Under the leadership of Director Pan, everyone walked into the interior of a factory building on the east side.
The floor inside the venue is just ordinary cement, but it is very clean. It seems that a very thorough cleaning was carried out to welcome them as a group of Hong Kong businessmen. However, there are some places that are faded and cracked and there is nothing that can be done.
From the initial raw materials of cotton and nylon fabrics to yarn, to subsequent processing, printing and dyeing, shaping, and fabric drawing, these are the most basic fabric forming processes. This is rare in Hong Kong, with only a few companies. Specializing in these, most textile companies in Hong Kong mainly buy fabrics and process them into clothing.
Director Pan introduced everyone along the way, but it was just a walk around. People who are not professionals will not understand this at all. The real focus is actually the last process of the entire factory, which is garment making.
The garment workshop is an industrial building similar to Hong Kong's in the southernmost part of the factory. It has 4 floors. Obviously, the location of the No. 1 Textile Factory is good. Otherwise, it would be better to build it entirely on the first floor.
Although I don’t know where this place will be in Guangdong City in the future, judging from the density of the surrounding people, it will definitely be somewhere in the urban area.
"Are these military uniforms?" Chen Tinghua from Nanfeng Textile Group asked curiously as he looked at the pile of green coats in front of him.
"No, these are just similar in appearance to military uniforms, but they are actually for brothers in the northern provinces. People there need clothes to keep out the cold. You can take a look at this one. It is made of pure cotton inside. It is very comfortable to wear in winter. It's warm." Director Pan introduced with a smile.
"It's so heavy," a Hong Kong businessman said after picking up a military coat.
"Chongcai is warm." Director Pan smiled.
Chen Zhiwen also picked up a military coat. It was indeed very heavy, and the inside of the coat seemed to be made of thick cotton. It felt very material. He seemed to have been exposed to this kind of clothes when he was a child.
"What do you think, Mr. Chen? Can these clothes be exported to Europe and the United States?" Director Pan asked with great expectation and confidence.
"Exporting to Europe and the United States? Such clothes are not acceptable." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.
"Why? Winters in Europe and the United States are also very cold, right? People there should also need winter clothes, right?" Director Pan asked.
Domestic policies have begun to change in the past few years. In the past, as long as factories produced, there was basically no shortage of goods produced, and they did not need to worry about other things. But in the past two years, the authorities seem to encourage everyone to use their Products are sold abroad and exchanged for foreign exchange.
Director Pan originally didn't care, but a textile factory in the neighboring city imported a textile production line from Japan last year. The production capacity was four times that of the same type in their factory. The quality of the products was not bad, so he went over to take a look. Once, when I came back, I also wanted to import the same equipment from overseas.
It's just that his request was directly rejected by the province. The entire country does not have much foreign exchange, and each province can freely use even less. The same equipment has been imported once, and other factories have no excuses. It is impossible to buy another one.
However, the province also gave him a solution. As long as you can earn foreign exchange yourself, then the province will consider using half of the foreign exchange you earn to purchase overseas equipment after receiving the foreign exchange.
Guangdong is relatively close to Hong Kong. After learning that a group of entrepreneurs from Hong Kong were coming, Director Pan took the initiative to invite Hong Kong businessmen to his factory in order to seize this opportunity, especially since he had already received the information from his friends. Know the particularity of Chen Zhiwen's Galaxy Trade.
"Over in the United States, winter is indeed cold, but people still like lighter clothes." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.
"But how can these light clothes keep you warm?" Director Pan asked with some confusion.
"This is a matter of material technology. I'm not very professional, but it has a lot to do with the basic materials industry. Western winter coat manufacturing companies are all pursuing very light weight while ensuring warmth. Director Pan, you There are two pieces of clothing that have the same warmth-keeping effect. One is very heavy and the other is very light. Which one would you choose?" Chen Zhiwen asked.
"Light." After hesitating for a moment, Director Pan finally said his choice. He actually understood what Chen Zhiwen meant.
"This is everyone's instinct. No one likes the weight of their clothes. Therefore, Director Pan, if your products are to be exported to Europe and the United States, the weight of this winter coat must be reduced." Chen Zhiwen suggested.
Factory Director Pan then asked: "I know there are many winter coat manufacturers in Hong Kong. What kind of products do they make?"
"Their raw materials are basically imported from Japan. Recently, a textile factory called Berkshire Hathaway opened in Hong Kong and is now starting to make such products." Chen Zhiwen replied.
"It needs to be imported." Director Pan frowned and said.
"This should involve material issues. Director Pan's factory is very big and can carry out research and development in this direction. After I return to Hong Kong, I can send you some similar overseas down jackets. As long as you can make something almost similar, then I can consider placing some orders here," Chen Zhiwen said.
