Chapter 90

Lin Qiangsheng took out a notebook from his bag, flipped to a page, and handed it to his father.

Lin Xiangrong took it with a puzzled look and saw the large title, saying, "One Industry, One Province!"

He looked at his son and asked, "What is this?"

Lin Qiangsheng said, "I think our province has a good industrial foundation and a relatively complete industrial system. We can rely on the province's industry to establish a large automotive industry cluster, using the automotive industry as a link! From a point to a surface, creating a聚合 effect, developing technology-intensive enterprises. We can develop our own automotive industry better! It's not impossible, it's very possible!"

Lin Xiangrong nodded and said, "It sounds very interesting! The goal is quite big!"

Lin Qiangsheng spoke with a high-pitched voice to his father, "This is called 'One Industry, One Province,' using the construction of one industry to drive the entire province's industry and even the economy, utilizing the development of the automotive industry to form a strategic industrial structure! Building our own automotive kingdom!"

"As long as we leverage our province's advantages and skillfully borrow strength, the domestic automotive industry will surely make significant progress in a short time!"

Lin Xiangrong lowered his head and carefully read the article his son had written. The content was about taking advantage of this overseas inspection to observe the scale of foreign automotive companies, imitating their layout, and building an automotive industry base near the current factory, attracting excellent industrial enterprises within the province to develop together and grow stronger.

At the same time, during this visit, it would be best to find an internationally renowned automotive company to form an alliance and cooperate.

Lin Xiangrong asked with a puzzled look, "How do we cooperate with foreign car factories?"

Xu Hongmei, seeing the father and son chatting, got up and went back to the room, took out her water cup, filled it with water, and brought it over.

Lin Qiangsheng said, "Dad, do you know that our central leadership is seeking cooperation with world-renowned automotive companies?"

Lin Xiangrong shook his head in confusion and asked, "What's the situation? What have you heard?"

Lin Qiangsheng thought for a moment and said, "It was probably last year. Our country sent out invitations to many foreign automotive companies, seeking cooperation. The central government hopes to obtain technology and equipment, as well as foreign capital support. Our domestic leaders hope that the automotive industry can keep up with foreign standards, achieving full automation production as seen by Deng Lao at Nissan's Sagamihara factory, using high technology to develop our own automotive industry. The leaders hope to make the automotive industry a key national industry!"

Lin Xiangrong said, "That sounds quite difficult! Have the foreign automotive companies responded?"

Before going abroad, the province had also issued a booklet introducing the situation of the countries to be visited. Lin Xiangrong knew some of the internationally renowned companies.

Lin Qiangsheng said, "Relevant domestic departments have had contact and negotiations with major global automotive groups. The German Vokses Auto is the only company that fully accepted the cooperation conditions proposed by the domestic government."

"The central government's conditions were technology transfer and cash investment. The German Vokses Auto company accepted these conditions and began negotiations with domestic departments at the end of last year!"

Lin Xiangrong nodded and said, "So that's how it is! If you hadn't told me, Dad wouldn't have known about such a big deal!"

He looked at Lin Qiangsheng with a puzzled look and asked, "How did you know about this information?"

Lin Qiangsheng said, "I'm in college now! In college, there are people from all over the country, so naturally, there's more information!"

Lin Xiangrong nodded and didn't pursue the source of his son's information.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Since the domestic conditions for technology and capital have been set, how do we negotiate? These conditions are so high, will the foreigners be willing to cooperate?"

Lin Qiangsheng clapped his hands and looked at his mother, Xu Hongmei, who was looking at him and gave him an encouraging smile.

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said to his father, "That's exactly what I want to say! Technology and capital are currently too far out of reach for us! Our scale is not as large as the central government's, and our appeal is not enough. So we need to take another path!"

Lin Xiangrong asked curiously, "The central government has set the tone, what other path can we take?"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "We can take the path of international division of labor and cooperation!"

