Chapter 424: The Beginning of Investment in Europe
At present, Walmart didn't yet hold much direct influence over the Changxing Group. Its scale was still too small. But its growth potential was enormous—especially now that Yang Wendong had invested in it and solved its capital bottleneck. With access to funding, Walmart was like a fish returned to water.
That's why this early stage was so critical. If his company, Changxing Trading, could hitch itself to Walmart's household goods procurement, the future would hold immense promise. In the original history, at Walmart's peak, it awarded contracts worth over $100 billion annually to various trading firms. The reason? The sheer number of products involved was overwhelming, and Walmart's executives simply didn't have the time or manpower to handle all of them.
If Yang Wendong could leverage Walmart's orders along with his Carrefour chain, he could gain firm control over procurement costs. This would also give him an opening into otherwise difficult markets, such as Japan, which was nearly impossible to enter, or Europe, which had high barriers to entry. Even if he couldn't open his own supermarkets there, he could still tap into the profits indirectly through the supply chain.
On December 19, with business in the U.S. wrapping up, Yang Wendong didn't immediately return to Hong Kong. Instead, he flew to London.
At the airport, an old acquaintance was waiting for him.
"Old Wei," Yang Wendong greeted with a smile, "how long have you been in London?"
Wei Zetao replied, "About ten days."
"Ten days? So the factory matter is mostly settled?" Yang Wendong asked.
This visit to London was partly out of convenience—after all, the U.S. was relatively close by. One of the key items on the agenda was inspecting a factory project that Changxing Group was investing in within the U.K. This investment wasn't entirely for economic reasons—it had a significant political dimension as well.
Wei Zetao nodded. "Yes, the negotiations are basically done. As you requested, the hiring for our factory workers will be entirely under our control."
"Good. As long as everything else is reasonable, I'm fine with it." Yang Wendong nodded.
This investment, when calculated properly, might even turn out to be profitable. The factory's production would supply the European market. Although labor costs in Europe weren't low, transoceanic shipping was expensive too. For certain goods that weren't suitable for ocean freight, local production made economic sense.
Wei Zetao smiled. "Alright then, let's head to the hotel. You can rest for the evening, and I'll report everything in detail tomorrow."
"Sure," Yang Wendong agreed. The flight from the U.S. to London had taken six to seven hours, and it was already afternoon. Rest was definitely in order.
The next day, the two met in a small conference room in the hotel to discuss the details of the U.K. investment.
Wei Zetao said, "According to our agreement with the British government, the total investment is listed at 1.5 million pounds. But this figure is more for appearances—there's plenty of room to maneuver behind the scenes."
"What do you mean?" Yang Wendong asked.
Wei Zetao grinned. "We can purchase equipment from Dongsheng at low prices, ship it to the U.K., and then report the costs using local market rates. It's the same with other expenses. So while it looks like 1.5 million on paper, in reality, we're probably spending just over a million."
"Won't the British government audit that?" Yang Wendong asked curiously.
"They do random inspections," Wei Zetao replied. "As long as our numbers aren't outrageous and align with local pricing standards, there's no real issue. This kind of thing is common in multinational investments. Governments are well aware—it's an unspoken agreement. After all, if they banned this kind of practice outright, no one would want to invest."
"Haha, true enough. It's not like those international corporations are saints," Yang Wendong laughed.
Wei Zetao added, "What the British government really cares about is the employment we create and the long-term economic impact. And on that front, we've been completely honest.
In Phase One alone, we plan to hire 350 workers. The products we manufacture will be sold directly in the U.K. and throughout Europe. Eventually, we can even ship them to the U.S. by container, which is far more convenient than sending things from Hong Kong—especially to the U.S. East Coast."
"Right. That's one of the perks of investing in Europe," Yang Wendong nodded. "In the short term, Hong Kong won't have container terminals, which makes logistics a hassle."
In fact, Governor David Trench had already been planning container terminal development. Rumors suggested that the old port companies—Jardine Matheson, Swire, and Hutchison—had already held meetings with the Hong Kong government. Everything was proceeding step by step. The rapid industrial growth in Hong Kong would eventually help transition many old dockworkers into the modern logistics workforce.
Unfortunately, the coming economic crisis would pause all major infrastructure plans. The government would run out of funds, and private capital would be too afraid to invest in anything ambitious. Not just port terminals—even the Hung Hom underwater tunnel project, which was nearly approved, would get shelved.
It wasn't until after the crisis that development resumed. In the original timeline, it wasn't until 1970 that Hong Kong began work on container ports and tunnels, and the first successful terminal wasn't completed until 1973—a delay of nearly a decade. During this time, many industries suffered major setbacks. Had it not been for that, Hong Kong's industrial strength could have reached even greater heights.
