At the beginning of 2023, AIA Financial Center was officially unveiled at the North Bund. The project, with a total investment of up to 8.7 billion, is the largest asset acquisition of AIA Life since its establishment.
According to the information from the Hongkou District Commission of Commerce, since the approval of the “Regulatory Detailed Plan for the North Bund in 2020”, the pace of Hong Kong enterprises' participation in the construction and development of the North Bund has been accelerating. Hongkou has gathered nearly 600 Hong Kong-funded enterprises, with a total of 1.44 billion US dollars of foreign capital actually used, accounting for 50% of the total amount of foreign capital actually used in Hongkou, and they have become the main force to promote the high-quality development of Hongkou. Among the regional headquarters of transnational corporations in Hongkou, 75% of enterprise funds are from Hong Kong, which fully demonstrates the role of Hong Kong in strengthening the global resource allocation function of the North Bund.
Why do Hong Kong’s investors like the North Bund of Hongkou so much? The reporter visited three representative Hong Kong-funded enterprises, Shui On Group, Hong Kong Chongbang Group and AIA Group, to reveal the charm of Hongkou to Hong Kong-funded enterprises.
Choosing Hongkou Means Choosing Future
Speaking of Hongkou, Shui On Group, which has been operating here for 26 years, has the loudest voice.
In 1996, the Shanghai Municipal Government put forward the "365 Dangerous Sheds and Simple Houses Plan". Hongzhen Old Street in Hongkou was one of the largest areas with dangerous sheds and simple houses in Shanghai then. The residents' voices for improving living conditions were very strong. The Hongkou District Party Committee and the Hongkou District Government hoped to transform the shantytown as soon as possible and enhance the regional image. Mr. Luo Kangrui, Chair of Shui On Group, was invited to Hongzhen Old Street and walked in the lanes of the old street. He immediately decided to respond to the call of Shanghai's reform and opening-up to introduce foreign capital, and to do some projects, which would have a substantive role in promoting the city's history and social development.
Wang Ying, Executive President of Ruian Real Estate Co., Ltd., said that the area where Hongzhen Old Street was located was ordinary at that time, but from the perspective and experience of international urban change, Shui On Group felt that this area was only three kilometers away from the Bund and close to Lujiazui in Pudong, so its future development potential must be very huge. Thus, Shui On Group chose Hongkou very firmly.
Hong Kong Chongbang Group also has the same insight. Chongbang has a 20-year history of development in Shanghai, and it has successfully developed large-scale commercial real estate projects such as Daning International Commercial Plaza, Sinan Mansion, Jinqiao International Commercial Plaza, and Jiatinghui Urban Life Plaza.
Liang Meifen, Senior General Manager of Chongbang Group, says that when Chongbang was founded in 2003, it focused on Luwan District and Zhabei District at that time. The former was a mature business district, while the latter was a new development area with rich land resources. The representative project of the former was Sinan Mansion, and the representative project of the latter was Daning International Commercial Plaza. Since 2015, the focus of Chongbang's investment and development has shifted to Hongkou. Shangbin Life Plaza had been built, and Bingang Business Center, with a total investment of about 13 billion yuan, is being built. In the next decade, Chongbang will continue to seek development opportunities in Hongkou.
In Liang Meifen's view, compared with other areas along Huangpu River, Hongkou is the earliest one for development. Besides, Hongkou is the starting place for Chinese people to open their eyes to the world. More than 20 firsts, such as the first postal and communication organization in modern China, the first operating railway in China, the first all-steel riveted bridge in China, and the first electric power company in modern China, were born here. There are many talents and profound cultural heritage here. Besides, the Hongkou North Bund area is the only golden area in the central urban area of Shanghai that can be planned as a whole and developed in depth. The planned construction volume of 8.4 million square meters and 40 high-quality plots are waiting for development.
She says that Hongkou's unique late-developing advantages are its superior geographical location and the organic integration of the old and the new.
The development of the city has proved the foresight of Shui On Group. As time goes by, the location advantage of Hongkou becomes more and more prominent: the North Bund, the Bund and Lujiazui form the Golden Triangle of Shanghai, the North Cross Passage connects the North Bund with Hongqiao and the Pudong International Transport Hub, and the river-crossing tunnel forms the 8-minute commuting circle of the Golden Triangle. In Hongkou, the intersection of Huangpu River, Suzhou Creek and Hongkou Port, the government sets up the stage and the Hong Kong businessmen sing the opera. The government and enterprises are working together to write the legend of the new era.
