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

Chapter 758 The Chinese Academy of Sciences' Choice!

Time quickly passed to late June, and with a prominent figure publicly promising that Hong Kong Island would implement two systems in the future, this delegation of Hong Kong businessmen received a satisfactory answer.

In any case, at least their living environment will not change, which is undoubtedly a reassurance for everyone.

As a result, some Hong Kong businessmen began to stay and discuss various collaborations with the mainland.

After all, some things are not secrets to them. Didn't they see that Bao Zeyang's arrival already marked the beginning of a quiet strengthening of cooperation with the mainland?

Meanwhile, Bao Zeyang's team was also negotiating with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

However, Li Changhe did not participate in the specific negotiations. As the group of Hong Kong businessmen left, Li Changhe naturally took the time to stay behind.

Of course, the official explanation given to the outside world was that they went on a trip with the foreign affairs department.

A small restaurant in Beijing.

Li Changhe and Shen Juncheng got together again.

Shen Juncheng pushed the list in front of Li Changhe.

"Here are the people you wanted, but some of them have already resigned. For example, Wang Anshi. They just started a small company last month called Sitong."

"However, I estimate that it is precisely because of them that the Chinese Academy of Sciences now has a very strong intention to cooperate with you."

Li Changhe took the list and glanced at it, then asked curiously, "What do you mean?"

"It's all about money. This Sitong company has only been established for a month or so, and I heard it has already made two or three hundred thousand yuan. My dad keeps talking about it when he comes home, and he thinks the money came too fast and it's not normal."

"There are a lot of people in the Chinese Academy of Sciences who are envious of this, and many of them are restless. I heard that someone even suggested that the Institute of Computing Technology should cooperate with Sitong. Anyway, if you want to make a move, you'd better do it sooner rather than later."

"But now that you've brought it up, I reckon the Chinese Academy of Sciences would be more willing to cooperate with you."

"Actually, Sitong Company's business is very simple. It gets word processors from the Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry, then localizes them and sells them to other state-owned enterprises. To put it bluntly, it's just buying and selling."

The Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry later became the Ministry of Electronics Industry, and it is still called the Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry today. The Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry had the power to set import prices. It obtained imported electronic products, which Sitong Company then processed and sold to foreign companies, earning the difference in price.

Li Changhe was somewhat surprised to hear Shen Juncheng speak so logically.

"You seem to know this quite well!"

“The complaint letter clearly states that we have been receiving a constant stream of complaints to our bureau. The bureau knows that I am a child of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, so they assigned this matter to me, saying that I should investigate first.”

Shen Juncheng shook his head and said with a wry smile.

After listening, Li Changhe also shook his head.

This is a wild market era where anyone can quickly amass a large amount of capital if they dare to act boldly. However, it is also an era of cognitive shock. The rampant growth of commercialization makes many people who are used to the established system very uncomfortable.

The differentiation caused by commercial expansion and adherence to conventions can lead to a degree of polarization in society, and even traditional social values ​​and morals will begin to polarize.

There's no way around it, the gap is just too big. Take Sitong Company for example. In fact, by the end of this year, Sitong Company, which had only been established for half a year, had a profit of over one million yuan. This is a completely shocking concept for many Chinese Academy of Sciences staff who are still earning a salary of a few dozen yuan.

By 1985, Sitong's sales revenue would exceed 100 million yuan.

The same applies to Lenovo in the future.

However, computers are more expensive than typewriters.

After having dinner with Shen Juncheng, Li Changhe returned to his villa in Haidian.

As soon as the weather warmed up, Zhu Lin and the others stopped staying at the Overseas Chinese Apartment and went back to the villa, since it was more spacious and had more rooms.

When he returned, Zhu Lin was still at get off work. Li Changhe comforted his son for a while, then took the materials and went into the study.

After glancing at the list, Li Changhe shook his head. Good heavens, he didn't recognize a single one of the names.

As for the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the only person he knew was Ni Guangnan, because the future dispute between Liu and Ni was written in great detail by later generations.

He really didn't know much else.

However, those who can get into the Chinese Academy of Sciences in this era are definitely not lacking in strength, and Li Changhe plans to win them all over.

Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Liu Zhi walked into the office early in the morning, feeling utterly bored.

He didn't really have much to do at the institute, but recently he's started thinking about some things.

