2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 214 Investing Requires Rationality

Xu Xueming left a step ahead of time, and the meeting didn't yield any substantial results, so it wasn't exactly pleasant.

Tan Jincheng and Li Shiqi chatted for a while longer in the teahouse before Li Shiqi got up and left.

During the Chinese New Year, there were many guests at home, and Li Shiqi was actually a little unhappy about the delay. However, the young man from Tan Lihua's family was truly impressive. He had many insightful views on both the big picture and the details of the operation.

More importantly, this guy is tough and can control his desires. He refuses all of Xu Xueming's promises, convinced that he is not capable of running a car project at the moment, leaving Xu Xueming helpless.

For Tan Jincheng, it wasn't a good experience either. The 28th of the twelfth lunar month was supposed to be a relaxing day at home playing with Xiao Jinyue, but he was called out to discuss business and was treated with disrespect in various ways, and the business didn't even get done.

As they got up to leave with Li Shiqi, a waiter called out to them as they approached the front desk: "Sir, you haven't paid the bill yet. Could you please do so?"

Li Shiqi and Tan Jincheng looked at each other, and Li Shiqi was somewhat embarrassed.

Tan Jincheng composed himself and asked, "How much?"

"The total for the three of you, including tea, is 258 yuan."

That's really awful. They invited someone out, and then didn't even pay the bill when they left.

After leaving, even Li Shiqi felt a little embarrassed and said to Tan Jincheng, "Little Tan, I'm sorry for being so rude today. When do you have time to come visit your uncle's house? Your uncle will treat you to a meal then."

"It's alright, it's only right that I pay the bill. I'm the younger one, after all. Would you like me to see you off?"

"No need, no need, I have something else to do," Li Shiqi quickly waved his hand.

If the two sides get along well, Li Shiqi really wouldn't mind having Tan Jincheng give him a ride. He had come by electric scooter, and in this cold weather, it was much more comfortable to ride in a car than an electric scooter.

Speaking of which, the electric scooter he rides is a FlashCheer product. It was one of the first FlashCheer stores to open in Yicheng. Some people gave it to him during promotional events, and the one he has now was a gift from someone back then.

Tan Jincheng didn't insist too much. He no longer lived in the petrochemical family compound, and it wasn't on his way anyway, so he just let it go.

Back home, Tan Jincheng briefly recounted the meeting to Tan Lihua, telling him not to get involved anymore, as the matter seemed a bit complicated and probably not as simple as it appeared.

If it succeeds, obtaining the automobile production qualification would be the best outcome. If it doesn't, it doesn't matter. In any case, obtaining the first batch of new energy vehicle production qualifications wasn't particularly difficult. Zotye, the pioneer of domestic new energy vehicles, also started manufacturing cars without the qualification.

By borrowing qualifications, they first manufactured and launched cars, and then officially obtained the qualifications to manufacture cars through acquisitions. Companies like Chery initially achieved their vehicle launches by borrowing qualifications.

By the way, Zotye's vehicle manufacturing plant was officially completed last year (2005), and the first batch of imitation vehicles has already rolled off the production line. Tan Jincheng, who is based in Zhejiang Province and pays close attention to the automotive industry, knows about this.

Currently, Zotye Auto can only be sold under the Dadi Auto logo. Its first model, the Zotye 2008, has already been advertised, priced between 4.38 and 6.38 yuan. The tall and thin model looks almost like a toy car.

In recent years, the car market has been similar to the electric scooter market, filled with all sorts of no-name brands. Their main characteristic is that they are cheap, and ordinary people don't care. If you can buy a car for tens of thousands of yuan, why do you care about the brand?

Unlike later generations, when generic brands changed their names to "New Power," especially since they had many screens and were expensive, making them anything but affordable.

With Zotye's incredibly cheap pricing, it seems like it should sell quite well and might even become a dark horse in the 2006 automotive industry. In fact, doing business these days is that simple and brutal; in every industry, you just do it first and think about the consequences later.

Therefore, for Tan Jincheng, who currently has no plans to manufacture cars, he is not in a hurry if he cannot obtain Andar's car production qualification cleanly and efficiently. He can pretend however he wants, but he is not in a hurry.

Tan Lihua was speechless after hearing this. Although he was not good at doing business, he had worked in state-owned enterprises for many years and understood the intricacies of the business.

"Let's leave him for now and enjoy the New Year. We'll pack our things this afternoon and go back to our hometown tomorrow."

"Okay, I understand. I plan to hand it over to Brother Xuhui to handle. He's my assistant now, so he has the authority to deal with such small matters." After a while, Tan Lihua, who had been hesitant to speak, finally asked what was on his mind: "Does FlashTech really have no interest in investing in Yicheng?"

