Life 1984

Chapter 372 If you don’t go, get out!
Every time they go abroad to participate in exhibitions, Li Yunhai and Shen Xiulan are together, but they are always there for work and come and go in a hurry.This time they only visited Frankfurt and Berlin, bought a few Him dolls and other souvenirs, and then returned home.

Li Yunhai wanted to develop the office equipment market in Africa. After returning to China, he discussed this idea with Professor Ni and others.

Professor Ni believes that there will definitely be a market in Africa, but if you want to do business abroad, you must first understand the local policies, otherwise you are likely to fail.

He highlighted a very important point: any investor in Africa faces the dilemma of material scarcity.Take the computer industry as an example. Whatever resources we lack in China can be quickly purchased, but in Africa, it may be difficult.It is difficult to buy even one screw.In the production process, as long as one link is slow, the subsequent schedule will be delayed.

Li Yunhai said that we will not build a local factory, but only look for local agents to sell our products. Is it feasible?

Professor Ni said that unlike our huge domestic customer base, the market demand in Africa is uneven, so it is unlikely to pursue turnover and can only pursue profits.The company will rely on the resources of local partners for all operations, and it is still feasible to do some government cooperation projects.

Li Yunhai knew that Professor Ni was well-informed and asked him what else he needed to pay attention to?

Professor Ni said: "Many countries in Africa have particularly high tariffs. They regard computers as luxury goods and impose high tariffs. For example, South Africa and Mozambique impose an import tax of 6.5% on computers, Tanzania 5%, Burkina Fa The requested import tax for computers is 31%, including 56% for peripherals!”

Li Yunhai said: "In this case, it is even more impossible for us to sell it ourselves. We can only find agents."

Professor Ni said: "Our blue ocean computers may be really suitable for Africa's needs. There are still several countries in Africa that have fairly good economic development. Government offices, banks and large-scale companies will definitely need to use computers. But it’s difficult to promote it among civilians. Africa has a population of 6 million, accounting for 12% of the world’s total population. There is still a market. It just depends on whether we can open this market.”

After listening to Professor Ni's analysis, Li Yunhai decided to act cautiously. He knew nothing about Africa, so it would be better to send someone over to ask for directions first.

Li Yunhai approached Zhao Jinping and asked him to arrange for three salesmen to go to Africa.

Our country is more than 1 kilometers away from Africa. The fastest way to get to Africa is to first go to Xiangjiang and then take a flight to South Africa.

In the 70s, South Africa opened up routes to Asia, and South African Airways began flying to Hong Kong using Boeing 747s, which took 13 hours to fly.

Zhao Jinping selected three close men.

When they heard that they were going to Africa, the three of them looked at each other in shock. One of them was so frightened that he trembled and said with tears in his eyes: "Mr. Zhao, my family has a mother who is over 60 years old and a student girl who is in her teens." , I also have a beautiful wife in her 10s at home. If I have a good life in Africa, who will support my big family?"

Zhao Jinping cursed loudly: "You're worthless! I don't usually take you abroad, but you all clamor to go out and have a look. Now that I give you a chance, you don't dare to go!"

The subordinate said with a sad face: "Mr. Zhao, if we go to European and American countries, then we will not refuse. That is Africa, how can we dare to go?"

Zhao Jinping sneered: "If you don't dare to go, get out!"

He pointed at the other two people: "Are you going? I will personally take you to Africa! Africa is not a dragon's pool and a tiger's den. What is there that you can't go to? If you don't want to go, go to the personnel department and resign yourself!"

Seeing that Zhao Jinping was personally leading the team, the other two people did not dare to be nagging.

Zhao Jinping led them to find Li Yunhai and said that the three of them were going to Africa together.

Li Yunhai was surprised when he heard that Zhao Jinping was going there in person: "Mr. Zhao, are you going? The conditions in Africa are very difficult, so you have to be mentally prepared."

Zhao Jinping said: "Mr. Li, I am the vice president of marketing. I should be responsible for things like opening up new markets."

Li Yunhai asked: "How is your English level? South Africa is mainly English-speaking. When you get there, you can find a translator first."

Zhao Jinping said: "Each of us brings a translator."

