From H. Ll. Davies British Senior Trade Commissioner
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GISTRY
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British Trade Commission Hong Kong
9th Floor
Bank of America Tower
18 Harcourt Road
Central Hong Kong
Tel No: 523 0176 Fax No: 845 2870
7 July 1993
13/7
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HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANK: POSSIBLE RESUMPTION OF FORMER PREMISES IN SHANGHAI
1.
It might be worth recording a conversation with Sir William Purves during my introductory call on 7 July, although the points below may already be known to you.
2. The subject at issue was the Hongkong Bank's former premises on the Bund in Shanghai. As is, I think, generally known, there have been desultory discussions between the Chinese and the Hongkong Bank for some time about the possibility of restoring the original premises to Hongkong Bank as their headquarters in Shanghai. When I called on John Gray, the General Manager here a fortnight ago, he told me that he would shortly be visiting Shanghai to try to tie up the deal. Purves told me today that that visit had not gone ahead and he gave me the following background.
3.
Discussions with the Shanghai authorities had taken place over the last two years or more. As you will know, the premises are currently occupied by the Municipal Government. As Purves sees it, the Municipal Government's interest is in securing a very large price from the Hongkong Bank to enable them to set themselves up in style elsewhere. For their part, the Bank are not interested in paying over the odds to help out
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