293 The first is the sin of arrogance... (two in one)
On the eve of the ice core seeking to pass the review of the U.S. Department of Energy, Fang Zhuo held a final meeting with Goldman Sachs, PH Company, and the ice core equipment procurement team to identify and correct deficiencies and try not to make any low-level mistakes the next day.
The review materials required by the four major departments are the same, including development plans, commercial commitments, shareholder information, equipment details, etc.
Fang Zhuo has nothing to hide in this matter, and there is nothing that the transparent Bingxin needs to keep secret at this stage. On the contrary, he hopes that these administrative departments will see more of Bingxin's shareholder structure, including international capital.
Regardless of the Cayman Islands where it is registered, or the global shareholders of Goldman Sachs Group, Deutsche Bank, and DCM, these all prove that Ice Core CSMC is an international company, and it just chooses the factory production line in China.
This is the successful experience learned from SMIC, and it is also the failure lesson of domestic Huahong and Huajing. The latter’s state-owned elements are too conspicuous.
The right to approve the equipment purchase lies with the other party, and the minimum superficiality must be done in place.
Every cognition and progress comes at a cost, and just breaking the illusion requires a lot of cost.
The meeting this night did not last long, everything was checked repeatedly, and all three members had individual pre-reviews.
At ten o'clock in the evening, Fang Zhuoshu felt sleepy and had another phone call with Director Xiao Yu.
During this phone call, the two of them did not talk about the ice core review the next day, nor did they talk about their nervous emotions. They talked about small domestic news in a tacit understanding.
Yu Hong asked about the situation of Changhong in China. She saw Mr. Fang reading an email sent by Ni Runfeng, the head of Changhong, yesterday.
It's strange that the head of Changhong seems to have sent a company weekly report to his own boss.
"Changhong came to Lu, took control of Meiling, and wanted to transform liquid crystal technology. This matter was protested by the color tube company they had always cooperated with." Fang Zhuo knew the situation before and after Changhong, and he was very relaxed when talking about it, "Looking at the color tube company
Come on, this is undoubtedly Changhong’s betrayal of them, so there have been some twists and turns.”
Yu Hong asked: "Mr. Ni is seeking advice from you?"
"He is actually under a lot of pressure, including administration, internal business, partners, warehouse inventory, and various factors." Fang Zhuo said, "But I still think that Lao Ni needs to be tough and tough.
"
"Changhong's main contradiction is its future technological roadmap. If we grasp this point, other attempts to disrupt this direction must be suppressed."
Fang Zhuo first came to a conclusion and then said: "Inventory can be sold at a loss, color tube cooperative enterprises can reduce procurement by leaps and bounds, and technical personnel can be transferred to Luzhou in batches."
"Lao Ni is not tough now. When my overseas channels are normalized, people may have some ideas. This is also very important."
"The current opportunity is when I can provide the strongest help. After this village, it will be difficult for Lao Ni to be tough."
Yu Hong sighed: "Can Changhong Meiling produce LCD TVs this year?"
"According to Lao Ni's plan, Luzhou should be able to do it by the end of the year. Our ice core production capacity cannot keep up with this batch, but we can consider taking Changhong to talk with upstream manufacturers at the end of the year." Fang Zhuo couldn't help but said.
Next step for ice core extraction.
Then, he immediately stopped talking and said, "Let's see what tomorrow will be like."
Yu Hong felt a little heavy in her heart and said with a smile on the phone: "Okay, I'll call you tomorrow night and go to bed early. A rich man has come to this point, and he has fought against the administration of a superpower like the United States."
"Hey, I just want to be an honest businessman." Fang Zhuo said his heartfelt words and ended the phone call.
It was quite late, and he did not review his feelings about facing the critical approval on this trip. He fell asleep and recharged his energy for the meeting tomorrow morning.
The U.S. Department of Energy is located in the James Forrestal Building in southwest Washington.
Fang Zhuo and his party of five were going to visit the Office of Hearings and Appeals in the morning.
To be precise, they are going to attend an equipment procurement hearing of the Ministry of Energy today. The main content is Ice Core CSMC's factory equipment procurement and technology introduction qualifications in China.
Fang Zhuo actually didn't understand what this semiconductor manufacturing equipment had to do with the Ministry of Energy. Other national defense, state affairs, and commerce were pretty much on the sidelines, so why did the Energy Department insist on stamping its seal?
But that’s the process, everything must be in compliance.