Although the textile industry is a light industry, there is still a lot of internal technical content. The degree of warmth directly affects the user experience. This is basically the decisive factor. Send this type of military coat to Costco. , it is estimated to be given free of charge, and customers do not necessarily want it.
Higher requirements also include waterproofing. When it rains on a good down jacket, the rainwater will slide down the clothes instead of seeping in and making the entire clothes wet. More advanced ones also have fire protection grade requirements. It’s not that fire prevention is really required, but that it is difficult to be attracted by flames. If it does get burned, it will also be required to burn very slowly, etc.
This is actually a test of the capabilities of basic industries, which have been required since petroleum refining. The basis for all light industries to continue to prosper is to have the research and development capabilities of heavy industries. Otherwise, they will be like Hong Kong, just a group of people making ordinary clothes. , the small assembly industry, even if the scale becomes climate, it is just working for the material factory.
Of course, the situation in China is much better. Since the early 1970s, China has spent an astronomical US$4.3 billion to purchase a large number of Western production lines. Petroleum smelting production lines solve material and energy problems, chemical fiber production lines solve clothing problems, and smelting plants solve steel problems. , Fertilizer production factory solves agricultural problems.
These are actually the foundation of reform and opening up. If the country cannot provide these basic raw materials, then we can only build some small factories with three to one supplement, which will never become a climate, and there will be no miracle of industrial development in the 1990s and even the 2000s.
But now, if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. These products simply do not meet the market needs of Europe and the United States.
"Okay, thank you very much, Mr. Chen." Director Pan said with some disappointment.
"Chen Sheng, since winter clothes are not suitable because of their weight, can we consider summer clothes?" asked President Liang on the side.
"Okay, let's go and have a look." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. Summer clothes are much simpler. The domestic chemical fiber production capacity has also increased, so there shouldn't be too much of a problem in this regard.
After spending an afternoon at the No. 1 Textile Factory, Chen Zhiwen looked at almost all of their products and approved a few of them, such as socks, short-sleeves, shorts, etc. However, he did not place an order on the spot, but gave a Verbal commitment, as long as the quality is good, the annual purchase amount will not be less than one million US dollars.
Next, people from Hong Kong Galaxy Trading will send relevant requirements or approve the styles here, and then send some samples to American supermarkets and related laboratories for testing. If there are no problems and customer feedback is good, then the next step will be When ordering.
Factory Director Pan and President Liang were very happy, as they had completed a small task.
In the next few days, President Liang took Chen Zhiwen and his team around several factories that made daily necessities. Chen Zhiwen didn't care. As long as the quality was suitable, we could discuss future cooperation.
Until the last day, Chen Zhiwen's verbal promise had already gone out to 5 million US dollars. With the Guangdong side still satisfied, Chen Zhiwen and all the members of the inspection team set off from the Guangdong Airport and went directly north to Yanjing.
This is an ordinary aircraft. Although it is chartered, the space is still set up by civil aviation, and the space is more crowded than the economy class in Hong Kong.
After being informed by the captain that it was safe, most people unbuckled their seat belts and started moving around with each other.
Nowadays, you can still smoke and drink on mainland planes. After a while, the cabin was filled with smoke. Chen Zhiwen, a non-smoker, couldn't stand it. He quickly walked to the corner. Although there was still the smell of smoke, it was much smaller. .
"Sheng Chen doesn't smoke?" A person came to Chen Zhiwen and asked with a smile.
Chen Zhiwen looked up and saw that it was Hu Yingxiang from Hehe Industrial, so he said, "Sheng Hu doesn't smoke either?"
"I used to smoke, but I got sick a few years ago and took the opportunity to quit. But now that I smell the smell of cigarettes, I feel so uncomfortable. If I want to smoke, I can only do this with Chen Sheng, hiding in the This way." Hu Yingxiang said with a smile.
"How many years have you been quitting? Is Hu Sheng really good?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. Whether in his past life or in this life, Chen Zhiwen has known some old smokers, and has heard countless calls to quit, but they will basically give up after a few days or a few months at most.
"My body needs it. If I were still young, I would definitely not be able to quit." Hu Yingxiang laughed and said, "Sheng Chen, what do you think after seeing those factories in Guangdong?"
“It can only be said that there is still a lot of room for improvement in technology, technology and understanding of products.” Chen Zhiwen said.
"Chen Sheng is really good at talking. His expression is very poor, but he can speak so nicely." Hu Yingxiang said with a smile.
"What about Hu Sheng's place?" Chen Zhiwen asked again. Hu Yingxiang came to see various infrastructure projects.
"It's very bad. Just in the urban area, many places don't have running water, and they still rely on well water or river water. I said at the time that I could donate money to build tap water pipelines, but the supporting officials didn't agree." Hu Yingxiang said.