The whole thing was caused by Sitong Company. Ever since those people left in May to start their own business at Sitong Company, there's been a constant stream of news from within the institute.

An income of several hundred thousand yuan a month is considered extraordinary by many.

But Liu Zhi knew that this might not be a big deal.

When it comes to technical skills, he may not be as good as the older colleagues in the institute, but when it comes to vision, Liu Zhi is much better than them.

In particular, his father is now the legal director of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. In recent years, he has been traveling back and forth between Hong Kong Island and Beijing. Not to mention, he has brought back a lot of books, business newspapers and magazines, as well as business law materials that his father has studied.

Having been exposed to it from a young age, Liu Zhi had learned and seen quite a lot. In his opinion, the people from Sitong weren't playing any particularly sophisticated tricks.

To put it simply, there is market demand for typewriters. They are convenient and can replace manual writing. So, which state-owned enterprise or collective enterprise doesn't need one?
The market was right there, practically like food being served to you.

If they can do it, there's no reason why I can't.

Liu Zhi plans to talk to the institute to see if he can start a company as well.

In the office, Liu Zhi was trying to bolster his courage and figure out how to start the conversation when another colleague, Wang Jianmin, walked in.

"Hey, Xiao Liu, you're usually so well-informed. Do you have any news about our institute's recent collaboration with Hong Kong?"

After Wang Jianmin came in, he first blew some air under the ceiling fan, and then asked Liu Zhi curiously.

"Cooperation with Hong Kong Island? What kind of cooperation?"

Liu Zhi asked curiously.

He's actually been paying attention to things at Sitong these past few days, and hasn't really been following news from his institute much.

Seeing Liu Zhi's puzzled expression, Wang Jianmin chuckled and teased, "Is there anything you, the know-it-all, don't know? It's all over the place in our institute."

“A company in Hong Kong wants to collaborate with our Computer Institute on computer-related business, but the specifics of the collaboration are still unclear. I heard they're still in talks.” Upon hearing this, Liu Zhi felt a sense of unease.

Good heavens, hasn't this ruined my plans?

If the institute has already reached an agreement with Hong Kong, then what business is there for me?
No, we need to investigate this matter further.

Meanwhile, in a conference room at the Institute of Computer Science, Deputy Director Zeng Maochao was talking with Ni Guangnan, who had just returned from abroad.

"Comrade Guangnan, this time our institute is cooperating with Hong Kong businessmen, and we would like to appoint you as the technical leader of our Chinese Academy of Sciences. You have worked in Canada, you speak English, and you have experience with foreign computer business. We think it is very suitable for you to take on this role."

At this moment, Ni Guangnan, who was sitting opposite Zeng Maochao, frowned.

He went to the National Research Council of Canada as a visiting scholar in 81 and only returned last year. Before he could even settle down to his research, the institute wants to arrange for him to collaborate with some Hong Kong businessmen. This...
"Director Zeng, I haven't even settled in yet, and now you want me to collaborate with Hong Kong businessmen again? I'm just a tech guy, I don't understand business at all, I don't know anything about this."

Ni Guangnan was somewhat reluctant.

Zeng Maochao smiled and said, "Don't worry, we'll send you there to work on technology, and not just technology, but cutting-edge technology."

"Our cooperation with the other party this time mainly focuses on technological cooperation. The two parties will jointly establish a technology research and development center, and the patents will be shared by both parties. However, the other party has the commercial rights of the patents, while our Chinese Academy of Sciences only has the research and development rights and cannot grant additional rights to other units."

“When you go there, you will represent our Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and work together with the researchers from the other side.”

"What about computer sales? How is that calculated?"

Ni Guangnan asked curiously.

Zeng Maochao smiled and said, "We've already discussed this. On the domestic side, they will set up another company, which will operate as a private enterprise under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and conduct sales domestically."

"As for overseas channels, their company is fully responsible for sales."

"As for the final total revenue sharing, it will be converted into US dollars and returned to us in the form of patent licensing revenue sharing."

What might be most exciting for the Chinese Academy of Sciences is this US dollar settlement, because it not only means that they can earn foreign exchange, but also spend it.

With the country's further opening up, the autonomy of scientific research institutions and state-owned enterprises in their operations has been further relaxed, and an important point here is the issue of profit retention.

To put it simply, from now on, the company can save a portion of its own profits and decide how to use them.