Li Yunhai said: "Pay attention to safety, personal safety, and physical health. All kinds of viruses are very popular in Africa. When you arrive, be sure to pay attention to your diet and other aspects."

Zhao Jinping understood.

Li Yunhai gave them a sum of money and arranged for them to go abroad.

Our country has established diplomatic relations with many African countries very early, and the relations have always been good.

Since 1979, my country's direct investment in Africa has been complementary to trade and aid. During this period, most of my country's companies investing in Africa were large state-owned enterprises, with projects involving ports, mining, energy and many other fields.

Li Yunhai asked Zhao Jinping to take the lead and go to Africa to see the situation before deciding on the subsequent itinerary.

Zhao Jinping and the others are mainly looking for strong and reliable local agents this time.

After Blue Ocean Computer advertised in China, its sales increased significantly.

The dealers of Sihai Group are almost all over the country.

Except for a few big cities that have direct stores, they mainly rely on dealers to sell goods.

Li Yunhai can't estimate how many Blue Ocean computers can be sold in China within a year.

Compared with a second-hand computer worth several thousand yuan, a new machine worth [-] yuan is definitely much more cost-effective.

The second-hand IBM computer sold in Sihai Store costs 6800 yuan. It is an old machine from a few years ago. The configuration and system are very backward, and the after-sales service is not guaranteed.

Blue Ocean computers are only 3000 yuan more expensive than second-hand computers, but their performance is more than doubled and their service life is much longer.

Many people who only considered second-hand computers before came to the store to take a look and usually bought a brand new Blue Ocean computer at a higher price.

Two days later, Li Yunhai received a call from Zhao Jinping from South Africa, saying that they had arrived in South Africa successfully.

Zhao Jinping said that South Africa is not as hot as expected, with the temperature now only 22 degrees. He also said that South Africa is more developed and richer than imagined, and even better than our mainland.

South Africa in the 80s was indeed close to the level of developed countries and better than many cities in our mainland.

Li Yunhai repeatedly told him to pay attention to safety, and carefully reminded them not to look for women outside, because AIDS is very popular there.

Zhao Jinping said with a smile, I know this matter and will never mess with it.

Li Yunhai relied on Blue Ocean Computer and the Hannover Exhibition to obtain a large sum of money.

These are the payments made in advance by the dealers, which are equivalent to the payments made by Li Yunhai to Intel in advance.

Sihai Group has not yet shipped the goods to dealers.

Half of these payments are costs, which are used to purchase various raw materials.

After the payment arrived in Sihai Group's account, all the funds were at Li Yunhai's disposal.

Some dealers and foreign businessmen canceled their orders, and Sihai Group received a total payment of almost US$9 million.

In addition to half of the payment for purchasing raw materials, Li Yunhai still has US$4 million to spend.

The company's finances, which originally had nothing, suddenly had funds available for use.

These hundreds of millions of dollars of funds seem to be a lot, and they are just enough to maintain the normal operation of several major projects of Sihai Group.

In addition, Li Yunhai also wanted to purchase two sets of second-hand photolithography machines that had been eliminated by a foreign company, which would cost more than 1 million U.S. dollars, and he ran out of money in an instant.

And this fund has already made up most of his income this year!
Fortunately, it can just maintain the normal operation of the company's existing projects.

Time flies, and after returning from Hannover, it’s the end of March in a blink of an eye.

Sihai Group began to prepare for the Spring Canton Fair.

Lin Zhi's belly was getting bigger and bigger, and Li Yunhai didn't want her to work too hard, so he asked her to take a long vacation. She didn't have to go to work anymore, let alone attend the Canton Fair. She raised her baby at home every day and took a walk when she had time.

Li Yunhai is temporarily responsible for the work of the human resources department.

On this day, Zhu Lin called to report to him the renovation progress of the courtyard and discuss some details of the renovation.

In order to create a livable home environment, Li Yunhai of course wanted to decorate the courtyard in a modern style, with everything being practical.

Because of Comrade Xixian's care, the preliminary demolition work of Beijin Sihai Plaza went faster than expected, and groundbreaking can be started in early April.

