novelslam Chapter 138: Shenzhen
Chapter 138: Shenzhen
Although both the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange were established in 1990, and the establishment date was at the end of 90, actual trading began in 1991.
In the first year after the establishment of the two exchanges, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange experienced contrasting fortunes. After a slight correction in early 1991, the eight old stocks in Shanghai surged in the second half of the year.
Meanwhile, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange was suffering greatly. Starting in December 1990, the stocks on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange fell continuously at a rate of 5% per day, and the trading volume gradually shrank. The crazy downward trend left the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's regulatory authorities at a loss.
The management has taken many measures to try to reverse the downward trend, and even changed the daily limit down measure, changing the maximum daily drop to 2. Even so, the situation has not improved at all.
After New Year's Day in 91, a new policy was introduced, changing the daily trading limit to 05, but it didn't work! At its most extreme, there were even cases where five listed stocks had zero trading volume in a single day, which was absolutely terrifying!
Subsequently, the regulatory authorities followed the example of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and abolished the daily price limit. However, the result was surprising: the market index fell below 50 points, and the average decline of the five stocks reached 41%. Shenzhen stock investors were in despair.
Starting in the second quarter of 1991, the eight stocks in Shanghai rose every day, while the five stocks in Shenzhen fell every day. The two markets showed completely different trends because at that time, not only was there no internet, but even telephone communication was not very smooth.
Huang Xiaochuan went to buy at the bottom this time. His memory was faulty and he remembered something wrong. Shenzhen Development Bank has actually been issued and listed. It is now the leading stock on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. However, the current stock price is frighteningly low, only about twelve or thirteen.
He learned all this from a phone call with his second senior brother, so he went straight to Shenzhen as soon as summer vacation started.
Before leaving, he said to Yu Xiang, "Don't forget to call your parents and tell them about the house. I reckon Yu Wei will definitely tell them when he gets back, so you might as well tell them first."
Yu Xiang nodded in agreement. The house was a big deal, and it wouldn't be good to keep it a secret.
"By the way, I don't want to trouble two people with one thing, so please take care of things for my parents as well, so my mom won't keep asking me questions."
Yu Xiang gave Huang Xiaochuan a reproachful look: "Okay, okay!"
Huang Xiaochuan then left with peace of mind. He took his border pass, invitation letter, bank draft, and personal luggage to the roadside, hailed a taxi, and prepared to leave. He left his cell phone and pager with Yu Xiang, as these two items would be useless in Shenzhen and would take up too much weight. He also left his 28-inch Phoenix bicycle at the old apartment.
When Yu Xiang saw the taxi arrive, she reminded Huang Xiaochuan again: "Be careful on the road. Call me when you get there. The hospital's phone number is in your contacts."
Huang Xiaochuan hugged Yu Xiang and replied, "I know! I'll be back!"
Tuesday, July 2nd, light rain.
At Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, Huang Xiaochuan boarded a China Eastern Airlines 737 bound for Shenzhen. However, Bao'an Airport was not yet open to the public, so Huang Xiaochuan had to go to Guangzhou Baiyun Airport first and then take a car to Shenzhen.
When traveling, Huang Xiaochuan naturally wouldn't skimp on himself. He bought himself a business class ticket, mainly because the flight was domestic and there was no first class available; otherwise, Huang Xiaochuan would definitely have bought a first class ticket.
There are only eight seats in the business class. The seats are spacious and comfortable with a lot of legroom, otherwise Huang Xiaochuan's long legs would have suffered. Of course, the advantages of business class are not limited to these, and the service provided is much better than that of economy class.
The flight had a specially assigned flight attendant to serve economy class passengers; she was quite pretty. Huang Xiaochuan knew that at that time, airlines had very high standards for selecting flight attendants, far exceeding the standards later adopted by airlines.
In his previous life, Huang Xiaochuan frequently traveled by plane for work. So, after boarding the plane, he casually handed his boarding pass to the welcoming flight attendant. After glancing at Huang Xiaochuan's boarding pass, the flight attendant smiled and said, "Mr. Huang, welcome aboard China Eastern Airlines. Please follow me."
After welcoming Huang Xiaochuan to his seat, he knelt down on one knee and asked with a smile, "Mr. Huang, what would you like to drink?"
Huang Xiaochuan smiled and said, "Thank you, but I don't need it for now. I'll contact you if I need it."
The flight attendant politely stood up, smiled at Huang Xiaochuan, and left. Sitting next to Huang Xiaochuan was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, trousers, and a tie. He didn't look like someone from mainland China.
