The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Understand, in the Mainland, there are actually many drinks with various flavors, and they are also popular among wealthy people in Mainland cities. Many people even like Coca-Cola more." Qin Zhihao said, as the entire group in the Mainland in the future Red Bull has also been conducting research on the tastes of its internal crowd in the markets it will focus on conquering. After all, the habits and economic factors of people in each place will affect the taste, and even physiological aspects may be affected.

At present, people in China still prefer Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and their own Very Coke are also competing in this market. In the blank market in the mainland, Very Coca-Cola is also competing at the same time as the other two brands, plus Chen Zhiwen With the assistance of various resources behind it, it even has a certain advantage.

But it is impossible for one taste to satisfy so many people in the country, and there is no absolute competition between different drinks. Therefore, besides Coke, what other drinks do domestic people like, is also a concern of various beverage giants of.

"What beverages are selling well in China now? Local brands." Chen Zhiwen asked again.

Qin Zhihao replied: "There are quite a few, but currently they are all in their own way, and they have more advantages within their own scope.

There is a drink called Haibi in Luoyang, which tastes similar to Fanta and Sprite. Many local people like to eat beef and mutton soup while drinking this iced drink.

There is a restaurant in Guangdong City called root beer. This drink is quite strange. It tastes similar to Fengyoujing. I can’t get used to it, and many other people from other places can’t get used to it either, but many people in eastern Guangdong Province like it.

There is a store in Yanjing called Beibingyang. This store is considered to be of the highest quality in China. It is sold in the Yangtze River Delta and is loved by many people.

There are also some local brands in other places, such as Hankou, Harbin, Shanghai, Gansu, and Yunnan. What is special is that there is a cola company in Chongqing called Tianfu. In the southwest, relying on its price advantage, it is very similar to ours. Coke and Coca-Pepsi compete.

Of course, the most famous one is Jianlibao. "

"With the current domestic traffic conditions, drinks can indeed only be sold nearby, but I think this will change in the future, so we have to prepare early." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, "Send people over to contact these companies. Communicate and see if we can cooperate and invest in the company.”

In the beverage industry of later generations, except for the special one like Red Bull, the rest are basically based on small profits but quick turnover. Assuming that a bottle of drink sells for one yuan, the cost of the drink itself may only be 1 cent, the bottle 2 cents, and various management and advertising operations 3 cents. , shipping fee is 3 cents, profit is 1 cents.

The most troublesome thing here is the freight, because the premise of 30% cost is an efficient logistics and transportation system. If it is placed in non-developed areas, it is normal for the freight to increase several times or even ten times. Therefore, in these areas, unless they are close to the ocean, Or produce locally, otherwise the price of drinks will be very expensive.

The current domestic situation is also in such a state. The most suitable beverage is to be sold near the factory. The same is true for Liangle plus Very Coca-Cola. At most, it is close to the port and can be easily transported by sea, which can reduce costs.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Expressway plus the Tanggu Port will not only promote local industry, but also consumption. For example, if the production base of Very Coca-Cola is in Shanghai or Hong Kong, it can be shipped there by sea, and then sent to thousands of people via the expressway. A market of tens of thousands of people, the same will be true for the Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway in the future.

When highways and ports were improved one by one, domestic living standards gradually improved, and the beverage market ushered in exponential consumption growth. By the 1990s, it was an era of domestic dominance.

"Chen Sheng, do you mean to control these companies, or just invest?" Qin Zhihao asked.

"There is no need to control, just pure investment. The more shares, the better. But on the management side, we can let it go unless they encounter very big problems." Chen Zhiwen said.

These enterprises that were famous in the 1980s were actually doing well in the 1990s, growing in scale and entering the national market. Unfortunately, the business tragedy of "two Les and seven armies were flooded" occurred later. Domestic Almost all beverage brands were wiped out. It was not until the rise of Wahaha and others after the 21st century that they turned around.

Now, of course Chen Zhiwen will not allow this kind of thing to happen again, but if he wants to interfere with this kind of thing, he must personally participate in it, for example, become a shareholder, otherwise the transaction between him and Liang Le will not be affected by outsiders. Qualification management, and as a shareholder, you will also have great benefits in return.

Different from Liang Le's idea, Chen Zhiwen does not need to think only about Red Bull and try every means to eliminate other drinks. Not to mention that this behavior is a bit ugly, but it is actually impossible to do. After Liang Le annihilated the Seventh Army, there are still Other domestic brands appeared later and still took away the market.

