The Industrial Giant Reborn

If it was after the re-opening, such as in 1980, when Chen Zhiwen, Li Jiacheng, Hu Yingxiang, Huo Yingdong and dozens of Hong Kong tycoons came to Yanjing, then there will inevitably be people of high level to pick up the airport, and the subsequent arrangements will also be The stability is very high-grade, and even CCTV, People's Daily and other media will follow up and interview along the way.

But now, there is no more. The group of them who came to the mainland should have done it in secret. It is true that no one in Hong Kong will know, but as long as they don’t say it, everyone can keep silent.

However, although there is nothing on the surface, there are still many things in the dark. Many plainclothes were waiting at the airport early, and the person who came to pick them up was also a deputy director general of the State Administration of Foreign Economic Relations.

The State Administration of Foreign Economic Relations, together with the State Planning Commission and the State Economic and Trade Commission, are the three major departments in charge of the national economy in China. In 2003, these three departments merged to form the Ministry of Commerce.

Everyone got on the bus again, but this one wasn't as luxurious as the one in Eastern Guangdong Province before, but the road in Yanjing was obviously much better. The bus quickly left the airport and headed towards downtown Yanjing.

Through the window, Chen Zhiwen watched everything along the way, and the memories of the times appeared in his own memories.

In his previous life, he grew up in the 90s. Although it is more than ten years later, the small city at that time is almost the same as the current Yanjing in terms of visual senses.

Countless pedestrians and countless bicycles are driving on the road. The more common means of transportation is the bus. Occasionally, some trucks and cars can be seen, but the more you go to the urban area, the more cars and buses become. .

Chen Zhiwen looked carefully, all the cars were basically domestic brands, and only occasionally saw a Toyota or Chevrolet.

Soon, the car arrived at Yanjing Hotel.

Deputy Director Zhang said: "Everyone, everyone, rest in the hotel for a while. Later in the evening, we will have a welcome banquet. Please come to us when the time comes."

He spoke Mandarin, and not everyone present could understand it, but there would always be people around him, so there was no need to find a translator.

"Okay." Many people agreed.

As the capital city, Yanjing naturally has many international friends coming here. Therefore, hotels accustomed to the West have already existed. Yanjing Hotel is one of them. It has showers, toilets, air conditioners, and TVs. It is as luxurious as Hong Kong's five-star hotels. There is a lot of difference between first-class hotels.

Chen Zhiwen has been living extravagantly in the past few years, but he is used to this configuration. There are a few Hong Kong businessmen who look a little uncomfortable. It is estimated that this is the first time that Bao Yugang came to Yanjing three years later. The reason for donating 10 million US dollars to build a five-star hotel here.

There was only Yanjing TV station in the TV station, and it was talking about some local news, or some domestic TV series. After watching it for nearly an hour, Chen Zhiwen realized that there was no advertisement on it.

After a while, the sky began to get dark. The latitude of Yanjing City is much higher. Now it is turning from summer to winter. It gets dark earlier, but it is not too cold. In addition, it is also a dry climate here, which is not as cold as in the Jiangnan area. Magic attack.

In the evening, Director Lin of the State Administration of Foreign Economic Relations came in person and had a cordial dinner with all Hong Kong businessmen at the Yanjing Hotel. Naturally, he also talked a lot in official language, but because there is no policy requiring foreign investment, so There is no topic of investment promotion, just by the way, you can see more in Yanjing.

After dinner, when everyone was about to go back to their room to rest, President Liang suddenly grabbed Chen Zhiwen and said, "Chen Sheng, Director Lin wants to talk to you alone."

"Okay." Chen Zhiwen nodded in agreement.

After a while, Chen Zhiwen came to a place similar to a conference room. Director Lin quickly stood up and said with a smile, "Mr. Chen, please sit down."

"Director Lin, you are welcome, thank you." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. The State Administration of Foreign Economic Relations is one of the components of the Ministry of Commerce in the future. If the Director Lin in front of you is at least equivalent to the level of deputy minister in 50 years, Moreover, the Ministry of Commerce itself is one of the most important departments in the Mainland.

"Mr. Chen's Mandarin is really good. If we just met on the street, I would never believe that you are from Hong Kong." Director Lin said with a smile: "It is said that in Hong Kong, you can speak Mandarin so well. Yes, there are not many people, most of them are elderly people who used to live in the mainland and then went to Hong Kong, which should be rare among young people."

