Sail across the sea

Chapter 462 Nobody's a Fool
Choi Kyung-ran lived up to his reputation as a business elite, completing his lobbying efforts with several other South Korean semiconductor companies in just two days.

To paraphrase a common saying, no one who can build such a large company is a fool. The risks of having electronic chemicals controlled by others are something all South Korean semiconductor manufacturers can see.

If there's no way to resolve this hidden danger, then there's nothing more to say; everyone can only swallow their anger and carefully avoid triggering the other party's sanctions mechanism.

Now that an opportunity has suddenly presented itself, allowing them to obtain external assistance, all companies are naturally willing to give it a try.

While sourcing photoresist from China still carries the risk of dependence on foreign suppliers, having another channel helps to mitigate that risk. After all, what difference does it make whose photoresist we use? Giving a small portion of the supply to the Chinese in exchange for some insurance is a win-win situation.
At present, exchanges between China and the United States are very frequent, and South Korea's economic and trade cooperation with China at this time will not provoke dissatisfaction from the United States. In contrast, it is China that is still cautious about its dealings with South Korea, and the reasons for this are not for outsiders to know.

To avoid provoking third parties, the talks between the Chinese delegation and South Korean semiconductor companies were conducted in secrecy. Following negotiations, six South Korean semiconductor companies agreed to purchase a total of 100 tons of photoresist annually from Shuangye Fine Chemicals Plant, with the transaction price set at US$14 per ton.

Regarding the question of whether trade with South Korean companies was permissible, Bi Liansheng had consulted with the relevant domestic authorities through the embassy beforehand. After thoroughly understanding the details of the transaction, the relevant domestic departments gave the green light to Shuangye Chemical Plant.

However, for certain reasons, the transaction will not be conducted directly between the two parties, but will instead be transshipped through a trading company registered in a certain archipelago.

Both parties have pledged not to disclose the transaction to any third party. This means that for a considerable period of time, certain countries will remain unaware that China and South Korea are trading together, and the United States and Japan will not be aware that South Korean electronics manufacturers are secretly using Chinese photoresist.

Relations between nations are never black and white. Even during the years when Western countries imposed blockades on China, China was still able to obtain some industrial equipment from countries like Britain, France, and Italy.

In two months, a secret deal will be exposed, namely the famous Toshiba scandal.

To say that Toshiba risked US sanctions to sell high-precision machine tools to the Soviet Union for a mere 35 billion yen is just empty rhetoric. Nobody believes there wasn't some political motive behind it from the Japanese government.

In addition to the photoresist deal, China and South Korea also signed another secret agreement. Six South Korean semiconductor companies commissioned Shuangye Chemical Plant to develop a variety of other electronic chemicals. Specific technical specifications were provided by the South Korean side, and if the products developed by the Chinese side met the South Korean requirements in terms of both performance and price, the South Korean side would make bulk purchases to ensure that the Chinese research and development investment was compensated.

"I never would have guessed that the plan you've been keeping under wraps for so long was actually targeting South Korean manufacturers."

After signing the agreement and returning to the hotel, Bi Liansheng finally relaxed his tense expression. He laughed heartily and patted Gao Fan's shoulder repeatedly to release his inner elation.

The $1400 million order means that Fenglin's gamble on the photoresist project has paid off. Photoresist itself isn't expensive; with $1400 million in sales, the profit could reach over $700 million, equivalent to 2100 million RMB. This doesn't even include subsidies from higher authorities for foreign exchange earning units.

Bi Liansheng was already imagining the scene of receiving an award with a big red flower when he got back, his lips curving into a smile that could catch a whale. "I told you, there's nothing Xiao Gao can't do. Old Bi, tell me how many bad things you've said about Xiao Gao behind his back these past few days, do you want me to tell him?"

Pei Hengxue commented sourly from the side. His high-purity rare earth products had received many requests to send samples, but very few direct purchase contracts had been signed, totaling only a few hundred thousand US dollars, which was completely incomparable to the large orders for photoresist.

A couple of days ago, no one was interested in photoresist, and Pei Hengxue had been showing off to Bi Liansheng quite a bit. Now the tables have turned, and it's Bi Liansheng's turn to flaunt his work to Pei Hengxue, making Pei Hengxue feel that the US dollar cash he had received wasn't so appealing anymore.

Bi Liansheng glanced at Pei Hengxue with disdain, then smiled obsequiously at Gao Fan and asked, "By the way, Gao, how did you know that South Korean companies would be willing to buy our photoresist? Did you contact them before?"

Gao Fan shook his head: "This is also my first time meeting South Koreans. But in the past, when I watched movies, there were often scenes of inciting enemies to fight each other, and I approached the conversation with that same mindset."

“South Korea has always been at odds with Japan. Now their photoresist is completely dependent on Japan, which is very dangerous for them. I only pointed this out to Choi Kyung-yeon; the rest was his own idea.”

"Brilliant! Xiao Gao is truly brilliant!" Bi Liansheng praised, giving Pei Hengxue a smug look, as if to say:
Look at the relationship between Xiao Gao and me, do you think you can sow discord between us?
Pei Hengxue returned Bi Liansheng's disdainful look, then smiled and said to Gao Fan, "Xiao Gao, now that Director Bi and his team have sold their products, shouldn't you turn your attention to our rare earth industry? How about I reimburse you for your coffee expenses, and you can go find some customers to have coffee with and get us an order too?"

"I'm not greedy. I'll be happy with a deal worth 30 to 50 million US dollars. I can't let Director Bi and the others get jealous, can I?"

Gao Fan laughed and said, "Director Pei, rare earth is our trump card. A mere order of thirty to fifty million US dollars is not enough. Just look at Zelian Refinery. If it can't sell three to five billion US dollars a year, it would be a disservice to your great knowledge, Director Pei."

"Forget it, I don't have that kind of appetite." Pei Hengxue waved his hands repeatedly. "So far, I don't even have 100 million in orders. It's just a fraction of Lao Bi's."

Gao Fan said, "I've said it before, rare earth and photoresist are different. Photoresist has to be sold abroad, while research on rare earth has to be done domestically."

"Director Pei, your task these days is to let as many foreign merchants as possible know about the quality of our rare earth. Even if you only sell two or three pounds, that will be enough."

"If we want foreigners to only recognize our rare earths in the future, we'll have to wait until we go back and work on it slowly."

(End of this chapter)