this man is not calm

Chapter 456: Differences in Details

Methanol fuel vehicles and HEV non-plug-in hybrid vehicles can be fully combined. The current range can be taken to a higher level, and 400 to 500 kilometers would be great. The range of most urban cars is only between 400 and 600 kilometers.

"I have asked someone to calculate it a long time ago. Methanol actually has great potential. Some experts think it may be suitable for use on large ships, but I think there is a problem. The low calorific value of the fuel is too fatal in the shipping market. Every bit of shipping capacity at sea is precious. It is impossible to reduce the cargo space in order to carry more fuel."

The expansion of the fuel tank means the reduction of the cargo hold, which has a huge impact.

In small family cars, the shortcomings are not so obvious. On the contrary, car owners are very sensitive to changes in fuel costs, and the relatively cheap advantage of methanol is very attractive.

On land, the advantages in the field of fuel cells are even greater. The production, storage, transportation and safe use of hydrogen are all obstacles at each step. Relatively speaking, methanol is much more convenient. In terms of the current technological status, methanol has the greatest comprehensive advantages and the most mature technology.

"What stage has it reached so far?"

"For methanol vehicles, we are still at the stage of theoretical preparation, market research and technical evaluation. Fuel cells are faster and have been put into trial use. The current focus is on how long the life is, as well as developing cheaper catalysts and solid electrolytes, anodes, diaphragms, cathodes and interconnecting materials, and trying not to use rare elements or precious metals."

“Is there any business prospect?”

"It's too early to say. Even with large subsidies, we will still be losing money, especially for fuel cells. If they are used on a large scale, the cost will be reduced to one-tenth of the current level before we can see a hope of turning losses into profits. Therefore, within the next ten years, we can only rely on subsidies and investment to maintain our presence, accumulate technology, and make plans for the future."

"It's up to you to decide. Be careful to control investment risks and don't let things in the distant future delay your current business."

"I know!"

While driving and talking, Jin Shang opened the car window a little to let the cold air from outside in, making people feel a little cooler. After thinking for a while, he continued,

"After things stabilize, I plan to increase the use of my credit line and package some of my equity, intangible assets, and copyright income as collateral to borrow 12 billion from the bank to supplement my working capital."

"Lack of money?"

When he heard the word "120" before "100 million", Jin Shi, who was originally calm and composed, was also shocked. Three years ago, the Jin family father and son hesitated for a long time for an extra expense of more than one million. Now they are willing to borrow so much money at will. It is really a bit surprising.
"At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, European and American stock markets experienced a stock market crash. Technology stocks fell one after another, many Internet companies went bankrupt, and the bubble burst. At a time when people were panicking, you still wanted to take out a large loan to increase your investment?"

Not only did the technology bubble burst, many IT companies that were very popular in the past two years disappeared, and even many traditional technology companies were affected.

Financial markets are often interconnected. The impact of the bursting of the technology bubble has gradually spread to the entire secondary market. Even the international exchange rate has been greatly impacted. Many small and medium-sized countries in South America, Eastern Europe, Western Asia and Southeast Asia are suffering from the ups and downs of the exchange rate tide and have been bitten all over by many jackal-like financial giants.

The domestic situation has not been greatly affected, except for slight fluctuations in imports and exports.

The financial crisis in the previous life caused enormous damage, but it is not so serious in this life. After all, there is a "stabilizing force" in the Western Pacific, which will not be shaken fundamentally.

Due to the short-term turmoil in the past few months, real estate prices in Beijing have fallen slightly at one point, causing many people to worry that the stabilization and recovery in the past two years is only short-lived and that the economic downturn cycle has not yet ended completely.

Seeing that his father was a little worried, Jin Shang responded calmly:

"It is precisely because of the storms that some high-quality assets are sold at lower prices. If the financial crisis had not scared the market, how could I have the opportunity to make large-scale counter-cyclical investments? But..."

Xiao Jin shook his head and said comfortingly:
"I don't have many things I want to buy. Most of them are land and real estate in Beijing. In previous years, there was no demand for them even if I raised the price. Now it's a good time to buy some during the panic. The 6,000 square meter villa you mentioned couldn't be bought even if you asked for 10 million. Now it's only 8 million, right?"

"That's true!"