"It's rare. I've basically never encountered it. Chen Sheng can be said to be the first young man who can speak Mandarin so well." President Liang also added.

"My father, who went to Hong Kong from the mainland, also taught me Mandarin when I was young." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

This is not a lie. When he was young, Chen Tianfu did teach Chen Zhiwen Putonghua, but he forgot it after learning it. Later, Chen Tianfu was busy with things, so he didn't care. After all, learning Putonghua itself is not too important matter.

In the years after the time travel, I have been active in Hong Kong and have never used Mandarin. Later, Chen Tianfu accidentally learned that Chen Zhiwen's Mandarin is very good, and he was very curious. However, Chen Zhiwen coped with it on the grounds that he has been learning Mandarin in the past two years. From the perspective of time It also makes sense.

"However, in an environment where the surrounding area is full of Cantonese, it is very persistent to want to learn so fluently." President Liang said with a smile: "I was going to Hong Kong to station in the past, and I also learned Cantonese. It is not difficult to learn, but I can speak fluently. , but it will take a lot of effort.”

"I'm sorry. As a Chinese, learning Mandarin is the most normal thing." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. Hong Kong's Cantonese culture is actually one of the major reasons why it will be difficult to integrate into the mainland's economic system in the future.

Director Lin smiled and said, "That's a good point."

"I don't know what's the point of Director Lin inviting me here?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

Director Lin said: "Actually, it's not a big deal. Mr. Chen, you are currently the most successful entrepreneur in Hong Kong, and several of your products are exported overseas. I just want to ask you how to deal with our mainland industrial products. Open up overseas sales?"

"This question is too general. Director Lin, why don't you give some practical examples?" Chen Zhiwen said, he probably guessed the purpose of inviting himself. Just to discuss some issues.

"For example, clothes. I heard that Mr. Chen discussed some potential cooperation agreements with Guangdong No. 1 Textile Factory in Guangdong. Can we export a large amount of our textile products overseas?" Director Lin asked.

"There are actually many issues involved in this. When I was in Guangdong Province, I actually told the local factory manager Pan that the textile industry is actually very technical. If you want to do it well, you need to spend a lot of energy. "Chen Zhiwen said: "Talking about a sock, how to ensure that it can absorb sweat, ensure breathability, and ensure that people wear it comfortably is very important. For socks of the same size, in supermarkets in the United States, 12 pairs per dozen are cheap for one dollar, and expensive. As far as the sock industry is concerned, most of the profits are from the latter. Cheap socks are basically for supporting employees and making no money.

The same is true for clothes. People in European and American countries basically choose clothes not for survival reasons. They consider comfort, lightweight, brand and appearance. If they want to do well, they must grasp these. "

"Research and development can be carried out in China, but everyone has a different opinion on the appearance, and we don't know much about the preferences of Europeans and Americans, let alone brands." Director Lin said with some embarrassment.

"In fact, Mr. Lin can refer to the development process of Hong Kong's textile industry in the 1950s. At that time, it was basically an OEM for European and American brands. It was because of these that the economy was gradually developed. In addition, the mainland also has an advantage. That is, chemical fiber and cotton can be produced by themselves, and labor is much cheaper, which is a great advantage." Chen Zhiwen said.

"We have also considered this point, but the international environment in the 1950s was very different from today's. In addition, Hong Kong and the mainland are also different. Not to mention other things, there are very few people who can speak English. Communication is not good, and everything is difficult. "Director Lin said helplessly.

"English is indeed very important. If the country wants to do its best to export, it is absolutely necessary to have talents in this area, but it is really difficult to solve this problem in a short time." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said: "But it is not impossible, Hong Kong There are many experienced foreign trade personnel there, and many are engaged in the textile industry. It may work if you set up a company to recommend domestic textiles to overseas, or follow the requirements of overseas customers and customize related products in China. .”

President Liang's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Chen Sheng, can you set up such a company? You also know that this kind of company needs not only funds, but also certain social resources. You are the most suitable."

In fact, in the past two years, the development of things has exceeded their imagination. As early as 1973, the central government spent 4.3 billion US dollars to purchase dozens of large-scale production lines from Western countries, including petrochemicals, steel, fertilizers and chemical fibers.

