Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 764 Interested in Renminbi

As early as when the leader arrived, Wang Jianguo, Li Nan, and others, at Liao Guangzhi's invitation, went to a leeway downwind to smoke and chat. They were accompanied by four attendants who had come with the leader.

At this moment, only the two leaders and Chen Fan were negotiating on the high ground.

This is also the main reason why Chen Fan dared to "make outrageous remarks"—he wasn't afraid of being overheard by unrelated people and then having the information spread.

Hearing that Chen Fan was asking to buy land or houses, the two leaders couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache.

The two men, surnamed He and Gu respectively, were recruited from all over the country by Mr. Yuan, the vice chairman of the investment promotion group and general manager of the industrial zone. They are now in charge of investment promotion work and both hold the title of deputy director, but Mr. Gu is the primary deputy director.

Yes, this recruitment is genuine. When General Manager Yuan talked with the cadres transferred from the Ministry of Transport, he found that the vast majority of them knew nothing about the outside world. One of the cadres was a graduate of a certain university... when he graduated, those who know, know.

Actually, there are excellent college students among those recommended for admission, and some of them have achieved quite a lot. Many of them later became academicians, so the key is to look at the person.

But this guy was different; he even asked questions like, "Is Cambridge University a university that specializes in building bridges?"

For this reason, General Manager Yuan submitted a report to his superiors, requesting that talent be recruited from all over the country. He then personally traveled from south to north, recruiting several batches of undergraduates from universities such as Tsinghua, Peking University, and Tongji University. Later, he also recruited graduate students.

Even after the students returned to their home countries, the authorities requested that more students be sent there.

These two are the first batch of undergraduate students recruited by General Manager Yuan. Although they were recommended for admission, they were brought over from Tsinghua University after passing the interview due to their excellent academic performance.

Moreover, both of them have previous work experience, and now in their thirties, they are in their prime, with experience and knowledge, making them rare talents.

After they arrived, they immediately threw themselves into the intense work, and in just two or three months, they grew into capable individuals who could handle things on their own.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been sent here to conduct the initial negotiations with Chen Fan.

Deputy Director Gu took out a cigarette from his pocket, offered one to Chen Fan, and lit one for himself. Then he tried to light a match, but couldn't.

It's windy.

Chen Fan took out the windproof lighter that Zhou Yali had brought him from the United States, lit it with a ding, and lit it for both leaders.

Deputy Director Gu glanced at it enviously, "Not even afraid of the wind, that's impressive."

Chen Fan laughed and said, "My cousin gave it to me. Otherwise, I would have given it to you. But if we can successfully cooperate, there will be many more opportunities in the future, and I will give you one later."

Gu and He didn't have the superficial politeness of mainland cadres; they simply thanked them and moved on from the joke.

After taking a drag of his cigarette, Deputy Director Gu said, "Writer Chen, to be honest, this industrial zone is entirely managed by China Merchants Group. Even the land was personally approved by General Manager Li and handed over to General Manager Yuan for management. So, in principle, both the land and the factory buildings must comply with the management of China Merchants Group."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow slightly. "This isn't negotiable either?"

Deputy Director Gu smiled and said, "I have an idea. You can choose the factory buildings and corresponding dormitories you want within the planning scope of the Investment Promotion Bureau, and then talk to the Investment Promotion Bureau to see if the relevant buildings can be constructed according to your requirements. As for the usage, it will still follow the original plan. What do you think?"

Chen Fan turned to look at Zhou Yali.

Unfortunately, the girl was determined to remain silent today, still smiling without saying a word.

Not to mention Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili, who were just there to make a cameo appearance.

Chen Fan turned his head, thought for a moment, and said, "Let's agree to this for now."

Deputy Director Gu smiled and said, "Thank you for your understanding."

After a pause, he added, "Writer Chen, actually, as early as three years ago, Hong Kong businessmen came to invest in the mainland. He also set up his factory through leasing, and he still does so today."

Chen Fan was immediately stunned. "Three years ago? 1976?"

Wasn't that a year earlier than 1977, the year he knew the factory was set up in Dongguan?
Deputy Director He, standing nearby, said with a smile, "When we first learned about the situation, we were also quite shocked. In fact, it was indeed in 1976 that the province approved a Hong Kong businessman's application to set up a factory on the mainland. The factory was set up by the other party investing, and our side sent a public manager to participate in the management."

