2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 964 Undercurrents Beneath the Grand Gathering

"People in this mountain city love to eat hot pot, which is probably related to the weather here."

In December, the mountain city experiences unpredictable weather with significant temperature differences between day and night. Daytime temperatures are quite pleasant, but it gets rather chilly at night.

Today is the 4th, which is also the first day of Tan Jincheng's trip to Chongqing. After traveling from east to west, he has finally arrived at the last stop of his journey. According to the itinerary, Tan Jincheng will stay in Chongqing until December 13th before returning to Ningbo.

"That's probably why. The temperature drops too low at night, and eating something hot can help warm you up."

Tan Jincheng was entertained by the young master and young lady of Lifan. The main reason why Tan Jincheng stayed in the mountain city for so long this time was not only to inspect his own business, but also because of Lifan.

Today, Chery Automobile officially announced the completion of its capital increase and share expansion project. Wudaokou Investment invested 144.49 billion yuan in Chery, acquiring a stake in Chery Automobile and establishing Chery Holdings. Chery has become the first state-owned enterprise among domestic automobile groups to complete mixed ownership reform.

Chery is classified as an independent brand, but unlike Wynn, Great Wall, BYD and Geely, Chery has always been controlled by local state-owned assets. It is perfectly accurate to say that Chery is a state-owned enterprise.

However, all of these domestic brands have some state-owned background or local government support. Without the support of the local government, it is difficult for a car company to succeed.

With the automotive market performing poorly for two consecutive years, major automakers are seeking transformation. Financing has become a crucial part of this transformation. Even a strong automaker like Chery is short of funds, let alone a third-rate automaker like Lifan.

The polarization is the most accurate description of domestic brands this year. While joint venture brands are rising across the board, second-rate car companies like Lifan and Zhongtai are facing a serious survival crisis. Compared to Zhongtai, which still has a few models on sale, Lifan's situation is more difficult.

Since last year, Lifan has essentially entered bankruptcy proceedings. The two car companies in Chongqing, Xiaokang Automobile and Juhua Factory, are also in a difficult situation, but they still have some hope.

Lifan, on the other hand, had no hope at all. At the beginning of the year, after careful consideration, the city of Shancheng officially decided to focus on introducing Weilai as the key target to participate in Lifan's bankruptcy reorganization.

To put it bluntly, they wanted Wei to take over Lifan Motors' assets. This would not only solve the mess that was Lifan, but also allow them to officially introduce Wei to the company, compared to the cooperation with Xiaokang Motors and Chrysanthemum Factory, which had not yet achieved much success.

The Chongqing government should pay more attention to Weilai Auto, a leading new energy vehicle manufacturer with strong immediate competitiveness. Whether it's Chrysanthemum Factory or Weilai, the Chongqing government hopes to bring about some changes in Chongqing through the rebirth of these two local car companies.

"President Tan's arrival marks a perfect end to our cooperation. President Zeng, thank you for your hard work these past few days. I'd like to propose a toast to both of you."

Over hotpot, Young Master Yin raised his glass. His expression showed no disappointment, but rather a sense of relief. His sister, however, seemed somewhat dejected. There were only four people at the table: two members of the Yin family, Tan Jincheng, and Zeng Jixiang.

After more than half a year of repeated negotiations, Shancheng, Lifan and Weilai finally reached an agreement on bankruptcy reorganization and the introduction of a plan. In a bankruptcy reorganization, each party wants to protect its own interests as much as possible, so it is not easy to negotiate.

"You're too kind. We're all here for cooperation and mutual benefit."

Zeng Jixiang raised his glass in response. In addition to being an important member of Tan Jincheng's private team, Zeng Jixiang also serves as the CEO of Weilai Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Weilai Group.

Weilai Technology is not particularly prominent within the entire group. Its specific businesses can be summarized into two main areas: new materials and new energy. It is also responsible for some of Weilai's strategic investments, such as low-altitude travel, commercial aerospace, and innovative businesses.

