Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 823 Go Big

Jiangnan TV is a hit!
No, it should be said that the TV series "The Great Hero of Tianjin" broadcast by Jiangnan TV became a hit.

With the immense popularity of "The Great Hero of Tianjin", the reputation of Jiangnan TV has finally improved, and it has also gained some popularity in the process.

If there's anything that people at Jiangnan TV are still dissatisfied with, it's that the speed of information dissemination is too slow, and the reach of news is limited to the provincial capital of Jiangnan Province.

There's nothing we can do about it. This isn't the internet age anymore; a piece of information can spread globally within hours once it trends. It's already quite an achievement that it went viral in the provincial capital in just one night. What more could you ask for?!
However, riding on this wave of enthusiastic audience feedback, Director Wu of the Jiangxi Film Studio was overjoyed.

He sat in his office, laughing so hard his jaw almost dropped.

The reason is simple: before he could even take the initiative, several TV station leaders had already called him, calling him so many times his ears were burning.

Regardless of how many television sets there are in society or how many places can receive Jiangnan TV, local television stations will still pay attention to the broadcast content of other local television stations.

If you come across something good, you can learn from it.

So, in one night, many TV station leaders took a liking to this TV series. Because the TV broadcast had very obvious subtitles of Jiangnan Film Studio, it broadened their horizons.

So film studios can make TV series too?!

Moreover, the quality of this "Tianjin Hero" is clearly due to the fact that it was shot directly with a camera, rather than using film-to-magnetic conversion technology to convert the optical image of the film into an electromagnetic signal for storage before broadcasting on television. Otherwise, the picture would not be so clear.

Upon discovering this, the leaders of these television stations held a meeting overnight and decided to first contact Jiangxi Film Studio to test the waters and see if they could obtain their videotapes for broadcast on their own stations.

Those with quick minds even went a step further, suggesting that the Jiangxi Film Studio or a film studio in the province produce a new TV series.

Didn't the literary and art congress say that we should emancipate our minds and promote the flourishing of literature and art? Film studios making TV dramas can also be considered as emancipating our minds.

So today, Factory Director Wu suddenly found himself in a sweet dilemma: how could he possibly answer so many phone calls!
Chen Fan, who was thousands of miles away, remained unmoved by Factory Director Wu's sweet troubles.

Not only was he unmoved, but he didn't even have a single thought about Jiangying Film Studio or Director Wu.

He was sitting on the plane, ranting to Zhou Yali, "On the second day of the new year, you dragged me to work. Do we have to be there for the ribbon-cutting ceremony? Can't we just not be there? I think it's fine!"
"You said yourself that your sister Ye Yufeng is very experienced, and she's almost thirty and still unmarried because of her work..."

Zhou Yali immediately interrupted him, "28? She won't turn 28 until the second half of this year. Doesn't she know that a girl's age is a taboo subject? Let me tell you, if you say she's almost thirty in front of her, you'll have to bear all the consequences. I won't care!"

You can talk about other things, but this is a matter of principle; it's not something you can just touch casually.
Chen Fan was interrupted by her, making his thoughts disjointed. He blinked at her and said, "Was I talking about age? I was talking about work, dear sister!"

Zhou Yali grinned and said, "Although I really want to be your older sister, unfortunately I'm not. Let's stick to being cousins."

After being interrupted a couple of times, Chen Fan didn't want to talk to her anymore.

He picked up the coffee from the tray, took a sip, and turned to look at the sea of ​​clouds outside the window.

After a two-second pause, Zhou Yali suddenly nudged him and whispered, "Hey, bro. Do you think it's possible for us to invest in and build an airport in Shenzhen?"

ha?
Chen Fan turned around, looking at her with a surprised expression. "Why would you ask that?"

Airport?

What is she trying to do?

However, it must be said that my country's first airport to attract foreign investment and be completed and put into operation did not take too long.

Just three years later, on October 22, 1983, Xiamen Gaoqi Airport was completed and opened to traffic. It was my country's first joint-stock airport, the first airport in my country to utilize foreign investment and issue stocks, and also the first airport to be delegated to local government management.

In this respect, Xiamen and Shantou are ahead of Shenzhen.

So at the beginning, Shenzhen was not particularly prominent among the special economic zones, and even Zhuhai could surpass Shenzhen in some aspects.

Of course, this can't be blamed on Shenzhen. After all, it has the weakest infrastructure. Apart from a land border crossing connecting to Hong Kong and a port for direct access to Hong Kong, it really has no other advantages.