In a big market like the Mainland, unless there are legal restrictions, no one can control the entire market in the beverage industry for a long time. Even if it takes the multi-category and multi-price development route, it is impossible. A company's ideas and energy are always limited.

Therefore, pursuing common development with many potential companies is the only way to go.

In the same way, other industries are similar. The fundamental logic here is that it is impossible for a company to compete with so many high-quality talents from all over the country. It is most cost-effective to join together for mutual benefit.

Only Coke is an exception, because the cost has been reduced by scale, and other smart people will not enter the market if they are not stupid.

"Okay, then I'll send someone there right now. The mainland is still very welcoming to cooperation with foreign capital." Qin Zhihao nodded and said.

"In addition, try to promote fruit drinks, especially orange juice, in the country. This can also help domestic fruit farmers and increase their income." Chen Zhiwen added, but he remembered how prosperous Huiyuan Juice was in later generations, and then later It was cheated by Coca-Cola's acquisition, but at least it shows that the market is still good.

"Okay." Qin Zhihao paused and then said: "Sheng Chen, there is another thing about Yili. A vice president of Yili's marketing department went to the mainland for inspections last year. He thought that domestic There will be a huge market for milk. Nowadays, many families can only have one child, and their spending on children tends to be high-end. Especially those in cities are very willing to buy milk.

However, many places are not suitable for raising cattle, and milk is difficult to transport over long distances. In addition, domestic transportation is inconvenient, so if Yili enters the country, it may have unexpected results. "

"You can also make milk powder in China, right?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Yes, it is possible, but in terms of equipment and technology, domestic milk powder is not very good, and the taste is not good either." Qin Zhihao said.

"Well, okay, you can decide how to operate this matter. I support you to invest domestically, whether it is making milk powder or liquid milk, or you have the ability to export, but you must pay attention to the quality." Chen Zhiwen nodded. Said the head.

The domestic dairy industry in the future will indeed be a big market. However, at present, this kind of thing is not worthy of his personal attention. He can just agree to accept it and let it go.

"Okay, Chen Sheng." Qin Zhihao said.

"Lao Zhou, how is the Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway project going?" Chen Zhiwen turned to Zhou Jiayang and asked.

Although Red Bull is large in scale, it has basically reached a large scale and its global advantages have been established. Without any major accidents, it will basically become one of the top ten beverage brands in the world as it has historically. This This is a traditional industry, and Chen Zhiwen has no special ability to help. Especially the larger the scale, the less need for his own intervention. On the contrary, in the future, in the competition with various brands, what is needed is excellent management and operation personnel.

However, Hutchison Whampoa is different. This company is a traditional investment-heavy enterprise. It may need to choose one or several large-scale projects to invest in every year, each of which can range from several billion to tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars. It will be great if it succeeds. , if it fails, it may hurt the bones. Therefore, Chen Zhiwen is also more concerned that when the mainland has just started large-scale infrastructure construction, he also needs to often raise some investment requirements to ensure the smooth development of Hutchison Infrastructure. In ten years' time, when Hutchison Whampoa has a large number of high-quality highway and port assets in the mainland, and the best locations have been developed, then it will be free to let its subordinates choose their own investments.

The Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway will be among the top ten most profitable expressways in the country in the future. It connects Shanghai and several large cities in northern Zhejiang Province. Its economic importance is probably second only to the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Expressway. As the second large-scale expressway invested by Hutchison Whampoa Group on the day of the national crisis, Chen Zhiwen naturally paid more attention to it.

Zhou Jiayang replied: "We are still on-site to search for a suitable route. This highway is not a main road established by the central government in the early years. Therefore, before we proposed to build this expressway, the mainland did not investigate road issues. So now it takes a while to figure out the path for the highway.

In addition, there are many waterways in Jiangnan Water Town, and a lot of land is not suitable for building expressway roadbed, or it requires a lot of money to drive piles. This is completely different from the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Expressway, so it will take a while.

However, the mainland also agreed to acquire more land first to prepare for a two-way four-lane road in the future. Now only two lanes will be built. "

"Okay, just follow your normal process. But if you can exchange money for time, then it should be faster, such as the current preliminary research and the later start of construction. If conditions permit, we should speed up." Chen Zhiwen said: "Time It is also part of the profit. If it is built earlier and tolls are collected earlier, I estimate that the income of the Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway will not be lower than that of the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Expressway, and there may be further increases in a few years."