Wei Zetao said, "Then maybe we should expand our investments in Taiwan and Singapore. Costs are lower in both, and they're already planning container ports. When we need new production capacity, those two locations are worth considering."
"That's what I was thinking too," Yang Wendong agreed. "They're both Chinese-majority regions—ideal for our investments. Our industrial base in Hong Kong has grown too large. What we already have is fine, but any new facilities should be located overseas."
Hong Kong had a population of just 3.5 million—not enough to support endless factory expansion. In the early days, Yang Wendong had aggressively built factories there, partly to meet demand, and partly to help lift the poor out of poverty. But now that the economy had stabilized and no one was starving or living in extreme poverty anymore, his self-imposed mission was complete. From here on out, business decisions would follow standard commercial logic.
Taiwan had a larger population. Singapore had a better location. Both were part of the so-called Four Asian Tigers. Their real estate and service sectors would soon dominate the region, making them ideal targets for future investment.
Wei Zetao smiled. "Understood. I'll factor that into any future production expansion plans."
"Prioritize Taiwan," Yang Wendong added. "We'll wait for the political situation in Singapore to stabilize. From now on, we don't invest in any region with political risk."
"Got it," Wei Zetao replied.
Stability was everything when it came to capital. If a region fell into chaos, even if the government protected foreign businesses, local suppliers, workers, and transportation systems could all collapse—making operations impossible.
Yang Wendong continued, "We'll leave the U.K. factory as-is for now. If we later find Europe to be a worthwhile investment destination, we can increase our stake—though it may not necessarily be in the U.K. We'll decide when the time comes.
Over the years, we've made plenty of money in Europe and the U.S. We should put something back in. That's the only way to secure our place in these markets."
Business is give-and-take. You can't always be on the selling end. Even Chinese giants like Haier and Midea in his past life eventually opened factories overseas—not only because it was cost-effective, but because it created mutual benefit. Small businesses might not care, but large enterprises had to think this way—especially since Yang Wendong also planned to invest in local service sectors in the West.
"Right. If we create jobs in Europe, we'll also find it easier to enter their markets," Wei Zetao said with a smile.
"About the Tesco investigation I asked you to run—what's the update?" Yang Wendong asked.
"We sent someone to inquire," Wei Zetao replied. "They're not open to outside investment. Tesco has been around for decades in the U.K., and its shareholders are quite strong. Buying in will be difficult."
"Then forget it," Yang Wendong said. "Keep collecting profiles on other U.K. companies."
Tesco was indeed a strong supermarket in the future. It would have been great to acquire a stake, but it wasn't a big deal if he couldn't. There were plenty of top-tier supermarket chains in his past life. He couldn't invest in them all—especially since he was technically 'foreign capital.' Only newly founded companies might consider letting him in.
"Understood," Wei Zetao said.
"Alright," Yang Wendong was about to say something else when a commotion erupted outside.
Wei Zetao quickly explained, "Mr. Yang, British citizens have been rioting again. There are clashes between local whites, immigrants, and leftist groups. The government is even split on whether to accept more immigrants. It's a mess."
"We don't need to concern ourselves with that," Yang Wendong said. "Just make sure our factory hires local whites—no Indians or Black workers. I'd rather pay higher wages than deal with trouble, especially quality issues."
In recent years, the British government had been a mess. After World War II, facing labor shortages and looking to appease former colonies, they passed a policy allowing colonial citizens to immigrate freely to the U.K. and gain citizenship.
So, people came flooding in—especially Black and Indian immigrants. Many of them couldn't make a living in their home countries, so they migrated to Britain. The result was predictable: large immigrant communities clashed with native whites, creating enormous tension.
This was the aftershock of the British Empire's colonial past.
Yang Wendong wasn't interested in politics. But from his past life experience, he knew one thing—never hire Black or Indian workers in his own factories. Better to stick with whites. They might not be as diligent as Chinese workers, but at least they wouldn't sabotage the business.
"What about hiring local Chinese?" Wei Zetao suggested. "There are quite a few in the U.K."
"No. This factory is more about political leverage than profits. Stick to white workers," Yang Wendong shook his head. "The Chinese here have nothing to do with us. There's no need to look after them."
"Understood," Wei Zetao nodded.
"Get the factory up and running as soon as possible," Yang Wendong said. "Once it's operational, expanding into Europe will become much easier."
Once capital reached a certain size, it had to diversify—not just in industry, but in geography. That was how you mitigated risk. Even a time traveler couldn't rely solely on what he knew. He had to spread out his investments strategically.
Europe and America would remain the world's largest consumer markets for decades to come. They were also hotbeds of technological innovation. In the home appliance and electronics industries—sectors Yang Wendong planned to enter—many key technologies originated from the West.
So his expansion into Europe was only just beginning.
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