1977: The beginning of the blind date with the daughter of the king

Chapter 527 Pulling each other!

When David Rockefeller heard Li Changhe's words, there was no expression on his face.

He just sat there quietly, smiled and nodded, "Go on."

Li Changhe didn't expect that the old guy didn't bargain with him, but since the other party asked him to continue, Li Changhe didn't hesitate.

“As for the petrochemical industry, I actually plan to put it in Singapore, which is located at the key point of the Strait of Malacca and is the only way for crude oil from the Middle East to East Asia.”

"And Singapore is currently planning a large petrochemical industrial park. I think you should know this."

David Rockefeller nodded. He certainly knew the petrochemical industrial park over there. Exxon was one of the first petrochemical companies invited to move in.

In fact, as early as seventy or eighty years ago, Exxon established its first Asian office in Singapore and gradually built a sales network.

Nowadays, most of the gas stations in Singapore are actually owned by Exxon.

"Singapore?"

"Vic, if that's the case, I'm not sure what you're doing this for."

"Whether in terms of refining or sales, you are no match for Exxon and Shell."

Exxon and Shell, one belongs to the United States, and the other is nominally Dutch, but in fact it is a British oil company.

The two companies actually dominate the entire Southeast Asian market. For example, the oil in Brunei is almost entirely mined by Shell and the oil and gas company established by the Brunei royal family.

Indonesia's oil and gas resources are basically monopolized by US oil companies.

So from this perspective, Li Changhe's petrochemical company is actually a disguised way of competing with these European and American companies.

"Mr. David, I know that the Southeast Asian market has been divided up by you. In fact, I have never coveted the Southeast Asian market, including Hong Kong Island."

"What I am really interested in is the future East Asian market, a market with a population of over one billion."

Li Changhe said seriously.

"You mean Country Z?"

“Do you think they’ll liberalize the oil market?”

“They are still an oil exporter, right?”

David Rockefeller asked Li Changhe with a little surprise at this time.

Li Changhe nodded: "In fact, it's not just Country Z, it also includes Japan and South Korea."

"Mr. David, the world is developing. Although they are still closed to the outside world, it does not mean they will always be closed. You know, they are reforming and opening up to the outside world as appropriate."

"Let's not talk about whether they will open up their petrochemical industry. Let's just say that as long as they open up demand, their own oil industry will definitely not be enough to meet the needs of their own people."

"In this case, outsourcing is one of the few options they have."

"In this type of procurement, I think my characteristics as a Chinese and Hong Kong Islander give me a far greater advantage than Exxon and Shell."

"You can see this from their recent actions. When it comes to foreign cooperation, they prefer Japan over Europe and the United States, even though Japan and them have a grudge against each other since World War II."

"Yes, I am also a little confused about this. What is the reason for their choice? Although we have fought with them, I think the hatred between China and Japan should be greater."

David Rockefeller said thoughtfully that he actually knew Country Z quite well, but he still found it difficult to understand the choice made by their top leaders.

"It's very simple. In the history of the Chinese people, there is a magical book on military strategy called The Art of War by Sun Tzu. In it, there is a saying: Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle."

"Europe and America are too far away from Country Z, while Japan is just the opposite, not far away. Although they have hatred for each other due to war, on the other hand, they know each other very well, which to a certain extent strengthens their trust."

"So compared to Europe and the United States, they prefer Japan because they are more familiar with it."

"Similarly, between the Chinese in Hong Kong and Japan, I believe we are in the first priority position and we have more advantages than Japan."

"Besides that, I am also quite optimistic about the future development of Japan and South Korea."

"Let's not talk about Japan. Its current economic size is here. In recent years, South Korea has just experienced what they call the Han River Miracle, and its economy has begun to improve rapidly."

"With the impetus from Japan, even if South Korea only eats up Japan's subordinate industrial chain, it will be enough for South Korea. I think their economy will develop further."

"Economic development means an increase in consumption capacity, which is actually the expansion of the petrochemical market."

"I believe that in these three East Asian countries, my petrochemical companies will have more advantages than Exxon and Shell."

"Being strong is an advantage for Exxon and Shell, but it is also because they are too strong that they will be more wary of these countries in their cooperation with you, and they will be able to gain less benefits during negotiations."

"In fact, this is not conducive to your expansion in the East Asian market. Do you think my idea is correct, Mr. David?"

