On December 11, 2001, China officially joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) and became its 143rd member.
There was a lot of news and there was a lot of celebration in the country.
However, a considerable number of people do not know exactly what the WTO does. This has nothing to do with the amount of information obtained. It is just that it is difficult to judge the direction of change of the situation.
For example, Wang Shi, president of Vanke Group, who is already a leader in domestic real estate, predicted that housing prices will drop by 15% after joining the WTO.
Just over four months later, regardless of the concept of the WTO, the interpretation of WTO tariffs, and the influence of experts’ talk, a specific case related to the WTO was quietly placed on the desks of the media.
On April 27, 2002, an American newspaper published "Apple may sue Huaxia Yike for dumping and submit it to WTO arbitration."
American newspapers, Chinese enterprises, and arbitration under the WTO system.
If you look into it carefully, the American newspaper is just a tabloid, and Apple's "possibility" is just a speculation. However, many media do not care about these, and portal websites already have the pursuit of hot spots in their genes.
Shencheng Yike, Fang Zhuoyike, the "RIAA infringement litigation" involved in these words is in the ascendant, and the turmoil has become more intense in the blink of an eye, which is really eye-catching.
Employees from Lenovo Group's public relations department can add fuel to the flames of RIAA infringement, so they will naturally not let go of more serious negative news from competitors.
However, the person in charge of the public relations department was also a little confused. The reports related to Yike seemed to be more intense than expected.
At the same time, on the 23rd floor of Shanghai Hang Lung, the Yike Marketing Department held a small meeting.
Vice President of Marketing Li Lan held the newspaper in his hand, browsed the website, and sighed.
"It's not enough. The boss said it wasn't enough and asked him to become a model."
"Intensify."
Li Lan repeated with some sadness and anger: "Increase the intensity!"
He never thought that one day, the goal of marketing would be negative for the company. Can marketing still play like this?
This is not mathematics. Is it really possible to make a positive from a negative?
Chu Hua, another vice president of the marketing department, couldn't help but said: "Li Lan, are you pretending to be an imperial edict? I'll call Mr. Fang!"
Chu Hua suspected that the man in front of him who was half a level older than him was a mole!
Human Resources Director Su Wei, who was sitting firmly in the main seat of the conference room, spoke up: "No need to call, it's Mr. Fang's request."
Chu Hua glanced at the HR director who recruited him with suspicion. Well, if he hadn't been a shareholder, he would have doubted what was going on.
Su Wei continued: "This matter is kept secret. Besides, have you noticed? It seems that we are not the only ones adding fuel to the fire."
Li Lan and Chu Hua nodded at the same time. It was indeed the case. When they secretly introduced reports from American tabloids, they actually discovered that someone was also carrying out similar actions in the public relations media.
Li Lan pondered: "It can't be friendly forces, right? Mr. Fang acts like an antelope with his horns hanging on his horns."
"Definitely not." Chu Hua asserted, "The public opinion a while ago was not quite right. The shopping mall is like a battlefield, and there are people who are causing trouble."
The impact of public opinion is immediate.
Not only word of mouth, but also dealers have slowed down their purchases for fear of losing the goods.
"Just follow Mr. Fang's wishes." Su Wei's mood was very stable. If the positive effect was not good, she would still be worried, but Fang Zhuo started to take the opposite direction, and her heart suddenly calmed down.
Li Lan and Chu Hua looked at each other and nodded.
Soon, more media reports came out. They were either unscrupulous publications with a knife to the neck, or they were just a hot topic that followed the trend.
However, print media are more cautious after all. Newspapers only publish a small section, while portal websites simply publish a series of reports.
Two days later, Su Wei saw the names of Sina, Sohu and other online media downstairs at Yike. She could only smile bitterly, wave her hands to refuse the interview, quickly walked into her car and drove away.
In the afternoon alone, a headline appeared on the portal website, "Yike Women Are Always Reluctant to Face the Camera."
Su Wei called Fang Zhuo angrily and urged him to return home quickly.
Not only because of media reports, but also because the bank asked about the situation. Although it didn't say about withdrawing loans, this has sent a bad signal.
Of course, Yike's capital flow is very healthy. Even if it withdraws loans, it will not be affected. But what if ICBC pledges part of its equity?
This cannot be ignored.
"Okay, okay, I just arrived in New York. Lao Xiong just called me. Don't worry, I have contacted CCTV for an interview." Fang Zhuo's voice came from the phone. He has been communicating with the country.
.
Su Wei asked: "Didn't you say a few days ago that CCTV was not available?"