The Hearings and Appeals Office is on the 6th floor.
At 8:50, a group of five people arrived at the office ten minutes early.
"Oh, the curling company's application, right? Wait a minute."
There were only two people in the office. One of them turned over the submitted application form with a hooked nose and took a look to confirm that it was not time yet.
The English name of the ice core company is Curling Corporation, where Curling means "curling sport".
The person in front of me didn't seem to read the application form carefully, or maybe he wasn't specifically responsible for this item. He just glanced at it and understood what he thought it meant.
Fang Zhuo watched helplessly as the hook-nosed man slowly returned to his seat with coffee and picked up the newspaper on the table. Suddenly, he felt a little more confident for no reason.
We are a curling company, why are we not allowed to buy equipment?
With a cup of coffee and a newspaper, the atmosphere quickly changed to a level that I could understand!
Or a lace newspaper!
Ten minutes seemed to go slowly but actually went very fast.
As soon as nine o'clock arrived, he put down the newspaper with an aquiline nose, pressed the intercom number again, waited for his two colleagues, and then politely asked Bing Xin and the other five people to move to the small conference room next door.
Fang Zhuo arrived at the conference room and watched helplessly as the hook-nosed man sat in the review position.
Then, he learned this person's name Wilson.
"What we submitted is Bingxin's application for equipment procurement and technology introduction for global semiconductor factories." Smith, Bingxin's current senior vice president, naturally introduced the situation and handed over a thick sheet of materials.
Fang Zhuo could clearly see that Wilson, who had a hooked nose, was stunned for a moment. Then he lowered his head to check the application form, and then looked through the materials, probably to confirm the equipment of the curling company.
Smith gushed over the ice core factory and mentioned his personal job change. He was once a vice president of Goldman Sachs.
From Goldman Sachs to Ice Core, I participated in the hearing today as one of the representatives. This is the advice given by PH Company, which is responsible for the procurement plan, in order to provide trust and endorsement.
If Fang Zhuo were to introduce the situation, even if his speaking was smooth, yellow skin would still not be as convincing as white skin.
Does this little trick work?
From Fang Zhuo's perspective, it seemed to be working. The hook-nosed Wilson nodded when he heard Smith's post.
Smith introduced the case for a full ten minutes, with the three white men in charge of the preliminary review occasionally interrupting to ask questions, and then they started writing and drawing.
When Smith came to an end, Wilson suddenly looked at Fang Zhuo with sharp eyes.
Fang Zhuo's heart tightened, his expression remained unchanged, and he was ready, all kinds of thoughts and preset answers were swirling in his mind.
"Is this Japanese?" Wilson asked a question.
Fang Zhuo's heart suddenly felt empty, and there seemed to be a surge of anger rushing to his forehead. On the first page of the application materials, there was an introduction to the company's shareholders, and his nationality was clearly written on it.
Why did the other party ask such a question?
Didn't you listen in the past ten minutes?
Or are you deliberately embarrassing yourself?
Fang Zhuo hesitated for two seconds.
Wilson looked at Smith, indicated with his eyes, and asked: "Can this Japanese communicate in English?"
Fang Zhuo was stunned and said in English: "Okay, okay, I'm from China and I'm also the chairman of Bingxin."
Wilson raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why do you want to build a factory in China?"
"Because the labor there is cheap." Fang Zhuo answered first, ready to change his tone and continue talking about reasonable reasons.
However, Wilson nodded, looked directly at Smith, and said, "Wait a minute, I'll submit these first."
After saying this, the hook-nosed man walked out of the conference room with a complete set of materials and application forms. The other two reviewers were busy writing, not sure whether they were recording or analyzing.
Fang Zhuo felt another breath holding in his throat. He still had a lot of business model analysis and reasons for building a factory for the development of the semiconductor market. Why did Wilson leave?
What are the next steps for a preliminary review?
Wilson looked very careless, a little more careless than Fang Zhuo expected.
The two reviewers finished their writing and asked Smith a few questions.
They didn't ask Fang Zhuo, nor the other three members.
Fang Zhuo suddenly felt so lonely while sitting in the conference room.
He, the chairman of a company who is dedicated to revitalizing China Semiconductor, has not received any attention at all. This is not an imaginary picture at all!
About half an hour later, Wilson with the hooked nose came back. He slapped the documents in his hand on the table and said politely: "Okay, it's over. I hope you gentlemen have a happy day."
