2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 910 "Who the hell spread the rumor that I'm causing trouble?"

"Mr. Tan, thank you so much. The Beicang District isn't as deserted this year. On behalf of the merchants, I thank you."

On the morning of the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, Tan Jincheng, who came to the district for a meeting, was met with such flattery, which left him somewhat bewildered.

"Um, Director Lu, what do you mean by that? I'm a little confused?"

"Haha, Mr. Tan, you don't know this, do you? According to our recent visits to various companies, many people are not planning to go back to their hometowns for the Spring Festival this year. In the past, Beicang was like a ghost town during the Spring Festival, and consumption could not be stimulated. This year, it seems that the situation is much better."

Industrial cities have a large migrant population, and everyone goes back to their hometowns for the Spring Festival. Moreover, with limited tourism resources, even locals like to travel outside, and the streets are usually deserted during the Spring Festival.

"Is Director Lu referring to the promotional event we organized?"

"That's right, it's this event. Several companies under your company organized this event, which kept quite a few people in the district."

According to the latest census, the permanent population of Beicang District is around 78. At least 10% of this population directly or indirectly serves Tan Jincheng's four major industries. Tan Jincheng's influence on Beicang District is no less than that of Tencent in Nanshan District.

In the lawsuit fought in Beicang District, Tan Jincheng was also a Pizza Hut-level player.

Tan Jincheng smiled and said, "Haha, that's a good thing. It's usually a bit quiet during the Spring Festival. A lot of people from our companies don't plan to come home this year. I heard Xiao Zhao mention this before, but I thought they bought houses and settled down in Beicang District."

"That's part of the reason. It's not just your company's employees who buy houses and settle down; many other companies do too. Over the years, real estate developers in Beicang District should all thank you, Mr. Tan."

"Not at all, Director Lu, you flatter me. This is the result of everyone's hard work. I don't need words of thanks. I'm just glad they don't talk badly about me behind my back."

"Haha, just kidding, just kidding."

The price increase in Beicang District over the years has not been very significant, and it is even lower than what he knew in his previous life. He did deserve some credit for this. It is said that when a certain Gui or a certain Da goes to a city, the house price will double. However, they cannot enter Beicang.

Nowadays, there are hardly any large real estate developers operating in Beicang. The major private enterprises in Beicang District are building their own residential communities and selling them to their employees and local residents at prices far below market value. Large real estate companies simply cannot grab much market share.

Whether real estate developers complain or not is unknown, but the Beicang government and the people living here are definitely happy. The biggest fear for industrial cities is soaring housing prices, which not only affects corporate investment but also restricts the influx of migrant workers, hindering sustainable development.

2017 was an extraordinary year for Tan Jincheng and his companies. His personal wealth soared, and his businesses also developed very well, making it a year worth celebrating.

Since both sides needed to hold events, Tan Jincheng decided to have several companies hold a big party to promote sales. However, apart from Orange Products Club, the promotions for other physical stores were limited to the Beicang area.

This can be seen as Tan Jincheng's support for the Beicang District government over the years. The event is simple: from the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month to the 7th day of the first lunar month, customers who purchase any of the Weilai, Shanchi, or Leichi products within the Beicang District will receive a certain discount.

This large-scale joint promotional campaign, named "Giving Back to Beicang," did not receive much publicity online, but it was widely promoted in major streets and towns throughout the Beicang District.

For example, if you buy a FlashCi electric car, you can get an additional 10% discount on top of the nationwide discounts. Take an electric car priced at 3000 yuan as an example, you can save another 300 yuan on top of the various discounts, and the final price may be between 2200 yuan and 2400 yuan.

Simple and straightforward, in Tan Jincheng's marketing philosophy, no matter how fancy the tactics, nothing beats a direct discount. Therefore, whenever there is a promotion, his companies are much simpler than their competitors, without needing to use complicated calculation methods.

This wave of promotions is quite substantial, especially in the apparel sector. During the Lunar New Year, most people will buy new clothes for themselves or their families, and Jinpeng's major brands are offering the biggest discounts on apparel.

Tan Jincheng hadn't expected such an effect, which actually encouraged some people from other areas in the Beicang region to stay and spend the Lunar New Year there.

"That's right. The hotels in the city have been fully booked these past few days. This is all thanks to you, Mr. Tan."

The leader in charge of culture and tourism was also happy. There was hardly any tourism in Beicang District. If the district was to be considered leisurely, their area was definitely one of the most relaxed. However, everything changed after an entrepreneur with a high profile on the internet emerged in the district.

The hotel industry, as for example, has become much more prosperous than before.

