industrial overlord

Chapter 668 Huge Cake

Marko, the vice president of Giessen Company in Germany, stood in front of the gate of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, feeling extremely complicated.

The European economy is declining day by day, especially in terms of infrastructure, it has almost come to a standstill.Some tourists from China stood on the streets of the United Kingdom, looking at the old buildings that appeared in World War II movies, and were infinitely impressed by the protection of historical relics by the British.But the British standing beside them sighed helplessly: Nima, if we have the money to build infrastructure, who would not be willing to live in a new house?

In contrast, China's infrastructure construction can be described as crazy.Walking in Chinese cities, you can see tower cranes soaring into the sky. The English word for crane is "Crane", which also means "crane".This coincidence made Westerners simply call the tower crane the national bird of China.

Large-scale infrastructure construction has brought about a huge demand for industrial equipment.Construction needs steel, which drives the market for equipment such as steelmaking, steel rolling, and profile processing; construction requires machinery, so products such as cranes, paving machines, road rollers, and shield machines are hot.

Such a large market cannot be ignored by any equipment manufacturer.Now companies from all over the world are sharpening their heads to squeeze into the Chinese market and take a share of China's annual fixed asset investment of hundreds of billions of dollars.Naturally, European companies are not exempt, and have sent executives to China for public relations.Marko's visit to China this time is because China's National Development and Reform Commission has just released a rumor: In the next five years, China will invest 2 trillion yuan in the construction of the railway network, which is a giant cake worth 2500 billion US dollars.

Some of Giessen's product lines are railway construction machinery, as well as special machine tools for processing rails and steel beams.If it can become an equipment supplier in the construction of China's railway network, it will be no less than a shot in the arm for Giessen, who is in financial difficulties.Before Marco left Europe this time, the president held his hand, only a few tears away, and he urged Marco to open the door to the Chinese market no matter what.

After Marco arrived in China, he did not rush to the National Development and Reform Commission, but first found some Chinese companies that had business contacts in the past to understand the situation.As soon as the executives in charge of sales in these companies saw Marco, they invariably asked about the rumors that European companies planned to jointly block Chinese companies, which made Marco so embarrassed that he had to say again and again that this was just a motion of individual companies That's all, it has nothing to do with Jisen Company.

But this explanation is obviously pale, because last month when European companies issued an initiative to demand an increase in patent licensing fees, the name of Giessen also appeared in the list of initiators of the initiative.If Marco wants to say that Gison Company has no responsibility at all in this matter, I am afraid no one will believe it.

It was with such a shadow that Marco came to the door of the National Development and Reform Commission.Thinking about the upcoming meeting with Chinese officials, he couldn't help feeling a little regretful. If he had known this day, why would he mess around with Khedira back then?

When the appointed time came, Marco and his entourage came to a small conference room under the guidance of a small cadre from the National Development and Reform Commission.There was a long table in the small conference room, with six or seven Chinese people sitting on one side, and the other side was empty, apparently reserved for Marco and the others.

"It's Mr. Marko. You are very welcome. My name is Huang Gang, and I am the deputy director of a certain department of the National Development and Reform Commission. I will be in charge of today's meeting." After Marko and the others sat down, a person sitting opposite them The young officer spoke.

"It is a great honor to have the opportunity to meet with Director Huang. I believe our meeting will be very pleasant." Marko said to Huang Gang with a smile.

"Let me first introduce to Mr. Marco the people who participated in the talks." Huang Gang said, he turned his head, looked at the people sitting on both sides of him, and began to introduce their identities one by one.The first person he introduced surprised Marco:

"This is Mr. Lin Zhenhua, chairman of China Hanhua Heavy Industry Group Corporation."

"Lin..." Marco almost bit off his tongue.Lin Zhenhua of the Hanhua Group, how could Marco not know, if he wants to say that the person he fears the most when he comes to China this time, it is probably none other than Lin Zhenhua.I'm really afraid that something will come. Lin Zhenhua appeared at the meeting of the Development and Reform Commission at this time, and I'm afraid the person who came was not good.

"Mr. Marco, I am very glad to meet you. Actually, we have met several times in the past, right?" Lin Zhenhua greeted Marco with a smile.

"Yes, yes, we've met several times." Marco replied awkwardly.It is true that he and Lin Zhenhua met face to face several times, but it was only at some exhibitions or forums, where everyone just nodded to each other, and there was no deep friendship.

"Since you know each other, it's even better. It's more convenient if you have something to say." Huang Gang said heartlessly, completely ignoring the embarrassment on Marco's face.