One of the most important elements of business environment for foreign-funded enterprises is government services. "Shanghai and Hongkou have provided many development opportunities for the development of the Ruihong Xincheng project. Hongkou has dared to gnaw the hard bone of the reform and to go to the deep water area of the reform. It has boldly achieved many institutional innovations and policy breakthroughs, and it has provided us with a lot of support. Therefore, we have firmly worked hard and developed in Hongkou", Shui On Group is satisfied with the business environment of Hongkou.
Taking the development of Ruihong Project as an example, Wang Ying further explained the reason for the evaluation. In the development process, the biggest difficulty faced by Shui On Group is the relocation. For the real estate enterprises with a long development cycle, the pressure of the capital chain is self-evident. At the most difficult time, because of the relocation, Shui On Group had 7-8 billion yuan of funds deposited in the project. What impressing Wang Ying was that in 2011, Shanghai began to adopt an open and transparent model of old houses’ renovation, which turned from the relocation to the house expropriation and made the old houses’ renovation smooth. Another turning point was that in 2013, with the full support of Hongkou, the enterprise obtained the support of the dangerous shed and simple house transformation fund of the National Development Bank in the form of land mortgage, relocation and development, which enabled Shui On Group to successfully start the project construction of relevant plots. Since then, the development of Ruihong Xincheng has been furious.
Shui On Group has built Ruihong Community, an internationally renowned multi-functional and comprehensive community in Hongkou, with more than 6,500 elite families from more than 30 countries living in it. With the completion of the sale of the Phase 10 residential product (Zhen Ting) of Ruihong Xincheng, 26-year construction and development of Ruihong Xincheng has been completed successfully. The 55,0000 square meters commercial complex "Ruihong Tiandi", including Sun Palace, Moon Bay, Star Hall, Ruihong Square and the commercial office building, have become the yearning place for the surrounding white-collars.
Liang Meifen, who has the same feeling as Wang Ying, says that the government and enterprises in Hongkou have achieved win-win.
In 2015, Chongbang Group began to take the first piece of land in Hongkou, and then took the second piece of land in 2018. During the development of the two lands, Liang Meifen has repeatedly contacted the planning, construction and management, commercial commission, culture and tourism, fire protection and other departments of Hongkou. She summarized her feelings about Hongkou service: "very young, very active, and very close". The Hongkou Government service team is young and energetic. It has changed the stereotype of the Hong Kong businessmen that government departments are stiff and inflexible. "They are very busy on weekdays, so they use Saturday and Sunday breaks to brainstorm with us", Liang Meifen was amazed by the high intensity, high pace and high efficiency of government services.
Shangbin Life Plaza, opened by Chongbang Group in 2019, is a typical community business entity. The relevant functional departments and local sub-districts of Hongkou District have been concerned about its development. Together, they actively introduced different resources such as the CIIE and the culture to continuously attract people for Shangbin Life Plaza. The close cooperation between the government and the enterprise has made Chongbang decide to continuously increase its business in Hongkou.
Jinchao 8 Lanes in Bingang Commercial Center has pushed the cooperation between the two sides to a climax. Hongkou is praised to be the birthplace of the Shanghai-style culture, the birthplace of the advanced culture, and the gathering place of the cultural celebrities by the General Party Chief Xi Jinping. The Shanghai-style culture and the advanced-culture are surging here, which is ahead of the trend. The resources of cultural celebrities are rich. After frank and profound discussions, Chongbang Group and the culture and tourism department jointly explore the rich mine. They build a culture and art platform, so that the lane culture comes out of the archives and becomes a new popular place that can be touched, read, and interacted. The 60 Shikumen Buildings of the 8 lanes are also reborn.
The Good Business Environment Gives the Enterprises the Visible Sense of Gain
If the superior historical position and geographical location of the North Bund have enabled Hong Kong-funded enterprises with sensitive sense of smell to see business opportunities and Hongkou service has strengthened their confidence in development, the speed of Hongkou has further boosted the strength of Hong Kong-funded enterprises to increase business in Hongkou.
