2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 375 A new journey
On the way past the district government, you can already see the outline of the old neighborhood. If you go into the neighborhood, you might be able to find the house you lived in in your previous life.

The nearby New World Department Store is also under construction. It's still called New World for now, but it will be renamed Fubon in a few years.

When Tan Jincheng goes out for a walk, he feels happy as the city he lives in is developing in a familiar direction at a rapid pace.

The difference between Beicang before 2010 and after 2010 is huge.

When I first came back, although I was very familiar with the place, I always had a sense of unease, as if I had returned to the last century, and felt very alienated.

It's already mid-March, and the lively annual meeting of Flash Motors has long been forgotten with the arrival of the Chinese New Year. That's how things are in this world; nothing lasts forever.

Those employees who won the prize drove brand-new cars back to their hometowns and were quite the celebrity for a while.

It's supposed to be a lottery, but there's definitely something fishy going on, and it's more likely to favor long-term employees.

The group's administration department isn't foolish enough to pursue so-called absolute fairness and justice. Treating employees who have been with the company for less than half a month the same way is inherently unfair to long-term employees.

Xu Xinglei and Zhao Xinbin, who belong to FlashTech, were among the earliest employee representatives. They worked very hard, so they were able to draw a car each.

The two were overjoyed, but neither of them had a driver's license. However, they could ask a colleague with a license to drive them back, but they would have to cancel their train tickets.

The Li sisters, who belong to Jinpeng Industry, were not among the lucky draw winners. Li Yanning, who is now the number one employee and a member of the management team, was not among the lucky draw winners. Of course, with her current income, buying a Zhongtai 2008 would be easy for her.

Li Jinglan won a car. When the two sisters were working for Tan Jincheng, he told them to get their driver's licenses as soon as possible so they wouldn't have to worry about not being able to drive it back.

Wang Xingchi was clearly a man of good interpersonal skills. While ordinary employees were unaware of the relationship between Zhang Qingliang and Tan Jincheng, many in the management team knew about it.

So when Zhang Qingliang went on stage to accept the award, Tan Jincheng smiled knowingly.

That's good. If we gave the money directly to my uncle, he might not be able to accept it psychologically. This kind of company benefit is just right.

In a society based on personal connections, no matter what rules or systems exist, nepotism is unavoidable. As long as it doesn't affect common interests, everyone will think about seeking some benefits for their family members.

The comedic version of Hacken Lee's "Bodyguard" created by Boss Tan was very well received, not only making the employees burst into laughter, but also amusing the parents.

Zhang Suzhi, in particular, although her son appears relaxed at home, how could she, as his mother, not see the responsibilities and pressures he bears that are beyond his years?

Being able to relax and unwind at the annual meeting in such a relaxed way is certainly a good thing for him.

Tan Jincheng's dance video received the treatment of an internet mogul, starting from the official account of Kaixin.com's Flash Technology and quickly being reposted by various forums and websites.

Annual meetings can be done in such a fun way, and manufacturing companies can also have this kind of vitality, which has given many business owners a lot of inspiration.

On his way back to the company from the district government, Tan Jincheng pondered the changes in the industry.

Starting in February, following the launch of the lithium battery electric vehicle by Flash Motors, the power lithium battery pilot plant jointly built by Xin Guanglian in Xishan District and Qingmu University in Beijing has also officially started operation.

The entry of top universities also signifies that lithium battery research and development has entered a phase of accelerated development.

Dong Jinggui increasingly felt that it was the right thing for Yadi to seriously develop lithium batteries, and his opinion on cooperating with Flash was becoming more and more obvious. Tan Jincheng went to the district government today to coordinate this project.

The university infrastructure in Ningbo is still too weak; relying solely on the research institutes is clearly insufficient.

For the company's development, the lithium battery business cannot be limited to Beicang; it must expand outwards.

Partnering with Yadi to establish a joint venture to jointly develop lithium battery projects is a shared desire of both companies, and Tan Jincheng does not plan to keep the company's address in Ningbo anymore.

Similarly, it's impossible to place it in Xishan District.

Tan Jincheng preferred Luzhou because he and Dong Jinggui were both from Anhui Province and had a family connection. When they established an industrial park in Wangjiang last time, Luzhou also expressed its welcome to Flash's investment.

On the other hand, Luzhou is known as one of the four major science and education centers in China, with the resources of three universities with strong science and engineering disciplines: Zhongshan University of Science and Technology, Hefei University of Technology and Anhui University. Its strength in scientific research and development is not weak.

Think back to BOE in its past life. It was almost bankrupt back then, and it was Luzhou that saved it. Flashpoint's current business situation is much better than BOE's.

In recent years, Badu has not yet demonstrated its amazing investment capabilities. It made huge profits from buying BOE at rock-bottom prices and investing in semiconductors. It also made a big investment in Future, although it did not make much money. However, it attracted investment from super-large companies such as BYD.

