Regarding the International Construction Machinery Expo, Feng Xiaochen first heard what Wang Weilong said. The Munich International Construction Machinery Fair is a long-established international industrial exhibition, held every three years, aiming to show the new achievements in the field of global construction machinery, and is also a global construction machinery product ordering fair.

The global construction machinery market is currently mainly divided between the United States, Europe and Japan, with dozens of large enterprises and hundreds of small and medium-sized enterprises. If users want to go to negotiate with these companies separately, the transportation cost and time cost are very considerable. In addition, the order of this kind of equipment is often not a one-time negotiation, but needs to shop around, so it is very necessary to hold a centralized product ordering meeting. At this kind of order meeting, users can compare products from different manufacturers and finally buy their favorite equipment.

Before the 80s, China had never sent a delegation to attend the Munich Construction Machinery Fair, and even this name was very unfamiliar to most construction machinery companies in China. After the reform and opening up, China opened its doors and began to come into contact with these large-scale international exhibitions, including the Munich Fair. Initially, officials from the State Machinery Import and Export Corporation went to Munich for the sole purpose of purchasing equipment produced by Western companies. Due to the limitations of the economic level, the scale of this procurement is also very small, so that there is no presence at all in the fair.

Later, there was a figure of technical personnel from China's construction machinery enterprises in the delegation, and they went to the expo mainly to observe the products of foreign counterparts on the spot, to understand the latest technological progress, in order to improve their products. In 1992, Luo Ye applied to exhibit his products at the expo, and after several setbacks, he was approved by the state, but all the expenses required for participation were borne by Luo Ye himself.

Due to the shortage of funds, Luo Ye only arranged three technicians to participate in the exhibition, and the rented booth was less than 30 square meters, and only some product pictures were exhibited, but there was no physical display. Luo Ye's proudest product is the 150-ton electric wheel dump truck produced by the introduction of Haifei technology from the United States, but the volume of this car is comparable to a house, weighing dozens of tons, and the cost of domestic transportation is very considerable, not to mention going across the ocean to Germany. Under the circumstance of limited funds, it is already very remarkable that Luo Ye can send a few people to show the pictures, after all, this is the first time that the five-star red flag has been fluttered at the Munich Fair.

"You actually went to the exhibition at your own expense!"

When Feng Xiaochen first heard Wang Weilong talk about this, he was a little surprised. It is definitely a great thing for Chinese companies to dare to go out and show their faces at international exhibitions, and Feng Xiaochen was deeply shocked by the courage of Luo Ye's leadership.

"We want to try it too. Wang Weilong said with some embarrassment. In fact, he gave the idea to the factory director, because he had visited the Munich Fair as a technician a few years ago, and thus came up with the idea of letting his company participate in the exhibition. In this exhibition, Luo Ye spent more than 50,000 US dollars in foreign exchange, but he did not receive anything, which made Luo Ye's factory director lose face with the superior leaders, and it is said that there are leaders who say behind their backs that Luo Ye's factory director is very happy. However, the factory director did not have any intention of complaining about Wang Weilong, who came up with this idea, which made Wang Weilong feel very guilty.

Feng Xiaochen's opinion is different, for what Wang Weilong said that the factory director was criticized, he commented: "No matter what, you are all people who have created the era. It is the first time for Chinese construction machinery enterprises to participate in the Munich Expo, which will be recorded in the annals of history. ”

"Let's hope history will remember us. Wang Weilong said sneeringly.

"The Munich Exposition is held every three years, so isn't the next one going to be held soon? How do you plan to participate in this one?" Feng Xiaochen asked Wang Weilong again.

Wang Weilong shook his head and said, "We probably won't participate." ”

"Why?"

"There's no foreign exchange. Wang Weilong explained, "Last time, we spent more than 50,000 US dollars in foreign exchange, but we didn't sign a contract, and people said that we took the opportunity to go sightseeing." This time, even if we want to go, we can't pass the foreign exchange hurdle. ”

Wang Weilong's words were quickly verified, when the equipment industry company sent invitations to several enterprises producing construction machinery to participate in the Munich Expo, these enterprises invariably expressed difficulties, the main reason is that the required foreign exchange is difficult to solve. To participate in an expo, you need to rent a venue and send staff, which are all things that cost money. If you want to ship the product to the exhibition, the cost will be even greater. The leaders of these companies are not as optimistic as Feng Xiaochen, they are all people who take one step and see two steps, and they really lack confidence in being able to sign orders at the expo. If you go to the exhibition, but you can't sign the order, and you spend so much money, it's not easy to explain to the top and bottom.

