Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1993

CITATIONS the tip of Tsim Sha Tsui for $131 million. This was the biggest investment of his career thus far, and the biggest gamble. At the time, the price of this acquisition was considered far too high. Today, on that piece of land stand the Regent Hotel, the New Wo r l d Hotel and the shopping complex which runs between them. The value of the property is now conservatively estimated to be in the region of $15 billion. Dr. Cheng made the right judgment and the gamble paid off. In 1982, Dr. Cheng did it again. When Hong Kong was trembling under the cloud of Sino-British negotiation on the territory's future, and when many property companies were desperately trying t o reduce their exposure, New World Development went against the trend and concluded the deal to build Hong Kong's Convention and Exhibition Centre and the twin hotels which now sit on either side o f the complex. Again, the investment has proved to be a resounding success. Without such a grand facility, Hong Kong would have lost many international conferences and business gatherings to Singapore and other Asian cities, and The Chinese University's own thirtieth anniversary banquet and similar functions involving large attendances simply could not now take place. In recent years, Dr. Cheng's business has diversified into many different areas, including hotel management, television, and more recently into infrastructural projects both in Hong Kong and China. New Wo r l d Development has a 24 per cent stake in the Tate's Cairn Tunnel and a 40 percent stake in the Guangzhou Expressway. Dr. Cheng's private investment company owns the Macau Water Works and the Macau Electricity Company. He also owns a sizeable interest in Numac Oil and Gas Limited in Edmonton, Canada, among other things. Dr. Cheng said of such a diversified portfolio of investments, H i k e to try new things. Profit is, of course, the prime motive but I also enjoy learning from other people's success. It is good to have your eggs put in different baskets.' In the last few years, one of those baskets is China. Today, New World Development has several multi-billion dollar projects in Guangdong and other provinces including, but not limite d to, the Shenzhen-Huizhou Expressway, the Guangzhou Northern Ring Road and the Zhujiang Power Plant, as wel l as the complete re- development of the Chong Wen District of Beijing. The headline of a Sunday Morning Post profile on Dr. Cheng says it all. It reads 'Cheng creates New Wo r l d in China.' Dr. Cheng's interests are best described as wide-ranging. As well as being the vice- president of the Real Estate Developers Association, he is also the adviser to the Chinese 46th Congregation 19