"This is actually just a superficial problem. The fundamental reason is that industry is not very good. Otherwise, it wouldn't be like this." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said that poor industry is one of the main reasons for poverty in a society. With industries that can generate high added value Only the industrial industry can create more wealth. There are only a few countries like Switzerland that rely on finance. And even Switzerland used to have industries, such as mechanical watches, but in recent years it has only been beaten by electronic watches. I can take the high-end route.
"Yeah, actually I have an idea. I don't know much about industry, but no matter how developed the industry is, it still has to rely on logistics and transportation. Chen Sheng, you also saw our way to Guangdong before. If this is the case in China, The situation is such that it may be difficult for even industry to develop." Hu Yingxiang said.
"You don't want to build a road, do you?" Chen Zhiwen said in surprise. If it is true, then this Hong Kong infrastructure maniac actually had this idea a year before the reform, but it is right to think about this kind of large investment. , which is also the direction of long-term thinking.
"I want to build a road from Guangdong to Hong Kong, but I am not even allowed to donate a water pipe, let alone a road." Hu Yingxiang said with a smile: "Moreover, this is the first time I have contacted the mainland officials. When officials meet, if they say that I want to make a big investment or a big donation, they will definitely not dare to accept it."
"Indeed, a slap can't make a difference." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. This time he came to the mainland, he was actually just here to take a look. Even he would not invest directly. Besides, even if he wanted to invest, it wouldn't work now. It's okay to just do business. Now the country has begun to work hard to earn foreign exchange. This time I took the opportunity to get to know officials from several big cities or larger local companies, and established a stable cooperative relationship. Once the business is re-opened, it will be easier to get started.
"It's convenient for Mr. Chen, just place an order. It's a pity that I can't do business, otherwise I would like to try it." Hu Yingxiang shook his head and said.
"Why not? You don't understand the industry, and neither do I. I don't know anything about the internal knowledge of electronic products, nor do I know anything about the ingredients of drinks, but this does not hinder the achievements of Midea and Red Bull in Europe and the United States." Chen Zhiwen said: "Just like everyone They are all in real estate, who knows about architecture?”
"What Chen Sheng said makes sense, but it's just not suitable for people of my age." Hu Ying said with a smile.
Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said: "You don't need Hu Sheng to do it. You just need to invest money and let professionals do it. I can also give you some orders to ensure normal development in the early stage."
"Chen Sheng is not joking? But why is this?" Hu Yingxiang asked curiously.
"Modern society pursues division of labor and cooperation. No company can do everything, and some parts must be divided. If Hu Sheng is really interested, he may take this opportunity to try, but the profits in this industry are far less than Real estate." Chen Zhiwen said.
Midea pursues the entire industry chain in many key areas, and non-key areas will inevitably be outsourced. For example, in the early days of Midea's establishment, it used to injection mold the plastic parts of fans by itself. However, as the scale grew, it was outsourced to other companies. The company has done so. There is no injection molding workshop in Midea Industrial Park, and the same is true for other types of household appliances. In addition to plastic parts, this is also true for many metal parts and electronic parts.
"That's not bad. I have to thank Mr. Chen. I'll think about it again when I return to Hong Kong. As for the profit, it doesn't matter if it's a little lower. Anyway, I won't invest too much in the beginning. During the real estate crisis in the past two years, Hehe and I almost went bankrupt. , having one more industry means not putting all the eggs in the same basket, and doing industry may be more useful in the country in the future." Hu Yingxiang thought for a while and said.
"Okay, no problem. Not only Midea's industrial chain, but also Galaxy Trading has many overseas orders. Whichever one Hu Sheng likes is fine." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
During the real estate crisis of 1973, bankrupt real estate companies abounded. Even Hehe Industrial, one of the five real estate giants, almost went bankrupt. With this kind of psychological shadow, it is normal to want to diversify development. The reason why I intentionally gave these orders to Hu Yingxiang was actually because I wanted to do things that he would do in the future, such as building roads, bridges, and thermal power stations in China. Looking at the Chinese people in Hong Kong and overseas, I can count on one hand the number of people who can do this. .
Because of a large number of investment funds, Hehe Industrial basically gave up the huge profits of Hong Kong real estate and missed the status of Hong Kong's richest man in the future. However, if he handed over a large number of industries that he would not personally participate in to him, let Hehe Industrial really become An industrial giant is also a good choice. At least he will definitely invest in the mainland on a large scale in the early stage, and it can also reduce the procurement costs of Galaxy Trading or Midea.
"Yanjing is almost here. Everyone, please go back to your seats and fasten your seat belts." The flight attendant suddenly reminded loudly.
"We're almost there." Chen Zhiwen looked at the city below with almost no high-rise buildings, and his feeling was indescribable.
(End of chapter)