Zhu Lin asked Li Yunhai: "When will you come to Beijin? The demolition work here has been completed. Aren't you going to take charge of the overall situation?"

She missed Li Yunhai, but it was hard to say clearly.

Li Yunhai had just returned from Germany and wanted to take a good rest, but the Sihai Plaza project was too important. He would definitely go to attend the groundbreaking ceremony there.

This time he approached China Construction Third Engineering Bureau to cooperate.Founded in 1965, China Construction Third Engineering Bureau is a pioneer in my country's construction industry. It inherits the essence of Chinese craftsmanship, has built many landmark buildings at home and abroad, and has won many architectural awards.

What Li Yunhai wants to build is a century-old project with huge investment. Of course, he must hire the best construction engineering team.He looked at the calendar on the desktop and told Zhu Lin: "I will definitely go to Beijin. The groundbreaking ceremony there is scheduled to be held on April 4. That day is Saturday, and it is an auspicious day."

Zhu Lin smiled and said, "Okay then, I'll wait for you to come over."

Li Yunhai asked: "The courtyard is currently being renovated. Where do you live? Will you move back home?"

Zhu Lin's tone was full of affection and he said: "Yes, what else? Well, when you come here, I will go out to accompany you. Which hotel do you want to stay in? I will book a room for you first."

Li Yunhai said: "I'm used to staying at the Great Wall Hotel, so I'd better stay there!"

Zhu Lin said yes.

After Li Yunhai hung up the phone, he called Lin Zhenbang to tell him about the upcoming foundation laying of Beijin Sihai Plaza and invited him and other leaders to attend the ceremony.

Although the project is located in Beijin, Sihai Group is a company in Xizhou, and Lin Zhenbang can definitely attend the invitation.

Lin Zhenbang asked, who was attending this ceremony?
Li Yunhai said that Comrade Xixian happened to be in Beijing. We invited him and he agreed to attend.When I met him in Beidaihe, he said he would come.Since he has agreed to come, the other leaders will definitely come.

Lin Zhenbang said, let me go too!This is a big deal!
He pondered for a moment and said, "Yunhai, you and Xiaozhi are about to get married. There is one thing we need to discuss."

Li Yunhai asked: "Is it a rule that children cannot do business?"

Lin Zhenbang smiled and said: "You are indeed a smart man, you know the beginning and the end! Yes, you two were not married before, so you didn't have to abide by these rules. Now that you are getting married soon, we can't avoid this rule! This way Well, let’s go to your house in the evening and we’ll have an interview.”

After putting down the phone, Li Yunhai called home, spoke to Lin Zhi, and then came to the factory area.

Sihai Industrial Park has begun to take shape, and it is also the largest industrial park in the province.

In addition to Sihai Group's factories, there are many supporting companies in the surrounding area.

Shijia's PCB substrate factory is a Taiwan-funded company. It is the first Taiwan-funded enterprise introduced in the province. Both the provincial and municipal levels attach great importance to it. Lin Zhenbang once came to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony in person.

The factory is still under construction. Shi Wenyin stays at the construction site every day and stays at the Tianhua Hotel at night.

Li Yunhai found Shi Wenyin and asked, "Sister Shi, how long will it take for the PCB substrate factory to be put into production?"

Shi Wenyin was wearing a safety helmet and overalls. Even the simplest clothes could not hide her beautiful face, but she had a special flavor.

"It can be put into production in May!" Shi Wenyin said, "The steel-structured factory building we use is very popular in our Taiwan area. It is built using modular assembly."

Li Yunhai said: "You made it in Taiwan and then shipped it over?"

Shi Wenyin said: "Yes, so the cost is also very high. I don't know if there are any factories in this field in China? But it is still reliable to ship it from Taiwan."

Li Yunhai saw a little mud on her forehead and stretched out his hand to wipe it clean.

Shi Wenyin trusted him very much and did not dodge at all.

Li Yunhai spread his fingers to show her the mud on them: "You're a little dirty here."

Shi Wenyin smiled shyly: "Thank you."

Li Yunhai asked: "Are you still used to living here? Food and accommodation."

Shi Wenyin said: "It's okay. It's true that I don't feel comfortable staying in a hotel for a long time. I'm used to living at home."