Once the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences can earn US dollars on its own, it can decide what scientific research equipment to purchase with the retained dollars, thus gaining a great deal of autonomy and no longer needing to wait for approval from higher authorities.

It can be said that the conditions proposed by the Hong Kong businessmen hit the nail on the head.

Ni Guangnan nodded after listening: "Patent licensing is indeed a common model used overseas. In Europe and America, developers usually license their patents to companies and then profit from it."

"However, there is one point here: how do we determine if the other party's financial statements are not falsified? This is a problem that must be guarded against."

Zeng Maochao nodded: "You're right, so the firm also has plans to arrange for a team with business and legal expertise to join their company. We're not just blindly following others."

"Moreover, the computer cooperation is just the beginning. The other party values ​​the research capabilities of our Chinese Academy of Sciences very much. It is said that they will cooperate with us in multiple electronic fields such as telecommunications switches and storage servers in the future."

"But we have to take things one step at a time. The institute is considering starting with our computer science institute first. If the cooperation goes smoothly, then we can move on to other areas of cooperation."

"In short, this collaboration is a major reform for our institute. Comrade Guangnan, please go down and make good preparations, and at the same time, draft a list of personnel and technical staff to be among the first batch of members to join the collaborative research and development unit."

"This is great news. The Hong Kong side said they will provide all the R&D equipment, which can be purchased in full from the United States, Europe and Japan. They are very sincere this time."

Upon hearing Zeng Maochao's words, Ni Guangnan's resistance gradually dissipated.

If what Zeng Maochao said is true, then the other party is indeed very sincere. Not only does it offer profit sharing, but it also provides various research equipment and guarantees patent sharing. This is a treatment that is not common even in Europe and America.

"Okay, I'll go back and think about it, and see if I can come up with a list!"

Ni Guangnan then got up and left.

At the entrance, Ni Guangnan glanced at Liu Zhi curiously as he stood pacing back and forth in front of Zeng Maochao's door, but didn't say anything more.

He hadn't been back at the computer institute for long, so he didn't know Liu Zhi very well, hadn't had much interaction with him, and didn't have any special relationship with him.

After seeing Ni Guangnan come out, Liu Zhi immediately went to Zeng Maochao's office and gently knocked on the door.

Zeng Maochao thought it was Ni Guangnan who had returned, but when he looked up, he saw it was Liu Zhi.

"Xiao Liu?"

Liu Zhi walked in with a big smile: "Director Zeng, I have something I'd like to ask you about?"

Zeng Maochao looked at Liu Zhi and smiled to himself. This kid must have heard some rumors.

"Speak, what do you want from me?"

Seeing Zeng Maochao's posture, Liu Zhi thought for a moment and then mustered up his courage to say, "Director Zeng, I heard that our institute is going to cooperate with Hong Kong businessmen?"

"You're pretty well-informed, aren't you!"

Zeng Maochao said with a smile that he wasn't angry.

Regarding the cooperation with Hong Kong businessmen, Liu Zhi's father will need to step in, as handling contracts with Hong Kong businessmen requires professional legal knowledge, and Liu Zhi's father, Liu Gushu, is an expert in this area.

"Director Zeng, tell me, if we don't cooperate with them, can we do it ourselves?"

“Look at Sitong, there are only a few people there, they just resell typewriters, and they’re doing so well. Our computer institute also has its own technology, we can totally do it ourselves like Sitong. I don’t think the market will be bad.”

After thinking for a moment, Liu Zhi mustered up his courage and boldly suggested to Zeng Suo.

After listening to Liu Zhi's words, Zeng Maochao looked at him with surprise.

He thought Liu Zhi knew the inside story of the cooperation and wanted to join the company in Hong Kong, but he didn't expect that Liu Zhi actually wanted to boldly do it on his own.

"You have quite a bold idea, but we've already decided to cooperate with Hong Kong, so we definitely can't do it on our own."

Zeng Maochao smiled and shook his head, rejecting Liu Zhi's suggestion. Putting everything else aside, he only earned RMB, not USD.

However, looking at Liu Zhi, Zeng Maochao suddenly had another idea.

"Xiao Liu, have you ever thought about working in Hong Kong?"

He thought this kid could act as the Chinese Academy of Sciences' commercial representative and cooperate with Hong Kong!

(End of this chapter)