This factory only officially started operations last year. Although it encountered many setbacks in the early stages, it has been operating smoothly ever since, and its scale has expanded more than tenfold.

Chen Fan immediately became interested. "This material is excellent. Could you elaborate?"

Deputy Director Gu laughed heartily, “Of course, I just chatted with him a while ago. This Hong Kong businessman is named Zheng Keming, he lives in Ho Man Tin, Hong Kong, and his factory is called Lo Wu Handbag Factory. He gets up at 5 a.m. every day and drives to the Man Kam To border crossing. The border crossing opens at 6 a.m., and he is almost always the first one to cross the border every day…”

Chen Fan suddenly called out, "Wait..."

He tapped his head with his finger and said to Deputy Director Gu, "If I heard correctly, you mean he can drive right through the checkpoint?"

Deputy Director Gu nodded. "Yes, as long as you get a dual Shenzhen-Hong Kong license plate, you can drive in mainland China. This is a policy that the province has specially opened up to facilitate Hong Kong businessmen. However, the driving range is limited to Shenzhen and you can't go to other places, let alone outside the province."

Chen Fan patted his head and let out a long breath. He thought to himself, "I knew it! I clearly remember that the first batch of dual-location license plates were issued in 82. How come they're available now?"
He had originally planned to have Zhou Zhengdong buy a few cars in Hong Kong and drive them over if he could get dual license plates now. But since they can only be driven in Shenzhen, he decided to give up on that idea.

He then raised his hand and said, "I understand, please continue."

Deputy Director Gu said, "His factory is also in Wenjindu, about an hour away from the border, so he arrives at the factory around 7 a.m. to wait for the workers to start work."

In the beginning, the factory was only 200 square meters, and the factory building was a tin shed, very simple. It mainly produced handbags, oh, the kind of handbags that Hong Kong women use.

Later, due to its high quality and low price, it sold very well in Hong Kong, so they applied to rent a few more acres of land and spent 45 days expanding the factory to 2000 square meters.

The handbag factory is still in normal production, and the workers are all locals…

At this point, he suddenly smiled mysteriously and lowered his voice, saying, "Moreover, they don't get a fixed salary, they get piecework wages!"

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow. "Would the company manager agree?"

Deputy Director Gu chuckled softly, "At first, they disagreed, but Mr. Zheng patiently persuaded them. In addition, after the piece-rate wage was implemented, the workers' income increased several times, so they were very happy and it was successfully implemented."

Chen Fan thought for a moment and asked, "Didn't you consider bringing his handbag factory in?" Deputy Director Gu replied without hesitation, "We did have that idea at first, but on the one hand, the factory is doing quite well and has a fixed operating model, so there's no need to move it into the industrial park. On the other hand, the workers are all villagers from the vicinity of the factory, and relocation would have a significant impact on their lives. It's better to stay put than to move, so we gave up on that idea."

Chen Fan understood. The main reason was the second one. Otherwise, the Shekou Industrial Zone in its early stages would not have let such a lucrative opportunity pass by.

However, that's not the point. The point is that the Hong Kong businessman's factory can rent land in Luohu!

He chuckled and said, "Deputy Director Gu, since the Luohu Handbag Factory's factory buildings and land are leased, shouldn't we also be able to lease some land here to set up a factory?!"

Deputy Director Gu was dumbfounded. How did we end up back here again?

Moreover, judging from what this writer Chen said, he doesn't want to move into the Shekou Industrial Zone?

He quickly threw away his cigarette butt and said, "No, Writer Chen, let me analyze this for you."

As she spoke, her eyes darted around, but she quickly grasped the key point: "First of all, their factory occupies a very small area, only 2000 square meters, a little over three acres. That probably won't meet your land requirements, right? But if you ask for more, the higher-ups might not agree!"

Chen Fan waved his hand calmly, "It's nothing, we can build multi-story factory buildings. I heard it's very popular in Hong Kong."

"The key point is the second one!"

Deputy Director Gu quickly said, "Preferential policies! If you want to build a factory outside the industrial zone, then the tax, labor and other policies will have to be renegotiated, and there may not even be 'five connections and one leveling' available."

Why waste an existing industrial park and the best preferential policies on your own, instead of starting all over again elsewhere? Isn't that just too much trouble?

Deputy Director He nodded repeatedly, indicating his strong agreement.

Chen Fan sighed softly, looking down at the vast land below the hill, and said softly, "But my older sister only wants to use her own factory building and doesn't want to pay rent every month."

