Chapter 36 – Changxing Industrial
"Lawyer?" Zhang Weida asked, puzzled for a moment, before suddenly remembering. "Ah—you're talking about company registration? That's no problem. Mr. Wang already gave me a call. He said you'd be coming. Setting up your company will be simple enough. Do you already have a name for it?"
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Yes. I want it to be called Changxing Industrial Limited. Under that, I also want to create a secondary branch: Changxing Pest Control Company."
He had put a lot of thought into the name. Ultimately, he decided to keep it simple and solid.
After all, Li Ka-shing's business was called Cheung Kong Industrial. So he named his company Changxing (长兴), a name that conveyed steady, long-lasting prosperity.
In this era, company names didn't need to be flashy or clever. Unlike the modern internet age where names were carefully crafted to reflect brand identity, what mattered now was clarity and seriousness.
Zhang paused for a moment, then gave Yang a thoughtful look. "A sub-company? Seems like you have some big plans, Mr. Yang."
He added, "Wang was right to praise you. You're quite the ambitious one."
Yang grinned. "Not really. I just want to get everything done at once, so I don't have to redo it later."
The pest control business was his first source of capital, and his biggest opportunity. He had simply taken advantage of a market gap—no one else in Hong Kong was seriously working in this space.
But Yang also knew this industry had a ceiling. It wasn't like manufacturing, real estate, or shipping. It was a gradually disappearing market. As urban infrastructure improved, as public health campaigns expanded, and as overall education increased, rat infestations would naturally become less severe.
He had caught a rare window of opportunity—and he wasn't going to waste it.
Zhang nodded. "Ambition is a good thing. 'Changxing Industrial'… It sounds respectable. Solid. I like it.
"Okay, give me your basic documents—ID, business address, etc. Once I've prepared everything, come back in two days and we'll go register it officially."
"Alright, just a moment," Yang said, pulling out his documents.
He wasn't hiring a lawyer because he was lazy, or because he had money to burn. The truth was, registering a company in 1950s Hong Kong was an incredibly tedious process.
The British colonial government claimed to promote a free market, but in reality, the bureaucracy was corrupt and inefficient. If you wanted to run a stall, you had to pay protection fees. If you opened a shop, you had to "respectfully gift" the local police.
Starting a company was no different. There were hidden steps and informal expectations Yang didn't fully understand. And while he could now read the newspaper fluently, legal documents were another beast entirely.
That's why he hired Zhang Weida—not to skip the rules, but to avoid the traps.
"These are my identity documents and company address," Yang said, passing the papers over. "I don't have a phone line installed yet. Is that going to be a problem?"
Zhang looked over the documents and shook his head. "Technically, it's better to have a phone number on record. But if you don't have one, we can use mine temporarily. The government can contact you through my office."
"Thanks. Once I install a line, I'll update the information."
Yang knew how important having a phone was for a business. But the cost was outrageous—several hundred dollars just to set it up, and that didn't include the phone itself or call charges.
He couldn't afford it right now. And more importantly, he didn't even know if he'd be staying in that office location permanently. No need to invest in something he might not keep.
Zhang nodded. "No problem. We'll just pay a small processing fee later to update the record."
"Good," Yang said. Then he asked, "Mr. Zhang, do you have any idea how expensive it is to file for a patent?"
"Patents?" Zhang leaned back in his chair. "Not that expensive, actually. Depends on the type. Basic patents are just a few dollars—maybe ten or twenty. The more complex ones, especially those involving multiple technical fields, can cost more."
"I'm planning something relatively simple," Yang said. "But I want to register it in multiple countries—Europe, the US, Japan. Is that possible from here?"
Zhang's eyes widened slightly. "That's ambitious. It's doable, yes. But it's not cheap. Even a simple invention, if you want to register it in all those jurisdictions, could cost you a few thousand dollars total."
He chuckled. "Remember, these countries base their patent fees on their own economic standards. For someone in Hong Kong, it's very expensive."
Yang frowned. "That much?"
Of course, in the internet age, patent filing had become somewhat standardized, and at least you could research the process. But in the 1950s, everything was paper-based, slow, and expensive.
Zhang tapped his fingers on the desk, then added, "There is one trick you should know—The Paris Convention. Ever heard of it?"
Yang shook his head.
"It's an international treaty on patents. If you file in one member country, you get six months of exclusive protection to file in other member countries.
"So if you file here first, and then file in Europe or the US within six months, no one else can steal your idea in that window."
"Wait, Hong Kong is a member?"
"We're part of the British Commonwealth," Zhang replied. "So yes."
Yang's face lit up. "That's… really good news."
This changed everything.
Even if he couldn't afford to file in Europe and America immediately, he could buy time. As long as he registered the patent locally, the rest could follow when funding allowed.
"Mr. Zhang, thank you. This makes things much more manageable."
Zhang smiled. "Glad to help. You've got the brains—and the timing. With your knowledge and motivation, I wouldn't be surprised if you became one of the city's top entrepreneurs in ten years."
Yang chuckled. "Let's hope so. For now, let's just get the paperwork filed."
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