"A few days ago, this matter involved the WTO. It started to ferment. It would be a big event." Fang Zhuo said, "If Apple can really submit to arbitration, this will be the first arbitration case under the WTO. It will make history.
Leave your name."
Su Wei said angrily: "Don't let Apple people see it, and then you really do something like this. That's not leaving a name in history, it's being infamy for thousands of years."
"Don't be afraid, the law firm has already given its opinion that this does not constitute dumping at all, so where is that?" Fang Zhuo gave a very strict evaluation before and after.
Su Wei sighed: "I have learned a lot this time. Some media really have no ethics."
"It's not bad, it's not like I'm treating my words as a foreign report and then transferring it to the country. This is a real American newspaper certification." Fang Zhuo said with a smile, "However, we should understand foreign reports correctly."
call ended.
The president has basically made plans to return to China.
However, public opinion continued to ferment. A report from the Yangcheng Evening News shocked everyone at Yike, not only because of its wide influence, but also because of its harsh wording.
For a Chinese company to risk the world's disapproval is to tarnish China's overseas image and is a disgrace to China's WTO development.
For a time, there was a lot of discussion in the company, but Su Wei issued an order that "no interviews will be allowed, and those who violate it will be fired." Yi Ke was quite panicked.
As for another public relations firm that secretly fueled the situation, when they saw the words of the Yangcheng Evening News, they felt that this time it was stable. Yike's brand would definitely be greatly affected, and it might even bring about a chain reaction in the capital chain.
As for these methods of influencing the media, if a fly doesn't bite the egg, who will cause problems for Yike?
On the day when the "Yangcheng Evening News" report came out, Fang Zhuo, the group president who had officially changed the VIE structure to Yike Group, embarked on a flight back to China.
He was urged to return home by phone calls one after another.
At first it was Xiong Xiaoge, then Xu Xin from Capital Today, then Wang Fengyi from Shenxin Technology, then Zhou Xin from Guahao.com, and finally Liang Qihua from Xiangjiang Huanyu who had just completed Series A financing.
Liang Qihua was in the most depressed mood.
He seemed to have had a dream. It was so beautiful before, but suddenly it turned into a nightmare.
"Mr. Fang, please go back to China quickly. You Yike never clarified. What nonsense is dumping? Is that dumping?"
"Mr. Fang, you can't delay this kind of thing. Foreign markets are important, but isn't your domestic business fundamental?"
"Come back, come back."
Liang Qihua's phone call, which seemed to summon a spirit, was not the last straw for Fang Zhuo to decide on his itinerary. He received an extremely unexpected call from Lin'an's old leader Qiu Di.
The old leader happily cared about the development of his career and only said at the end that he was welcome if he needed anything.
The content of this phone call was not unusual. What surprised Fang Zhuo was another discovery during the call. The spirit of Lao Qiu's voice this time was completely different from when he visited during the Spring Festival.
Isn’t his political career over?
Fang Zhuo did not speculate too deeply and just booked a flight back to China.
On May 3, 2002, at 8:30 in the morning, a flight from New York landed at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
Fang Zhuo returned to Shanghai alone.
Just two and a half hours later, Fang Zhuo, President of Yike Group, accepted a special interview with CCTV at his President's Office. This interview will be broadcast on the May 4th Youth Day tomorrow.
Xiong Xiaoge worked hard for this channel, not only looking for Hu Meng, but also looking for leaders of other units.
It also happened that the May 4th Youth Day was approaching, and Fang Zhuo was the right age, so he decided to participate in the interview for the special program.
CCTV.
This time it’s not CCTV Finance.
It is commonly known as CCTV One, and its full name is CCTV Comprehensive Channel.
Although it is not ranked high among central media, due to the widespread popularity of television, its influence can be called a mouthpiece together with the People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency.
There is no more suitable channel for pronouncing pitch than a mouthpiece.
Fang Zhuo had already received a call from a CCTV reporter before boarding the plane and expressed some positive opinions before finalizing the interview.
He had never thought that he could actually invite this great god, and the plan he made was more of a counterattack from the Internet and the general media, which was an unexpected surprise.
"Fang Zhuo, what do you think of the turmoil in Yike?" The reporter did not overwhelm the guest, and fully gave up space to the president of Yike, who has returned home after a long career.
Fang Zhuo showed his preparation.
"Yike is now facing two problems. One is being accused of infringement, and the other is being accused of dumping arbitration."
"Let me talk about this arbitration first. Just like the literal meaning, it is a mechanism for resolving international trade disputes. Because Yike products sell well overseas, and our country has just joined the WTO, so in order to ensure legality, we specially found the best arbitration agency in New York.
The well-known Cadwalader law firm issued an opinion letter.”