From month to day, Hong Kong-funded enterprises can clearly perceive the Hongkou speed in their development. Hongkou is in the spirit of a 100-meter dash, attracting more capital to focus on this area.
Wang Ying tells that taking the reconstruction of Hongzhen Old Street for example, they negotiated in February 1996, signed the “Letter of Intent for Cooperation” in April 1996 and completed the first phase of relocation and commencement of construction at the end of 1996. Without any precedent, Hongkou rapidly achieved the negotiation, the signing, the relocation and the commencement of construction at the same year within 10 months.
AIA set out from the Bund of Shanghai in 1919 and traveled all over the world. Now, they come back with the Shanghai complex that has not changed for a hundred years. This time, they set their eyes on the North Bund.
Hongkou did not live up to this trust. At the beginning of AIA's acquisition of Shanghai Industrial’s project, Hongkou set up a special working group to actively guide and cooperate to remove obstacles for the acquisition project. After AIA submitted the industrial and commercial change documents, the staff handed the changed business license to the enterprise the next day. "Too fast!", Jiang Limin, Chief Customer Officer of AIA Life, sincerely sighed. The concern and support of all departments for foreign-funded enterprises made them deeply impressed by the service spirit of Hongkou.
The circle of friends of Hongkou continues to expand. New and old friends are full of expectations for the development of the North Bund in Hongkou. The North Bund is an important development opportunity for Hongkou and even Shanghai. Wang Ying says that the North Bund of Hongkou provides a broader platform for the enterprise development. Shui On Group will continue to devote itself to the long-term operation of Ruihong Area, explore and practice business innovation and new models of green and low-carbon communities, and create a high-quality lifestyle for the people.
On the basis of the successful development of Jinchao 8 Lanes, Chongbang Group will continue to invest in the construction of 110,000 square meters of commercial facilities and 100,000 square meters of high-rise office buildings, improve the layout of Bingang Commercial Center, to organically integrate urban renewal, promote commercial development with culture, help the overall improvement of North Sichuan Road, and provide better cultural consumption scenes for Shanghai’s citizens.
Jiang Limin adds that AIA continued to be optimistic about China, and it was full of confidence in the future development of Shanghai and China. The North Bund is an area with great development potential and opportunities in Shanghai. AIA Life has decided to place the largest real estate investment since its establishment at the North Bund of Hongkou. It is hoped that AIA can further help the North Bund optimize the layout of financial functions in the future, and then promote the construction of the Shanghai International Financial Center.
Since entering the Sub-district Office of Elevator Installation in March 2021, Liang Qiong has been mainly responsible for the daily reception of residents' elevator installation policy consultation, the conflict mediation, the review of elevator installation documents, and the inspection of the elevator installation site under construction. Through nearly two years of hard work, Liang has grown from a rookie to a multi-faceted expert in the elevator business, which was inseparable from her efforts and her enthusiasm for the elevator installation business.
Liang Qiong sorted out a simplified version of the "Notice on Elevator Installation" according to the existing policy, which can help her to explain during the daily reception of elderly residents and help them understand the process of elevator installation more intuitively and systematically. Through continuous learning, patient explanation and professional guidance, some residents who originally opposed to the elevator installation gradually put down misunderstandings and grievances and agreed to the plan of installing elevators to buildings. Besides, Liang Qiong, as a bridge for communication in the process of work, has always thought about what residents are anxious and what they want. Only by understanding the actual difficulties of the residents and helping them coordinate and solve them, can the work of installing elevators be completed successfully.
Years of work in residential areas not only made Liang Qiong accumulate rich experience in the mass work, but also developed a skill in conflict mediation: many times of door-to-door communication with people opposed to the installation of elevators, leading residents who do not know about the installation of elevators to visit the surrounding communities on the spot, coordinating the building autonomous group and the agent construction enterprises to jointly optimize the plan, and so on. Liang says that the conflict mediation should seek a balance between the interests of both parties under the premise of being legal, rule-based and reasonable.
To think about what the people want, warm the people's hearts and communicate and coordinate with the people, Liang Qiong's dutiful attitude and love for the people have explained the meaning of "I do practical things for the people".