Lin Xiangrong picked up a pen and wrote it down, then asked, "What is international division of labor and cooperation? Can we still divide labor and cooperate with foreigners?"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "Why not? As far as I know, the light industry processing capacity in Hong Kong is very strong, especially in clothing and shoe manufacturing. Many textile and shoe companies in Hong Kong produce clothing and shoes for foreign manufacturers. These products are exported to foreign countries and then sold under foreign brands. This is called international division of labor and cooperation, where Hong Kong is responsible for production, and foreign countries sell under their brands!"

Lin Xiangrong and Xu Hongmei were extremely surprised. Lin Xiangrong asked in shock, "Are there really such companies? The products they produce can't use their own brands!"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "There are such companies!"

Xu Hongmei couldn't help but ask, "Isn't this exploitation by foreigners?!" She thought for a moment but couldn't find the right words to describe her feelings.

Lin Qiangsheng told his mother, "Of course, in the entire process, upstream companies inevitably have an advantage! Manufacturing companies only earn a small processing fee, while foreign companies use their sales and brand advantages to dominate. They earn a large amount of profit! But this is unavoidable; factories need to operate, and workers need to eat! Even with such low processing fees, Hong Kong's manufacturing industry has developed significantly. The average wage of workers in Hong Kong is 100 times that of domestic workers! Domestic workers earn an average of 20 yuan per month, while Hong Kong workers earn 2000 yuan per month!"

Lin Xiangrong was thoroughly shocked and asked in surprise, "2000 yuan? You must be mistaken!"

Xu Hongmei also asked in surprise, "2000 yuan, is that really so much? My husband and I together only earn 140 yuan per month! No wonder Qiangdong said that their unit often has missions to capture people fleeing to Hong Kong! People fleeing to Hong Kong, right? Hong Kong workers earn 2000 yuan per month, and the difference between us and them is so great!"

Lin Xiangrong looked at Xu Hongmei and said, "Enough, don't talk about this in front of the son! If others hear, they might think we're leaking military secrets!"

Xu Hongmei glared at her husband and said, "What's there to be afraid of! If they can earn 2000 yuan, why can't we talk about it!"

Lin Xiangrong waved his hand and continued to ask Lin Qiangsheng, "The division of labor and cooperation you mentioned, is it about making cars for foreigners and putting their brands on them? Who will they sell to? Foreigners?"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled bitterly and said, "Dad, how could that be! Our factory's technical capabilities and product quality do not meet European standards. To sell to foreigners, we need to make adjustments and modifications. We can't produce complete cars now, but we can produce car blanks and parts, then transport them to Europe to be assembled with foreign power systems, electronic systems, and other equipment. This way, we can use our low labor costs to our advantage and cooperate with international car manufacturers. This will force our car factories to improve production quality and technical capabilities, and we might just find a short and effective path for the development of the automotive industry!"

Lin Xiangrong thought for a moment, then sighed and wrote on the notebook, "Low labor cost advantage! Division of labor and cooperation production! Forced improvement!"

After discussing, the father and son began to look for suitable automotive companies to seek cooperation. They first selected three companies in France: Citroën, Peugeot, and Renault, then other European companies such as Fiat, German Vokses Auto, Swedish Volvo and Saab, and British Leyland Motors.

Among these companies, Lin Qiangsheng was more optimistic about French and British companies. The Germans preferred to cooperate with ZF and were ambitious about entering China. No matter what, they would be important competitors in the future, and it would be a long-term competition. They would avoid them rather than seek them out!

After the discussion, Lin Xiangrong immediately went to find Zhou Jianjiang to help write letters inviting these manufacturers to discuss cooperation.

Lin Qiangsheng looked at his watch; it was almost seven o'clock. He quickly tidied up and prepared to go find the French girl.

At this moment, his mother came over and asked, "Qiangsheng, where are you going? We're just discussing what to eat. Where are you going?"

Lin Qiangsheng grabbed a takeout phone, made a call, and said to his mother, "Mom, I ordered pizza and Italian pasta. You all eat this! Try the food that foreigners often eat, and enjoy it! Put it on my tab, I'll treat you!"

Seeing her son run out in a hurry, Xu Hongmei said in confusion, "What pizza and pasta, spending money recklessly again!"

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