"Xiaochen, are you sure that everyone will be able to sign the order this time?"

Wang Genji also asked Feng Xiaochen in private.

Feng Xiaochen said: "I'm not completely sure, after all, there are still some gaps between our products and others, and no one can say whether users will buy it." However, I think even if you can't sign an order, it's good to be able to show up. ”

"A family spent 18,000 US dollars, just to show up?" Wang Genji pouted and said, "Now the state is very strict on foreign exchange cards, and our equipment industry company applied for foreign exchange quota to participate in this exhibition, and it was approved after more than a dozen reports." Those companies do not have as much face as us, and it is even more difficult to apply for foreign exchange. ”

In the mid-90s, China was still in a serious foreign trade deficit, and foreign exchange was strictly controlled. Of course, compared with the 80s, the situation is much better, when the country had almost no mobile foreign exchange, such as the equipment industry company, even if you make a dozen reports, you may not be able to get foreign exchange quotas. Enterprises such as Luo Ye and Lin Zhong have some funds for the introduction of technology and equipment every year, and they can also send some people to study abroad, but the foreign exchange involved is earmarked. Going to the expo is too rare and too advanced, and leaders at all levels are still a little uncomfortable.

"It's really hard to beat a hero for a penny. Feng Xiaochen looked up to the sky and roared. Thinking that after the new century, China has so much foreign exchange that there is no place to go, not to mention such large state-owned enterprises, even ordinary people, going abroad is a casual thing, and now this kind of restraint is really too embarrassing.

"Otherwise, let's stay in China honestly, if you want to get export orders, you can also get them if you stay in China, don't we also sell equipment to Africa in the past." Wang Genji kindly persuaded.

Feng Xiaochen said: "No, we have to go out." This time, we may not be able to get the order, but at least we have declared our presence and let people know that there is a group of companies in China that are making construction machinery, and they have made good results. If we don't even participate in the exhibition, who will know about us? As the saying goes, once we are born and twice cooked, the more times we appear, the more we will leave a deep impression in the minds of customers, and if we come to the door to sell, we will also get better results. ”

"Just for a sense of existence, you have to spend millions of dollars, this is too expensive, right?" Wang Jiji muttered, but he was already somewhat persuaded by Feng Xiaochen. Even if you are a cadre in an organ, you must often go to the leader to leave some impressions on the leader, otherwise when you are promoted, who can remember you?

"Otherwise, I'll look for a relationship and see if I can get any department to come forward and help us solve the problem of foreign exchange quota. ”

After Wang Genji finished complaining out of tune, he still cheered up and began to think of a way. He is the head of the company's cooperation department, and he was originally engaged in the work of coordinating relations, plus he also has a good family background, and he has some contacts in various ministries and commissions, so he can do some difficult things that ordinary people can't do. It's a pity that this time he was not so happy, and after a big turn, he didn't find a unit willing to pay for it. Foreign exchange is too sensitive, many friends in ministries and commissions have told him that if it does not involve foreign exchange, just use some funds, everyone can find a way to solve it, but to use foreign exchange, the involvement is big, without the instructions of the central leadership, no one dares to make decisions without authorization.

Of course, Feng Xiaochen can also ask the central leadership for approval of the foreign exchange quota through the relationship between Meng Fanze, Dong Yunfeng and others, this matter is essentially no problem, and it is entirely possible for the leaders to support it. However, he had just taken over the equipment industry company, and it was really unreasonable to trouble the old leader for such a trivial matter.

If you really can't do it, just come out of yourself.

This was the last solution Feng Xiaochen came up with.

Of course, he can't directly pay for his private pocket to help various companies pay for going abroad, this matter, he handed over to Bao Chengming of Chenyu Information Company, and asked Bao Chengming to handle it as an information company. Bao Chengming started by doing business intelligence, and it can be said that he has friends all over the world, and it is just right to do such a thing.

After some operation, the China Construction Machinery Delegation was finally established, the main members are more than a dozen machine factories, and there are also some enterprises that do accessories. The cost of each company to go abroad is completely borne by Chenyu Information Company, but at the same time they have also signed an agreement with Chenyu Information Company, that is, if any company signs an order at the Expo, it needs to pay one percent of the order amount to Chenyu Information Company as a platform usage fee. Bao Chengming made his own estimate and found that if the Chinese pavilion could sign an order of 100 million US dollars in Munich, then he would make a profit on this trip.

As for how much loss Chen Yu Company will have if there is no company to sign an order, Bao Chengming does not mind. Rich and dangerous, he is now also a person who can afford to gamble.