recognition of Mr. Zhuang's contribution to the country, his coffin was covered with a national flag.
Zhuang Shiping's funeral
Deng Xiaoping said with satisfaction Fok Ying-tung : Opening up is done right
In capitalist Hong Kong, Fok Ying-tung was the most successful wealthy businessman of his time; in socialist China, every historical node is indispensable. His figure.
In December 1950, after the Chinese People's Volunteers entered North Korea, the United States, Britain and other countries began to implement a comprehensive embargo on China. The United States declared: "Nothing that a soldier can use is allowed to be shipped to Communist China."
At this time, Huo Yingdong already had total control. He began to organize a fleet of more than a dozen motor-driven sailboats with a tonnage of about 1,000 tons to fully load the military supplies needed by the mainland, bypassing the layers of surveillance by British warships, and finally unloaded the goods in Shekou, Shenzhen.
Huo Yingdong
For three years from 1950 to 1953, Huo Yingdong commanded the fleet to work every night. He only slept three or four hours a day to organize the rush to transport supplies.At that time, black iron sheets were one of the main embargoed strategic materials and were mainly used to make gasoline barrels for loading gasoline. Due to the lack of black iron sheets on the mainland, a large amount of gasoline aided by the Soviet Union was backlogged on the Sino-Soviet border and could not be transported to North Korea. Huo Yingdong led the fleet to work overtime and transported all 6,000 tons of black iron sheets to the mainland in just two weeks.
At that time, the director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of China, Liao Chengzhi, spoke highly of Huo Yingdong's patriotic behavior. He said: "Hundreds of thousands of volunteer troops , where do the penicillin , hemostatic cotton wool, gasoline, tires... come from? It's not just relying on top, middle and bottom, three religions and nine streams. , The sacred hand of all directions?" Zhou Enlai also highly praised Huo Yingdong's active support in fighting the United States and aiding Korea, and called him "a friend in need."
However, when Huo Yingdong recalled this incident in his later years, he was very modest. He said: "It would be a lie to say that I did it to support to resist the United States and aid Korea and break the blockade and embargo. I did not have such a high understanding. But at that time I did not know much about it. "
After the reform and opening up, Fok Yingdong felt that a great opportunity had come to do his best for the motherland. In 1979, he and some Hong Kong businessmen jointly invested 40 million Hong Kong dollars to build China's first joint venture. The foreign-related hotel - Zhongshan Hot Spring Hotel , he lived and ate at the construction site himself, and personally supervised and directed the hotel. On December 28, 1980, the hotel was declared completed and was known as the "first flower" of reform and opening up. Yang Shangkun personally attended the opening. style, and called it "the light of reform and opening up."
Zhongshan Hot Spring Hotel
In 1980, Huo Yingdong began to contact the Guangdong government again and proposed to build a 32-story five-star hotel in Guangzhou: the White Swan Hotel. This was the first Sino-foreign joint venture high-end hotel after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and also the first five star hotel.
The reason why the hotel was named "White Swan" came from Ye Jianying's opinion. After Huo Yingdong told Ye Jianying that he was going to build a hotel in Shamian, Guangzhou, Ye Jianying told him that the place was originally called White Goose Pool , and that Sun Yat-sen had been here. He led the navy to crusade against the rebellion, so Huo Yingdong named the hotel "White Swan", which means that the hotel will soar to the sky like a white swan and become a blockbuster.
When building a hotel, Fok Yingdong proposed the "four selves": own investment, own design, own construction, and own management. He dared to put forward such a slogan because he wanted to convey this message to the world through the hotel: We Chinese can do it.
On February 7, 1983, the White Swan Hotel was completed and fully operational. On this day, Huo Yingdong asked the staff to open all the doors of the hotel and welcome ordinary people to come in and visit. There were many people visiting that day, and some people came specifically to use the bathroom. As a result, staff discovered that a large amount of toilet paper was missing in one day.