For this reason alone, even if Badu Investment goes bankrupt, it won't be considered a loss. Coincidentally, the future Lao Li is from the same hometown as Tan Jincheng, and is 9 years older than Tan Jincheng. At this time, he is still running Bitauto.

"Should we ask ByteDance's advertising platform to contact Bitauto?" Although Old Li's character isn't very likable, and his wife has contributed some classic moments, Bitauto and other websites like Autohome still have very useful resources for the development of new energy vehicles.

Before getting involved in new energy vehicles, Weixiaoli and the other two companies were all in the automotive service website business, which allowed them to accumulate a large user base.

Beicang doesn't mind Flash going global. Apart from state-owned enterprises like Yongcheng Steel and Beicang Port, key private enterprises include Shenzhou Knitting, Haitian Plastics Machinery, and Flash Group.

In addition, there are large enterprises such as Befa and Asia Pulp, which cover major physical industries such as textiles, large machinery manufacturing, light industrial manufacturing, pen manufacturing, and paper manufacturing.

The Beicang District is not very large. If every key enterprise were to be confined to this area, it would be difficult to manage and would also hinder the development of the industrial chain.

As a district government, what is needed is a diverse range of approaches, not a single dominant entity.

As a company that grew up in Beicang, Flashlink intends to expand its business scope and go nationwide. The district is naturally happy about this ambition, as they are well aware of Tan Jincheng's ability to cause trouble.

Holding an annual meeting can make Beicang known throughout the country. In the past year or so, there have been quite a few reporters traveling back and forth to Beicang, as well as fans from other places who came with their idols.

Aside from Jiufeng Mountain, Beicang District has almost no tourism resources. As an industrial city, it is usually only visited by people on business trips. But now there are signs of this happening.

All of this is a chain reaction brought about by Flash, a company with an unconventional nature.

In addition, Tan Jincheng brought his whole family over this year and they stayed in Ningbo for the Spring Festival. This also sent a signal to the district that the district does not need to give any opinions on how Flash Motors should operate.

However, Tan Jincheng still personally came to the administrative center to explain the reason for going out, which pleased the leaders.

How can anyone not like a sensible and discreet entrepreneur who is genuinely committed to running his business at such a young age?

It seems like it's time to organize another inspection tour of the Flash Group.
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With the accelerated development of lithium batteries, Tan Jincheng will shift his focus to Hangxin New Energy, and Flash will inevitably need to find a vice president to be in charge of daily management.

These days, most company managers or founders have experience in sales or marketing.

The same applies to Flashpoint. If Tan Jincheng wanted to find a vice president for Flashpoint Technology to manage the company in his place, he would definitely choose from the marketing department.

"How about becoming the vice president of Flash Technology?" Tan Jincheng asked Lin Yumin with a smile.

Back at the company, Tan Jincheng asked Zeng Jixiang to call Lin Yumin over. Lin Yumin, who was still confused, had just sat down when Tan Jincheng said something that was quite unexpected.

In addition to being the chairman of Shanchi Group, Tan Jincheng currently serves as the general manager of all subsidiaries except Jinpeng Industrial.

Apart from FlashTech, all other subsidiaries have a vice president as the person in charge.

As the core business of the group, Flash Technology, which has always been personally managed by Tan Jincheng, does not have a vice president. The company does not think there is anything wrong with not having a vice president, and everyone has gotten used to it over time.

Lin Yumin's heart pounded: "Me?"

"That's right, Uncle Lin has been with the company for so long, and you've managed the marketing department quite well. You're more than qualified to be a vice president."

Whenever the boss calls someone "uncle" or "brother," it's either because he needs something from them or because he's making empty promises. It's impossible for him to need something from them, but as for making empty promises, Lin Yumin says he's very willing to accept them.

"If my boss trusts my abilities, I'm certainly willing to give it a try."

At this point, there's no need to be coy or make excuses; the opportunity is right in front of you, and you can't miss it.

“Alright, from now on my work will focus on lithium batteries, so Uncle Lin will take over the daily affairs of Flash. I will have the HR department issue an appointment notice. As for the assistant, Uncle Lin, you can go and interview yourself.”

The vice president has his own benefits; promotions are given where appropriate, and recruitment is conducted where necessary. The company has established systems for these matters, so Tan Jincheng doesn't need to worry about it.

"Okay, I will definitely live up to President Tan's expectations." Lin Yumin nodded solemnly.

Lin Yumin understood the boss's implied meaning, and he was also aware of the sales targets set by Flash at the dealer conference. Having accepted the position of vice president, he had to bear the corresponding responsibilities.

"Alright, there's not much more to say. Uncle Lin, could you please call Uncle Wu over for me?"

Lin Yumin was promoted to vice president, so the position of marketing manager naturally had to be relinquished, and it was only natural for Wu Zhenping to take it over.

(End of this chapter)