Of course, a key point is that this well-known entrepreneur has a rather elegant way of making money. Given the current scale of his companies, he could easily build his own hotels. It doesn't matter who makes the money.

However, this person exercised great restraint, distributing the profits to other large hotels in the district, a practice that was very beneficial to the district's economic structure.

"No, no, the leaders are too kind."

Tan Jincheng waved his hands repeatedly, feeling a little embarrassed by the praise.

"Haha, that's not an exaggeration. The district's current economic situation is indeed inseparable from you, Mr. Tan. I think the best thing the district did was to keep you here."

Alright, this is getting more and more outrageous. If we keep going, it'll probably sound like we're begging for alms. Tan Jincheng quickly changed the subject.

However, the leaders of these "niche" departments were not wrong. The four major groups performed very well throughout 2017. Leichi's annual sales of its old-age electric vehicles exceeded 30 units, making a lot of money quietly.

Flash Group is also a force to be reckoned with. Its subsidiary, Jinpeng Industrial, which focuses on apparel, has an annual revenue of 35.1 billion yuan and a net profit of 4.22 million yuan, with 66% of its revenue coming from the GXG brand.

In just over a decade, Jinpeng's revenue has now entered the top ten in the domestic apparel industry, surpassing established companies like Seven Wolves and Lilang in overall revenue, and its 12% net profit is also outstanding.

Jin Yi Industrial, a wholly-owned subsidiary with more than ten years of experience in import and export trade, has also performed very steadily, ranking among the top 100 import and export trading companies in Ningbo. In addition, among all of Tan Jincheng's core businesses, Jin Yi Industrial can be considered the most low-key, even more low-key than Lei Chi.

However, Jin Yi Industrial's position is by no means low. Having been engaged in import and export trade for so many years, Jin Yi has its own channels both domestically and internationally. Many import and export businesses, including Wei Lai and Orange, have gone through Jin Yi's channels.

Another subsidiary in Suzhou, Bafang Electric, is also performing well, with a revenue growth rate of 57.1% in 2017. Having completed its shareholding reform, Bafang Electric is now qualified for listing. According to General Manager Wang Qinghua, the goal is to list in 2018, or at the latest, 2019.

At that time, Tan Jincheng will have another listed company under his control. In fact, not only Bafang, but also Jinpeng had institutions urging Zhang Xupeng to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, but Zhang Xupeng rejected the idea.

The core asset of the Flash Group is naturally Flash Technology, which has now become the king of the two-wheeled electric vehicle market. In 2017, the global shipment of two-wheeled and three-wheeled electric vehicles reached 600 million units, accounting for 28.8% of the global market share.

In recent years, Flash Group has focused more on brand promotion and marketing, such as Flash and the Windspeed series of electric vehicles, and clothing brands like GXG. The promotion of the entire group has been much less, and it has lost the enthusiasm it had when it gave back 6000 million yuan to consumers.

Furthermore, since Tan Jincheng focuses his efforts on Weilai Auto, many new-generation consumers are unaware that 3 out of every 10 electric vehicles they see on the streets are produced by companies controlled by Tan Jincheng.

Even in Beicang District, more than ten years have passed and the focus of attention has shifted, so many teenagers don't know the relationship between Shanchi and Weilai.

This big promotion is partly because we wanted to see how these companies would collaborate and see if that would work, while also increasing the presence of Flash and Thunder in the region.

Aside from Flash and Leap, the other two need no further explanation. It was a glorious year for Orange Group, with its secondary listing and market value repeatedly reaching new highs. Lu Qi, with his decisive and efficient approach, propelled the entire group's business forward at a rapid pace.

With the support of large data centers, Orange's own large model system has gradually improved in the field of artificial intelligence, but it is still lagging behind Ali and Baidu.

However, none of these things matter to Tan Jincheng. As long as he has his own direction, he can develop it slowly.

Wei Lai's performance was the most outstanding. The boss personally managed the company, invested the most resources, and gave it the most exposure. Whenever Tan Jincheng appeared in public, he would always intentionally or unintentionally promote his company's car products.

On various car forums, Tan Jincheng's nickname has become "Weilai's Top Salesman".

In the words of car enthusiasts, this boss promotes his products more enthusiastically than the new energy vehicle startups, not to mention traditional car companies.

The fact that the company was able to increase its annual sales to over 100 million vehicles in less than ten years is definitely due to the owner's tireless promotional efforts. At events, if customers greet him, he always says thank you.

Very few car company bosses could maintain this attitude.

In addition to the celebration and promotions, this large-scale "annual meeting" will also include a dealer conference. Today's meeting in the district is to reconfirm the logistical support for this large-scale meeting.