Li Changhe spoke to David Rockefeller in an orderly manner.

David Rockefeller chuckled and clapped his hands.

"Vic, indeed, your thinking is very clear. On this point, I think what you said makes sense."

"But you seem to have overlooked one point, that is technology!"

"We have an unparalleled advantage in technology, and this is where our competitive strength lies."

After David Rockefeller finished praising, he spoke calmly.

Li Changhe smiled and shook his head: "Mr. David, what you said is not wrong, but you are wrong in one aspect."

"The most advanced petrochemical technology is a national strategic existence. Such technology cannot be circumvented in COCOM. In essence, it is difficult for you to sell it to East Asia."

"On the other hand, even if it is sold, its products will not be available in the civilian market in the short term."

"For the civilian market, there is not much difference in essence between products produced by first-class technology and products produced by second-class technology."

“The quality of technology lies in its efficiency.”

"The top technology and the update of the refining equipment system required will increase the cost of refining in the short term."

"As for the long term, let's not talk about that for now. I just want to say that at this time, I think the breakthrough we have made will not be worse than Exxon."

"In fact, Mr. David, isn't this the reason you asked me to cooperate with you?"

"It is always easier to do business with Chinese and Asians, people who share common characteristics, than with outsiders."

"Otherwise, in the United States, there would be so many racial divisions, such as the British, Germans, Jews, etc. This commonality would make them naturally close to each other and work together."

David Rockefeller looked at Li Changhe in surprise, then smiled and said, "So, you have the same idea in the electrical market?"

"Yes, whether it's petrochemicals, electricity, or home appliances, my thinking is the same. Our cooperation does not require the world's most advanced technology today."

"Because I think there is no market for top technology in East Asia. Country Z and South Korea currently don't have the spending power. But in Japan, the top technology market is already in their own domestic companies."

"So, I just need the Rockefeller family to provide me with conventional cooperation technology, and we can jointly establish a business."

"As for the future, I think our companies can conduct independent research and development like those in Japan and gradually make breakthroughs."

After hearing Li Changhe's words, David Rockefeller's heart moved slightly, and he became more interested in Li Changhe's request for cooperation.

What he meant just now was actually telling Li Changhe a fact that he could not give the high-end technology to the other party. In essence, his intention of cooperating with Li Changhe was to transfer low-end technology and cut off part of the burden of the enterprise.

For example, the home appliance industry under Westinghouse Electric once had a market in the United States, but now it has been swept away by Japanese companies.

For Westinghouse Electric, this part of the home appliance industry has become a burden rather than a profit point.

He was very keen to hand over industries like this to Li Changhe, because this was actually a disguised way of slimming down the industries under his control, and he could also collect some technology patent fees.

The hospital doesn’t matter, after all, it’s just building a hospital. The forces under the Luo family often do this kind of thing.

The only thing he didn't expect was that Li Changhe actually requested both petrochemical and electrical projects at the same time.

There is no need to explain the importance of these two projects. Even low-level projects often involve national industrial chains.

"Vic, you're asking for too much. It's very difficult to push all of this forward at the same time."

"Home appliances and hospitals are easy to deal with, but petrochemicals and electrical engineering are essentially industrial projects. Even if we cooperate, we can't cooperate on too many at once."

"I can only guarantee the passage of one of your projects this time."

David Rockefeller thought for a moment and cut off one for Li Changhe.

He could only let the other party choose between petrochemicals and electrical appliances, and he wanted to see what the other party's intentions were.

"If I can only choose one, I would choose petrochemicals! Singapore has geographical advantages and there is crude oil supply from the Middle East. I think petrochemical projects are easier to implement."

"Besides, the Japanese market is expanding, so it's easier to negotiate with customers there."

"The electrical market is a long-term prospect. It is too difficult to do business now. I think we can observe whether it is Country Z or South Korea for a while."

Li Changhe said decisively at this time.

In fact, for the country today, Li Changhe's choice of the electrical industry is more useful than the petrochemical industry, because the national petrochemical industry is actually advancing, and several large petrochemical projects have been implemented with national strength.

In comparison, the domestic electrical industry currently has a large gap in both technology and demand.

Even the ordinary technology held by Westinghouse Electric is a great supplement to the domestic electrical industry at this moment.