White Swan Hotel
But Huo Yingdong didn't care. He said: "It doesn't matter. You can change the carpet if it is dirty. The purpose is to let ordinary people feel the benefits of reform and opening up!"
Deng Xiaoping admired Huo Yingdong's feat very much. In 1984 In January, when he came to the south for his first inspection, he stayed at the Zhongshan Hot Spring Hotel. During this time, he spent time with Huo Yingdong day and night and had cordial conversations.
One day, Deng Xiaoping happily climbed up to Luo Sanmei Mountain, overlooking the Zhongshan Hot Spring Hotel at the foot of the mountain. He couldn't help praising it: "It's very beautiful, very good! The opening is right!"
When going down the mountain, the accompanying staff suggested Deng Xiaoping returned along the original road, but Deng Xiaoping said with high spirits and a pun: "Don't go back!"
Deng Xiaoping and Huo Yingdong
Deng Xiaoping also visited the White Swan Hotel three times. He once praised: "The White Swan Hotel is better! The ones in the United States are even better!” Fok Yingdong also recalled: “Deng Xiaoping admired the bread at the White Swan Hotel. When he was leaving Guangzhou for Shanghai, he bought some bread at the hotel and took it to Shanghai. After arriving in Shanghai, he announced that he would Open 14 coastal cities."
1984 was the most critical year regarding the future of Hong Kong. Fok Ying-tung resolutely announced that he would donate 1 billion Hong Kong dollars to establish the Fok Ying-tung Foundation to support the construction of the four modernizations of the motherland. He said: "My only hope in setting up the foundation is to use the money. Where the country needs it, it will play a role in promoting the modernization of the motherland and play a leading role in promoting the patriotism of overseas Chinese. "
In 2001, after Beijing won the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games, Huo Yingdong was very happy. He swam for half an hour in the middle of the night and announced a donation of 200 million yuan to build Olympic swimming venues. The "Water Cube" swimming pool was partly funded by Huo Yingdong. Funded.
Water Cube
But unfortunately, Huo Yingdong could not wait until the opening day of the Beijing Olympics. On October 28, 2006, he died of cancer in Beijing at the age of 84.
After his death, Huo Yingdong was covered in a coffin. The five-star red flag was flown at half-mast in the administrative district. On the day of the funeral, more than ten people including Tung Chee-hwa, Ko Siren, and Stanley Ho supported him. This kind of state funeral treatment was unprecedented for any tycoon in Hong Kong. Yugang Pao donated tens of millions to build a hotel in Beijing. Deng Xiaoping stated: I will accept this donation
At the beginning of 1949, Bao Yugang, who was already the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Bank, submitted his resignation to Shanghai Mayor Wu Guozhen and took his family with him. Go south to start a business in Hong Kong. After years of hard work, by 1978, Pao Yugang owned more than 200 giant ships, with a deadweight tonnage of more than 20 million tons, exceeding the total tonnage of the fleets of the United States or the Soviet Union. In 1979, Pao Yugang was elected chairman of the International Independent Tanker Association and became a veritable "world shipping king."
After the "reform and opening up", Bao Yugang was keenly aware of the new changes in the mainland and was eager to contribute to the country's reform and opening up. However, the influence of "leftist" ideas in the country had not completely subsided at that time, and he still had concerns. It happened that Bao Yugang had a cousin working in mainland China. He was Lu Xuzhang, director of the National Tourism Administration, so Bao Yugang tried it out. Then he sent him a telegram expressing his desire to return to the mainland to visit relatives.
Bao Yugang
But in the environment at that time, Bao Yugang was considered a big capitalist. After Lu Xuzhang received the telegram, he did the same. Unable to find the master, he immediately reported to the central government, and finally reported to Deng Xiaoping.