The entire event started tonight and will continue until the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month. The fact that hotels in Beicang District are fully booked is definitely due to this event.

In addition, many giants from the vehicle and parts industries will attend this dealer conference, such as BMW CEO Krüger, Great Wall Motors' Wang Fengying, Geely's Li Keqiang, and several emerging companies.

These companies are giants in any region. It would be beneficial for Weilai to communicate with the district in advance to see if the district can seize some opportunities and secure some investment.

Building factories in Beicang District or other areas of Ningbo City would be cost-effective.

This dealer conference of Weilai has been in preparation for a long time, and has invited more than 2000 companies, including offline dealers, parts manufacturers and vehicle partners from the two major business segments of automobiles and energy storage, to participate in the event, which is divided into online and offline channels.

This dealer conference was broadcast live online. This was the first time such a large-scale conference had been held since the company's founding, and it was also part of the tenth anniversary celebration.

"Tonight and tomorrow are your annual meeting and welcome banquet, so there's still enough time. In addition, the district and the city have set up emergency response teams, so you can rest assured about that."

"Thank you, Secretary. I'm sorry to have troubled the district." "It's no trouble at all. The more trouble you cause, the better. We know you like to cause trouble at the beginning of the year. The district has been preparing for this all along, just in case you launch a surprise attack."

The 52-year-old top leader looked at Tan Jincheng with a smile. The young entrepreneur in front of him had made undeniable contributions to Beicang District. This joint promotional event, which was only open to Beicang District residents, was a pleasant surprise for him as he left office.

He will be transferred to Chiayi City this August, starting as the second-in-command. There will be no promotion in administrative rank, but being able to govern a region is considered a promotion.

The fact that he was able to give me such a "big gift" before leaving office shows that this guy is quite loyal and righteous, and it's worth the years of care he's given me and his company.

However, what he admired most about Tan Jincheng was that the kid didn't have any private dealings with him. At most, he would send small gifts during holidays. As far as he knew, Tan Jincheng treated everyone the same way, which was quite clever.

He really appreciated that, or rather, anyone with a bit of ambition really appreciated that.

However, this kid is really good at causing trouble, especially around the Spring Festival every year. And he's also a very imaginative person. Often, apart from the few people around him, even the senior executives of the group don't know what he's thinking.

Over the years, Beicang District has been quite troubled by Tan Jincheng's sudden and large-scale actions, to the point that now they send people to keep an eye on Wei Lai every New Year's Day and Chinese New Year, for fear that they might be ambushed by this young man who has no martial ethics.

There's a joke going around in the district now: whoever gets chosen to keep an eye on Wei Lai and cause trouble is practically on an early New Year's holiday. This job usually starts on New Year's Day and lasts until the start of the Two Sessions, lasting for several months. They don't have to do anything else but keep an eye on Boss Tan's movements.

The district attached great importance to this event, which Wei Lai had reported in advance. Special personnel were arranged at the train station and airport to assist Wei Lai's staff in receiving and guiding them.

Of course, some also want to contact representatives of these well-known and unknown companies in advance to see if they can attract some investment.

"I don't know which unscrupulous reporter spread this rumor. I did this for the sake of planning my work for the year."

People are afraid of becoming famous, just as pigs are afraid of getting fat. Tan Jincheng was a little speechless. In previous years, he did like to make some big moves at the beginning of the year, but it was definitely not intentional. As for this year, he didn't want to do anything at all.

"Who the hell leaked it first?"

With such obvious changes in the environment, we should focus on development rather than causing trouble. Tesla has already entered the market, and the real competition with Jack Ma has only just begun.

"Haha, it's your fault for always causing trouble at this time of year. But you're right, the environment is different now, it's better to do less trouble."

These words can be considered a piece of advice to Tan Jincheng. After all, his career was hard-won, and he was in the eye of the storm. No one wanted such a promising young role model to get into trouble.

The same is true for him.

"Alright, that's all. I'll be attending your annual party tonight, but I won't be staying long. Just a quick appearance will do. Staying too long won't make you comfortable."

"How could that be? I'd love for you to stay all night, and it would be best if you went upstairs to sing a song or something."

He waved his hand and said with a laugh, "Alright, alright, go do your thing; Old Gu told me that you're good at everything, except that you're too fake when you're flattering people."

Old Gu was the one who first discovered Tan Jincheng, and can be considered Tan Jincheng's mentor. He has now been promoted to the provincial level, but it will be difficult for him to advance further at his age. He will most likely retire in a few years.

"That proves even more that I am sincere."