On the contrary, places like Xiamen, Shantou, and Zhuhai gained a significant advantage due to their status as "hometowns of overseas Chinese." Unfortunately, their "human resources" were not as important as their geographical advantages, and they ultimately lagged behind Shenzhen.

After Xiamen Gaoqi Airport opened to traffic, on March 2, 1984, with the approval of the Civil Aviation Administration and the provincial government, my country's first joint-stock airline was established, namely Xiamen Airlines.

However, this time there is no foreign investment; the Civil Aviation Administration and the provincial government each hold 50% of the shares.

Shenzhen Airport was completed in 1991, many years later.

Thinking of this, a thoughtful look appeared in Chen Fan's eyes.

Because of the wrong angle, Zhou Yali didn't see his expression, so she said to herself, "We are going to invest one hundred million US dollars in Shenzhen. Once all the investments are in place, there will definitely be an industrial park with a particularly high annual output value."

Don't you find it inconvenient that you can only transfer through Guangzhou or Hong Kong every time you go to such an important place?
So my idea is that once our business in mainland China starts to make a profit, those profits won't be easy to convert into US dollars and take away. It would be better to invest in some projects with long-term returns.

For example, infrastructure projects like highways, ports, and airports have always been the domain of super-capital conglomerates in Europe and America, but are currently a blank slate in China. If we could get involved in these areas, we could both boost domestic economic development and increase our own capital base.

At this point, she turned to look at Chen Fan and chuckled, "Do you think there's any possibility? Huh?"

Chen Fan frowned, pondered for two seconds, and asked, "Tell me honestly, are you planning to build an airport first, and then buy a private jet for your own travel convenience after the airport is built?"

Zhou Yali's pupils gradually dilated. Was my reaction that obvious?
She paused for two seconds, blinked, coughed lightly, and said seriously, "How could that be? Am I the kind of person who craves pleasure?"

Chen Fan nodded slightly. "You are."

She stays at home all day and doesn't go out. She even uses a bearskin to sit in her recliner. She's always expecting to be waited on hand and foot. If it weren't for her daily morning exercise routine, Chen Fan would have wondered if this girl would have become a big fat woman.

If someone doesn't crave enjoyment, then what kind of person is that?
Me, Chen Fan? Ridiculous!

Zhou Yali was a little taken aback by her cousin's bluntness. "W-how could you be greedy for enjoyment? I'm just trying to improve efficiency and I'm optimistic about the domestic infrastructure industry. Didn't you say that the mainland has huge development potential and that things will be like this and that in the future? Let me tell you, for any economy with a development period of more than 30 years, investing in infrastructure is a sure thing. Not only will the future returns be considerable, but you can also get long-term real estate appreciation returns. It's simply an ideal investment target, you know!"

Chen Fan gave a perfunctory "uh-huh" twice, frowned and thought for a moment. If he remembered correctly, the budget for the construction of Xiamen Gaoqi Airport was 1 million RMB.

Back then, the entire annual revenue of Xiamen was only 1.8 million yuan, leaving a huge funding gap. To address this, a special team was formed to try and secure a loan from Kuwait.

I won't say who the team leader is, but he's incredibly powerful.

In the end, he secured 530 million dinars, equivalent to approximately $1800 million.

It was thanks to this money that the airport construction was successfully completed.

Therefore, the current cost of building an airport is around $2000 million.
Thinking of this, Chen Fan suddenly felt more confident.

It's just twenty million US dollars, a matter of a few books. Maybe before the airport is even built, the royalties will have already earned back that money, and the subsequent profits will be pure profit!
With that, he made up his mind.

However, there is still one issue to confirm.

He turned to look at Zhou Yali and asked softly, "How much does a private jet cost?"

Zhou Yali still stubbornly insisted, "I have no intention of buying a private jet."

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. "Can I buy it?"

"That can!"

Zhou Yali immediately nodded in agreement, "Qianfan Group, or rather, Wanmuchun Company. The first shareholders' meeting approved the order for a private jet. Don't worry, it won't cost much."

Then he began to introduce Chen Fan to the current state of private jets in the world, including established brands such as Piper, Cessna and Beechcraft, rising stars such as Lockheed's JetStar which represented the arrival of the business jet era, Israel Airlines' Zephyr, Dassault's Falcon 20, and the Gulfstream which became very famous in later years.