Jin Shang and Li Xuan are going to get married officially next year, so they need a house that matches their status. After talking about it for half a year and going through such a long tug of war, they finally got the deal. It was not easy.

It will take more than half a year to redecorate the place, and another half a year to clean and restore, do personalized customization, arrange a housekeeper and nanny, etc., and it will take another half a year. When everything is done, it will be almost time.

"The interest on Mr. Huang's side also needs to be repaid. There will be one installment in the middle of the year, one installment at the end of the year, and the principal will start to be repaid at the beginning of next year. Under the premise of ensuring sufficient cash flow, loans are inevitable. Moreover, the interest rate has been reduced to 8.25, and it is impossible to drop significantly in the short term. I estimate that it will be adjusted to 8% by the end of the year, and then drop by 1% every ten years to maintain healthy inflation and match the GDP growth rate."

In a stable and slowly developing society, an interest rate of 8 percent is quite high, but for our country, which is about to experience economic take-off, it is only moderately high.

Over the past year, international imports and exports have continued to grow at an extremely high speed, and the trade surplus has also become increasingly larger. If a relatively high level of interest rates is not maintained, an overflow of liquidity is inevitable. This is not enough, and it is also necessary to increase the scale of infrastructure and develop real estate, a "financial reservoir" as a means of regulation.

The essence of foreign trade lies in balance, mutual benefit, win-win or multi-win. If only one party always makes money, sooner or later it will cause some problems.

At present, the problem of foreign exchange deposits has gradually become prominent. Not to mention the higher level, Jinxi Culture is also facing the problem of foreign exchange settlement due to the sharp increase in revenue from MP3 players, Jinxi Music, game consoles, Jinxi Games and cross-border e-commerce.

A large amount of foreign exchange was exchanged for local currency, and then invested heavily in various projects in Gyeonggi Province. In a year, the impact of tens of billions of real money caused the regional CPI (Consumer Price Index) and PPI (Producer Price Index) to rise. The investment of individual companies has driven economic development, and everyone is happy to see it happen. However, the short-term volatility is too high, which makes residents and economic departments feel a little tricky.

He makes money too quickly and spends it just as quickly, and a large portion of the money comes from foreigners. This is actually a good thing, but Jin Shang has received hints more than once about whether he should increase investment in the international market to balance the internal and external revenues and expenditures.

It is just an indirect hint now. If the quota continues to increase in a short period of time, the labels of "restricting foreign exchange settlement", "preventing abnormal capital flows", "maintaining financial stability" and "promoting foreign trade balance" will be put on.

In recent times, especially with the financial turmoil in the Western Pacific, the pressure for the appreciation of the local currency has been increasing. Large foreign exchange earning companies such as Jinxi Culture are also key technology and cultural companies encouraged to "go abroad".

It’s not that the local currency performs well, but that the foreign currency is too poor. The gap is revealed by comparison. Once the exchange rate rises too much, it will not be very beneficial to exports.

"How much investment are you prepared to make?"

"Six billion or so. Don't worry, I know what I am doing and I won't spend it lavishly. The remaining six billion will be used to make up for the capital flow deficit caused by the repayment of principal and interest. I'm not going to do anything outrageous."

Things like fuel cells, new energy vehicles, agricultural innovation, and saline-alkali land management are all things of the future. It is impossible to become fat all at once, and... we must also be prepared for risk prevention.

"Then can the real estate you invest in bring positive cash flow?"

"Most of them are OK. As you know, the real estate market in Beijing will become more and more popular. Various infrastructure projects will emerge in an endless stream. Cement, bricks, tiles and aluminum alloy building materials will definitely be in short supply. My business layout in the southern part of Beijing is mainly based on building materials, home decoration and supporting services; in the southeast, with the headquarters of Jinxi Mall as the center, a small commodity city and a warehousing and logistics base will be built to serve e-commerce; in the west of Beijing, IT Internet, computers, mobile phones and consumer electronics and other high-tech are the main development directions; in the southwest, second-hand car transactions, farmers' markets, transportation logistics and education and training are the key development directions..."

Jin Shang had talked about the biggest difference between the capital and other large cities with Jin Shi before. Strictly speaking, the capital has only one core, which is the central area, which is mainly administrative and functional; the surrounding main urban areas are semi-isolated built-up areas, each with its own characteristics and economic center; the remote urban areas are more independent, and are nominally suburbs, but will actually develop into self-contained characteristic economic zones.