Li Yunhai said: "Then buy a house here? You will need to work here for a long time anyway."

Shi Wenyin pointed at the construction site: "I stare here every day and don't have time to go out for a walk. Where can I find a better house in Xizhou? It would be best to have a villa like yours."

Li Yunhai said: "It seems that there are no villa groups developed yet. If you can't even sell a house worth tens of thousands of yuan a house, who would dare to build a villa and sell it?"

Shi Wenyin said: "Then why don't you build a villa group? I think urban villas, no matter which city they are in, are scarce resources and are worth investing in."

Li Yunhai said: "Real estate is not my main business."

Shi Wenyin said: "Shall we cooperate?"

Li Yunhai said: "Okay! Let's discuss this project slowly. Come to my house for dinner tonight?"

Shi Wenyin smiled and said, "Let's work another day. I'll work overtime here at night."

Seeing her working so hard, Li Yunhai had no choice but to give up.

He inspected the newly built chip factory.

The two second-hand photolithography machines purchased from overseas have not yet arrived, and the factory here has been prepared in advance.

Li Yunhai previously built tens of thousands of square meters of factory buildings to prepare for emergencies.

As for workers, he will recruit a group of people in advance for training and serve as reserve personnel.

Because the Sihai Group as a whole is in a period of rapid expansion, it basically opens one or two factories every year, requiring a large number of workers.

Nowadays, it is easy to recruit general workers, but it is still difficult to find high-end talents.

The university has not expanded its enrollment, and there are only so many graduates each year, all of whom are assigned jobs.

No matter how famous Sihai Group is, college graduates will not come.

Li Yunhai has scientific research cooperation with several key universities in the province, and can recruit a group of college students from them every year.

Because there are always people who agree with Sihai Group’s values ​​and are willing to dedicate their youth to my country’s office equipment industry.

A group of masters and PhD students like Ji Wenshu were all retained by Li Yunhai through scientific research cooperation.

After inspecting the factory, it was getting late.

Li Yunhai returned home early.

Lin Zhi knew that her parents were coming over for dinner in the evening, so she prepared a table of delicious food in advance.

After a while, Lin Zhenbang and Tang Yuxia came over.

The family sits and eats together.

Lin Zhenbang's family has a habit of not talking much during meals, let alone talking about things.

After dinner, Lin Zhenbang said to Li Yunhai: "After you get married, we will be a family. Now the country has regulations that officials at our level, children, and spouses cannot do business. What do you have to say about this? Where are the ideas?”

Lin Zhi said: "Dad, this rule is dead, but people are alive! Well, before Yunhai and I got along, he was an entrepreneur. You can't stop him from doing business just because you are an official, right?"

Tang Yuxia said: "The rules are the rules! What can we do?"

Lin Zhi said: "Otherwise, Yunhai and I won't get married for the time being? What if we wait until dad has served this term?"

Tang Yuxia smiled and said: "You are about to have a baby and you are not getting married yet? Isn't this a deception?"

Lin Zhi said: "What should we do? Are you being transferred? That's not good! In fact, Yun Hai and I have been a family for a long time. Marriage certificate or not, we are still together anyway. Yun Hai, don't you think so?"

Li Yunhai nodded calmly and said, "What Lin Zhi said is absolutely true."

Tang Yuxia said: "It's not that you are not allowed to do business, but you cannot do business in the same place as the cadres' families. This is to prevent the collusion between Quan and businessmen. Of course we must support it."

Lin Zhi said: "We don't get any care from you! Yunhai's success is all due to his own ability!"

Li Yunhai said: "Hey, don't say that, I have been taken care of by my uncle and aunt! For example, the booth at the Canton Fair, if it weren't for the care of the aunt, how could we have such a good booth?"

Tang Yuxia smiled and said: "This is not special care, it is what you deserve. However, in the eyes of others, I'm afraid they won't think so. I'm not afraid, I can apply for retirement in a few years. I don’t want to be this official anymore. It’s your dad, and this has a big impact.”

Li Yunhai asked: "What do you mean? We will listen to your arrangements!"

(End of this chapter)