Ladies and gentlemen, Good evening,

On behalf of the Board members of Hon Kwok Land, Chinney Investment, the Chinney Alliance Group, and Chinney Kin Wing Holdings, our Directors and senior managers, and on behalf of the Wong family: Thank you for joining the Chinney Group’s 49^th Anniversary Annual Dinner. It is our great pleasure to welcome you all. I hope you will enjoy this pleasant and entertaining evening, and of course, the fantastic dinner.

I know that I stand between you and the food, so I will try to be brief.  As is traditional, I will describe the way we see the world, and then I’ll introduce a few things that we are working on.

First of all, some good news: Despite two major wars, the Global Hunger Index fell to 18.3, the lowest rate in this century. Renewable energy became “unstoppable”, Medicine entered a Golden Age, AI entered the mainstream with ChatGPT.

As we look forward to our 50^th Anniversary, it’s my great honor to serve as the Chairman of the Chinney Group. Forgive me for being obvious when I say that 2024 is going to be an interesting year. While I prefer tradition, this year we will need to adapt to fast changing market conditions driven by events in China and the US.

The Chinese economy is recovering slowly as it transitions out of its previous “property first” policy. Big property players will continue to deleverage, while financials institutions will respond by tightening controls. The government is working to minimize the impact on the rest of the economy (like us) with stimulus measures. Let’s give time for things to play out.

The US, on the other hand, will suffer through the chaos of an election year featuring Donald Trump: a grifter who is no friend of China or Hong Kong. Their year will feature deadlock, partisan infighting, and will probably sadly demonstrate the worst of democratic traditions. Biden may defy Iran and find peace in the Middle East, but it will bungle the war in the Ukraine. Economically, the Fed has so far managed a soft landing, but it won’t take much to tip the equilibrium into a recession. Interest rates are likely to remain higher for longer than the market would like. And because of ongoing tariffs, China will not be able to export its deflation to the US to relieve upwards price pressure from energy, food, and borrowing costs.

Hong Kong is our home. 2023 saw the first year of rebuilding since the troubles of 2019. By HK Airport numbers, we are at best 70% back. And unfortunately, we will continue to be squeezed by high interest rates from the US as well as depressed economic activity on the mainland.

In fact, our industry remains under stress. While we are not immune to market forces, fortunately, our fundamentals remain strong. The Chinney Group is keeping pace with improvements in PropTech, ESG, green and sustainable finance, next generation transportation, MIC, and digital transformation.

During 2023, externally, we bought six hotels in Japan, launched our Beijing Road project in Guangzhou and completed over 100 construction contracts. Our flying car company is the first company to be certified by the FAA. Internally, we updated our management practices with town halls and high-level retreats bringing together emerging senior managers and our independent non-executive directors. We promoted next generation managers in our foundation and real estate divisions as respected elders retired.

In 2024, we prepare to emerge from the survival mindset of the previous five years and look forward to finding new avenues of growth. Our strategy for next year is still to look widely, but tread carefully. We will look deeply into promising markets for generational opportunities. But we will commit very carefully. And with your support, we will be ready to take advantage when the pendulum swings back to economic growth again.

Looking forward: We will celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the incorporation of the Chinney Group in Hong Kong in 2025. And according to family folklore, the 100^th Anniversary of the founding of the Chinney Group in Nanjing by my grandfather and his brothers. Our company runs on the principles propounded by our founder, my father Dr. James Wong: Truth, Fairness, and Freedom.

To conclude, I would like to express my gratitude to our colleagues for their hard work and contributions to both our innovative and resilient work culture. I also wish to express my sincere thanks to our stakeholders and business partners, we will continue to be good partners and hope to count on your support for new projects and initiatives.

Last but not least, I wish you all a healthy and prosperous Year of the Dragon. Thank you.