Deng Xiaoping said: "It is a good thing that Ship King is returning to the mainland! "He believed that Pao Yugang's return to the mainland to visit relatives would definitely play a huge role in promoting reform and opening up, so he instructed Liao Chengzhi, then director of the State Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, to call him back: Warmly welcome Pao Yugang and his wife back to the mainland.
At that time Under the circumstances, in order to prevent the news of his trip to Beijing from being leaked to journalists, Pao Yugang and his wife decided to transfer to Tokyo, Japan, and then fly to Beijing. In October 1978, Pao Yugang and his wife secretly arrived in Beijing. changes, we got a clear message: China cares about the development of Hong Kong and will try its best to maintain the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.
Pao Yugang and his wife returned to the mainland to visit relatives
In 1979, Pao Yugang expressed through his cousin Lu Xuzhang that he would serve as his father . Bao Zhaolong donated 20 million US dollars to the mainland, of which 10 million was used to build a modern hotel in Beijing, and the other 10 million was used to build a modern library at Shanghai Jiao Tong University
March 15, 1980. , Bao Yugang was invited to Beijing to discuss matters such as ship ordering and shipping joint ventures. During the meeting, he mentioned donating money to Beijing to build a hotel. Bao Yugang was a filial son, and he made a request, that is, he hoped that the hotel could be built as a hotel. It was named " Zhaolong Hotel " after his father. He also said that as long as the mainland agreed, the donation would be available immediately.
Zhuang Yanlin, who was in charge of the construction of tourist hotels at the time, was very happy after hearing this. He believed that in Fujian and Guangdong. , many overseas Chinese donated money to build schools and hospitals, often named after themselves or their relatives. Bao Yugang's request was not excessive.
But no one dared to accept the $10 million check, because after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the party has always emphasized self-reliance and rejected all foreign aid. Moreover, some leaders believed that if the hotel was named after a capitalist, wouldn't this be a monument to the capitalist? Is this patriotic or traitorous?
Zhuang Yanlin reported the matter to Liao Chengzhi, and Liao Chengzhi also supported Zhuang Yanlin. He said: "There is no contradiction at all between overseas Chinese who love their motherland and hometown and doing more good deeds and honoring their ancestors. A world-class shipping king can deal with It’s not easy for the motherland to have this kind of intention. Why should we find fault with others’ desire to respect their elders and become famous?” He suggested that Zhuang Yanlin write a report on the matter and report it directly to Deng Xiaoping.
Liao Chengzhi
After Deng Xiaoping found out, he said to Liao Chengzhi: "They donated 10 million US dollars to us to build tourist hotels for free. It is beneficial to our socialist construction . Why not do it? It is also a good thing for people to be filial. We Communists need to be kind. Besides, we should commemorate people who have contributed to us."
Liao Chengzhi said: "Yes, some people just don't agree with the good things that come to our door."
Deng Xiaoping said: "Others don't. If you agree, then I will come forward to accept the donation and name the hotel." So he wrote the four characters "Zhaolong Hotel" in his own handwriting. This was the only time in his life that he named a foreign-owned hotel.
On July 6, 1981, Deng Xiaoping officially met with Bao Yugang and Bao Zhaolong at the Great Hall of the People. He held Bao Yugang's hand tightly and said, "We should have met a long time ago."
Deng Xiaoping met with Pao Yugang
Although it was their first meeting, the two had a very pleasant conversation. They talked about the mainland's economy, the world political situation, and shipping operations to the prospects of Hong Kong. At the end of the meeting, Deng Xiaoping happily told Bao Yugang Gang said: "You are different from others. You are a doer. You do practical things. You are not just a talker. You are welcome to come often."
In December of the same year, Bao Yugang and Bao Zhaolong came to Beijing again. Deng Xiaoping On December 8, I met with their father and son again at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, and expressed their affirmation of Pao Yugang's concern for the construction of the mainland of the motherland and his preparations to donate money to build a hotel in Beijing and a library in Shanghai.
