20 years of restarting life

Chapter 3622 Kong Yiji's Words

In his previous words, he had already revealed his business ambitions in Southeast Asia. He had discussed this with Wen Ye and Tang Shuang many times in private, and the details gradually became clearer during their discussions and debates.

The idea was to build a large number of supermarkets in Southeast Asia, just like Walmart and other companies were doing in China at the time, while also integrating various local products such as beer, detergents, beverages, cooking oil, and condiments—covering many grassroots markets.

Then these goods are all put into chain supermarkets and sold at a low profit.

By establishing and integrating the "One Nano Star City" brand into the grassroots society of Southeast Asia, we can then, in the future, bring in truly profitable products such as automobiles, mobile phones, computers, televisions, electric vehicles, motorcycles, air conditioners, and chemical products to the Southeast Asian market, creating a monopolistic effect.

Then came games, cultural export and influence, bread in the left hand and a machete in the right, constantly invading through power imbalance.

Although these countries are called nations and their economic strength is now greater than that of China, their area, population, and military strength are nothing more than a few fat sheep compared to the vast land of China.

One must demonstrate both kindness and severity, not just kindness, lest one lose dignity and decorum, and even a small, insolent nation dares to disrespect its elders.

There were deeper things Zhao Chang'an couldn't tell Xia Wenzhuo: the power struggle between nations has always been ruthless and allows no mercy.

In the future confrontation between major powers, much like the yin and yang of Tai Chi, whether in Africa, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, or many other regions, they will all become pawns and hunting grounds for the rise and fall of great powers, and for new and old forces to clash.

Many things and initiatives need to be planned in advance, although these plans and strategies often leave many people confused and unable to understand them.

Zhao Chang'an didn't think he could make a significant contribution, but as a Chinese, he felt he should contribute to the prosperity and strength of the country.

"I will contact the relevant departments in China regarding Central Asia. This is a choice made by enterprises under a free economy, but we still need various resources from China. This time should be the best opportunity to enter the energy and resource industries of these countries. In a few years, this opportunity will not be so easy to come by."

While the polar bear is still struggling to heal, the bald eagle's gaze is focused on Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. European countries have been bullied for decades by the bald eagle using the polar bear as a means of intimidation. Now, the polar bear has proactively proposed joining the European Union three times, establishing a unified Europe, thus eliminating any thoughts of war. It can even be said that the entire NATO system is merely a shell of its former self. In such a favorable environment, if they don't seize the opportunity to expand first, it will be extremely difficult to do so later.

This is understandable, given the rapid and booming growth of the domestic economy and the widespread prosperity that requires substantial funding.

Moreover, the international environment is moving in a positive direction toward openness, enlightenment, peace, development, and win-win cooperation.

Under such circumstances, this is arguably the time with the least resistance for domestic funds to invest overseas.

In the semiconductor field, it wasn't for that Professor Chen sanding down Motorola's chip model number and passing it off as an independently designed and developed integrated circuit, causing a massive blow to the domestic semiconductor R&D industry and leading many to propose the concept of "buying is worse than making," that the domestic semiconductor industry wouldn't have suffered such a devastating blow, only to embark on a difficult journey again more than a decade later, using some mature underlying architectures from abroad to build its own achievements and develop its own blueprint.

It can be said that since the beginning of the millennium, China has truly entered a period of great prosperity and the Chinese dream of rejuvenation, a scene never before seen in thousands of years. However, in this great development, there are still some elements that, due to various reasons or perceptions, have not taken the opportunity to catch up with Europe and the United States.

As a result, they were held hostage in the future and suffered a small loss.

Zhao Chang'an still agreed with Kong Yiji's words, but it was a pity that such a good opportunity was wasted at the turn of the century.

“We live in a global village now, and we advocate comparative advantage and international division of labor. I’m not saying these resources you mentioned are bad or not worth investing in, but I really can’t agree with the argument that ‘in a few years, this opportunity won’t be so easy to come by.’ But if you want me to go to Africa, I’ll go. I’ll go see where your pen pal is hiding from the war and writing to you, and I’ll take some photos for you as a souvenir.”

Seeing that neither of them could convince the other, Xia Wenzhuo changed the subject: "I heard that Tang Xihan is pursuing Qiu Jinhui, but he hasn't succeeded yet. Since you're here, why don't you visit her? I estimate that it won't be long before Tang Xihan gets what he wants."

Since Zhao Chang'an had not given him a clear explanation for this matter, Xia Wenzhuo was unwilling to waste any more time on it.

Especially since Zhao Chang'an had promised her to go to Africa in two years, Xia Wenzhuo, although she had just said that she was willing to stay in Southeast Asia, this willingness was relative to returning to China. Always proud and strong-willed, she simply did not want to urinate with Tang Shuang.

Many people in China still think of Africa as a barbaric world where people live like animals. However, she had heard her father talk about his experiences during the two years he spent building aid projects in Africa. He said that once you understand how their society works, things are actually quite easy.

Unlike Southeast Asia, which was influenced by China for hundreds of years and learned nothing good but a lot of bad.

Even after more than half a year in Southeast Asia, I still feel a bit helpless, like a cat trying to eat a hedgehog, not knowing where to start.

Regarding Zhao Chang'an's statement about "large-scale instant noodle factories, ham sausage factories, and other light industries in the food sector setting up numerous hypermarkets to squeeze profits very low and build a reputation that is only a nanometer deep," Xia Wenzhuo wanted to ask him, "Don't tell me you don't know which companies are among the top-ranked instant noodle factories in China, and hypermarkets like Walmart are now widely distributed in the bustling cities of Southeast Asia."

"They should be treated as dumping grounds for domestic industrial products." The current state of domestic industrial enterprises is such that it is difficult for them to survive domestically, yet they still have to compete with companies from developed countries such as Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea for market share. What dumping ground? Currently, China is the dumping ground for light industrial products from these developed countries. We can't even win domestically, yet we still dream of going abroad to fight.
In short, at least on this matter, Xia Wenzhuo did not blindly follow Zhao Chang'an at all, and even felt that he was a bit arrogant and conceited.

China has only recently joined the WTO and still needs to import a large amount of foreign investment and advanced equipment and technology from other countries. Yet, he boasted that he would compete with them for overseas markets in a few years. Zhao Chang'an knows her inside and out, but she also knows Zhao Chang'an's background. I really don't know where he got his judgment and confidence from.

"It's their freedom, we don't need to interfere. Although Tang Xihan still has a wife in China, as a normal man, if he wants to be free, and Qiu Jinhui is willing to accommodate him, that's their business."

Zhao Chang'an saw the smile curving at the corner of Xia Wenzhuo's mouth and knew what she was laughing at, but his old face turned a little red and he pretended not to know.