Although it only takes a little over two hours to travel from Shanghai to Guangzhou, in this era without smartphones,
These two hours were quite boring, so to alleviate the boredom of the journey, magazines and newspapers were provided to passengers on the plane.
Shortly after the plane took off, the person next to Huang Xiaochuan started a conversation with him.
"Hello sir! Are you also going to Guangzhou?"
Huang Xiaochuan responded, "Yes."
The other person extended his hand and said, "My surname is Huang, Huang Boyi, I'm from Hong Kong, and I run a clothing business in Shekou."
Huang Xiaochuan exclaimed, "Oh? From the same clan?"
After shaking hands with Huang Boyi, he said, "What a coincidence, my surname is also Huang, Huang Xiaochuan."
During this period, those who can afford to travel by plane are either government officials or people with financial means. Ordinary people generally do not choose to travel by plane because airfares are too expensive, and business class tickets are even more expensive.
Huang Boyi was curious about Huang Xiaochuan's background since he was so young and was sitting in business class, so he took the initiative to strike up a conversation and get to know him.
"What kind of business does Mr. Huang run?"
Huang Xiaochuan knew the other person was curious about his identity, so he replied, "I'm still a student. I was invited to visit and learn at Shenzhen University."
"I didn't expect that Mr. Huang was a college student! Impressive!" Huang Boyi was clearly someone who spent a lot of time traveling and was very good at talking.
Huang Xiaochuan waved his hand modestly: "Mr. Huang, you're joking. You said you're in the clothing business, do you own a clothing factory?"
Huang Boyi's eyes lit up, and he quickly replied, "Yes, yes, how did you know?"
Because communication was underdeveloped at that time, information was relatively scarce, but Huang Xiaochuan knew that the garment factories in Shekou were initially mostly invested and opened by Hong Kong people who took advantage of the labor and tax benefits in mainland China to manufacture clothing for international brands.
With rising labor costs in Hong Kong, as well as increased expenses such as taxes, electricity, and factory rent, these garment factories in Hong Kong have become unsustainable. Just then, Guangdong Province, which is separated from Hong Kong by a river, established a special economic zone to attract Hong Kong businessmen to open factories and recruit workers, offering them preferential policies.
As a result, a large number of Hong Kong businessmen went to the mainland to open factories, and mainland workers flocked to the Special Economic Zone and Shekou to work. Later, a TV series called "The Outsider Girl" was even made to depict the plight of migrant workers during this period.
Huang Xiaochuan said with a smile, "I just heard it from someone else, so I asked casually. I didn't expect to actually ask the right person."
The two started chatting. Although Huang Xiaochuan was young, he had lived two lives and was very knowledgeable. He could talk about anything in detail, and Huang Boyi kept nodding in agreement.
Huang Boyi also complained to Huang Xiaochuan about China's stock market.
"It's not good that you mainland stocks won't sell to us. In Hong Kong, anyone can open an account. You mainland stocks should learn from Hong Kong stocks in this regard."
Huang Xiaochuan knew about what Huang Boyi was complaining about, but soon a policy will be issued, probably in the second half of this year, that listed stocks will be divided into A-shares and B-shares. A-shares are the stocks that domestic people can buy and sell, which are the ones that Huang Xiaochuan currently holds.
B shares are priced the same as A shares, but B shares are settled in foreign currency. They are bought and sold according to the exchange rate, and the settlement funds are all in foreign currency, mainly Japanese yen and US dollars, but Hong Kong dollars are also acceptable.
Therefore, Huang Xiaochuan revealed this news to Huang Boyi in advance.
"As far as I know, a policy will be implemented this year to divide stocks into A-shares and B-shares. You can buy and sell B-shares, but you will need to settle in Hong Kong dollars, Japanese yen and US dollars."
Huang Boyi was delighted to hear this, but then he was also startled.
He's been in mainland China for several years and knows quite a bit about the situation there. The fact that Huang Xiaochuan could casually tell him such important information shows that Huang Xiaochuan has a powerful background. How could an ordinary person know such things? Also, who has ever seen a college student flying business class?
He's treating Huang Xiaochuan like a second or third-generation rich kid. If Huang Xiaochuan knew that Huang Boyi thought that way, he'd laugh himself to death.
However, this made Huang Boyi's attitude towards Huang Xiaochuan even better along the way.
However, Huang Boyi looked regretful when mentioning stocks listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
"I'm amazed that those few stocks can keep falling for months. I'd like to buy them now, to catch the bottom and make a fortune if they just rise a little later. Too bad, I can't buy them."
Huang Xiaochuan couldn't help but take another look at Huang Boyi. This guy is something else! It seems that Hong Kong people's sensitivity to finance is truly well-deserved.