Chapter 411 The exporting country to be conquered first
"Come in."
"yes!
"How about Lao Li? Isn't the young comrade I introduced you good?"
Tourism Director Lu Xuzhang led Jiang Shan into the office of the Ministry of Foreign Trade with a smile.
Li Qiang, who was smiling at the corner of his mouth, did not answer the other party's words, but pointed to the TV in the room and said: "Have you watched the program on Pujiang TV Station?"
"I don't have time to watch TV these days. The underground hotel project has just been approved and I'm busy going through the procedures."
This is a set of large rooms that connect the office and the living room.
After Jiang Shan entered the door, he accompanied the two leaders and sat on the sofa in the living room.
On the wall facing him were several photos of important agendas of units under the Ministry of Foreign Trade.
"You must take the time to watch the show I'm talking about," Li Qiang continued.
"Really?" Lu Xuzhang looked at Li Qiang curiously: "What program did you watch and actually recommended it to me?"
After looking at each other silently for a few seconds, Li Qiang knocked the cigarette in his hand: "Do you still remember those days when you and I were in Pujiang?"
Lu Xuzhang: "I will never forget it in my life."
"In Jiangshan's documentary," Li Qiang looked at the other party: "There are a lot of shots of your Asia Building!"
"A documentary about Jiangshan?" Lu Xuzhang looked back at Jiangshan: "Xiaojiang, can you still make documentaries?"
"Do you still remember the movie "The Wave of Forever"? My movie is about the prototype character of this movie."
"Oh," Li Qiang understood: "Is it the task assigned to you by Minister Li?"
"Two months ago, I helped Pujiang Dance Theater choreograph a dance about underground workers.
After Ministry Li found out, he asked me to increase my influence..."
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Lu Xuzhang moved "Guangda Hua Bank" back to Shanghai.
According to Lu Xuzhang's consistent style, the most prosperous Asia Building at One on the Bund naturally became the office building of China Bank.
"When I told him at the time, I thought he just published a few articles in the newspaper," Li Qiang said:
"I didn't expect that this guy actually organized a big battle for me. He invited Chen Qiang, Pan Hong, Liu Xiaoqing, and even Sun Daolin."
Lu Xuzhang: "Well, then I'll have to find the film and take a good look at it later."
Jiangshan: "Do you still know about Pan Hong and Liu Xiaoqing?"
"I'm kidding," Li Qiang flicked the ash from his cigarette: "I don't even know about these two lesbians, how can I engage in import and export trade?"
"Yes, yes," Jiang Shan smiled: "I forgot, you two are both people who keep pace with the times."
"Stop flattering,"
Seeing Jiangshan again after many months, Lu Xuzhang was in a very happy mood:
"By the way, Lao Li, I heard from Jiang Shan that you asked him to report here?"
"Well, I do have something to do with Jiangshan,"
After Li Qiang said that, he stood up and walked into the inner room: "Speaking of which, this matter has something to do with your tourism bureau!"
"Is it related to our tourism bureau?" Director Lu smiled: "I seem to have guessed what it is."
When Li Qiang came out again, Jiang Shan had an extra folder in his hand.
Jiang Shan, who didn't ask any questions, silently opened the document.
The first thing that catches the eye is the endless vineyards.
"Xiaojiang,"
Li Qiang looked at Jiang Shan who was looking through the information:
"More than two months ago, when Lao Lu first mentioned you to me, I really didn't think about it.
Until in Pujiang, I heard that you single-handedly resolved the external order crisis of Phoenix Forever Bicycle.
That’s why I decided to ask you to give it a try.”
Jiang Shan pointed at the picture and looked at Li Qiang: "Are you planning to do wine export trade?" Li Qiang nodded: "In 1972, when Nicolson visited our country, there were two things that particularly concerned us.
One is a mysterious black suitcase he is holding in his hand, and the other is a sentence he said."
"At that time, the prime minister was very interested in the black box. After inquiring about it, he found out that it was actually a set of mobile satellite ground station terminals,"
Lu Xuzhang took over the topic: "Xiao Jiang, do you know what that means?"
Jiang Shan nodded.
For this little thing, the most beloved great man issued the last instruction in his life in 1974. Eleven days later, he was admitted to the 305 Hospital.
"The more curious we were at that time, the more excited Nicoson became," Li Qiang continued:
"When he was finally happy, he said: I might as well leave this equipment to you.
The Prime Minister laughed when he heard this: I think you should sell it to us."
Jiang Shan asked curiously: "They agreed?"
Li Qiang nodded: "In the end, this black box was indeed bought by our country, but Xiaojiang, do you know that our country still does not have communication satellites until now."
In 1972, Nicolson broke the ice and visited China!