However, Li Changhe decisively chose the petrochemical industry because it was more in line with his "businessman" advantages.

Electricity is more useful to Country Z now, but from a businessman's point of view, the prospects for doing this are not very great at this time because the market is too narrow.

But it is different with petrochemicals. Li Changhe has too many advantages. As long as he cooperates with the Luo family, he will be able to expand the market quickly, just as he said.

So based on the character of "Bao Zeyang", the petrochemical industry is the best choice for him.

The electrical industry would make Li Changhe's intention to subsidize the domestic economy too obvious, and might even arouse the suspicion of this old fox.

So Li Changhe had considered all this before coming here, and when David Rockefeller asked him, he decisively chose the petrochemical industry.

After hearing Li Changhe's answer, David Rockefeller looked at him meaningfully.

"Vic, I also think that the petrochemical industry is suitable for us. Exxon happens to have expansion plans in Singapore. I think we can jointly establish a new petrochemical company."

"On the one hand, you can serve as a supplement to Exxon, and on the other hand, you can also develop independently, as you said, and explore the market in East Asia."

"This can be our core. As for home appliances and hospitals, that's easy. I can arrange it right away."

The other party did not choose Electric, which is good. This shows that the other party still views this cooperation from a businessman's perspective, rather than their so-called patriotism.

If the other party has a strong sense of "patriotism" as the Chinese call it, then he must carefully consider cooperating with this young man.

Although Li Changhe didn't guess the old man's thoughts, but from the look in his eyes, he knew that there might be something fishy about his choice just now.

But now he was too lazy to reveal it, and nodded seriously: "Of course, but Mr. David, I have another request."

"As far as I know, Westinghouse Electric has done research on liquid crystal technology, but it was later sealed. I wonder if they can transfer this technology to me."

"I actually think that LCD technology has great potential in the home appliance industry."

At this time, Li Changhe "took advantage of the situation" and put forward his own demands.

RCA was the first to research liquid crystal technology and opened a liquid crystal factory. Although it was eventually sealed, the technology still spread.

As one of the shareholders of RCA, Westinghouse Electric also studied this technology and took it a step further based on RCA's work.

In fact, not only Westinghouse Electric, but also General Motors and ATT have invested in research in this area, but in the end, they all lost to Japan.

On the one hand, their desire for research and development was not very strong. On the other hand, Japan's offensive was too fierce and did not give them much time.

It was not until the 1970s that various manufacturers began to invest in research on LCD technology. In the 1970s, Japan's home appliance industry had already begun to counterattack the United States.

Therefore, in the past decade, the market share and profits of American companies in the home appliance market have shrunk, which further restricted their research on liquid crystals.

In addition, another important reason is that today's LCD screens have a very narrow range of applications. In addition to TV screens, they can only be used in calculators and watches.

No one has yet imagined how much expansion the personal computer market will bring to the screen market.

Therefore, American companies were not interested in liquid crystal research, and RCA's liquid crystal technology was sold directly to Timex, an American watch company.

However, after Li Changhe proposed it, David Rockefeller did not agree immediately.

"Vic, I have to ask the company below about this. You know, I am actually only responsible for helping them with the planning. I don't know much about the specific technology."

"So I can't promise you right away."

David Rockefeller did not agree immediately. Although he did not understand liquid crystal, he understood Li Changhe.

This guy has an outstanding vision, so the technology he is interested in is definitely not ordinary technology.

David Rockefeller felt that he had to go back and learn more about the technology before deciding whether to sell it to him.

After all, it's always better to be cautious.

"Of course, I just think that in the home appliance industry, if you want to compete with Japanese companies, you still need a certain degree of technological foresight. I think LCD technology is a very good direction. I heard that Japan is also researching it."

"In order to avoid being completely left behind in the future, I think we should also set up a liquid crystal research department, so I thought about acquiring Westinghouse Electric's liquid crystal technology."

Li Changhe explained casually.

David Rockefeller nodded. So that's it.

It seems that the Japanese are indeed ahead of the United States in LCD technology.

At this moment, an old man in his fifties walked over quietly.

"Sir, the president has called and invited us to come."

Cole said softly to David Rockefeller.

David Rockefeller nodded: "Tell them that we are leaving now."

Then, David Rockefeller stood up and said to Li Changhe with a smile, "Come on, Vic, let's go to the president's banquet together."

(End of this chapter)