Huang Gang then introduced some other Chinese personnel who participated in the meeting, including two other personnel from enterprises and two officials from the National Development and Reform Commission.There is also a little girl who is a translator. Her main task is to help translate some overly complicated grammar or uncommon vocabulary. Regular conversations do not need translation. The English skills of the Chinese and German personnel who participated in this meeting are very good .

Marco also introduced his entourage, and then the two sides exchanged a few words, and the meeting officially began.

"I think all German friends should already know that China will invest about 3000 billion euros in the next five years to improve China's railway network, including several new railway lines and the modernization of some existing railway lines. Among them, the newly built high-speed railway line will reach more than 2000 kilometers. In order to complete these construction tasks, we very much need large international multinational companies including Giessen to provide us with relevant equipment." Huang Gang first introduced.

"Our Giessen company is very willing to help China build its own railway network. Germany has rich experience in railway construction, especially high-speed railway construction. Our Giessen company has long been committed to the production of railway construction machinery and rail processing equipment. It is first-class in the world." Marko said confidently.

Huang Gang nodded and said: "We have no doubts about this at all, so we specially invited all the gentlemen from Jisen Company to come to the Development and Reform Commission to discuss together in what fields and in what ways the two parties can cooperate."

Marko asked: "I would like to know what kind of ideas China has on cooperation? For example, what should we do to have the honor of being your country's partner?"

Huang Gang smiled slightly and said: "Our door is open to all international manufacturers. If there are any conditions, I am afraid that only one is enough to generalize, that is, we hope that our partners are Chinese friends, and Not the enemy."

"There is absolutely no doubt about the friendship between our Gisen Company and the Chinese people." Marko said, he looked around the Chinese people present, and then gestured to Lin Zhenhua and the other two people from the company with his hand, saying : "For example, we have had very pleasant cooperation with Mr. Lin and the companies these two gentlemen belong to."

Seeing Marco pointing at him, Lin Zhenhua said with a smile: "I can attest to this, at least in the past, our cooperation with Giesen Company was very pleasant."

"Uh..." Marco's face was a little uneasy. Lin Zhenhua's words were positive but derogatory. Although he said that the cooperation between the two parties is happy, he added a condition, that is, in the past, not the present.As for what happened now, it is natural that God knows, and everyone here knows it.

"I think our future cooperation will still be very pleasant." Marko said.

"Well, that would be great." Huang Gang said, he turned his head to look at an official from the National Development and Reform Commission sitting beside him, and said, "Xiao Chen, show Mr. Marko our purchase list and ask him to judge Let’s see how much Gissen can help us.”

The official named Xiao Chen opened the folder in front of him, took out a document, and pushed it across the table.Marco took the material and couldn't wait to flip through it. The attendants sitting on both sides of him also leaned their heads over and browsed the material with Marco.

"40 integrated track laying machines, 20 double cantilever bridge erecting machines, 15 shield rock drilling machines, 20 large heavy rail straightening machine tools..."

Malcolm silently recited the items on the list, only feeling his blood rushing, and he almost jumped up and shouted long live.A total of 40 billion euros of equipment, which is only the first phase of demand.He also knew that it was impossible for Gisen Company to win such a large order exclusively, but if it could get one-third of it, even one-fourth, it would be enough for the company to breathe a sigh of relief.Now in the global market, where can you get a big order of more than 10 billion euros?

"We plan to select suppliers for these equipments through bidding." Huang Gang said, "You can go back and make a good evaluation, then make a bid and hand it to us. We will choose the company with the best conditions as our supplier." suppliers."

"Okay, we will send the materials back to the company immediately, and invite the company's technical personnel and sales personnel to jointly make the bidding document." Marko said, "I believe that our product quality and price will definitely be the most competitive .”

Huang Gang smiled and said: "Here, there is one thing that needs to be added. There is an old saying in China, which is called giving a man a fish, and it is better to teach a man to fish. China is a developing country. In the next few decades, infrastructure The task of construction is still very heavy. Regarding the manufacture of equipment, we cannot completely rely on foreign countries, but hope to cultivate our own equipment manufacturing capabilities.

Therefore, the equipment we contracted this time has an additional clause, which is to require the supplier to transfer the technology related to equipment manufacturing, especially the key patented technology, while delivering the equipment. "

"Key patented technology?" Marco thought about it, and he clearly heard a "cracking" sound. It was someone sharpening a knife and was about to tie him up and kill him.He looked at Lin Zhenhua, and found that the other party was also looking at him meaningfully. He understood in his heart that it was obvious that the European companies threatened to increase the patent licensing fee some time ago, which made the Chinese anxious, so now the Chinese want to use The cake of railway engineering equipment has come to force European companies to make concessions.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Huang, I didn't understand what you meant. What you said was...transfer?" Marco asked hesitantly.

