The next morning, Chen Zhiwen and his entourage went to the Great Hall of the People and were received by several big leaders.

However, in this kind of place, it is naturally impossible to say some details, especially in front of the camera, even if it is a large-scale business cooperation, it is negotiated in advance first, and then announced in the media.

At noon, they enjoyed a lunch in the City Hall, and the venue was very well arranged, and the Hong Kong businessmen did not sit together, but were separated by many mainland officials, and these officials also had special identities, such as Bao Yugang's side, a director in charge of shipbuilding in the Ministry of Machinery, and Chen Zhiwen's side, a director Lin in charge of electronic products.

"Mr. Chen, this is our very famous Wuliangye liquor in China, it has an excellent taste, and it will not be intoxicating if you drink it properly." Director Lin raised his glass and said with a smile.

"Then I'll have to taste it." Chen Zhiwen also replied, although he doesn't drink much, but he still needs it on some occasions, and Chen Zhiwen has also done tests, although he doesn't like to drink, but the amount of alcohol is still very good.

After drinking three glasses, Director Lin said: "Chen Sheng, I have been to your Midea company's factory in Shenhai Shekou Industrial Park, the situation there is completely different from the domestic factory, the benefits are very good, I see that there are a large number of containers sent to Hong Kong every day, I don't know, Midea also does not need, come to Yanjing City to invest?" ”

"When you come to Yanjing City to invest, do you still need a joint venture?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Yes, this is a domestic law, but we will also provide enough land, workers and some construction facilities, which can also reduce your investment costs, and the choice of the joint venture party is also up to you, we have a lot of small scale electronics companies in Yanjing that can carry out joint ventures with you." Director Lin said.

"If there is a joint venture in China, can my goods enter the domestic market freely?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.

"I heard President Liang say that Midea's factory in Hong Kong always has insufficient production capacity and can't keep up with overseas demand, shouldn't we meet overseas requirements first?" Director Lin did not answer directly, but asked rhetorically.

As one of the heads of the State Administration of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, he still knows a little about the overseas situation, especially Hong Kong is relatively close, he has been to Hong Kong many times, and he has also been in contact with some electrical appliances in the United States, not to mention expensive refrigerators and air conditioners, that is, the most ordinary fans, the factory price in Hong Kong is actually lower than that of domestic counterparts, and the weight, quietness, and comfort are much stronger. This kind of fan, once it enters the domestic market, don't other brands have to finish playing?

As early as more than a year ago, he bought a batch of fans in Hong Kong and sent them to some domestic counterparts, but they couldn't be made at all, even the leaves were different, the main domestic iron was used, and the Hong Kong fans were made of plastic, and the simulated things were not as good as others' in many aspects, and the most important thing was that the gap between the motor was relatively large, and it couldn't be as high-speed as the Midea fan and the sound was very small.

Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said: "Since it is a joint venture, I can let the joint venture factory get a large number of overseas orders, but the domestic side also has to provide a certain market, right?" Otherwise, I might as well have given birth in Shekou, wouldn't I? And I promise, I will let this factory maintain the foreign exchange balance, and it will not affect the domestic foreign exchange reserves, how? ”

In the 80s, China hoped that overseas companies would invest in China, in addition to hoping that foreign capital could bring technology and a large number of jobs, the most important thing was to hope that foreign capital would produce in China and then export products overseas, so that the national level would earn a lot of foreign exchange for nothing.

But the idea is good, but those foreign investors don't do it, they just want to make domestic money, and after earning the yuan, they want to exchange dollars and leave.

The general enterprise mainland government will naturally not agree, but there are some domestic needs of goods, or negotiable, after all, this kind of goods themselves need to be directly purchased with foreign exchange, that in domestic production, more or less can reduce a lot of foreign exchange consumption, so the joint venture policy has also been introduced, but there is a premise for this cooperation, that is, foreign exchange balance.

The so-called foreign exchange balance means that a foreign-funded company or joint venture company sells a dollar of goods in China, then it also needs to export a dollar of goods abroad, or more, without a ceiling, so that even if the company converts dollars after earning domestic yuan, it will not consume more domestic scarce foreign exchange reserves.

This is a matter of principle, no one, no company can have exceptions, such as a few years later the most important company in history, SAIC Volkswagen, also because of this problem for a long time, negotiations dragged on for a long time, and finally the German side agreed to build an engine plant in Shanghai with an annual output of 100,000 units for export, so as to ensure the balance of foreign exchange.

The other one, Yanjing Jeep, which was established earlier than SAIC Volkswagen, is one of the brands under AMC that Chen Zhiwen is currently preparing to acquire in the United States, the original trend of domestic development is not lower than that of Volkswagen, and SUV is still a commodity demanded by the military, plus the domestic road is not good at that time, SUV may be more suitable, but the American side is too narrow-minded, only thinking about making foreign exchange from China to the United States, delaying the localization process of parts signed and written on its own contract, and therefore making international news, and finally being gradually treated coldly by China, completely missing out on the largest car market of the future.

