In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 151 Accidentally blocking HP products from entering the market
"Hey, Old Chen, I haven't seen you for more than 30 years, and you haven't changed at all!"

Li Rui was surprised to see that apart from some traces of time on Chen Xiangtong's face, his appearance and figure had not changed much.

"I'm old! How can I compare to the high spirits I had in college!"

Chen Xiangtong smiled bitterly and said, "You, my old classmate, have changed a lot."

"Of course I did. I was shy and timid in school. I would blush when talking to female classmates... Sigh, after all these decades of experience..."

Li Rui shook his head and sighed.

An expression as if the past was too painful to recall.

"That's not right. You joined the army after graduation. How did you become the president of Harbin Institute of Technology?"

As for Li Rui's experience, not to mention classmates like Chen Xiangtong who had no contact after graduation, even classmates who were close to Li Rui, apart from knowing that Li Rui joined the army and went to the battlefield of the peninsula to fight against 17 gangs, they lost contact afterwards...

Chen Xiangtong was very curious about how Li Rui got from the army to Harbin Institute of Technology.

"It's a coincidence, it's a coincidence!"

Li Rui laughed it off and was unwilling to mention these things.

Seeing that he was unwilling to talk, Chen Xiangtong did not ask any more questions and immediately changed the subject, "Old classmate, I would like to thank you for your help. Although my unit is not far from the Peace Hotel, I rarely have the opportunity to come here..."

"..."

Li Rui was in a difficult position to respond to this.

I feel like I came to the other person and made him spend money.

"Old classmate, I don't come to you for no reason. I'm here to ask you for something. I'll treat you today..."

Li Rui's words stunned Chen Xiangtong.

I am responsible for import and export business. Li Rui is the president of a key university and he always asks me for help when he has something to do.

Could it be imported scientific research equipment?

This was the only thing he could think of that Li Rui asked him for.

"Old classmate, the current foreign exchange situation..."

"We don't need foreign exchange. Our school team accidentally came up with a little gadget. Since you are in charge of import and export trade and have a wide range of experience, I hope you can take a look and see if this little thing has the opportunity to earn foreign exchange through export!"

Li Rui stopped beating around the bush and got straight to the point. As he spoke, he took out two calculators from his pocket.

It’s different from being with the presidents of Peking University and Tsinghua University before.

At this moment, Principal Li no longer had the boastful look he had before. Instead, he looked nervous, as if he really wanted to see if there was any export opportunity with this little gadget in front of him that had no technical content.

"The school needs to import a lot of scientific research equipment, but the foreign exchange quota from the superior is small. If we can have the opportunity to export, it will be of great benefit to us to introduce advanced scientific research equipment and speed up the progress of scientific research."

For units with high export earnings, superiors often give them some foreign exchange reserves, so that export-earning enterprises can introduce internationally advanced technologies and equipment to improve their R&D and productivity.

Chen Xiangtong understands the policy.

Chen Xiangtong breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that the only question was whether there were any export opportunities for the products.

When he took the calculator from Li Rui, he was stunned as if struck by lightning.

calculator!
Although the buttons and appearance are very different from those of HP, at just one glance, Chen Xiangtong was sure that this was the product that was being negotiated with Miles Stick's team but had made no progress!

Is it available in China?

If we have it, and then import it, we will take the initiative.

“You developed it?”

Looking at the calculator in his hand, it took Chen Xiangtong a while to react, his voice trembling.

"Yes. Not only are we developing it, but all the parts and components are made in China. No technology is copied from abroad..."

Principal Li was somewhat surprised by Chen Xiangtong's reaction.

Isn't it just a calculator?
As for?

"What about production capacity?"

Chen Xiangtong did not mention their negotiation with the HP team. "How much is the cost? How much is the selling price?"

"The production line is still under construction and expansion. There are two retail prices. The scientific calculator that can perform function calculations is 998. If the purchase volume is large, the price can be reduced to 498 or even less. The ordinary calculator is 398. Similarly, if the quantity is large, it can be reduced to 198..."

Although he didn't know why Chen Xiangtong was so excited, Li Rui keenly sensed the problem.

No longer clinging to the price like before.

What if there really is an export opportunity?
By then, the export exchange refund and tax refund will be a large sum of money.

"so cheap?"

Chen Xiangtong quickly converted the price according to the exchange rate.

Myles Stick offers an ordinary calculator for $398!