The leaders of China announced that they would donate a giant panda to the United States.
Nicholson promised to give back a pair of musk oxen and brought a coordinate map of the sunken shipwreck of the "Awa Maru" containing 20 tons of gold.
At the same time, if you have nothing to do, you can carry a black box and show it around!
"I can't help you with this." Jiang Shan only remembered one piece of news, the news that our country's first communication satellite was successfully transmitted in 1984.
"I don't expect you to help me with this," Li Qiang chuckled, "Besides, even if you want to help, no one dares to let you go."
"Don't worry, Xiao Jiang," Lu Xuzhang said with a smile:
"After Nicolson left, the Prime Minister issued a research and development order. Unfortunately, until now, this communication satellite has not been successfully developed."
After a few seconds of silence in the room.
Jiang Shan asked: "Then... what is the second thing?"
"In 1972, Nixon once said this to our country's leaders at a dinner:
China is very big, but there are no modern girls in China, and there is a lack of delicious wine,”
Li Bu looked at Jiang Shan: "You know, Xiao Jiang, that time the American delegation came to our place, they brought several boxes of wine with them."
"So, you received an order to develop wine?"
"I gave COFCO an order at that time to develop dry white and dry red that meet international standards no matter what,"
After lighting up a cigarette, Li Qiang slowly exhaled a thin wisp of smoke:
“Actually, COFCO had already produced a batch of wine a few years ago, and France ordered a batch with the intention of giving it a try.
But they soon regretted it and insisted that the Chinese did not know how to make wine.
I would rather pay a penalty than return the wine."
"I was so angry at that time," Li Qiang snorted:
“After unremitting efforts, COFCO finally successfully brewed it in 1978.
my country's first bottle of dry white wine that meets international standards began mass production last year..."
Everyone knows that in that era, our country never had sufficient foreign exchange.
In order to increase foreign exchange income, some leaders have been thinking that "selling grain is not as good as selling wine".
In 1976, "Research on New Technology of Dry White Wine" was listed as a key scientific research project.
In 1979, China’s first dry white, Great Wall Dry White, was born in Huailai, Hebei.
By 1980, COFCO Great Wall Sanggan Winery, the closest winery to Yanjing, was already quite large.
Three years later, this COFCO winery will become the famous Great Wall Winery of China.
After talking about this, Li Qiang finally started to talk about the key points:
“Since the last time we encountered returns, whether my country’s wine can return to the French market has become a knotty issue for our Ministry of Foreign Trade.
In our opinion, as long as the Great Wall can conquer France, other countries will have no problem."
"What you said is very professional," Jiang Shan said:
"The French people's love for wine is really engraved in their bones, and their wine is also the most expensive."
Li Qiang raised his eyes: "Have you studied it specifically?"
"I really didn't care about this before," Jiang Shan said truthfully:
"But when we were living in New York a while ago, our team met Mr. Cao Yu's delegation."
"oh?"
“Professor Cao and a translator in the group are both wine lovers.
When they lived in New York, although they drank the cheapest cider, they often went to appreciate some expensive wines.
I became interested after listening to what they said, so I took the opportunity to learn more about it.”
"I see,"
Li Bu nodded slightly: "Then based on your analysis, can our country's dry white be successfully accepted by the French market?"
"My research cannot be compared with your team's."
You have to ask yourself whether you can sell wines of current standards to France?
Jiangshan really doesn’t dare to take this guarantee.
"In my opinion, selling water to the French is easier than selling wine," Jiang Shan said:
"The key is, what is our dry white positioning? What are the expectations you want to achieve?"
After Jiang Shan finished asking the question with a smile, he saw the slightly surprised eyes of the two leaders opposite him.
"I..." Jiang Shan tried hard to remember: "You shouldn't ask this, right?"
According to his professional habits, Jiangshan must first understand Party A’s demands and purposes.
"Hiss~"
Li Qiang looked at Jiang Shan curiously: "Xiao Jiang, how did you know that I wanted to sell water to you?"
"I do not know,"
Jiang Shan looked honest: "No, leader, do you really want me to go to France to sell water?"
"What if it's true?"
"No problem," Jiang Shan said, "This is much easier than asking me to sell red wine."
After hearing this, Li Qiang and Lu Xuzhang slowly looked at each other, and then:
"Are you so sure?"
"..."
At this moment, Jiang Shan also slowly glanced at Bureau Lu, then looked at Bu Li and asked:
"Can you tell me what kind of water you want to sell to France?"
"It's not about selling it to France, but selling it to Japan." Li Bu pointed at the information in Jiang Shan's hand: "Actually, I want to ask you to do me two favors this time."