This can be seen as some attempts by Weilai to explore potential business models and supplement its existing business. The restructuring of Lifan was undertaken by Weilai Technology.

"Please forgive me if I have offended you in any way in the past."

The young lady also raised her glass. Although Lifan Motors was considered to be the business of Young Master Yin, it belonged to the entire group after all. In addition, this guy didn't care. With his father retired, most of the negotiations were actually handled by the young lady Yin.

"I wouldn't say. Negotiations are all about self-interest. We're just discussing the matter at hand, which is understandable."

Miss Yin was quite assertive during the negotiations, but Zeng Jixiang didn't care. In his boss's words, everything comes down to strength. You're bankrupt, so how assertive can you be? You're just trying to get more benefits for yourself.

"Yes, let's stick to the facts at work. It doesn't affect our drinking and eating in our private time. Let's not talk about this today, let's just treat this as a get-together."

Zeng Jixiang, who was talking eloquently, seemed like the protagonist of the day. However, Tan Jincheng didn't care at all. Wei Lai had been working on cultivating the group's young management for the past few years. Li Xiang, Zhao Xinyi, and Zeng Jixiang were all doing the same.

Li Xiang is Tan Jincheng's preferred CEO candidate, Zhao Xinyi is in charge of Weilai's supply chain sector, and Zeng Jixiang, in addition to being the chief steward of Tan Jincheng's personal team, also manages Weilai Technology, which can be considered one of Weilai's future firewalls.

"Yes, little sister, let's not talk about this today. It's a rare opportunity to have dinner with the richest man, so let's not talk about these things."

"Haha, just kidding, just kidding, it's not like that now."

On November 26, Ali made its secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and its stock price performed well, closing at HK$187.6, with a market capitalization of over HK$4 trillion, surpassing Tencent to become the largest company by market capitalization on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

With Ali's secondary listing, Lao Ma has once again topped the list of the richest people, while Tan Jincheng's experience card as the richest man has expired.

"Haha, I don't care, it's clearly written on the list."

With a sip of wine and a chopstick, Young Master Yin lived a very carefree life. Tan Jincheng really envied his lifestyle. In his forties, he was not short of money and did not have much ambition. Wasn't he an invincible existence?

"It was my fault for being so thoughtless. I'll punish myself with a drink."

Miss Yin also came to her senses. The agreement had been reached. Tan Jincheng had come here to sign the contract, and there was nothing she could change. She might as well accept it obediently. In fact, according to Zeng Jixiang, getting rid of the burden might not be a bad thing for Lifan.

Although they have suffered huge losses, even their A-share financing platform, ST Lifan, is about to be transformed into Tan Jincheng, which is heartbreaking.

Among A-share listed companies, it can be considered one of Lifan's most core assets.

According to the tripartite agreement, Wei Lai's participation brought funds and resources to Lifan, boosted the confidence of Lifan's existing creditors, and propelled it into the judicial reorganization stage.

With the support of Liangjiang New Area as a cornerstone, a 30 billion yuan investment fund was jointly established, effectively combining state-owned capital, industrial capital, and industrial funds to truly solve the difficulties currently facing Lifan.

In return, Weilai acquired 29.99% of the shares of Lifan's existing listed company. Including the shares acquired during the first cooperation through private placement and through the acquisition of subsidiaries, Weilai Group now holds 33.89% of ST Lifan's shares, becoming the de facto controlling shareholder.

Lifan, which is currently under ST status, has a share price of only around 3 yuan and a market value of less than 40 billion yuan. However, as a listed company with a stock code starting with 6, even under ST status, its value is still very high. Tan Jincheng is willing to take over Lifan's bankruptcy reorganization not only to supplement Weilai's business in the new energy industry, but also because he values ​​this listed platform.

ByteDance's engine and Tan Jincheng are not short of money, but that doesn't mean that Weilai Auto is not short of money. Having another financing platform is very beneficial for Weilai Auto.

