The Feng family, young and old, mobilized and began to inquire about the Captain Cook project for Feng Xiaochen. Feng Xiaochen and his attachés visited supporting service companies in various parts of Germany according to the original plan, and the details do not need to be mentioned.

News of the Chinese government's interest in participating in the Captain Cook project reached the officials of the project committee through several channels, and the chairman of the project committee, Matsk, urgently convened the members of the committee for a discussion at the committee's office in the Netherlands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, have you heard recently that Chinese government officials have expressed a strong interest in our project and would like to have in-depth talks with us? ”

At the beginning of the meeting, Matsk did not detour and directly informed his colleagues about the news.

"I heard that a partner at the German patent firm Ruettenberg asked me about the project, and according to her, her nephew was a Chinese official in charge of major equipment development. A commissioner reported.

"Yes, I also got related inquiries, and the person who asked me this question also mentioned this official from China Equipment Industry Corporation, who is said to be in Europe at the moment. Another member chimed in.

"I've heard something, but it's not quite exact, can anyone tell me more about what happened?"

"What, the Chinese are interested in the Captain Cook project, aren't they fainted?"

"When will the Chinese be qualified to talk about such a project?"

Everyone is a chicken and a duck, and they have added their understanding and opinions on this matter. Feng Xiaochen did not intend to hide this matter, so most of the committee members had heard the news to a greater or lesser extent, but the degree of understanding was different.

After listening to everyone's words for a while, Matsk waved his hand, signaled everyone to be quiet, and then said: "It is already clear that China is interested in developing their oil in the East and South China Seas, so it is eager to obtain the manufacturing technology of the sixth generation of offshore drilling platforms. But as we know, the Chinese have almost zero technology accumulation in this area, and they cannot develop such a platform on their own, so they want to join our project in order to hitchhike on our ride. ”

"That's true. One commissioner, Hetherington, said, "The Chinese's desire for technology is open." They are accustomed to getting the technology they need from Europe, which is why they want to be involved in the Captain Cook project. ”

"But why should we involve them?" said another commissioner, Kelvi, "over the past 20 years, the Chinese have acquired a lot of technology from us, which they have used to seize the traditional markets of European companies." The sixth generation of drilling platform technology is a key project for us to maintain our leading position in the field of offshore equipment, and if this project can be completed, we will be able to maintain our advantage in this field for at least 15 years. The Chinese want to develop their offshore oil, they can buy drilling platforms from us, we just need to sell eggs to them, why do we need to teach them how to raise chickens?"

"Yes, we must not let the Chinese learn our technology, because once they learn these skills, they will use them to seize our market." Have we learned less in the last 10 years?"

The person who spoke was none other than Heinzl, the business specialist of Prometheus. The Captain Cook project is an equipment research and development project, led by the European Union, but the specific participating units are large European equipment companies. Prometheus was also one of the participants in the project, and Heinzl represented Prometheus on the project committee.

"I mean exactly the same thing as Heinzl, I don't think we can accept China to join this project, they will learn the technology from this project and then use it to beat us, and that's not what we are trying to do with the project. Kelvi chimed in.

Others also clamoured:

"Yes, we can't involve Chinese in this project, I hate Chinese!"

"I have a good impression of Chinese art, but when it comes to industrial technology, I don't think they are qualified to talk to us at all, and it would only cause us problems if they were allowed to participate in such a project. ”

"If Chinese are willing to order this type of rig from our company, I would love to see it......"

"They'll come and order!"

Seeing that everyone was making a fuss again, Matsk knocked on the table and raised his voice and said, "Everyone, please be quiet. I understand what everyone means, about the Chinese learning European technology and then competing with European companies, the European Commission has received many accusations from companies, and the committee's attitude on this side is also very clear, that is, we must pay attention to the problem of technology loss. ”

"If so, then what else do we need to discuss today? Just reject the Chinese's demands." Hetherington said.

Matsk shrugged his shoulders and said, "Hetherington, if things are so simple, then why should I trouble you to come to Holland for what?" I would like to ask you to think about a question, are there any factors that are beneficial to us in the Captain Cook project for the Chinese to participate in the Captain Cook project?"

"Favorable factors? Do you mean political factors?" asked Kelvey.

Matsk shook his head and said, "Our project is an economic project and has nothing to do with politics, so we don't need to pay attention to political considerations." ”

"So, what do you think it is necessary for us to involve the Chinese?" asked Kelvey again.

Matsk looked at everyone, saw that everyone had a questioning look on their faces, sighed, and said, "What if the Chinese are willing to provide a considerable amount of money for this project?"

"Money?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then fell silent. Before Matsk mentioned this issue, people really didn't think about it in this way. Listening to Matsk now, it seems like a real thing to consider.

The purpose of the Captain Cook project is to develop the sixth generation of offshore rig technology. The planning of the project is to pool the efforts of various companies to build a drilling rig and solve the technical problems involved in the construction process. The cost of a semi-submersible deep-sea drilling rig is initially estimated at around US$2 billion, which will be collectively raised by the companies involved in the project, and the future completion of the rig and the related technology obtained will be distributed according to the investment of each company.

Companies know the value of 6th generation rig technology and want to take it into their own hands. But when it came to asking them to pay, everyone had a small calculation in their hearts. The research and development of a new technology is very risky, and no one wants to take this risk with their own money. The idea of each company is to let others pay more, and they are just playing soy sauce in the project.

In the future, if the development encounters difficulties and the project is abandoned halfway, then you will pay less money and suffer less losses. If the development goes smoothly and the relevant technologies have made breakthroughs, they do not have to worry that the share of technology patents they have obtained is too low, because they can learn from the experience in development and start a new set of technologies by themselves. It's easy for someone else to spend money to find a way out for themselves, and it's easy to go through it again.

With this in mind, it is understandable how well the whole project will be funded. It is expected that $2 billion will be raised, and in fact, so far Matsk has not received even $500 million. Some companies have promised to contribute a sum of money, but have said that the funds will not be available until the project is officially launched. Matsk really can't believe the promise of these companies, if the project starts, and these companies find some reason to refuse to pay, then the whole project may be unfinished, and the money invested in the early stage will be wasted, and the companies that paid will not let Matsk go.

It was precisely because of this dilemma that Matsk had to apply to the European Commission to open the project to countries outside the European Union, and Steyr told Feng Xiaochen that Australia, New Zealand and Brazil were all involved in the project, which is why. In these countries, the government has organized a number of companies to participate in the project and provided some funding. But even so, the money received by Matsk is still far from the $2 billion needed, and when he heard that the Chinese government was interested in the project, the first thought that flashed through Matsk's mind was: Catch a big financier!

"The Chinese are desperate to get the technology of the sixth generation of drilling platforms, which is not only economic but also political. Because of this, I judged that they should be generous in their investment in the project. Our project is currently facing a big funding gap, and if the Chinese can help us fill this gap, should we accept them to participate?" Matsk asked the crowd.

This time, no one rushed to speak. Matsk is an EU official, not from business, so he does not have an unforgettable understanding of the competition of the Chinese, but sees the Chinese more as a rich partner. But Heinzl and others are different, their companies are already under competitive pressure from China, and they very much do not want the Chinese to get more technology.

However, if they stand up against it, Matsk will certainly put the task of filling the funding gap on them. You don't want the Chinese to pay, so can you pay? You don't pay for it yourself, I finally found a country that is willing to pay, and you don't agree, isn't this a deliberate demolition?