Cover News Reporter Liu Qiufeng Intern Wang Ding Photo provided by the interviewee
How is the exchange situation in Sichuan and Hong Kong in the 25 years since Hong Kong's return? A set of data can show that at present, the number of enterprises invested in Sichuan and Hong Kong has exceeded 6,000, with a cumulative investment of more than US$70 billion. Hong Kong has become Sichuan's largest source of foreign investment and an important trading partner.
The personal experience and what they have seen and heard of in Hong Kong companies that settled in Sichuan in the early stage and the Hong Kong people who came to work in Sichuan in the early stage are a microcosm of the exchanges and cooperation between the two places over the past 25 years.
In December 2010, Lan Kwai Fong Chengdu Fashion District opened. This is the first flagship project invested by Hong Kong Lan Kwai Fong Group in the mainland. Now that 12 years have passed, how is this company developing in Chengdu?
Lan Kwai Fong Chengdu General Manager Huang Weinan
On July 4, a reporter from Cover News interviewed Huang Weinan, General Manager of Chengdu, Lan Kwai Fong, to talk about the current development status of enterprises in Sichuan and Hong Kong, and how people in Sichuan and Hong Kong view the development of the two places.
Experience: Come to the Mainland for 26 years to work and witness the integration and development of the two places
The year before Hong Kong's return, in 1996, Huang Weinan came to the Mainland to develop.
"Now, I have a good vision." Huang Weinan was born in Hong Kong. In 1996, he was 27 years old and came to work in the mainland from Hong Kong. Since then, he has been in the mainland, from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to the Northeast and then to the southwest. He has changed many positions and visited many cities, but his job has always been in the mainland.
Recalling why he made this decision? "You can tell the answer by looking at the map. The mainland is so big and Hong Kong is so small." In his opinion, young people in Hong Kong have more opportunities in the mainland.
The 25 years since Hong Kong's return was also the 25 years when Huang Weinan worked in the mainland. He witnessed the integration and development of the Mainland and Hong Kong after Hong Kong's return. Huang Weinan said that the integrated development of Hong Kong and the Mainland is not only reflected in cooperation on large projects and the construction of huge infrastructure, but also in the subtleties of life. "Take transportation as an example, in the past, Hong Kong people used to buy tickets by bus in the Mainland, and there would be a separate ticket purchase channel, but now everyone buys it together."
Life: Living in Chengdu for 7 years can be regarded as "half a Chengdu person"
In 2015, Huang Weinan came to work in Lan Kwai Fong, Chengdu and has lived in Chengdu for 7 years. He laughed and said that he was already a senior Rongdiao, "half" from Chengdu.
"Whether you are a friend from another place or a business partner who comes to Chengdu, I am like a landlord like a Chengdu person." If time allows, Huang Weinan will provide "one-stop" service: visit authentic Sichuan-style attractions such as Kuanzhai Alley and Jinli, see giant pandas that you cannot miss, have an authentic spicy hotpot, and go to Lan Kwai Fong to spend in the evening.
Like Huang Weinan, there are many Hong Kong people in Chengdu. Not only do they have a deep career in Chengdu, but their lives are also closely related to it. Take Hong Kong-based Huang Lingzhong, the owner of Hong Kong-Kowloon Tea Restaurant, as an example. He has been in Chengdu for more than 30 years and has also made the tea restaurant bloom everywhere in Chengdu. In an interview with the media, he said that the Hong Kong-style tea restaurants in Chengdu also incorporate the flavor of Chengdu local tea houses - not only the common black tea in Hong Kong, but also the figures of Piaoxue and Pu'er. Now, Huang Lingzhong has also opened a Japanese restaurant in Lan Kwai Fong, and his business is more diversified.
"Many Hong Kong people who have lived in Chengdu for many years have been in Hong Kong. Although the address on their ID card is still in Hong Kong, they have been deeply integrated into Chengdu in their bones." After that, Huang Weinan also showed reporters a few words in Chengdu dialect.
Chengdu Lan Kwai Fong
Business: The success of Chengdu project allows more cities to throw olive branches
As one of the landmarks of Chengdu nightlife, Lan Kwai Fong has been developing in Chengdu for 12 years. In December 2010, Lan Kwai Fong Chengdu Fashion District officially opened. At that time, this was the flagship project invested by Lan Kwai Fong Group in western China, and it was also the second Lan Kwai Fong neighborhood in the world outside Hong Kong.
"Our operating performance has doubled 5 times in the past 12 years." Huang Weinan said that at present, the merchant occupancy rate of Lan Kwai Fong is 100%, with more than 30 brands, with an average daily passenger flow of more than 20,000 people. Investors from about 10 countries including France, Germany, Belgium and other countries invest in opening bars, restaurants, etc. in Lan Kwai Fong.
The epidemic has also brought an impact on Lan Kwai Fong. In order to cooperate with epidemic prevention and control, Lan Kwai Fong will also be closed."In April this year, we closed for one month, but on the day when business resumed, there were still people queuing up at 2 a.m.." Huang Weinan expects that as the epidemic prevention and control situation improves, Lan Kwai Fong's popularity will increase in the future.
In Huang Weinan's view, the greater significance of the Lan Kwai Fong Chengdu project lies in its becoming a successful sample for Hong Kong-funded enterprises to enter the mainland. With Chengdu as the fulcrum, Lan Kwai Fong has targeted more mainland cities. Cities such as Chongqing, Xiamen, Lhasa and other cities have all sent olive branches to Lan Kwai Fong, and Lan Kwai Fong is expected to have two or three new projects implemented in the mainland this year.
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