"Yike does not constitute dumping and has a legitimate competition relationship with Apple."
Fang Zhuo showed the opinion letter issued by the law firm in his hand.
"Going back to what I just said, the mechanism for resolving international trade disputes. Please note that this sentence does not have a positive or negative connotation. It is a normal description."
"Many people, and even many media outlets, take the wind as the wind and immediately urge their own companies to reflect upon it as soon as they hear about the dispute. I think this is wrong and has a very negative impact."
"Disputes are inevitable in trade transactions. Chinese enterprises cannot be naturally afraid of arbitration. Instead, they should actively use the WTO mechanism to fully protect their legitimate rights and interests."
Fang Zhuo talked freely: "I saw 'Made in China' printed on many products in New York, but I think many people are still very sensitive psychologically."
"Oriental culture values modesty, but international trade places more emphasis on rules. The arbitration mechanism is a type of rule. Don't demonize it or sanctify it. It is a tool for our business."
The CCTV reporter couldn't help but nod. It was because of such positive expression that the station decided to conduct this interview, and the mouthpiece had to take on the responsibility of leading the direction of public opinion.
"In terms of products, we need to go abroad, and psychologically we need to go abroad, and we need to establish a belief in self-confidence and self-improvement." Fang Zhuo changed the topic and picked up an English newspaper, "Speaking of which, does Apple really think that Yike is dumping? I am.
I have been in New York for months and have never heard of this situation at all.”
"I read some reports from the domestic media, and the American newspaper quoted was the Jinshan Post. The problem is that this is a small newspaper and has no credibility at all."
"I have never seen anything like this reported in other newspapers."
Fang Zhuo spread his hands and said innocently: "I think the domestic media still need to be cautious, because their reports will affect the company's brand, especially for a company that is committed to going overseas to build a global brand."
"Now it's like a major domestic newspaper suddenly quoted the contents of a class newspaper created by a school class. It's very funny."
The CCTV reporter nodded again. She took the "Jinshan Post" and looked at it. She found that the report about Yike in this newspaper was very small.
Fang Zhuo took a breath and said again: "It is easy to clarify the matter of Apple's submission to WTO arbitration because it is false, but it is difficult to clarify the infringement lawsuit between RIAA and Yike because it does exist."
He continued to pull out two English lawyer's letters, handed them to the CCTV reporter, and said: "Here are two lawyer's letters, one sent to us by the RIAA, and one sent to it by us."
"It says we infringe, I say it hinders the development of digital music."
"Looking through the domestic media, I only saw reports about the former, and no one mentioned our counterclaim against the RIAA. I think this is very unfair."
"Not only RIAA, but also SESAC, they are all filing lawsuits, but they are not only suing Yike, but also suing Apple. Now Yike and Apple are in the same trench."
Fang Zhuo smiled: "So, when I saw the report that Apple submitted for arbitration, I found it funny. Isn't this a rumor?"
"Whether there is an infringement or not, this is a matter of legal process. There is no finality at all. As I just said, don't be too sensitive and feel bad when you see a lawsuit. This is the 21st century!"
"Legitimate rights and interests must be maintained in accordance with the rules, and Yike remains tough on this point."
Fang Zhuo continued to take out a piece of information and showed it to the camera: "According to the law firm's assessment, the RIAA is very likely to lose the lawsuit because it once filed an infringement lawsuit against a Korean brand and also failed."
"On this occasion of May Fourth Youth Day, under the guidance of the 'May Fourth Spirit', I would like to raise a question: How do our domestic enterprises face the business environment under the WTO system?"
“Is our progress just covering our ears when we see the lawsuit and saying, ‘I was wrong, I was wrong’?”
"Is our science just seeing the English media participating in the attack on their own companies as if they have obtained a treasure?"
"No, that's not the case."
Fang Zhuo held up all the previously displayed materials in a fan shape in front of his face, faced the camera, and said firmly: "Under the WTO system, we must actively participate in international trade, and we must also be good at using reasonable rules to safeguard our rights and interests."
"In the face of unreasonable blackmail, we must actively respond and even accuse the other party in turn."
"Our enterprises must be confident and self-reliant, rather than being submissive and willing to sink."
"Please believe in Yike, and please support Yike."
Fang Zhuo put down the materials and nodded slightly: "At the same time, I also want to ask the country to pay attention to improving relevant laws and management to protect the development of enterprises."
He smiled at the end and provided the topic of the CCTV program: "This is my May Fourth Youth Day. I am Yi Ke Fangzhuo. Thank you everyone."
Chinese enterprises dare to speak out.
The youth of the May 4th movement were enlightened and enlightened.
This chapter has been completed!