The one in Li Rui's hand has similar functions to the HP one, but the price is as low as 198 RMB, which converts to US dollars, only 132 dollars!

The price can be reduced even further!
They knew that Miles Stick's offer had a very high profit margin, but they really didn't expect it to be so high.

"Lao Li, come on, we haven't seen each other for more than 30 years, let's not talk about other things first..."

In an instant, Chen Xiangtong became enthusiastic.

Imports still need to be imported.

But the initiative has changed.

Li Rui went to see Chen Xiangtong for export purposes.

The production factory is in Shanghai, so even if we want to export, we will definitely look for an import and export trading company in Shanghai.

After learning that his old classmate was the deputy director of the Import and Export Trade Bureau, Principal Li naturally would not let go of such an opportunity.

When Chen Xiangtong was reminiscing with Li Rui, he was surprised to learn that the calculator was produced in Shanghai, as he had never heard of it before. He was already dissatisfied with the high price and harsh conditions offered by Miles Stick's team, and now he was even more determined that even if he had to negotiate, he must take the lead.

What the Shanghai Stock Exchange needs is industrial clusters!
The next day, Chen Xiangtong reported the situation to the director and expressed his opinion: "We already have it. We can find a way to help find an export, so as to expand the scale of foreign exchange earnings for the bureau..."

"What about the negotiations with HP?"

The director frowned.

It is a surprise that imports have turned into exports.

However, any product introduced by the Foreign Trade Bureau is carefully weighed over a long period of time.

The country needs foreign exchange.

Foreign investment is needed.

More foreign technology is needed.

"Continue the negotiations. If the other party does not agree to lower the price, invest in building a factory, or provide production equipment and technology, then we can continue the talks..."

Chen Xiangtong had already thought of countermeasures.

The director looked at him for a while, then nodded, "Let's do this for now. There's no need to hold a meeting in the bureau to discuss this matter."

Chen Xiangtong naturally understood what the director meant. "Director, should we arrange for personnel to conduct a survey of various factories throughout Shanghai to understand our technical foundation? Even if we introduce technology, we don't need to talk about the basic technologies that are already available in China."

Chen Xiangtong thought about it all night.

Originally, they thought they had an understanding of the technological level of the entire Shanghai market and even the whole country. A conversation with Li Rui made him realize that they did not know the true level of Shanghai in the fields of integrated circuits and computers. In particular, Li Rui also told him that Factory 14, which was originally under the jurisdiction of the Shanghai Radio Bureau, can now produce large-scale integrated circuits at a very low cost.

"Ok?"

The director looked at Chen Xiangtong in confusion.

"The Foreign Trade Bureau is not only responsible for imports, but also for expanding export business. If we have some products in Shanghai that are competitive in the international market, the bureau can give some policy support to help exports..."

Chen Xiangtong expressed his thoughts and then took out the calculator that Li Rui gave him. "This kind of calculator can be provided in China with better functions, and the price is about the same as that provided by HP in China..."

The director took the calculator.

He took out a statistical data from the side of the desk and quickly started to work according to Chen Xiangtong's instructions.

"did you mean?"

After trying out the functions, the director found that the calculator in his hand was indeed much better than the one provided by HP.

The response speed is also faster.

"The negotiation with HP is to provide them with technology and funds, and then export the products to create foreign exchange. HP's offer is higher than the international retail market. After reaching a cooperation, our products will not be able to be exported due to high prices, unless we make a loss. At that time, we can only sell to the domestic market..."

The purpose of introducing foreign capital and technology is also to export and obtain foreign exchange.

The "three-in-one" trade is a measure adopted when one's own foreign exchange is insufficient: processing with supplied materials, processing with supplied samples, assembly with supplied parts and compensatory trade.

Specifically, domestic enterprises are responsible for providing land, factory buildings, and labor, while foreign companies provide equipment, raw materials, and samples. All products produced by the factory are exported.

The Chinese company only collects labor fees and is not responsible for sales profits or losses.

Compensation trade is based on credit, whereby equipment and technology are introduced into the country and repaid with products and services within an agreed period.

These measures were originally intended to be taken in the negotiations with HP.

However, Miles Stick's team did not accept any of them and only wanted to sell their products to the Chinese market.

If we change to other products, there will be no possibility of negotiation at all.

But the situation now is different.

The importance of calculators is unquestionable, not only in scientific research, but also in various accounting and data statistics.

"Okay, you go and do it first..."