What made Bao Yugang even more excited was that Deng Xiaoping then personally participated in the signing ceremony of the hotel donation. He personally accepted the $10 million check handed over by Bao Yugang with both hands and said with emotion: "You must know that we are working now The efficiency is like this. It is so difficult to decide on a name and find a place. It has been delayed for more than a year. We must find ways to improve it in the future."
Deng Xiaoping was very concerned about the preparations for the establishment of Zhaolong Hotel. He instructed: "Zhaolong Hotel. It’s a political issue. If donations don’t work, who would dare to invest in a joint venture? Please ask the National Tourism Administration to find the best place in Beijing to build a hotel for Bao Yugang.”
In October 1985, Deng Xiaoping personally inscribed the name of the hotel. "Zhaolong Hotel" was completed, and Deng Xiaoping personally attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony held at the hotel on the 25th of that month. But unfortunately, Bao Yugang's father Bao Zhaolong had died of illness at this time, and Liao Chengzhi also died of a heart attack. They were not able to see the day when the hotel was completed.
Zhaolong Hotel
Bao Yugang was very excited that day. He held Deng Xiaoping's hand tightly and said: "Chairman, your ability to attend the opening ceremony of Zhaolong Hotel in person is a great encouragement to me, Bao Yugang. It is a great encouragement to us Bao Yugang." It is an honor for our family and Zhaolong Hotel. On behalf of our Bao family and all the staff of Zhaolong Hotel, I would like to thank you! My father is still alive, and he must be very happy.”
On October 28, 1984, Bao Yugang returned. When he visited relatives in his hometown Ningbo , he wanted to do something for his hometown, so he asked the accompanying Mayor Geng Dianhua: "What is Ningbo lacking most now?"
Geng Dianhua told him: "What Ningbo is lacking most now is talents, but There is not yet a comprehensive university, and it is very difficult to cultivate talents in the local area!”
After Bao Yugang returned to the hotel that night, he could not sleep all night. He deeply realized that education is the most important thing in order to modernize, and there is no qualified talent. Nothing can be done well. He decided to invest in helping to establish a university in his hometown.
More than a month later, Bao Yugang met Deng Xiaoping again in Beijing. He mentioned to him his recent return to Ningbo to visit relatives, and expressed his intention to donate 50 million yuan to found Ningbo University . He said to Deng Xiaoping: "Ningbo has good conditions and great development prospects."
Deng Xiaoping was also very supportive. He said: "You have to compare with Dalian , Dalian is developing well!"
Bao Yugang invited as a Ningbo native Deng Xiaoping went to Ningbo to visit. He said: "Whenever you go to Ningbo, I will be there!"
Deng Xiaoping also smiled, he said: "I really want to see Ningbo!"
On December 19, 1984 , Bao Yugang signed a formal agreement with Ningbo Mayor Geng Dianhua in Beijing on the preparation for the establishment of Ningbo University. When Deng Xiaoping found out, he was very happy. He personally inscribed the name of Ningbo University, and within half a month, his inscription was sent to Ningbo University.
On October 28, 1985, Ningbo University held a grand foundation laying ceremony. Deng Xiaoping specially entrusted Wan Li, then acting premier of the State Council, to attend. Wan Li brought Deng Xiaoping's affirmation and praise of a Hong Kong businessman's patriotic enthusiasm to Ningbo, which made Bao Yu Gang and his family were deeply moved.
Ningbo University
On September 22, 1991, Pao Yugang died of illness in Hong Kong at the age of 73. Deng Xiaoping, who was retired at home at the time, immediately sent a sincere message of condolences to Pao Yugang's family.
This is the style of a generation of industrialists in Hong Kong, and it is also their heroic spirit of fighting for national justice! Their feats will always be remembered by the motherland and the people of Hong Kong!
#Written on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland##Hong Kong##25 years, Hong Kong is young##All walks of life in Hong Kong celebrate the return of the motherland, filled with a festive atmosphere#