Naturally, oil and steel are domestic needs and the needs of basic domestic logistics. No industry can do without them. Although the mainland is an oil exporter, its smelting technology is not good enough. There is no shortage of steel in the country, but high-quality steel cannot be produced. Two types of production lines can make up for the deficiency.

Needless to say, the chemical fertilizer production line is related to the food security of one billion people in the country. The main purpose of the chemical fiber production line is for the textile industry. It can not only ensure that the domestic people have clothes to wear, but also develop the textile industry like many countries. Earn foreign exchange.

It's just that in recent years, all kinds of clothes have been made, but they can't be sold at all.

"It's okay, I'll go back and try." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while, nodded and said, one of the important reasons for Hong Kong's economic take-off after the 1980s was to serve as a bridge between the mainland and overseas.

Investment through Hong Kong has made Hong Kong one of the world's financial centers, and trade is another pillar industry. Especially in the 1980s, the Pearl River Delta, as the center of the country's light industry and foreign exchange earning center, is basically Hong Kong's countless trade The company operates in the middle, and even if local entrepreneurs from Hong Kong go to invest in the mainland, their orders are actually from trading companies.

In the era without the Internet, it is extremely difficult to develop customers. Everyone does not know each other, it is difficult to trust, and there is no intermediate guarantee. Who knows if you are a liar?

Ordinary small factories do not have this ability at all, and can only go through various middlemen. Since someone is doing this business, then they can naturally do it themselves. The opportunity of this era has come, so we have to seize the opportunity, especially now that I am still the first A person who eats crabs, once successful, may not be as profitable as finance or electronics, but the economic influence it drives must not be underestimated, and for such things, he only needs to spend money to set up a company and be managed by professionals That's it.

However, due to the decline of Hong Kong's economy after the 21st century, especially the emergence of Alibaba, such trading companies have basically died out. With the capital and contacts, the possibility of success is still very high.

"That would be great." Director Lin said with a smile. In China, the pressure to earn foreign exchange is very high, because there are a lot of heavy industrial equipment, airplanes, and cars to be imported recently. In serious cases, they even need to be traded with gold. , From various cadres to ordinary factories, they are all trying to find ways to export more to make money, but the difficulty is too high. At present, the major exporters in the whole country are still various types of oil or mineral resources.

However, Director Lin, as the person in charge of the foreign trade department, also has a good understanding of overseas economic development, and he also knows that as long as the industry is done well, the wealth created will far exceed the export of resources, but they are helpless, so they need a middleman.

"Does Chen Sheng have any opinions on industries other than the textile industry, such as various electronic products?" President Liang asked again.

"In fact, President Liang should have some understanding of my Midea company. Strictly speaking, Midea is not a real high-tech electronics company, at least not yet." Chen Zhiwen said: "A company can grow big by relying on some innovations, but For domestic products, we can only rely on research and development, and in this regard, I actually don’t have any good opinions.”

Midea’s ability to grow in scale mainly relies on games. This is a side door. It may be able to cultivate a world-class giant company, but for a big country, this industry is far from enough. If you want to develop the electronics industry, you must Can take the technical route.

"This is too difficult. Many of the electronic components we produce, not to mention exported to foreign countries, even some domestic companies are unwilling to use them." Director Lin said helplessly, shaking his head.

"Are there any electronic majors in domestic universities?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Yes, there are Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, and Fudan University." Director Lin shook his head and said.

"These few alone are not enough. If we really want to make achievements in the electronics industry in China, it is best to build a professional electronics university, introduce a lot of advanced equipment from abroad, and train generations of talents. In this case, maybe After ten years, there will be a qualitative change." Chen Zhiwen suggested.

The complete electronics industry is definitely not a terminal consumer product or a production line, but from the most basic resistors, capacitors, etc. to the most complex chips, from civilian products to military industries, basically everything is inseparable from electronics.

If the mainland wants to develop the electronics industry, the most basic thing is to do these things well first, and this will inevitably require a large number of talents.

"Build a university?" Director Lin shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Mr. Chen, it's impossible in a short period of time, and what we want to teach is also the most advanced western technology. We don't have many such teachers. "

"I'm just a suggestion." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. It involves a major industrial investment. This kind of matter may not be settled in a few years. After the opening, maybe there will be room for activities.