The director also knew that HP's offer was too high.

If the calculators produced by Huafeng Electron Tube Factory can be exported, the goal can be achieved even without cooperating with HP.

For several days in a row, Miles Stick and his men stayed in the hotel.

I have already visited all the tourist attractions in Shanghai.

As time went on, Miles Stick became more and more impatient.

He also knew that once he took the initiative, he would lose the initiative in the negotiations, which made him begin to become irritated.

"Boss, this is bad! Calculators have appeared in department stores in Shanghai. There are not only ordinary ones with functions similar to ours, but also calculators with better functions. And the calculators with better functions are only priced at 498 yuan..."

When Miles was struggling over whether to find a way to force the Shanghai Foreign Trade Bureau to take the initiative in negotiations, one of his men rushed into his room in panic.

Didn't even knock on the door.

"what?"

When Miles saw the scientific calculator with more functions in his hand, he was furious. "Damn it! Which company sold this thing to the Chinese without our knowledge?"

Whatever you worry about, it will come true.

"I heard that they developed and produced it themselves! It was just launched in all department stores in Shanghai yesterday..."

"impossible!"

Miles interrupted his subordinate rudely, "That's impossible! With their current technological foundation, they are not only unable to mass-produce the integrated circuits needed for calculators, but also unable to provide LCD screens on a large scale."

Miles, who risked his entire fortune, simply didn't believe it.

"Boss, although the supply is very tight at the moment, I went to several department stores and they all said that products would arrive in the stores every day and customers could choose to make reservations... and the factory is in Shanghai..."

"what?"

In an instant, Miles Stick felt hopeless.

He didn't want to believe it.

But it is impossible for his subordinates to deceive him.

He followed his subordinates and took the car provided by the hotel to the department store. He saw the calculator in the most conspicuous place and collapsed on the seat weakly.

"No! I have to find a way, otherwise I'm doomed!"

On the way back to the hotel, Miles Stick thought that he had already gambled his entire fortune, and it would be meaningless to continue the negotiations. The only cooperation plan was for him to agree to the conditions of the Shanghai Foreign Trade Bureau: lower the price, invest in building a factory and produce in Shanghai...

"HP probably didn't think about that."

After much thought, Miles felt that only by dragging HP down with him would he have a chance to turn things around.

How to pull into the water?
Let HP provide more powerful and advanced production technology and funds, and operate it yourself.

Before contacting HP, Miles Lawrence conducted a detailed investigation of the relevant industries in Shanghai. Through the leaders of some units, he learned about the manufacturers of calculators and even learned that there was a factory in Shanghai that could provide 8-bit chips on a large scale...

Soon, Miles Stick went to Hong Kong.

The situation was briefed to the head of the HP office in Hong Kong.

"impossible!"

After hearing this, the head of HP's Hong Kong office was also in disbelief. "Mr. Myers, your joke is really funny."

"This is their product. The Shanghai Foreign Trade Bureau has already contacted some agency companies in Hong Kong and other places. These two calculators will soon appear in markets such as Hong Kong and Japan... and their prices will be much lower than ours..."

Miles placed the sample directly in front of the person in charge of Xiangjiang.

Soon, the relief on the face of the person in charge of Xiangjiang disappeared.

"They have the ability to mass-produce 8-bit chips. As long as they expand and add functions, they will soon be able to produce desktop computers and powerful microcomputers that can compete with HP..."

Although Miles had no evidence, he did not hesitate to exaggerate the other party in order to achieve his own goals.

He didn't know that this made the Hong Kong person in charge who was familiar with the headquarters' plan instantly worried.

HP has already begun planning and is preparing to launch personal computer products globally next year!
Competition in the international market has become fierce.

If another strong competitor emerges in the Chinese market...

The consequences could be disastrous.

"your thoughts?"

The person in charge of Hong Kong frowned as he looked at Miles Lawrence, the adventurer who took the initiative to develop the Chinese market.

"Cooperate with them and strangle their development in the cradle. According to their policy of attracting investment, we can provide them with some production technology of backward products..."

Miles Lawrence's plan was simple: HP would provide the production technology, Miles would find a way to raise funds, and then establish a joint venture with the Shanghai Electron Tube Factory No. 7, which was capable of producing advanced calculators.

"I need to report this to headquarters."

The person in charge of Xiangjiang looked at Miles for a long time, finally took a deep breath and spoke.

(End of this chapter)