This model is like the Tang Dynasty's capital city's jurisdiction over Chang'an County and Wannian County; the Song Dynasty's capital city's jurisdiction over Kaifeng County and Xiangfu County; the Ming and Qing Dynasties' Wanping County and Daxing County were the same as the capital city;
In the past, there was the famous "bulk province" which served as a topic of conversation after dinner. In fact, the capital city is more in line with the definition of "bulk". In addition to the central urban area, the remote urban areas and suburbs actually have their own characteristics and "city center". In essence, they are "administered counties" with strong independence.

For example, when you cross from one district to another, there is a section in the middle that is obviously sparsely populated and you can even see rice fields and busy farmers. You would think that the farther away from the central city, the more backward it is and the lower the housing prices, right?
You are totally wrong. If you walk a little further, you will be surprised to find that there are more high-rise buildings, bustling shopping malls, busy factories and lively residential areas. You will have the illusion of crossing from one city to another adjacent city.

If you really get to know the city of Beijing in depth, you will find that it is not a city that extends outward in circles from the city center (central urban area), but is composed of an absolute core and several "satellite cities" that guard it. Each "satellite city" has its own characteristics and is an important supplement to the city center.

This has also caused some practical problems. For outsiders, it is not very convenient to travel from one district to another. Many people live, work, play and relax in different places, which passively increases the difficulty and cost of travel.

Therefore, Jin Shang has always been lamenting that Beijing is a metropolis with a poor nightlife. Apart from a few night markets, ordinary residents don’t have many places to hang out. Locals don’t go to the so-called food cities, souvenir shops, artificial attractions, etc. that are commercial in nature and are designed to cheat foreigners and out-of-towners.

As for bars, nightclubs, dance halls and the like, who among the decent people would go to such places all day long?
The father and son have lived in the capital for so many years, and they can really appreciate the local customs and culture.

"If you want to say it's livable, it can be considered as such, but for those who come to Beijing from other places to seek development, it's true that after living there for a long time, they will start to feel uncomfortable and always feel like something is missing."

I occasionally chat with company employees and experience the upscale life, and I do understand the feelings of ordinary workers very well.

To make money, pursue a career and find opportunities, this is definitely one of the best places in the country. However, it is not really a city where people can live comfortably, unless you are a local native and have one or two houses to settle down in, so that you have a certain security in the future and don’t have too much pressure.

Father Jin Shi couldn't help but laugh when he heard his son's teasing:

“So, you want to start with industry, and then introduce services and real estate?”

"That's natural. Without enough jobs, how can we attract talented people to move here?"

You have to know that it is still the beginning of 1998. The first subway line in Beijing took more than 20 years to open, and it is still unknown when the second one will be opened. The economic boom has just begun, and the rail transit network map, which is as dense as a "spider web", has not even been finalized on paper.

Ten years later, it would be great if Majiabao and the Football Park Stadium could be connected to the subway. As for the hot spring villa where Jin Shang lives now and the 6,000-square-meter wedding house, there will probably be hope in twenty years, no sooner.

Of course, this is of little use to the father and son of the Jin family. Anyway, the family has only taken the subway a few times in their lives, and they have little experience with buses. There are so many cars coming and going, so if they want to go far, they might as well take a private plane.

"In fact, when it comes to making money, finance is the fastest way to make money. However, rare resources like leeks are generally owned by someone. It doesn't matter if you pick a little occasionally to improve your life, but it's still a bit risky to cut too much. As for the international futures and foreign exchange markets, I'm not afraid of being calculated by others because I have the 'golden finger' to escort me. I'm not afraid of being cheated, but I can't find a counterparty for large transactions, and... I can make money but I can't spend it. Fair, open and transparent transactions, no deception, and you can accept the loss if you are willing to gamble. Just listen to it, don't take it seriously."

If the loss is really severe, foreigners will also cheat and unplug the network cable.

The amount of funds that Jin Shang personally manages is already very large. It is impossible for him to make money recklessly like before. He has to be more cautious and only try to cheat the "bullish retail investors", private equity, foreign capital and "rat traders".

Public offerings, provident funds, pensions and municipal investments are all huge matters and I dare not act rashly.

(End of this chapter)