"You are serious," Jiang Shan said, "You want to achieve the two export tasks of dry white and water at the same time, right?"
Li Qiang didn't want to hide it from Jiang Shan: "This is indeed the plan. Let's talk about the product first."
In the early days of reform and opening up, China's foreign trade share was small and pitiful in the world.
One of the largest foreign trading countries is Japan.
At this moment, Jiangshan had already found the target product: "Laoshan Mineral Water?"
"In 1903, when Qingdao was occupied by Germany, two Germans discovered a spring in a forest in Qingdao,"
Li Qiang slowly introduced: "At that time, it was said that these two people found several hedgehogs drinking water around the spring, so they also went to have a taste.
It turned out that the spring water was particularly sweet and delicious, so he took the water back for testing.
After testing, they found that the water contained many minerals that were beneficial to the human body.
So, we started to conduct experiments with a hospital in Qingdao.
Later, it was discovered that all patients who drank the spring water recovered much more smoothly than ordinary patients..."
So, the two Germans, who saw the business opportunity, dug a few more wells around the spring.
A mineral water factory named "ALAC" was built.
This mineral water factory specializes in the production of glass bottles. When Coca-Cola first entered China in 1930, it also built two Coca-Cola canning plants.
And it was renamed Qingdao Soda Drink Factory.
"Long before liberation, Laoshan mineral water had been exported to several surrounding countries and regions,"
Li Bu took a sip of tea: "When I was in Xiangjiang in the 1960s, it was still called the ancestral sacred water by the local people."
"Xiaojiang,"
Lu Xuzhang asked at this time: "Have you ever drank Laoshan mineral water?"
“I drank several times when I lived in Diaoyutai.”
Lu Xuzhang: "How did you feel at that time?"
Jiang Shan: "Hmm... um..."
Lu Xuzhang: "Okay."
"The main reason is that I didn't know that I would one day promote it," Jiang Shan said truthfully: "Otherwise, I would definitely taste it carefully."
"It doesn't matter, I'll let you have a taste now."
A few minutes later, several green glass bottles of Laoshan brand mineral water were brought to the coffee table in the office.
"Since 1977, Laoshan mineral water has been designated as the exclusive water for state banquets,"
Li Qiang picked up a bottle of water: "In China, it is only available to foreign guests, and ordinary people can buy it with a ticket."
Lu Xuzhang: "In order to earn more foreign exchange, we will put Laoshan mineral water in hotels, restaurants, and friendship stores where foreign guests gather."
Not to mention that era, even in later generations, people often complain that the sales of time-honored Chinese brands abroad are cheaper than those in China.
The reason is still the foreign exchange that fascinates the country.
"From the 1960s to now, many export routes established before have been affected to a greater or lesser extent,"
Li Qiang looked at the page in Jiang Shan's hand:
"What you are seeing now is the Laoshan mineral water advertisement we placed in Xiangjiang at the beginning of this year."
Jiang Shan looked at the picture and nodded.
"It's a pity that the effect was very little, not even one-fifth of what was expected." At this point, the old leader's eyes showed a little disappointment and helplessness:
“Compared to 20 years ago, many new brands of mineral water have emerged in the international market today.
It is even more difficult to send our country’s only mineral water out of the country.”
"That's right," Lu Xuzhang nodded:
"After the reform and opening up, I thought we could finally open up the country for business. Unexpectedly, we have been left so far behind by others."
"These are the test reports of Laoshan mineral water sent to international testing agencies last year,"
At this moment, Li Bu and Jiang Shan were sitting on a couch together: "Did you see that every data has reached the standard?"
Jiang Shan looked at the information and nodded.
"Based on the current situation," Bu Li turned the page and said:
"Even if some countries have agreed to our test marketing request, they still have to get their citizens to accept it.
In other words, whether the products can be sold well in export destinations is the most difficult problem we need to overcome."
At this time, Jiang Shan took another sip of Laoshan brand mineral water.
To be honest, for a rough guy like him, there isn't much difference between the real ones.
Besides, he didn't care at all what the water tasted like.
For him, as long as the water meets the testing standards, it already meets his business standards.
"I understand, Bu Li,"
Jiang Shan took the glass bottle and looked at it carefully: "How to successfully send Laoshan mineral water to Japan is the first problem we must overcome."
"It can indeed be said that," Bu Li decided to let France go first:
"According to this year's plan, we will first increase the export share of Laoshan mineral water and Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass water in Japan, Hong Kong, and Macao.
How about Xiao Jiang, are you sure?"
"If you let me think about it carefully, it shouldn't be a big question..."
The confident Jiang Shan smiled and nodded, and the next second his expression changed:
"What did you just say? Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass Water?"