"Yes, transfer." Huang Gang replied lightly.

"Isn't it authorized?" Marko had the last chance in his heart, and he hoped that Huang Gang used the wrong vocabulary.

"It's okay to say it's an authorization." Huang Gang said with a smile, "However, this authorization is one-time and permanent, and it should be a complete authorization. It means that the transferee company we designated will have The intellectual property rights of these technologies can be used freely."

"It's impossible!" An engineer sitting next to Marco blurted out, "Sir, you should know that these technologies are the core technologies of Gisen, and these technologies must never be transferred to anyone."

"Horn, calm down." Marco pretended to say to the engineer, but he did not correct Haun's words, but turned around, looked at Huang Gang, and waited for Huang Gang's reaction.

Huang Gang still looked relaxed, and he asked Marco: "Mr. Marco, does your colleague's opinion just now represent the attitude of your company?"

"This..." Marco quickly judged Huang Gang's bottom line in his mind, thinking about how to answer better, "I think what Mr. Horn said should represent the opinions of at least a considerable number of executives in our company." .”

"Is that so?" Huang Gang pretended to be very surprised, and said, "If this is the case, I don't think there is any need for us to continue talking. Trading the market for technology is our bottom line. If we can't get For these technologies, I think we would rather leave this market to domestic companies in China...For example, Chairman Lin, he should really like the attitude of this gentleman just now."

Marko was not scared too much. Regarding Huang Gang's threat, he countered in a soft tone: "With all due respect, I also have a little understanding of the existing technical conditions in your country. In terms of shield rock drilling machines, etc., your country's technical reserves may still be insufficient?"

"You are right, we still have some shortcomings in these aspects." Lin Zhenhua spoke, "However, with all due respect, Giesen is not the only company with these core technologies in the world, right? Canadian Maple Leaf The company, Japan's Nojima Heavy Industries, also has similar technology. If Giesen insists that it cannot transfer related technology to us, I think we may be able to get what we want from the Canadians or the Japanese."

"No, no, that's not what I meant." Marco said quickly, "Mr. Lin, our cooperation in the past has always been very good, and we shouldn't have any misunderstandings over such small things. In fact, we are willing to help you Chinese companies, such as your Hanhua Heavy Industry, provide relevant technologies, and we can use patent licensing to cooperate, just like our past cooperation model.”

"Indeed, our past cooperation model is still advisable, but the situation is different now. Because the patent licensing fee has risen too fast, we can't bear the cost increase caused by it, so..." Lin Zhenhua said.

Marko took a deep breath and said in a low voice: "The issue of patent licensing fees, we can actually discuss it again. As a partner for many years, we may offer you some discounts, such as reducing a part of the licensing fees."

"This is only temporary." Lin Zhenhua said, "Director Huang has just said that China's infrastructure construction will last for many years. If we do not have independent intellectual property rights in equipment manufacturing, we may be affected at any time. The threat of sudden skyrocketing licensing fees. I think we're more inclined to settle this once and for all."

"Well, what kind of patents do you want to obtain?" Marco asked, since the other party insisted on transferring technology, he decided to listen to the other party's appetite before talking.

Lin Zhenhua said: "Precision machine tools, heavy machine tools, high-speed turning tools, stepping motors... about 2100 patents."

"No, it's not fair!" Marco's eyes widened, "Mr. Lin, at least 70% of these patents are irrelevant to the project we are talking about. We should not talk about things that are not related to this project in a project." matter."

Lin Zhenhua said: "How can it be irrelevant? We want to manufacture heavy rail correction machine tools, and many parts in the middle of this machine tool need to be processed by precision machine tools. If we don't have the patent of precision machine tools, then we can't manufacture them. Machine tools for components. You should know that we don't just need industrial mother machines, we need mother machines that can produce these mother machines... Maybe we should call it a grandmother machine."

"We will never accept such a condition." Marko said decisively.Lin Zhenhua's logic is so weird that he is simply insulting Marco's IQ, but Marco has not yet been able to walk away.

Before Lin Zhenhua spoke, Marco thought that Huang Gang's request was something he could not agree to.But after listening to Lin Zhenhua's request, he took a big step back from his bottom line.He thought, if the Chinese only want to obtain the core patents of railway construction machinery, maybe he can still agree.But as many conditions as Lin Zhenhua asked for, it was something Ji Sen could not agree to anyway.

"Mr. Marko, I think you should calmly think about our request." Huang Gang said, "We are fully sincere about the cooperation between the two parties, and all conditions can be negotiated."

(End of this chapter)