European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 31, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Official of Hong Kong s out Volvo Call it the biggest japanese style nightclub in the world. " China copies up to a Hong Kong nightclub  new York times f All the Western Lype businesses Hal Beijing seems to be warming to these Days perhaps i he most unlikely is a Gaud nightclub in the Hong Kong commercial District where Cognac Sells for $113 a bottle and 1,000 hostesses sell their services to a pin striped clientele. It is not Clear in China is a financial Backer of the club Volvo As it is called but Beijing s Public endorsement and ils patronage has helped make the club Hong Kong s Besl known nigh spol. Now club Volvo is raising eyebrows and tempers because of ils recently announced intention to go Public later this year. Hong Kong s Strong Economy and soaring Bull Market Are enticing More and More companies logo Public. The China City group which operates six nightclubs has also expressed interest in a Public Stock Issue and 22 Kong Kong companies Havo gone Public this year up from nine in 1986. The turmoil swirling around the club Volvo As it tries to join the list reveals much about How business is conducted in Hong Kong the Impact of China Asil prepares to absorb the territory in 1997, the growing Mil hence of the japanese. The intricate corporate Clavio ships Hal can shroud a company s ownership in mystery a freewheeling Stock Exchange trying to enhance its reputation. Many Hong Kong fund managers and investment Bankers already concerned about the Cowboy image Ottha Hong Kong Stock Exchange Are outraged Al the plans to list club Volvo on the Exchange just As its Strong Economy and soaring stocks arc luring More investors this kind Al Mickey mouse distraction won t help Hong Kong s image Bard James Mellon managing drector of Thornton management Asiaa major Hong Kong based fund manager. Nglodh Timothy h. Woe. A manager of Jardine Fleming securities in Hong Kong ii does t add to Hong Kong s credibility As an International financial  to add to the uproar. The chairman of the Stock Exchange Ronald . I is an acknowledged investor in the club Volvo and is pushing Tor a listing for the unorthodox concern. Noting that i and other Stock Exchange officials were in new York to promote the Exchange Mellon of Thornton voiced his fear that american institutional investors May be disturbed by the head of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in effect promoting a Girlie  not just any Girlie bar though. Club Volvo claims to be the " biggest japanese style nightclub in the  such entertain men clubs Are proliferating throughout Asia As Japan bolsters its economic and cultural influence in the Region. The clubs provide Young and attractive women who As hostesses or male customers pour drinks made conversation and go Home with the customers Lor a negotiated fee. The bars Are not brothels nothing More than cuddling takes place within the establishment and in any Case he management does not get a Cut of the Lee the hostess charges to go Home with a client. But club Volvo makes no Eft at to hide the reason Lor its existence let s face it. Most of the men come Here because they want logo to bed with a girl said Lisa Russell an australian who is a mama san at club Volvo responsible for greeting English speaking customers and introducing them to the eight hostesses she supervises according to Russell on average each hostess goes Home with Ono customer a night. These girls can make fortunes said Russell she herself lives in one of the territory s most pics Gigious a ailment complexes. The hostesses she says charge Hong Kong chinese men about s130 for a Brick Liaison and ask for nearly $200 from european men. But it is the japanese men who come to Hong Kong More and More frequently on business tending their growing investments in the territory. Who Are sad to be the most lucrative clients these Days Russell said Many of the hostesses Are using their daytime hours to study japanese saturday october 31, 1987 our policy is to provide .1 hostess Only to  said Allan Tang the club s promotion director if there s any other business it Musl be discussed Direll with tha hostess " about 30 percent of the hundreds of customers who drop try each evening Lake a hostess Home Tang said prostitution is illegal in Hong Kong but establishment Mich As hostess bars and Massage pallor Are common situated in the Kowloon Section of Hong Kong. Club Volvo is All glitter and Glamour an electric Rolls to co carries customers rom Iho door tha club s Interior can Birls of 1 g acres of couches on which elegantly dressed you Nuj  Converse in chinese. English japanese or Oiler languages with businessmen in dark suits a Large computer keeps truck of Billing charging $4 25 Lor each Quarter hour of chit tial with a hostess topless dancers cavort in the background As pad of its plans to raise about $7 7 million by issuing 25 percent of its Slock to the Public the club has begun to Bare ils Lina cos the prospectus has no yol been issued but club Volvo says its daily revenues average about $77,000, and Hal it operates on prolix margins of about 40 percent to 50 percent folic its at the club also is tamale Hal an average of 1,100 visitors who spend an average of $110 each come to the club nightly though sources close to the club say those numbers Are typical Only of an unusually Good night. In any Case the club says that it has assets of $25 million to $35 million but that other properties will probably be injected into Iho holding company to be named Volvo entertainment enterprises before in is scheduled to be listed on nov. 26. The owners of the club Volvo according to the filing in the companies registry in Hong Kong Are mostly Shell companies whose ownership is mysterious though it is widely rumoured that Beijing has an equity interest i the Slock Exchange chairman says that China is not a part owner. Club Volvo executives either decline to say or confess Hal they do not know. Chinese Lii vials in Hong Kong decline to comm Cal. Trying to dig up information on the company s directors is just As dizzying. Law Cheuk the club s managing director said in an interview Hal i the Stock Exchange chairman was also chairman of the club asked about this i said. I Don t know anything about club  informed that the managing director had identified him As chairman he paused Ihen said i m chairman of so Many companies that i can l keep them  subsequently club Volvo issued a statement denying that i was chairman. Such peculiarities Are not uncommon in the Hong Kong business world where Little disclosure is required of corporations and where Labyrinthine Cross ownerships and Shell companies Olen conceal the identities of equity participants. The first indication of China s interest in the night club came when the club opened in january of 1986 in a highly unusual gesture of endorsement two very senior China officials i Chuwen. Vice director of the new China news Agency and Wang Guanying chairman of China s Everwright group participated in Iho ribbon cutting in Hong Kong whore every move made by chinese officials is imbued Wilh significance that was Miler peeled As a very important show of support these Days about a dozen officials or businessmen from China visit the club each night usually with their Hong Kong business partners who pay the Bill since in usually comes to about three times the average $30 monthly income in China the appearance of these men is also universally regarded As a sign of support Lor the club even though they Are among the quietest customers typically huddling loge Lher on their sofas. China s cosiness with the club Volvo is nol easy to reconcile with Beijing s prudish As Al Homo sex Between unmarried partners is illegal in China according to the health ministry and several Lucien men have been detained and lined during visits to China afle police found them with local women in their hold rooms but political analysts Here Oiler two theories to explain China s open endorsement of the club first they say China is trying to show that in can Loi Edale a bit of iniquity Beijing in other words is demonstrating Hal it will rut necessarily enforce its moral code in Hong Kong Ailor it regains control of the territory irom Britain in 1997 second analysis a. Iho club Volvo allows China s communist parly cadres to of penance Iho world of Hon Kong i nightclubs in a controlled setting the people from China arc Here Only for sightseeing said Tang the club s promotion director Thoy Are very nervous about being Al a table with the girls and Are afraid to take a girl Home " the stars and Stripe Page 17