Smith stood up with a smile, shook hands with Wilson and the two auditors, and took the document: "This review is very fast. I thought it would be tomorrow at the earliest."
Wilson shrugged: "Mr. Lawson happens to be in the office."
He corrected proudly: "It won't be tomorrow, we can get it done in the afternoon at the latest."
At this time, Wilson looked at Fang Zhuo, the Oriental boss whom he mistakenly thought was Japanese, and added some personal suggestions: "I don't think it is a good idea to open the factory to China. I wish you good luck, sir."
Fang Zhuo forced a smile, still a little unbelievable for a moment.
At 10:20 in the morning, it took only an hour and 20 minutes for the five people who attended the hearing to leave the James Forest Tower.
Fang Zhuo got into the car as usual, making sure that no one would see him, and almost grabbed the review document with the official seal of the U.S. Department of Energy from Smith's hand.
He looked at the red seal on it and murmured: "Why...why?"
Smith answered: "Deputy Chief Lawson happened to be in the office."
"No, no, I mean, this review seems too easy." Fang Zhuo raised his voice and turned the documents in his hand over and over, always feeling like they were fake.
"A factory in the far East wants to buy some equipment. Why does the Department of Energy want to obstruct it?" Smith laughed. "I never think the Department of Energy is a problem. The real obstacle may be the national defense. They are relatively more sensitive."
He continued: "Wilson also said that he doesn't think it is a good choice to build a factory in China."
Fang Zhuo felt his throat was a little dry and said with difficulty: "But Wilson is just the deputy director of the office. Can his opinions have such a big impact?"
Smith said seriously: "Fang, China is very backward."
He said calmly: "I also think that building a factory there is not a good choice. It is not a good business to pursue semiconductors in a backward place. If I were to make the investment business, Bingxin would not get it."
Goldman Sachs Investments.”
Fang Zhuo was silent.
After experiencing that era of fierce competition that stretched the bottom line, he suddenly realized that the United States' views and attitudes towards China at this moment were quite different from what he had imagined.
Although we also know that the United States' attention is focused on the global counterattack, this cognitive feeling is particularly real when we actually come into contact with the administrative staff of the Department of Energy.
Fang Zhuo took a breath and said in Chinese: "The first is the Ministry of Energy, which committed the crime of arrogance."
Smith didn't understand and asked, "What?"
"I said, it's not uncommon for a business that doesn't look good to be packaged and listed on the market. I'm confident." Fang Zhuo smiled and handed the documents in his hands to the two people in the ice core purchasing team. Their expressions were already worried.
The itching was unbearable.
Smith laughed and nodded repeatedly.
The review by the Ministry of Energy went surprisingly smoothly, which Fang Zhuo really didn't expect. He even expected that the next three departments would be like this.
He originally set aside a month for the review, which was signed by the four major departments. Who would have thought that a quarter of the progress would be completed in just half a morning.
A 3+5 small hearing, a deputy director of the office reviews and submits, and the deputy head of the department accepts the opinions and makes the final decision to pass.
Fang Zhuo suddenly felt as if all the power he had accumulated for a long time was empty.
At least mention your identity as the owner of the Rockets, at least talk about the New York Yankees schedule, at least talk about the actress scandal that just surfaced a few days ago.
There was nothing, and people probably didn’t even look at the application form carefully. They thought it was a curling-related company at first.
Why is this all for...
Just because people don’t think Eastern countries are a threat, just because they think a start-up company can’t change the situation.
The sealed and signed document from the Ministry of Energy returned to Fang Zhuo's hands.
He carefully put it away and asked Smith as if there was grass growing in his heart: "Then we will go to business in the afternoon?"
Smith shook his head and said: "According to the plan, we will go to the Hoover Building at the same time tomorrow morning. The Department of Energy does not manage this type of applications, but business is different. This is what they come into contact with on a daily basis."
The senior vice president of Bingxin said seriously: "You should be more mentally prepared for a business hearing. I think you can talk about the trend of globalization."
Fang Zhuo nodded deeply. He had prepared these for a long time. Today's preparations were useless, but the business affairs department responsible for international trade, import and export control, trade measures and other responsibilities...
Presumably they will be more serious about their sensitivity to semiconductor equipment and technology.
Fang Zhuo is mentally prepared for this.
only……
When he faced the business hearing the next day, Fang Zhuo really didn't expect that the first question he heard was from his competitor.
"Fang, what do you think of the dispute between SMIC and TSMC?"
