Rebirth of Hong Kong Island, leading the technology war

Chapter 249 Private Aerospace Company Seeks Help
Hu Jiangshan and Wang Yuling are old acquaintances, and their several collaborations have been very pleasant and smooth.

Hu Jiangshan answered the phone and heard Wang Yuling's greeting from the other end.

"Hey, Boss Hu, long time no see."

Hu Jiangshan also joked: "Yes, Director Wang, it's been a long time since we last met. I miss you very much."

Wang Yuling laughed a few times and said, "Boss Hu, I heard that your business is very good now. Are you very busy?"

"Hi, Director Wang, my business is booming, thanks to your help. I am a bit busy now, but I am in a good mood."

Wang Yuling said immediately: "Don't say that, I didn't help much, it's mainly because your technology is advanced, the products you make are good quality and low price, and meet the requirements of customers, and this can be regarded as helping China's semiconductor industry, you are a great contributor.

"Director Wang, please stop flattering me. I can't bear the credit of contribution."

Wang Yuling did not continue to praise, but what she said just now was also the truth.

Hu Jiangshan did help several Chinese semiconductor companies. In particular, the reason why Huayao recovered so quickly from the blow was almost entirely due to Hu Jiangshan.

Even without talking about Huayao, Hu Jiangshan did solve the urgent problems of several semiconductor companies.

For example, Huaxin International, HKUST Feixun, etc.

If it were not for Hu Jiangshan's hard power to back up the situation, including chips and semiconductor consumables such as photoresists, many factories would have to stop production and even face bankruptcy and liquidation.

That would be a devastating disaster for China's semiconductor industry.

More importantly, Hu Jiangshan's side not only has superb technology that has reached the advanced level of Blue Star, but also charges very fair fees, which even makes people suspect that his purpose is not to make money.

He is simply a great philanthropist in the semiconductor community.

Hu Jiangshan has indeed made great contributions.

Hu Jiangshan doesn't know yet that he has now been defined as a Class A enterprise by the China Semiconductor Association.

The so-called Class A enterprises are those with high precision and core technologies.

Moreover, classifying Hu Jiangshan's company into this category is only temporary.

Because the nature of Hu Jiangshan's business is very mysterious and still unclear, it is protected.

The Semiconductor Association has not deliberately dug up detailed information, and has not even sent personnel to conduct on-site inspections.

If it is confirmed in the future that Hu Jiangshan’s company can indeed manufacture advanced chips and semiconductor consumables, and its manufacturing activities are not restricted, it will definitely be defined as the highest level S.

To put it bluntly, the so-called Class A enterprises are just a cover-up to prevent Hu Jiangshan’s company from being exposed too early.

Hu Jiangshan asked: "Director Wang, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"Yes, I have something to consult you about."

"That's not really a consultation. Director Wang, just ask me. I'll answer all my questions."

"Boss Hu, I'd like to ask if you have any extra production capacity? We can make some...specially customized chips."

Hu Jiangshan was stunned: "Specially customized chips? Director Wang, do you mean the kind with a high manufacturing process and a relatively high level of difficulty?

"No, no, no, the difficulty is not particularly high, at least not as high as that of the Huayao Kirin chip. It's just that the quantity required is relatively small. Boss Hu, I won't hide it from you. We have asked Huaxin International for these chips and asked them to help with the tape-out. They can indeed do it, but the fees they require are relatively high, and the companies in need cannot afford it, so I want to ask what the situation is on your side."

Hu Jiangshan asked: "Director Wang, Huaxin International can tape out the chips normally. Could it be a 14-nanometer chip?"

Wang Yuling replied: "It's about the same. It may be a little more complicated than 14 nanometers, but it will definitely not reach the level below 10 nanometers."

Hu Jiangshan understood that the so-called demand enterprises must be special industries, and the equipment they manufactured was not consumer electronic equipment, but special tool equipment.

The sales volume of such equipment is not large, so the chips required must be very small, perhaps only a few hundred per year.

In order to tape out a newly designed chip, Huaxin International needs to prepare a whole set of new supporting facilities and even make a large amount of data adjustments to the production equipment.

This is indeed very costly, and we cannot blame Huaxin International for charging a high price.

Hu Jiangshan asked: "Director Wang, what industry is the company in need of this? Can you tell me?"

Wang Yuling naturally would not hide it from Hu Jiangshan and replied, "It is an aerospace company."