"Yes, yes, let's have a meal, and by the way, I wish Lifan Motors all the best under President Zeng's leadership."

According to the restructuring plan, the restructured Lifan Motors will have no relation to Lifan Group except for the name. The new Lifan Motors will be fully upgraded from traditional business to intelligent new energy vehicle industry.

Zeng Jixiang will also serve as the CEO of Xinlifan Motors, with day-to-day operations being led by Weilai Technology.

"By the way, Mr. Tan came from Jiangcheng. Have you heard about what happened at the seafood market there?"

Once they stopped talking about work, the atmosphere among the four of them became much more relaxed. The hot topic on the internet recently was the incident at the Jiangcheng Seafood Market, which everyone in the industry knows. Tan Jincheng started working on reforming his factory's epidemic prevention system in the first quarter of this year.

"That's true. It actually happened in November. It also happened abroad in March. That's why we took some precautions."

Tan Jincheng nodded. Now that the news was out, he no longer avoided it. Although he couldn't describe how serious the matter was, it was always better to be cautious. In fact, tracing back to the source, this matter had been reported abroad as early as March of this year.

"Oh, so the reason Wei is taking precautions is because of the reports from March?"

Young Master Yin wasn't interested in talking about work, but he was very curious about this topic. In his opinion, wasn't Tan Jincheng being overly cautious? Just a few reports and he was spending so much effort to transform the factory's epidemic prevention system?

“We have to be careful. Our factory has over 100,000 employees. Besides, we experienced something similar in 2003. Now that we know about it, I have to make some preparations and provide some protection for our employees.”

"I see. Everyone says that Weilai has the lowest turnover rate among car companies because of its excellent employee benefits. It seems that it's not just about the salary and benefits. President Tan's humanistic care is also an important reason."

"So it seems that with Lifan Motors being led by Weilai Technology, the benefits for our employees in Chongqing should be improved?"

Zeng Jixiang smiled and said, "Of course, we treat all employees of our subsidiaries the same."

Car factories have a large workforce, and the work in the workshops is very tiring, often requiring two shifts and night shifts. Middle and senior management also face poaching from competitors and startups, resulting in very high employee turnover. Weilai is no exception. However, Weilai Auto does have one of the lowest turnover rates among many domestic car companies. There's even a joke in the automotive industry that being the HR director at Weilai Auto is the easiest job, as you don't have to frequently adjust talent policies.

Friday, September 12st.

Weilai Group, Liangjiang New Area, and Lifan Group reached an agreement on the restructuring plan for Lifan Motors. Tan Jincheng, Chairman of Weilai Group, personally attended the signing ceremony of the bankruptcy restructuring plan.

"President Tan's arrival has given us creditors a lot of confidence."

"Not at all, this is our first time participating in a bankruptcy reorganization plan. We are very grateful for the support of all the bosses. If there is anything we have done poorly, we hope you will forgive us."

Having handled numerous mergers and acquisitions, this was indeed Tan Jincheng's first time dealing with a true bankruptcy reorganization. Bankruptcy reorganization is not simply about acquiring what you want; it also includes repaying debts to creditors, adjusting the industrial structure, and so on.

Participating in the restructuring means that Wei Lai is going to save the company.

Introducing a brand-new quality control system, re-establishing product development processes, restoring vehicle production capacity, promoting the upgrading of core businesses, and innovating in areas such as operations management to protect the rights and interests of all parties are things that Zeng Jixiang must do, and also Wei Lai's responsibility.

The 30 billion yuan industrial fund is just the beginning, but Wei Lai can't keep putting money out indefinitely; that would be a bottomless pit. Winning the support of creditors is also very important.

By using cash to settle small debts, utilizing secured debts for installment payments, stock transfers, and the distribution of trust beneficiary rights, Wei Lai increased Lifan Motors' average repayment rate from less than 10% to over 34%. This was Wei Lai's first promise to Shancheng and its creditors.