"If the problem of foreign exchange balance can be solved, then everything can be negotiated." Director Lin thought for a moment and agreed, as long as there is no loss in foreign exchange, then for the country, there is no big problem, even if Chen Zhiwen's goods dominate the domestic market, the more sold in China, the more exports need to be, on the whole, even if you can't earn foreign exchange, you can also increase a large number of jobs, after all, it is difficult for domestic fans to have export orders, besides, as long as the factory is built, even if it is a dead face, you have to let the other party give more overseas orders.

Of course, for the country, it is better to try to export, but a lot of cooperation throughout 1979, it is because of this clause that many large-scale cooperation with Western countries have fallen into difficulties, and now, the domestic side has begun to loosen up, not expecting foreign capital to only come to invest and then use it for export, after all, foreign capital is not here to do charity, can't make money here, who wants to come? But even so, it is still difficult to reach an agreement that is satisfactory to both parties, Chen Zhiwen is Chinese, many things are negotiable, and it is already rare to be willing to maintain a foreign exchange balance.

"In addition to fans, can other products be produced domestically?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.

"What else does Mr. Chen want to invest in?" Director Lin asked.

"Refrigerators and washing machines, these two are large items in the home appliance industry." Chen Zhiwen said.

Needless to say, refrigerators have been produced in Hong Kong, but in the field of simple refrigerators, Midea does not have any special advantages, relying on strong overseas channels, it can only be said that it is okay to live, but if you want to really develop and grow, you must move to China.

Compared with fans, refrigerators are large, and the requirements for labor costs are higher, and when they arrive in China, they can reduce labor costs on a large scale, thus forming a strong competitive advantage, anyway, in recent years, foreign home appliance giants are only thinking about selling products to China, rather than investing in factories.

As for the washing machine, in Hong Kong, Midea did not produce it, but developed it in the laboratory, because this thing has a lower technical content, and the European and American markets are not large, because many European and American apartments are shared washing machines, and the market potential is much smaller.

But on the contrary, there is indeed a big market in China, among household appliances, the cost of washing machines is only higher than that of fans, but the role is very large, especially in cities, the average person is very busy, and there is no place to wash clothes, many families are not very poor, but not so luxurious that they invite people to wash clothes, these are huge customer markets.

"These two should be fine, as long as Mr. Chen is willing to put this factory in Yanjing City, then I will be responsible for these procedures, how about it?" Director Lin nodded and said again.

Domestic investment is one thing, but where to invest is another, and once the news spreads, it is estimated that all localities will have to send people to fence off foreign businessmen, and they will have to strike first in Yanjing City.

"I can't guarantee this, we have to look at the conditions of the joint venture party, the scale of the investment and the place of investment." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile.

If it is a general foreign investment, it must depend on the conditions of various places, but for Chen Zhiwen, basically either Yanjing or Shanghai, not only these two places will be first-tier cities in the future, land prices are higher, more importantly, there are a large number of high-quality talents here, especially in machinery and electronics, the core talents of the country can be found here, and the future is not only convenient for production, but even some simple research and development can be responsible.

Although Shekou Industrial Zone can be wholly owned, but the talent is much worse, even if it is a deep sea, there are a large number of college students sent by the central government, but it still takes several years to form technical strength, especially the factory supporting this piece, to catch up with Yanjing and Shanghai, it will take a long time.

Of course, when the time comes in the future, Midea will naturally invest in the deep sea on a large scale to further promote the development of the relevant industrial chain in the deep sea city.

For Midea's domestic layout, the current plan is to divide into two, one focuses on exports, near Shekou and Shenhai City, and the other focuses on the domestic market under the condition of ensuring foreign exchange balance.

One south and one north, in the future, when the scale is large, you can also consider investing in the Yangtze River Delta, after all, for the future of the United States, home appliances may be just a small head, and all kinds of electronic consumer goods in the new era are endless.

"Of course, in this case, I will sort out the relevant materials in the afternoon and visit Mr. Chen tomorrow morning, how about it?" Director Lin said.

"Okay." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said that he would only decide whether to invest or not to invest in this kind of investment, but what about the follow-up, it still requires various business negotiations, especially in China, where there are many restrictions on foreign investment, imperfect regulations, recruitment problems, etc.

During the banquet, I could only talk about it a little, and after a while, more dishes were served, Chen Zhiwen tasted a few bites, and felt that the taste was very unusual, and asked Director Lin to know that these are relatively rare wild animals, that is, during this time, they will be used as food, and after many years, it is estimated that a bite will have to go in for a few years.

(End of chapter)