Hu Jiangshan was stunned: "Aerospace company? Could it be China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation?"

"That's not the case. It's a private aerospace company."

Hu Jiangshan immediately understood.

China's aerospace system is now divided into two parts: state-owned aerospace and private aerospace enterprises.

State-owned aerospace enterprises naturally fall into the category of state-owned and central enterprises.

For example, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation and China Aerospace Corporation are all state-owned.

These two major groups have access to the most resources, with almost unlimited supply of talent and funds.

Therefore, the development of my country's aerospace technology is also mainly based on these two major groups, which concentrate their efforts on major tasks and develop rapidly.

China's aerospace achievements are advancing by leaps and bounds, and have entered a period of explosive growth in recent years.

China has now begun building a national space station in the orbit of the Blue Planet. The construction period will not be too long. In one or two years, the space station will be completed.

This made the Blue Star overlord, the Lighthouse Nation, envious and jealous. After all, even the Lighthouse Nation did not have its own space station.

The dilapidated International Space Station is almost at the end of its life. It is a mess and full of patches. It is obvious that it will not last for many more years.

Another category is private aerospace companies.

China has begun to support its own private aerospace companies in recent years.

At present, there are several private aerospace enterprises in China, and there are six or seven relatively large-scale ones with certain technical reserves.

If we include some small private aerospace companies that have been established not long ago, there are definitely more than a dozen of them.

These companies certainly have demand for chips, but they manufacture rockets, satellites and other gadgets, so the number of chips they need is naturally incomparable to consumer electronics.

The resources obtained by private aerospace companies are naturally not comparable to those of state-owned aerospace companies.

Although the state will also support these private enterprises, tilt policies towards them, and even grant technology free of charge.

However, chips are not something that can be given whenever you want. Not all aerospace companies use public versions of their chips. Some are designed by themselves based on their own needs. So how to manufacture these chips is a difficult problem.

The state-owned aerospace group has special channels to manufacture chips, so even if the cost is high, it is not a big problem.

However, private aerospace companies do not have such conditions and capabilities. If the chip is specially designed, it is indeed difficult to find a foundry.

Not to mention manufacturing it, the cost of tape-out alone is huge.

Private enterprises do not have that much money to spend, and the only money they have is almost all used for research and development. Good steel should be used where it is needed most.

So these private aerospace companies turned to the Semiconductor Association for help.

The Semiconductor Association is equivalent to a national semiconductor intermediary agency, and it is almost free, helping these private high-tech companies solve problems. The people in the association ran around and even went abroad to look for opportunities, but after searching for a long time, they found it difficult to do so due to cost reasons, so they naturally found Hu Jiangshan.

Of course it would be best if Hu Jiangshan continued to play the role of rescue captain.

Of course, Wang Yuling didn’t actually hold out much hope and probably just wanted to try her luck.

After all, Hu Jiangshan has an important responsibility here.

On the one hand, it needs to supply chips to Huayao, including logic chips and artificial intelligence computing chips.

On the other hand, it is also necessary to supply consumables such as photoresist needed by semiconductor manufacturers.

So Hu Jiangshan is already very busy, and it is indeed a bit difficult to squeeze out production capacity.

The Semiconductor Association certainly needs Hu Jiangshan to ensure the normal production of Huayao and other semiconductor companies.

At this time, Hu Jiangshan thought about it and replied: "I think it shouldn't be a big problem."

Wang Yuling was stunned. "It's not a big problem? Boss Hu, what I mean is that you may have to make special preparations for the newly designed chip, such as tape-out, and you may not be able to produce many of these chips, maybe a few hundred, or even a few dozen. And you should have heard about the situation of private aerospace companies. They are not very strong companies and don't have a lot of funds."

Hu Jiangshan said, "It's okay, Director Wang. I still have some production capacity available. I can try the tape-out first. If it meets the requirements, I don't mind taking the job. As for the cost... we'll talk about it later."

After Hu Jiangshan said this, Wang Yuling fell silent.

I didn't expect Hu Jiangshan to agree so readily. No, it should be said that he was open-minded.

Hu Jiangshan didn't even talk about the remuneration and wanted to try to do the tape-out directly.

Wang Yuling understands semiconductor manufacturing and knows how difficult it is to tape out a newly designed chip.