Zeng Jixiang negotiated all of these deals bit by bit, and played a significant role in acquiring assets, including the listed company and numerous plots of land, at minimal cost.

Of course, the creditors were able to accept Wei Lai's proposal mainly because of Tan Jincheng's wealth and his ability in the capital market. After all, he was a well-known investor who had saved many companies in distress.

The Liangjiang New Area government values ​​Tan Jincheng's ability to restructure struggling companies, not his financial resources.

"You did a great job with the restructuring of Lifan this time, but you'll still have a lot to do later. This mess isn't that overlapping, and I estimate you'll have a lot of headaches for the next few years."

After the signing party ended, Tan Jincheng immediately boarded a flight to Ningbo. Not only that, he also took Zeng Jixiang with him, which left the people in Chongqing somewhat puzzled.

Logically speaking, given Tan Jincheng's consistently efficient style, having just completed the signing, he should have integrated with Lifan as quickly as possible.

Even Zeng Jixiang was somewhat baffled by his boss's decision to bring him back to Ningbo. Over the past year, he had spent more time in Chongqing than in Ningbo.

"It is indeed a mess, but it was originally just a supporting role, so we have plenty of time to integrate it slowly. However, although Lifan Motors is a mess, one advantage is that because of Young Master Yin, the integration is much easier for us."

Although he didn't quite understand why his boss insisted on him going back with him, Zeng Jixiang never asked too many questions and simply accepted it.

Zeng Jixiang's assessment made Tan Jincheng smile. The fact that Young Master Yin was not power-hungry, or rather, not capable of power-hungry, was indeed a major advantage for them when they took over Lifan Motors. When taking over a company that needed restructuring, the most annoying thing was the excessive interference from the original founder.

Just like with Meizu, Tan Jincheng knew that Huang Zhang would never give up the power struggle within Meizu, so he decisively used the most ruthless means to expel him.

"I'm asking you to come back to Ningbo, but there's nothing important to it. On the one hand, you've basically been staying in the mountain city for the past year, and you've spent more time with your family than with them. Going back will allow you to spend time with your family, and giving you a break is a reward for it."

"Also, there's the confirmed cases in Jiangcheng, you know that, right? From what I've heard, this time it seems quite serious, so bringing you back is a precaution."

On the 8th of this month, the first case was confirmed. The source in Jiangcheng was traced back to late November when related cases appeared. Although it has not yet really entered the public eye, the relevant authorities are taking it very seriously.

This matter is no secret among these social elites, and the relevant companies that are aware of it have quickly activated their contingency plans. The Lotus factory in Jiangcheng has already conducted a comprehensive investigation into the recent travel history of its employees.

Li Xiang also received a warning from Tan Jincheng, instructing him to pay special attention to the employees' schedules recently, and to make some reserves in terms of personal medical care and living supplies to ensure his own and the factory's living needs.

In fact, it wasn't just Zeng Jixiang; Tan Jincheng had notified almost all of Wei Lai's middle and senior management who were able to put aside their work and return to Ningbo, including Li Xiang. Jiangcheng was a key area, and Tan Jincheng couldn't afford not to notify him.

Tan Jincheng gave him various options: return to Ningbo, return to his hometown in Hebei Province, or return to the capital. However, Li Xiang decided to stay and see what happens first, as he felt obligated to do so as the CEO of Lotus.

Other companies also reacted quickly. Geely was the first in the automotive industry to react. Tan Jincheng had given them a few subtle warnings, and Li Shufu had made some arrangements, though not as drastic as Wei Lai's.

This time, after seeing the relevant reports and learning the inside story, Geely immediately activated its contingency plan. With Geely's involvement, other major automakers in the automotive industry also took action one after another.

Like Tong Weilai, Geely's first choice was also to stock up on inventory. Geely's rapid response in initiating a dual-track system for suppliers in Jiangcheng and Hubei Province was clearly unexpected by other automakers.

