A chat with a taipan
The man bankers talk to
It's 10.27am on a rain-drenched morning in mid-June, less than two weeks before the handover of Hong Kong to China. It is the annual general meeting of a China-backed company in one of the territory's top hotels.
The company is a record-breaker. When it listed in 1993 it locked up a staggering HK$240 billion ($31 billion) of investors' money - more than all the notes and coins in circulation in the former colony, now a special administrative region of China.
In fact ever since it was listed the company has traded below its issue price. Principally a manufacturer of cars, it is currently producing just enough to keep its factory in Guangzhou open. Last year's losses soared 144%. Its joint venture partner, Peugeot of France, has pulled out. Are there furious investors barracking directors? How many hours will the...
