"Your Highness, according to current statistics, the three-day cumulative number of spectators at the F1 Shanghai Grand Prix has reached 260,000. What do you think about this?"
There will be many interviews in the program "Shining Life". After following Barron to shoot some materials of the F1 Shanghai Grand Prix, Bonnie and Barron had this conversation in Yan's Garden, facing the camera.
"Yes, we are very happy to see that the three-day F1 Grand Prix in Shanghai has attracted more than 260,000 spectators. This shows that China is not a country without a racing atmosphere. This news is exciting for both the F1 Group and the Pioneer Sports Group..."
Barron smiled and said:
"In addition, you may know that earlier this year, Manchester United took advantage of the inter-season break to travel to Asia, with China being one of the most important destinations. Here, they also gained the enthusiasm of countless fans, and their activities in China were very successful. For Pioneer Sports Group, the development of the Asian market has always been something we value. I personally believe that sports, an activity that can inspire enthusiasm, can resonate similarly among people around the world, allowing them to increase communication and understanding with each other."
After the F1 Group merged with Manchester United Club to form Pioneer Sports Group, DS Capital still holds 60% of the shares of this sports group. Therefore, Barron's enthusiasm for F1 competitions and his attention to Manchester United Club are understandable.
Regarding the F1 Shanghai race, according to previous surveys, Schumacher is the most famous F1 driver in China at this time. In fact, in many people's minds, Schumacher represents F1...
It can be said that among the more than 260,000 spectators who came to the F1 Shanghai Grand Prix, most of them came to see Schumacher!
However, the winner of the F1 Shanghai Grand Prix was not Schumacher, but Barrichello who stood on the highest podium, which disappointed many people, but also made more people have a new understanding of F1 and a new idol.
No matter what, this race in Shanghai will be a good start for the formation and development of "F1 culture" in China.
"In addition, besides the F1 Shanghai Grand Prix, what other plans do you have for your visit to China this time?"
They were "learning knowledge" together intimately last night. Now Barron saw Bonnie in front of him, interviewing him seriously as a host, and he found it very interesting.
"I have some investments in Hua Xia, including several Internet companies, hotels and manufacturing plants. I will take this opportunity to inspect these industries... In addition, Standard Chartered Bank will continue to cooperate with Hua Xia's banks."
"Speaking of China's banking industry, a few years ago, many experts believed that their bad debt rate was too high and that they might collapse systematically at some point in the future, ultimately affecting the entire Chinese economy. This view was once the mainstream opinion. What do you think of this? Why are you actively cooperating with them?"
In response to Bonnie's question, Barron shook his head and said disapprovingly:
"In fact, most of the time, I don't use the alarmist statements of those so-called experts as a reference for my investment. The statement about China's 'collapse theory' is also what I disapproved of the most. If you understand history, you will see that in the thousands of years of human history, China has been in the leading team for most of the time. It is only in the last one or two hundred years that it has fallen behind the West. This is not a normal situation, but an accident... Especially if you really come to China and see their hard work and emphasis on education, it is even less likely that you will have any contemptuous thoughts. I believe that China is an indispensable part of the future world economy and will bring strong impetus to global economic growth. Any entrepreneur who ignores China has no future."
Yes, Standard Chartered Bank will also have many actions in Asia recently.
After participating in the commercialization reform of Bank of Communications and holding 19.9% of its shares, Standard Chartered Bank will soon participate in the establishment of another Hua Xia Bank...
The bank they were working with was Bohai Bank, which was about to be established.
Headquartered in Tianjin, Bohai Bank is the first newly established national joint-stock commercial bank since the revision of the "Hua Xia Commercial Bank Law" in 2003. It is also the only national joint-stock commercial bank approved by the State Council since 1996. It is the first Chinese commercial bank to introduce foreign strategic investors during its establishment.
Standard Chartered Bank was invited to become the foreign sponsor of Bohai Bank.
Not long ago, Standard Chartered Bank's Greater China President Zeng Jingxuan went to Beijing and signed the "Founders Agreement" with other shareholders of Bohai Bank.
According to the agreement, Standard Chartered Bank will invest US$123 million to hold a 19.99% stake in Bohai Bank, which is lower than the 20% upper limit that foreign capital can directly hold in Hua Xia Bank.
Other sponsors of Bohai Bank include Tianjin TEDA Investment Holding Co., Ltd. (holding 25% of the shares), China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., Ltd. (holding 13.67% of the shares), Shanghai Baosteel Group and China Development Investment Corporation (holding 11.67% of the shares respectively), among which Standard Chartered is the second largest shareholder of Bohai Bank.
In an interview, Standard Chartered Bank's Greater China President Zeng Jingxuan said: The reason for cooperating with Bohai Bank is that it was established not long ago and has no problems with bad debts, and its management model is relatively new. Standard Chartered Bank will be able to invest in new information technology fields more quickly.
At the same time, this investment can also bring good returns to Standard Chartered Bank - in the original time and space, Bohai Bank will be listed in Hong Kong after 15 years. The market value of the bank at the beginning of listing will be more than 80 billion Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to more than 10 billion US dollars...
In addition, the cooperation with Bohai Bank will also help Standard Chartered Bank to deeply participate in China's financial industry and benefit their other investments in mainland China.
In addition to acquiring a stake in Bohai Bank, Standard Chartered Bank is also preparing to acquire an Indonesian bank.
The bank is called PT Bank Permata, and Standard Chartered Bank is preparing to invest US$305 million to acquire a 51% stake in the bank.
PT Bank Permata has 310 branches and approximately 1 million customers, ranking seventh in Indonesia's banking industry.
The timing of this acquisition was after the Indonesian general election. Standard Chartered Bank was optimistic about the future development of Southeast Asia's largest economy, so it acquired this medium-sized bank in the country to get more involved in Indonesia's economy.
Standard Chartered has twice tried to acquire Indonesian banks in the past five years, but both attempts failed.
This time, in the acquisition of PT Bank Permata, Astra International Enterprise Group (Indonesia), the largest local automobile manufacturer and distributor, is Standard Chartered Bank's partner in the acquisition, after which they will have a deeper cooperation in automobile finance.
After all, although its headquarters is in London, Standard Chartered Bank mainly develops in emerging markets, and more than two-thirds of their income comes from Asia, which is also the region that Standard Chartered Bank attaches the most importance to.