Then BYD followed suit, which is quite intriguing. Although they were all doing it behind the scenes, and the reasons they gave were all different and perfectly legitimate, the behavior of these major domestic brands is still somewhat unusual.

Other automakers, including Tesla's newly launched Shanghai factory, have also begun to make preparations to varying degrees.

"Oh, that's it; thank you, boss. I haven't seen my child in a long time."

Zeng Jixiang and his girlfriend, who is also Gu Qingqing's cousin's best friend, have been married for a long time and now they have their own child. In recent years, Zeng Jixiang has been busy with work, while his wife has changed jobs to become an office worker at Orange Group.

My job is usually quite easy, and I can take care of my family on the side.

Zeng Jixiang was somewhat touched by his boss's concern. For someone like Zeng Jixiang, who lacked neither money nor status, giving him a few days off was indeed the best reward.

As for the Jiangcheng matter mentioned by the boss, as a core member, he certainly wouldn't be as indifferent as others. He was involved in many of the plans throughout the process. The fact that the boss asked him to return to Ningbo at this crucial moment of Lifan Motors' restructuring meant that it was definitely not a simple matter.

Starting from the second weekend of December 14th, executives from Weilai Group, Shanchi Group, and Chengzi Group, scattered across the country, returned to Beicang in Ningbo City under the pretext of reporting to headquarters and formulating plans for the beginning of the year.

On flights from all over the country to Ningbo, one can often encounter well-known executives from Tan Jincheng's various companies, including figures like Hu Zhengnan who are highly famous on the internet.

Even people like Lu Qi, who were on business trips abroad, were urgently recalled. The photos of him appearing on the internet from time to time have netizens wondering what big thing Boss Tan is up to now.

"Given Mr. Tan's usual practice, he always plans to do something big at the beginning of the year. Now, with such a large-scale recall of senior executives, covering three major groups, this matter must be quite significant, right?"

Although the senior executives responded to the media with the legitimate reason of returning to headquarters to report on their work, no one believed this reason. They just thought that Boss Tan was going to start causing trouble again according to his usual work habits.

"Will Wei Lai make any big moves next year? It doesn't seem like it."

Throughout 2019, Weilai did not release any new cars, but only launched new models based on existing models. However, it performed quite well in the field of power batteries. The live broadcasts that lasted for several months made Weilai's Xuanwu battery series famous.

Orange Group, which has transformed into an artificial intelligence company, is even more low-key. As a rising star in the internet industry, Orange Group is incredibly low-key. As for Flash Group, apart from making a brief appearance by selling its outlet mall to Orange Products, few people pay attention to this company.

However, FlashTech, which specializes in two-wheeled electric vehicles, still performs exceptionally well in the industry. In addition to maintaining its leading position in sales, FlashTech also has strong technological advantages in the development of intelligent two-wheeled electric vehicles and batteries.

The power battery technology from Weilai is used in some relatively mature technologies that meet the technical requirements of two-wheeled electric vehicles, and it is applied to FlashDrive Technology. This is the benefit of the entire industry chain, and the advantages brought by technology transfer are very obvious.

"There is indeed something important, but there's no need for everyone to rush. Let's rest for a few days first, and then we can talk about it again in a few days."

One by one, the senior executives came to the Flashpoint Building to report to Tan Jincheng, and they all received the same reply, which puzzled everyone. However, these senior executives, who are usually busy with work, rarely have the opportunity to gather together like this.

"Looks like the boss is planning something big. In that case, let's wait a few more days. Let's go grab a couple of drinks; it's been a long time since we've all gotten together."

In fact, these executives also believed that Tan Jincheng was about to do something big.

"It is indeed something big to do, and strictly speaking, it is quite a big deal."

As the days drew closer, at the end of December, the events in Jiangcheng finally came into the public eye. Suddenly, all the businesses seemed to be in turmoil, and Wei Lai's actions undoubtedly set an example for everyone.

(End of this chapter)