Deputy Director Gu wiped away a cold sweat, glanced at Zhou Yali who was trying her best to put on an expression to prove that Chen Fan was right, and couldn't help but secretly groan in his heart.

Based on what he knows, this might actually be true!

For no other reason than last August, Miss Zhou spent a fortune, more than 200,000 US dollars, to buy the Ningjun Prince's Mansion in Beijing, and added another 100,000 US dollars for renovations, intending to completely renovate the entire mansion.

This capitalist's daughter is really rich!

Otherwise, they wouldn't have attached so much importance to Zhou Yali's arrival. ...Her father had already come before, so what was she doing here?

Anyone who knows this news will know that this Miss Zhou is no ordinary person.

It's just that Mr. Yuan has important business to attend to these past two days, busy preparing for the official start of construction the day after tomorrow; otherwise, he would most likely have received you personally.

In the words of the capitalist world, you can disregard everyone else's face, but you must give face when it comes to money!
After careful consideration, Deputy Director Gu said solemnly, "Well then, Writer Chen and Ms. Zhou, I will solemnly convey your request to General Manager Yuan to buy or lease land long-term, but I cannot guarantee the outcome."

What I can guarantee is what I promised before: you can choose a location and build factory buildings and dormitories according to your requirements.

Chen Fan clicked his tongue and rubbed his hands together a few times. "That's fine too."

He then raised his right hand, extending three fingers, and said, "One last question."

Deputy Director Gu tossed away his cigarette butt, wiped his sweat with a handkerchief, and said, "Go on."

To be honest, aside from occasionally pushing his limits by constantly asking to buy land or houses, he quite enjoyed negotiating with Chen Fan.

At least they genuinely intend to invest, unlike most Hong Kong businessmen who are constantly questioning this and that, and have absolutely no confidence in the mainland's policies.

Trying to talk to them is pointless; you can't talk your way out of it. ...The key is that you can't stay silent.

At this point, he could only think of the comrades who were engaged in united front work and be glad that he hadn't gone into that line of work.

Many people working here still have a chance to get ahead, as long as they complete the investment promotion work in the park. Those who are involved in united front work, they can talk to one person and then there's another. They are the ones who are busy without any end in sight!
After a moment of distraction, I heard Chen Fan say, "Can our products be sold domestically?"

"Domestic sales?"

Deputy Director Gu was stunned for a moment, blinked, and asked curiously, "Almost all Hong Kong businessmen who come to invest are attracted by our low labor costs, and then use even lower costs to produce products and resell them back to Hong Kong to make money. Why did you think of selling domestically?"

Chen Fan said confidently, "If we produce it and can't sell it overseas, isn't the domestic market a safety net?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yali almost burst out laughing, while Jiang Lili and Jiang Tiantian quickly turned away and lowered their heads, not daring to let outsiders see.

Chen Fan had told them before that the foundation of all social behavior is only one thing, and that is "people". Economic activities are no exception!

my country has the world's largest population, and now, due to poverty, nearly 80% of the population lives below the extreme poverty line. ... Actually, it's not that bad. The international extreme poverty line was once defined as living on no more than $1 per person per day. This standard was set by the World Bank and changes every few years. For example, in 2022, the standard was raised from $1.90 to $2.15.

But the situation in China is different. Back then, the standard in China was no more than 5 yuan per person per month. If you take into account the "actual exchange rate difference", the gap is really huge.

In any case, in those days, most people were very poor and didn't have much purchasing power. But if the reform and opening up went smoothly and some people were allowed to get rich first, then the consumption potential of the domestic market would increase rapidly.

As long as relevant policies remain stable and consistent, the economy will continue to improve. Anyone who has studied mathematics knows that even with an annual growth rate of only 5%, the overall data will rapidly inflate to a very alarming number.

Therefore, in Chen Fan's view, perhaps in a dozen years, the Chinese market will be one of the world's most important consumer markets.

Given this foresight, isn't it perfectly normal to lay the groundwork in the domestic market in advance?

Deputy Director Gu had no idea that Chen Fan had thought so far ahead; he was simply shocked by Chen Fan's answer.

Worried about not being able to sell them, so they want the mainland market to bail them out? What kind of bizarre logic is that?

Foreign businessmen all want to earn foreign exchange, so why would anyone be interested in RMB?
(End of this chapter)