"Alright, alright, hurry up and go. You're already a father of two, over 30 years old, and you're still acting like a 20-something kid."

"Hehe, okay then, I won't disturb your work any longer, boss."

After leaving the district government building, Tan Jincheng said to Li Yaohui, who was sitting in the car, "Let's go to the Sports and Arts Center."

This year's annual meeting, supply chain conference, and dealer conference will again be held at the Sports and Arts Center, a very suitable location and venue. The district government has also proactively mentioned to Tan Jincheng that they would allocate another plot of land within the city for him to build a large convention center or headquarters building.

However, Tan Jincheng rejected them all.

“Save where you can, spend where you can. There’s no point in having those storefronts. For large events, we can rent the sports and arts center, which will generate revenue for the district and save us some money.”

"As for the event not being large-scale, we can simply hold it at the factory in Weilai. Why do we need to build a large building?"

Tan Jincheng is very generous when it comes to spending money, but he can be quite stingy in some areas. This proposal was rejected outright by Boss Tan, which made some builders furious. What a great opportunity, and he didn't even want it.

The setup of the sports and arts center is entering its final testing phase.

"How's it going? Is the live stream okay?"

The live broadcast was still handled by Orange Live. Whenever the boss personally participated in a large-scale event, He Jia was in charge of it herself, not only to flatter him but also to learn something.

For example, the boss's "Meizu Night" last time showed him a brand new live streaming model.

This format is perfect for inviting celebrities to live streams, and we should do more of this this year.

"No problem. We've also requested technical support from DJI to ensure absolute stability for the next few days and not delay the boss's work."

I'm very busy, but also very happy. I get to ride on the boss's popularity again. Ever since the boss's last live stream, Orange Live has gained a lot of exposure and new users. The conversion rate of these users has been quite good.

In addition, the popularity lasted for a while, and many of Zhao Liying's fans would come to watch the live stream replay, which also brought a lot of traffic to the website.

Tan Jincheng looked around and saw that the scene was bustling with activity.

"That's good. Tonight is fine, so if there are any problems, so be it. But you can't cause any problems tomorrow night."

Tonight's event is more like a gala, focusing on providing a good on-site experience. But tomorrow night will be different; the dealer conference will be a live broadcast to all suppliers and dealers.

At the meeting, Tan Jincheng will announce some of Wei Lai's technologies and plans for 2018 and even the next few years, the importance of which will vary.

"Also, when you're doing your promotions, don't use my reputation as an excuse to cause trouble. I've discovered that it's all because of you colleagues who ruined my reputation."

On the way here, Tan Jincheng thought it over and over and concluded that the reputation of him causing trouble was most likely spread by his own public relations team, and He Jia's side was probably involved as well.

Just look at the title of his collaboration with Zhao Liying at the Meizu Night event: "What's it like to have a conversation between a billionaire and a ratings queen?"

These clickbait headlines are still on Orange Live's homepage these days; they definitely learned it from He Xiaopeng.

"Ah? Okay, okay."

He Jia was completely bewildered. Why would the boss suddenly bring this up? It's been hanging up for almost a month, and he hadn't said anything about it before.

“This time is different from the previous times. This time it is mainly aimed at internal employees and the supply chain. I can understand that you want traffic, but don’t go too far this time.”

Tonight's live stream is only for employees within the system who can't come to Beicang. There will be some benefits during the live stream, but it's mostly for our own employees, meaning there are eligibility requirements.

Even if it weren't for these four systems plus Meizu employees, even employees of Orange Live located in Beicang wouldn't necessarily receive the reward.

To put it bluntly, this is a celebration within Tan Jincheng's business system. You can watch, but you won't get any benefits. It's not that they're stingy, but they just don't want an internal event to become too utilitarian.

"Don't set the audience's expectations too high, otherwise not only will you be unable to handle the situation, but we will also be unable to handle it."

Last time at Meizu Night, both fans and onlookers could get freebies, no matter how much you promoted it. But this time it's definitely not going to be like that. High expectations often lead to disappointment.

"Okay, I understand. I'll adjust the publicity and promotion accordingly, and try to keep it low-key. We'll also adjust the content based on user expectations during the live stream."

Seeing her boss's repeated instructions, He Jia had no choice but to take it seriously. It was just a pity to waste this traffic bonus; doing it this way would have been less than half as effective.

"Alright, there will be plenty of opportunities. The live streaming industry is just beginning. Your good days are yet to come. But you better watch out for the format of your live streams. Also, keep your distance from the female streamers. Do you think you're some kind of playboy?"

"Hehehe, I understand, I understand. I won't do anything illegal, so you can rest assured about that bottom line."

(End of this chapter)