Even the renowned Boeing launched the Boeing 747 VIP private jet in 1970, joining the battle for the luxury business jet market.

However, these private jet models, which have been almost completely forgotten in later generations, were all developed and launched into the market during the decade of the 60s.

After the 70s, the battle for the private jet market cooled down rapidly, and there are currently almost no new categories.

Zhou Yali spread her hands and explained, "After entering the 70s, the United States entered a period of economic stagflation. On the one hand, prices soared, while on the other hand, income stagnated or even declined. Coupled with the impact of the second oil crisis, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates multiple times in order to offset the negative effects of inflation, and now it has reached 11.2%."

However, the inflation rate remains as high as 13%, even higher than interest rates. I heard my dad mention that Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker plans to raise interest rates to 19% in order to completely resolve inflationary pressures…

She rubbed her head as she spoke, "This is insane! With an interest rate of nearly 20%, who would want to invest? They might as well just deposit their money in the bank and earn interest."

Chen Fan curled his lip, "What the Federal Reserve wants is for the economy to cool down, thereby reducing the inflation rate."

He shrugged and said, "But it has nothing to do with us. Our company's business is in a period of rapid growth. It's a genuine sunrise industry with interest rates far exceeding 20%. If you have the opportunity, you can ask your father, my uncle, for more bank loans."

If the Federal Reserve really raises interest rates to 19%, he'll be in a real bind. As younger generations, it's only right that we help him out.

Zhou Yali covered her forehead and whispered, "He doesn't have a headache at all. You have no idea how many orders his company has received in China. A 10,000-line program-controlled switch costs less than 3 million, but he can sell it for more than 4 to 5 million US dollars. An order for 100 units is 400 to 500 million. But he has already obtained a credit line of 800 million US dollars from the bank. Based on the cost, he can buy two or three hundred switches. You can imagine how much he will make in the next few years!"

Chen Fan took a deep breath and blinked repeatedly. He really hadn't expected his uncle's health bar to be so thick.
Then, with a slight shift in his eyes, he said, "Do you think we could borrow some money from Uncle's bank before the interest rate hike, and then deposit it in another bank after Paul's interest rate decision is finalized...?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yali's eyes widened. "Your trick of taking advantage of people is really ruthless. This is like getting something for nothing, making a profit for free!"

The current interest rate is 11.5%, while the loan interest rate is slightly higher, around 13%. If the rumors are true and Paul does raise the interest rate to 19%, this would amount to a net profit of 6% per year.

The key point is that there are absolutely no costs involved!

That's really impressive!

The only risk is whether Paul's shoe will drop.

But for Chen Fan, this risk doesn't exist at all!

So when Zhou Yali brought this up, he said nonchalantly, “It’s fine, just do it this way. Have Qianfan Company and Wanmuchun Company work together to find bank loans. There are so many small banks in New York, just borrow from them and deposit the money in the top few big banks for insurance.”

"If the rumors are wrong, it doesn't matter. We can just use that money to invest in the mainland, build airports, and buy planes for you."

Seeing his words, Zhou Yali naturally stopped objecting. She had personally witnessed the economic potential of the mainland. If the policy could maintain continuity and stability, even a 20% interest rate would be profitable, let alone 13%.

He immediately agreed and called the US to make arrangements once he arrived in Guangzhou.

He then continued to introduce private jets, saying, "Due to economic stagnation and soaring financing costs, airlines slowed down their research and development of private jets after the 70s. However, the private jets that were developed earlier were quite good and not expensive, ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, but they were very convenient."

Chen Fan thought for a moment and asked, "How much do regional jets cost these days?"

Wide-body large aircraft are out of the question, there's no need for that, and ordinary private jets are too small, only able to accommodate 10 to 12 people. In his mind, if the price is right, it would be more comfortable to buy a regional jet that can accommodate more than 200 people.

Zhou Yali didn't expect him to ask about regional jets. She thought hard for a moment and said, "I'm not sure about the exact price, but I remember reading in the newspaper once that Boeing sold ten 737 aircraft, and the total contract price was over two hundred million US dollars?"

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow. That's over twenty million US dollars per aircraft?
He immediately laughed and said, "Okay, let's go big. This time when we're in Shenzhen, we'll have a good talk with the locals about building an airport and starting an airline."

Zhou Yali's eyes widened instantly. "I just wanted to buy a private jet to relax, and you're going to go this far?"

(End of this chapter)