Chapter 556: The Terrifying Jiuding Media Company

When Xia Yu returned that evening, he found that Bao Yugang, Li Jiacheng, and others were still awake, clearly waiting for him to come back.

As expected, after he returned, they inquired about what Mr. Mian had discussed with him. Xia Yu shared part of the conversation and left the rest to their imagination.

In the following days, although the senior officials were busy with state affairs, they took time to hold a more grand and formal meeting. After the meeting, Liu Zhihe from the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office was put in charge of coordinating with the Hong Kong visiting delegation, and other departments sent representatives who had decision-making power to handle the matters.

Xia Yu, having already informed Mr. Mian of his opinions and having Ma Tengdong, Liu Shihao, and Huang Xizhao directly coordinate with these departments, was quite relaxed.

He also expressed his desire to visit the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, which was promptly approved. Special personnel were assigned to guide Xia Yu and his group, allowing Huang Xizhao and the others to enjoy the beautiful scenery of their homeland.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and many people had signed preliminary investment agreements. The timing of these investments would need to be discussed in detail with Guangdong Province and Shenzhen.

Xia Yu signed a preliminary investment agreement totaling 600 million Hong Kong dollars. This included an initial investment of 8 million Hong Kong dollars to set up a large toy factory, 20 million Hong Kong dollars to build a five-star Marco Polo Hotel, 200 million Hong Kong dollars to establish a large film and television base on the east side of Shekou, and the remainder for constructing a highway from Shenzhen to Guangzhou, with a fifty-year property right.

The actual investment amount would need to be calculated in detail based on the real situation.

As for Xia Yu's hoped-for investment in the Shekou Port, it was not approved, which was somewhat disappointing.

The investments included: Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd. would handle the toy factory, Jiuding Real Estate Group would manage the Marco Polo Hotel, Universal Television would oversee the film and television base, and Xia Yu would establish a new company, Jiuzhou Industrial Co., Ltd., for the highway project.

Many future investments in the mainland would be under Jiuzhou Industrial.

All these companies were wholly-owned enterprises. Initially, during negotiations, some mainland officials only allowed joint ventures, but the Hong Kong tycoons strongly opposed this. The highest elder directly approved special arrangements, stating that patriotic Hong Kong merchants should be treated specially, which allowed the investment discussions to proceed.

Before leaving, the highest elder also made a request: Hong Kong businessmen's enterprises in the mainland must operate legally and avoid tax evasion. Everyone agreed to this requirement.

It is worth noting that at this time, the mainland had just begun its reform and opening-up. Well-known policies like the three-year tax exemption and five-year half-tax were not yet in place; these policies emerged in the 1990s.

However, Xia Yu did not mind; he considered taxes as his contribution to the mainland. For enterprises, the production cost on the mainland was the greatest advantage.

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One could say that the results of the Hong Kong delegation's trip north were quite gratifying.

Many who were initially worried set aside their concerns after receiving a serious response from the mainland.

As for the mainland, after communicating with the large-scale Hong Kong delegation, it felt more confident and adjusted its strategy for dealing with Governor MacLehose's northern trip in two weeks.

It was believed that MacLehose would return disappointed!

Of course, these matters had nothing to do with Xia Yu anymore, as he had already returned to Hong Kong.

The first thing he did upon returning was to hold board meetings for the various groups to understand the real status of his enterprises.

The first meeting was with the board of Jiuding Cultural Media Group.

Yan Wenhan, Ma Tengdong, Guy W. Peter, Zhang Lei, Huang Xizhao, Jiang Zhiqiang, and Wu Siyuan were seated around the conference table on the top floor of Jiuding Building. Xia Yu sat at the head of the table, scanning the faces of those present with a satisfied smile.

"It's been a few months since I last saw everyone. It seems like everyone is in high spirits. Good!"

"Wenhan, let's start with you. Please give a detailed report on the company's progress."

After expressing his sentiments, Xia Yu directly called on Yan Wenhan.

Yan Wenhan first respectfully nodded at Xia Yu and then sat up straight, calmly reporting on the operational status of the company he managed.

"Jiuding Media Company has seen good development in all aspects. We've launched a new newspaper, 'Entertainment Daily,' and the sales of existing newspapers have also increased to some extent. The increase in sales is mainly due to the further expansion of distribution channels. All newspapers' sales are no longer limited to a single location, and there is also the effect of word-of-mouth."

"Currently, 'Jiuding Daily' has a daily circulation of 1.62 million copies, 'Fengyun Daily' 1.38 million copies, 'Sing Tao Daily' 620,000 copies, 'South China Morning Post' 340,000 copies, 'Nanyang Siang Pau' 310,000 copies, 'Sin Chew Daily' 280,000 copies, 'Tiantian Daily' 250,000 copies, 'English Tiger Daily' 140,000 copies, and 'Entertainment Daily' 120,000 copies."

"Total daily circulation for all newspapers is 5.07 million copies. As it is difficult to track the entire Southeast Asian newspaper market data, we do not know the exact market share. However, in Hong Kong, the total daily circulation of newspapers is about 2.7 million copies, with our newspapers' total circulation in Hong Kong at 1.54 million copies, giving us a market share of 57%."

"The top five newspapers in the Hong Kong market by daily circulation are 'Jiuding Daily,' 'Fengyun Daily,' 'Sing Tao Daily,' 'Tiantian Daily,' and 'South China Morning Post,' all of which are our company's newspapers."

Hearing this, Xia Yu couldn't help but show a satisfied smile. From these figures, it was clear that he had achieved a substantial monopoly in the Hong Kong newspaper industry, firmly establishing himself as a leading media tycoon.

Thinking about the magazine field that Yan Wenhan had not yet mentioned, Xia Yu was even more eager. Compared to newspapers, the magazine sector was truly monopolistic.

Indeed, Yan Wenhan's subsequent report confirmed Xia Yu's expectations.

"In the magazine sector, the influence and market presence of the existing 'Economic Weekly' and 'Fengyun Weekly' have further increased, with weekly circulations of 1.37 million and 1.05 million copies respectively."

"Two new magazines have been launched: 'Fashion Lady' and 'Fashion Gentleman,' which are growing rapidly due to our full-channel advantage. Currently, their latest weekly circulations are 250,000 and 220,000 copies respectively."

"Two more magazines are in production: 'Harper's Bazaar' and 'Men's Health.'"

"According to statistics, our four magazines account for 90% of the magazine market in Hong Kong!"

"Since its establishment, Jiuding Media Company has been in operation for one year and two months. The company achieved total revenue of 765.42 million, with advertising revenue reaching 342.15 million. After deducting raw materials, labor, taxes, and other costs, the net profit after tax is 298.46 million."

"The company currently has zero debt. From last year to now, a total of 80 million has been injected into Jiuding News Agency. The remaining idle after-tax funds amount to 218.46 million."

"Clap, clap, clap…"

Xia Yu took the lead in applauding, and the conference room erupted into enthusiastic applause. Yan Wenhan, who was reporting, couldn't help but smile broadly.

The others, while applauding, were deeply shocked. Jiuding Media Company was truly formidable!