"Understood, Mr. Chen, we will definitely ensure the progress of the project." Zhou Jiayang promised.

"Okay, I feel more at ease with Hutchison Whampoa. You have been cooperating with the mainland for so many years, and this is not the first time you have built a highway." Chen Zhiwen smiled and asked Dong Youwei: "Old Dong, investing in China Cultural Oriental Hotel, how are the negotiations with the mainland going?"

Land, as Chen Zhiwen's main real estate company in Hong Kong, has not invested much in the mainland. However, it is Chen Zhiwen's only company that owns a chain of five-star hotels. Although five-star hotels want to expand in mature overseas markets, it is It is difficult to reach the sky, but in the blank market of the mainland, it is very easy. Moreover, the mainland real estate market itself is also in a very low value state, with huge potential for future appreciation. In addition, the current market is generally optimistic about the mainland's tourism and future economy. It is natural to invest in the domestic hotel industry.

"There are currently 12 hotels under construction simultaneously. On the Shanghai side, 4 are wholly-owned, and the other 8 are located in big cities such as Guangdong, Jinling, Tianjin, etc. We hold 49% of the shares." Dong Youwei answered. road.

"With 12 hotels, the financial pressure is not small, right?" Chen Zhiwen nodded and asked again. If it was just an ordinary five-star hotel, the investment would not be very large, but what Chen Zhiwen asked for was not ordinary. You know, In this era, there is no commercial real estate in the mainland, and the locations they can choose are prime locations among prime locations. Now that they have the opportunity to invest in such a place, they naturally have to make a big investment at once, and the subsequent domestic business tourism industry will With very rapid exponential development, hotels are basically in a state of oversupply. Building large-scale hotels is also very profitable from a business perspective. Domestic cities naturally hope that foreign capital will invest in hotels to build bigger and better hotels. They can obtain foreign exchange, solve the problem of tourist accommodation, stimulate infrastructure and The benefits of employment in the service industry and other benefits are the construction of 12 high-end hotels, which must require high funds.

"Yes, the total adds up to more than 10 billion Hong Kong dollars. However, I have discussed with several major state-owned banks in the mainland and only provided 10% of the funds. The rest will be loans." Dong Youwei said: "In this way , we are under less pressure, and mainland banks also have major customers, so we can kill two birds with one stone."

"Mainland banks are actually willing to agree to a 90% loan?" Lei Shengli said in surprise. Although he is not involved in finance, he still knows something about it. The risks for banks to play like this are extremely high.

"That's probably because of the boss's sake. Otherwise, if we switch to another Hong Kong company, it would be great to have 7 achievements." Dong Youwei said with a smile. Although it seems that there is not much difference between 90% and 70%, for banks, the risk is extremely high, and for enterprises, this means that they only need to provide one-third of their own funds, which is equivalent to three-thirds more leverage. Times, if this were during the real estate bull market, it would be difficult to get such a bank loan, but the risk would also be proportionately amplified. Not to mention the real estate crisis, even a fluctuation under normal circumstances may cause the position to be liquidated.

"No matter what, it is best to be able to use other people's money. We also need to prove that their choice is not wrong. This will be more beneficial to our large-scale investments in the future." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said: "In the next few years, it will be Every industry in our group needs the best time to enter the mainland with all our strength, and we need to do our best to do well in each industry in China."

Historically, in 1986, except for a few industries, the country relaxed the requirement for joint ventures for foreign-funded enterprises. In the next few years, many markets were gradually liberalized, which was a new paradise for overseas capital. , but many large companies will always test slowly, and in the end only those who are bolder will get the highest returns.

The feast of gluttony is about to begin. At this moment, many of my overseas businesses have developed to a mature stage and no longer require extra attention from me. In the next time, I will naturally focus on developing domestically, especially factories. The sole proprietorship license is of great significance to many of its industries. Not only can it build factories normally, but it can also allow more suppliers and supporting suppliers to join in, thereby creating its own comprehensive supply chain. Otherwise, even if land prices and labor prices do not rise in Hong Kong, it is impossible to have a complete and efficient industrial chain. The fundamental reason is that the population is too small.

"Understood, Chen Sheng." Several people agreed. (End of chapter)