Before the Spring Festival in 1984, the chemical industry system ushered in two major events. One was the completion and commissioning of the 5,000-ton polyester unit of Guoguang Chemical Company in Renqiao District, Shuinan Province, and the other was the 5,000-ton polyester plant of Canghua Vitamin Factory in Luping District, Maolin Province.
The vitamin C device was completed and put into operation.
Both sets of units have a production capacity of 5,000 tons, but the former is the smallest polyester unit in the country, while the latter is the largest vitamin C unit in the country. Both have the characteristics of filling gaps.
In addition, these two projects have another little-known thing in common, that is, they are both related to a college student named Gao Fan. At the same time, because of Gao Fan, both sets of devices were approved by the Ministry of Chemical Industry.
Vice Minister Zheng Linong's attention made him make a special trip to the south before the Spring Festival and attend the inauguration ceremony of the two projects non-stop.
"Xiao Gaofan, you did a good job."
After attending the inauguration ceremony of the vitamin C device and the subsequent banquet at the former site of Yanxiu Fertilizer Factory, Zheng Linong met Gao Fan at the Yanxiu County Guest House where he was staying and spoke to him in an appreciative tone.
Secretary Wu Zhefu brought a cup of tea to Gao Fan and placed it on the coffee table for him. Gao Fan thanked Wu Zhefu, and then smiled and said to Zheng Linong: "Minister Zheng praised me. In fact, I didn't do anything. I just took advantage of the situation.
That’s all.”
"Follow the trend, how do you say this?" Zheng Linong asked with interest.
Gao Fan said: "The small polyester in Shuinan was designed by Chief Engineer Pan, and the money was paid by more than a dozen township entrepreneurs from Renqiao. The most I did was lead them, and I didn't do anything else. As for us
The technology for this vitamin C device was developed by experts from the Institute of Microbiology, and the money was invested by the Hatch Group. I am also just a matchmaker.
"To say what I have done, it is nothing more than taking advantage of the general trend of the country's reform and opening up to introduce the right resources to the right places. Even without me, many things will happen naturally."
Zheng Linong said: "You can't say that. At the very least, Hutch Group's investment does not come out of thin air. You know how difficult it is for many departments to introduce foreign investment. Who like you can go abroad and bring it back?"
$25 million.”
Gao Fan said: "Hatch Group has actually always had the idea of investing in China. Bob Hatch went to the Canton Fair with investment motivation. Hatch Group is a very far-sighted company. They foresaw China's reform and opening up.
There will be great development in the future, so I want to plan ahead so as to catch the train of China's rapid development."
"Foreigners want to take a train from China. Only you, Gao Fan, dare to say that." Zheng Linong said with a smile.
In China in 1984, everyone was talking about how to get on the train of developed countries and let them take China with them. Gao Fan, on the other hand, said that the Hatch Group wanted to get on the train of China. This was a kind of arrogance.
If there had been the Internet back then, such comments would have been pulled out by countless "kneeling tribesmen" and whipped to death in public.
Zheng Linong himself also believes that China should ride on the train of developed countries. However, he is not disgusted with Gao Fan's arrogance. On the contrary, he appreciates it a bit. He can feel that Gao Fan has a kind of self-confidence that transcends the times.
This kind of confidence is what most people lack.
As an old man on the industrial front, Zheng Linong often said rhetoric such as "What foreigners can do, Chinese people can do too", but his rationality often forced him to face the reality, that is, China is indeed
In most areas, skills are inferior to others.
Zheng Linong is often torn between self-reflection and self-confidence. He has to remind himself not to get too hot-headed and to admit the gap.
However, in Gao Fan, Zheng Linong could not see the self-conscious mentality that most Chinese people often have when facing foreigners. Gao Fan believed from the bottom of his heart that China would definitely be able to catch up with foreign countries. No, to be precise, he was
I sincerely believe that China will definitely surpass other countries.
Zheng Linong sometimes feels that Gao Fan is a newborn calf and is not afraid of tigers, and is a bit too confident, but sometimes he vaguely hopes that Gao Fan's self-confidence is reasonable. After all, catching up with and surpassing developed countries is what Zheng Linong's generation has in mind.
Deep obsession.
"The development of Western countries has come to an end." Gao Fan said calmly, "Americans and Europeans alike now have a rich mentality. They are used to making easy money and are no longer willing to endure hardship and hard work.
"The U.S. economy is rapidly deindustrializing. Everyone is talking about finance and venture capital. They want to use money to make money and let people from other countries engage in manufacturing. Americans only need to sit in an air-conditioned room, drink coffee and collect dividends.
.
"The same is true for Europeans. Take the vitamin C device we just put into production. Lowe's invested US$12 million to buy out the global process license for the two-step fermentation process for the next ten years, just to prevent others from using it.
technology rather than using it themselves. The root cause is that they currently have a monopoly and do not want to change.
"European and American countries act with this mentality, and a comprehensive recession will happen in the next 20 years. By then, if they want to take China's express train, it will depend on whether we agree or not."
"I hope what you said makes sense." Zheng Linong said with a wry smile. The scene described by Gao Fan was so beautiful that he couldn't believe it.
However, the example of the two-step fermentation method cited by Gao Fan is quite convincing. After Lowe's signed a patent licensing contract with the Institute of Microbiology, it did not take any substantive action, thus confirming Gao Fan's previous prediction.
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"By the way, Xiao Gao, your vitamin C device has been put into production. Do you have any prospects for future sales? I heard your director Xu reported to me that all the products of Canghua Vitamin Factory will be exported, which means you are going to grab
The market for Lowe's Pharmaceuticals is already in the market, can you really seize this market?" Zheng Linong brought the topic back to practical issues.
Gao Fan said with a smile: "It's not that serious. Lowe's Vitamin C sales are 50,000 tons a year, but we only have 5,000 tons, which is equivalent to 1/10 of Lowe's. We can't say we are stealing its market."
"Lowe's adopts a hunger marketing approach in the market, always maintaining a certain gap in the market in order to maintain the sales price of its products. This is particularly obvious in the U.S. market.
"We are initially considering focusing on the US market and selecting companies that are dissatisfied with Lowe's for sales, and the Hatch Group has also played a lot of roles in this.
"Although our vitamin C device has just been put into production, the orders on hand can already absorb the production capacity for the next six months.
"The world has been suffering from labor for a long time, and the arrogant American capitalists are all looking forward to the opportunity to kick his ass."