Not only do templates need to be made, but the computer data of all industrial manufacturing equipment also needs to be adjusted, which takes a lot of time and money and is not cheap.

For example, for a large manufacturer like TSMC, the wafer production fee has now risen to nearly 1000 million yuan.

Huaxin International's charges will be cheaper, but it will definitely cost three to four million yuan, which is why private aerospace companies shook their heads when they heard the quote.

Hu Jiangshan, on the other hand, didn't care about the cost and said he would talk about it later.

If the film has been leaked, what else can you say? Can you give a symbolic amount?

Depending on Hu Jiangshan's attitude, it can even be free.

This is too exaggerated. It's not something a businessman would do.

Wang Yuling said, "Boss Hu, are you sure? Tape-out is very expensive."

Hu Jiangshan said, "It's really okay on my side. Director Wang, you know me. I won't agree to anything I'm not sure of."

This is true. Hu Jiangshan has done everything he promised, and he did it very well, and there is no need for him to brag.

There is a play!

Wang Yuling was very happy: "Okay, then let's do this, Boss Hu, I will arrange for you two to meet and discuss your ideas. If there are no problems, we can cooperate."

"no problem."

After hanging up the phone, Hu Jiangshan was a little dazed for a moment.

You know, in the last few years of his previous life, almost all the projects Hu Jiangshan received were related to aerospace.

At that time, China's aerospace technology had developed to a very powerful level, even completely surpassing the Lighthouse Country, and could be called the number one on the blue planet.

China has even begun implementing substantive plans for a moon landing, followed by a sample return from Mars.

Hu Jiangshan is also responsible for very critical material technology. You must know that the most core and most difficult to conquer in aerospace is material technology.

The environment in space is very complex, and there are even many unpredictable emergencies, so materials with various properties are needed.

Especially in the middle and late stages of the moon landing plan, it was necessary to consider building a base on the moon, and the requirements for building materials became more stringent.

As for chips, there are a lot of instruments and equipment in aerospace engineering, and almost every piece of equipment requires a lot of chips.

But by that time, chips will no longer be a constraint on aerospace engineering.

Which private company was it? Did he have any connection with Hu Jiangshan in his past life?

Hu Jiangshan didn't think much about it. Anyway, we will know when the time comes.

Speaking of which, Hu Jiangshan suddenly realized that he seemed to be related to aerospace again recently.

In addition to Wang Yuling, Bill Gates, the former richest man on the planet, also approached him to seek cooperation in building a space launch site.

Could it be that it was destined, or that there was some special force pushing Hu Jiangshan in that direction?

Early the next morning, Wang Yuling called Hu Jiangshan again.

Wang Yuling has already contacted the private aerospace company, and the other party will come to Hong Kong Island to meet with Hu Jiangshan.

Hu Jiangshan was a little surprised. The other party was very sincere and came all the way to Hong Kong Island. In fact, Hu Jiangshan could accept meeting him in Guangzhou or Shenzhen.

But if you think about it carefully, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong Island are not that different. It's just a matter of passing a checkpoint.

Hu Jiangshan and Wang Yuling made an appointment for the next afternoon.

The other party seemed very anxious, so time was very tight.

Hu Jiangshan could understand that. After all, it was very frustrating when a project was stuck at a certain stage and could not move forward.

The next day, in the afternoon, at the entrance of Hong Kong Island Longsheng Commercial Building.

A Hong Kong-style taxi stopped by the roadside.

Three people got off the car. One of them negotiated with the driver for a long time, but after counting the money for a long time, he finally paid the fare.

The taxi driver glanced at the three people, seemed to curl his lips and roll his eyes, then stepped on the clutch, shifted gears, stepped on the accelerator, and sped away.

The three people who got off the bus were two men and one woman.

The two men were probably in their thirties or forties, one was tall and thin, and the other was a bit short and fat.

As for that girl, she was amazing, a big beauty with long legs.

The tall and thin man is named Peng Xiaojun, and the short and fat man is named Liu Chao.

The beautiful girl's name is Fang Xiaoya.

All three are employees of Starry Glory and are co-founders.

Liu Chao complained: "This is too outrageous here in Hong Kong Island. Taxis can't even be paid by mobile phone. You have to pay in cash."

Peng Xiaojun waved his hand: "I told you the situation a long time ago, but you still insisted on arguing with him about it. In the end, you still have to pay cash."

(End of this chapter)