Tan Lihua is different from Tan Jincheng. Tan Jincheng, due to his rebirth, prioritizes efficiency. Coastal cities have a better business environment and more efficient government services, so they are willing to help you without causing you trouble.

On the other hand, 38-year-old Tan Jincheng lived in Beicang for nearly 20 years in his previous life. He was ignorant for the first 18 years, but the last 20 years were the most important 20 years of his life. Beicang can be said to be his second hometown. In a sense, its importance to Tan Jincheng is even greater than that of his hometown, Yicheng.

Tan Lihua, on the other hand, had spent his entire life in this city and felt much more attached to it than to his son. Now that his son was successful, he hoped that his son would return to build up their hometown and return in glory.

On the other hand, having always lived in his hometown and worked for a state-owned enterprise, he knew that if his son really came back to invest, it might not be a good thing.

Emotionally, he hopes his son can come back to invest, but rationally, he hopes his son won't come back. He doesn't want to waste the business he's worked so hard to build. So he's in a real dilemma.

Seeing his son's attitude today, it seemed he wasn't very interested in investing back in his hometown. Tan Lihua felt both relieved and somewhat saddened.

"It's not that we're not interested, but it's mainly from the company's strategic perspective. Our current sales network is mainly concentrated in East China, South China, and Guangxi Province. The production base in Ningbo can fully cover these areas. If we were to build a second or third production base, the location would definitely be in Guangdong Province or Tianjin in the north."

"The second problem is that Yicheng's industrial base is too weak. It has no advantage in electric vehicle parts and car parts. If I put the production base in Yicheng, it will not only not reduce costs, but will actually increase costs."

Ningbo boasts excellent transportation connections, with both waterways and land routes providing ample access to East and South China. However, in terms of logistics alone, Yicheng cannot compare to Ningbo; the road back to my hometown is still in dire straits.

Tan Jincheng is just a businessman. If it is beneficial to the development of Flash Technology, he would not mind returning to set up a factory even if the business environment is not good and there are certain risks. However, if there are no great benefits, Tan Jincheng has no interest in returning.

In the previous life, Shenzhou International of Beicang had invested in its hometown and built the largest textile industry base in Anhui Province, but that was after 2008. In addition, Wenshi Group also settled in its hometown later, in 2015.

One of these companies manufactures textiles and clothing, while the other raises pigs. Relatively speaking, their industrial chains are much simpler than those of automobile companies. They have significant advantages in terms of labor and taxation when building factories in impoverished counties.

If needed in the future, Tan Jincheng can certainly come back to build a factory, but it's definitely not now, and he won't put the core production capacity here, unless the Yicheng government supports his automotive business with the same level of support as the Beicang government did.

As Tan Lihua listened to his son's clear and logical analysis, and his unemotional tone as he recounted his business acumen, he truly lamented that he couldn't keep up with the way young people think these days.

"Is all you think about is making money? Don't you have any feelings for your hometown?" Tan Lihua couldn't help but ask curiously.

It wasn't that he was questioning his son's decision; the question was purely out of his personal curiosity—he just wanted to know what young people were thinking these days.

"You can't say that. Childhood memories are certainly beautiful, but memories are just memories. We have to look forward. Besides, I currently have more than 600 people to feed, and I will recruit more employees next year. Also, the Beicang government has been good to me. I can't do things based on my personal feelings."

"Donate some money, or make some kind of contribution. Also, take the car factory matter today as an example. If it were a full acquisition, it would be worth about 500,000 to 600,000. I can give 800,000, 1 million or even more without any problem. But if it's a cooperation, then that's definitely not going to happen."

"What if they make other demands later, such as the car factory selling to you at a lower price, on the condition that Flash Technology sets up a production base here? What do you say then?"

"Impossible. I plan to acquire this production qualification privately. At most, it will cost me a little over a million yuan, and I won't need Flash Technology to step in. As for the cooperation method, the most I can accept is to establish a distribution center, or warehouse, in Yicheng to store freight from Anhui and Henan provinces. It will have to be wholly owned by me."

Establishing a large logistics hub in Yicheng under the name of an agent was the biggest concession Tan Jincheng had considered, and it also served as preparation for future expansion into the central and western markets.

Jiangcheng is also a large city with a high number of electric vehicles. In 2006, Flash Technology will definitely be entering Jiangcheng. In addition, large cities such as Chongqing, Chengdu, and Chang'an are also key targets for opening up in 2006.

With a maximum annual production capacity of 50 vehicles, deploying the Flash and Windspeed series to major cities across the country is not only sufficient but also necessary. Only in this way can we achieve a top-three position in the industry.

If FlashTech was a rising star in the electric vehicle industry in 2005, then in 2006, Tan Jincheng hoped that FlashTech would become a dark horse in the electric vehicle industry.

(End of this chapter)