Sail across the sea

Chapter 338 Raising troops to investigate crimes
Half a year later, Ogel, the chief representative of Lloyd's Group in Asia, and his assistant Lassiter came to the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences again. They were accompanied by Shan Jinwen, the deputy director of the Beijing Health Bureau.

"Welcome, welcome again, Mr. Ogle and Mr. Lassiter."

Zhao Zhaoxin, deputy director of the Institute of Microbiology, received Ogel and his party in his office. Ogel even felt that the welcome words they said sounded familiar.

"Old Zhao, I haven't been here for half a year. You guys have really upgraded your weapons."

While Zhao Zhaoxin was pouring water into the guests' cups, Shan Jinwen teased him.

"No, no, I just gave it a simple paint job and replaced some new furniture. As you know, our institute was short of money in the past, and a lot of office furniture was purchased in the 50s. If we don't replace it, it will fall apart."

Zhao Zhaoxin said this in a low-key manner, but with a hint of pride on his face.

Research institutes have always been poor units. The government's funding is only enough to cover some personnel expenses, so it is impossible to improve office conditions. Last year, the Institute of Microbiology reached an agreement with Lowe's on the patent licensing of the two-step fermentation method and received a licensing fee of $1200 million.

Most of the licensing fee was taken away by the national treasury, and the Academy of Sciences took another part. In the end, only more than 100 million yuan was left in the Institute of Microbiology, but it was also a considerable amount.

In this era, the salaries of public institutions are strictly controlled. After the institute received the money, it gave a "heavy reward" of several hundred yuan to the researcher who invented the two-step fermentation method, and also gave an average reward of several dozen yuan to all the staff of the institute. The remaining money could only be used for the public expenses of the institute.

The institute dared not build houses or buy cars, firstly because the financial system did not allow it, and secondly because it would easily attract hatred. But improving the office environment, such as decorating the office and changing the office furniture, was not a big deal.

The last time Shan Jinwen came to the Institute of Microbiology, he saw that Zhao Zhaoxin's desk had almost all its paint peeled off, and the sofa had springs that you could feel, which was very shabby. But this time, the furnishings in Zhao Zhaoxin's office were completely new, and the air was filled with the fragrance of formaldehyde.

Shan Jinwen participated in the last negotiation. Knowing why the Institute of Microbiology became rich overnight, how could he not feel a little jealous?

"Old Zhao, let me tell you, these two have come here specifically for you this time, and maybe they can bring you some foreign exchange. But I have to tell you, when you get rich, don't forget me, the matchmaker." Shan Jinwen said half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"Look at what you said, how have we made a fortune? The last time, the money was taken away by the finance department before it reached the Academy of Sciences. Then the Academy cut it again, and finally all that was left for us was a little soup." Zhao Zhaoxin said.

Before Shan Jinwen could refute, he added, "Old Shan, let me tell you, these two are not here to give us money, but to bring charges against us."

"Send an army to hold him accountable?" Shan Jinwen was stunned and his face immediately turned sour.

When Zhao Zhaoxin heard that Ogel was coming to the Institute of Microbiology, he knew what they were coming for. After all, he had attended the launch of the Vitamin C project at the Canghua Vitamin Factory, and had also heard Gao Fan talk about exporting Vitamin C to the United States.

Lowe's had just spent $1200 million to buy a process license from China, and China had already used this process to produce products and sold them at low prices in foreign markets, snatching the market from Lowe's. It would be strange if Lowe's was not furious. When the first batch of products from Canghua Vitamin Factory was successfully exported, Zhao Zhaoxin was worried that Lowe's would come to ask for an explanation.

Legally speaking, the Institute of Microbiology did nothing wrong. The contract between the two parties clearly stipulates that Lowe's has the exclusive license for the two-step fermentation process outside of China, but there are no restrictions on companies in China using this process, so the actions of the Canghua Vitamin Factory did not violate the agreement between the Institute of Microbiology and Lowe's.

But when the Institute of Microbiology signed the agreement with Lowe's, Zhao Zhaoxin pretended to be ignorant. Ogel felt that Chinese companies had no ability to threaten Lowe's market, but Zhao Zhaoxin knew that the Canghua Vitamin Factory was vigorously building a plant with an annual output of 5000 tons, and all its products were for export.

When Zhao Zhaoxin insisted that there would be no restrictions on licensing to domestic companies, he was actually setting a trap for Lowe's, but Lowe's was completely unaware of it at the time.

Now that Canghua's vitamin C is sold to the United States, Lowe's should have suddenly realized what was going on. If Ogel had not come to China to call for justice, could he have come to send a flower basket to Canghua?

As they were talking, Zhao Zhaoxin had already made tea for the three of them, and Shan Jinwen couldn't chat with him any more. Seeing Zhao Zhaoxin sitting down opposite him on the sofa, Shan Jinwen said a few polite words and then gave the right to speak to Oger.

"Mr. Zhao, Lassiter and I came to China this time to confirm one thing. There is a company in China called Canghua Vitamin Factory, which has recently been selling a large number of vitamin C products produced by them in the US market. We would like to know whether this company has any connection with your institute?" Ogel asked straight to the point.

Zhao Zhaoxin was well prepared. He replied, "I know the company you are talking about. It is a company in Maolin Province. As for the relationship, they, like your company, have also signed a licensing agreement with us regarding the two-step fermentation process."

Ogel said: "But when we signed the agreement with your firm, it stipulated exclusive authorization."

Zhao Zhaoxin said: "The exclusive licensing agreement we signed with Lowe's does not restrict the licensing to Chinese companies."

“But the vitamin C they produce is sold in the U.S. market, which violates our agreement with your institute,” Ogle said.

"There is no stipulation in our agreement that vitamin C produced by Chinese companies cannot be exported, right?" Zhao Zhaoxin said.

Zhao Zhaoxin was well aware of this. When he signed the agreement with Lowe's, he paid special attention to this point, that is, he would never stipulate in the agreement that Chinese products cannot be exported.

In fact, Lowe's never thought that China could export vitamin C to the international market, so it did not have this in mind when signing the contract, and naturally would not make such a provision in the agreement.

Ogier knew his accusation was untenable, but he still said, "This is an international practice and does not need to be separately stipulated in the agreement. We have purchased the exclusive license for the two-step fermentation method, so other companies are not allowed to sell vitamin C produced by this process in markets other than China. Otherwise, it would be a breach of contract."

(End of this chapter)