Return to Hong Kong Island for a Century

Chapter 320 Suggestions (First Update)
Wafers are an essential material in chip manufacturing. Currently, wafer sizes include one-inch, three-inch, four-inch, and other specifications.

The mainstream sizes later became 6-inch, 8-inch, and 12-inch wafers, but Li Song obtained 4-inch wafer manufacturing technology from mainland China.

Intel established its 4-inch production line in 1975, so it was not lagging behind at all when it entered the mainland market.

Historically, it wasn't until 88 that a 4-inch production line was established.

The processes of wafer manufacturing, dicing, etc., have also developed gradually along with the advancement of science and technology.

In fact, China had wanted to introduce wafer manufacturing and chip manufacturing technologies as early as the 70s.

However, it was blocked by foreign countries. Later, it was supposed to introduce Toshiba's technology and production line, but Li Song happened to provide 4-inch technology, so the mainland did not continue to introduce it.

In fact, some technical things are easy to understand once you get the hang of them. After obtaining the technology, relevant research institutes in China can now begin construction.

Li Song also knew that a total of 33 wafer fabs were built in China in the following period.

Most of them have not achieved large-scale production capacity or commercial production capacity.

This highlights why many people at this time blindly rush into things and spend money recklessly.

Moreover, it's not just semiconductors; it's the same in other industries. What do you do when you don't have enough money? Print money, of course.
So some people set a bad precedent. As we all know, the direct result of printing money is that there aren't that many valuable things in the country, which leads to currency devaluation.

Although some things were stopped later, once the loopholes were opened, they couldn't be closed off.

“Mr. Ma, I think that China should be more cautious in the construction of wafer fabs.”

"Including other factories, we shouldn't build too many similar industries in clusters, after all, the income of our domestic residents is not very high yet," Li Song said after thinking about this.

This is why Li Song limits the number of licenses he grants to home appliance companies, motorcycle companies, and outboard motor manufacturers.

Because if there were no restrictions, believe it or not, the same kind of businesses would spring up everywhere.

When something sells well, everyone rushes to buy it.

Of course, most companies have good intentions, but some people just want to profit from it.

"After all, money is easy to spend but not easy to earn back; allocating funds is easy." Li Song knew that someone above him would retire this year.

That's the main reason, because there were many situations that were unforeseen at the time.

For example, if the initial investment for a project is only over 10 billion yuan, then over 10 billion yuan in banknotes would need to be printed.

However, printing over 10 billion dollars will cause inflation.

This will indirectly increase the project's financial investment again.

So, does that mean we'll have to print more money?

This will then cause inflation!

This creates a vicious cycle!
This is why many projects were cancelled in the 1980s.

Because the national treasury cannot support so many projects.

If these projects are allowed to continue, then there will be a constant need for investment and money printing!

This then causes inflation, leading to even greater project investment.

What was the final result?
This is much more serious than credit card fraud!

In the end, it will only make the money in people's hands increasingly worthless.

"I have a suggestion: to build more infrastructure projects, such as power plants, railways, ports, and highways." These infrastructure projects can greatly improve productivity.

To boost the domestic economy.

“These things seem to require a large investment at the beginning, but once they are built, they will benefit you for many years,” Li Song continued.

“I can also invest in these projects!” That’s why Li Song made this suggestion.

Because of this infrastructure, projects won't lose money like some projects do now.

Seeing that other people's factories were thriving, everyone rushed to join in.

Then they engage in large-scale redundant construction and production, ultimately resulting in a complete mess.

Of course, Li Song also drew inspiration from the country's subsequent development by undertaking large-scale infrastructure construction!

Just like building a road, it requires cement, manpower, and construction machinery, and you can even charge a fee after the road is built.

A road will take at least ten or twenty years to build!
It's better than investing in factories where the factory managers and their cronies feast while ruining the factories, laying off workers, and ultimately turning the factories into their own.

Of course, in this era, most people who owned factories did not have a good ending.

Don't be fooled by the fact that these people used various methods to divide up state assets in the period that followed.

These all have procedures in place, and people have memories.

Some people are wondering why no one is stopping this from happening.

From a macro perspective, even if these venues aren't developed by private individuals, they'll just rot away.

It would be better to let these people take it and see what they can accomplish.

This is what's called "the meat is rotten" in the pot.

So when some people tried to transfer assets overseas later, they were immediately investigated.

"I will convey Mr. Li's message." Ma Shengli nodded and wrote down Li Song's words.

Ma Shengli didn't say something else: some people saw that Li Song was making money by exporting motorcycles, and some others also wanted to make money by exporting motorcycles.

However, BMW's motorcycle technology license did not authorize exports, so some people still think they can enjoy the benefits of a unified system.

Of course, these people had no idea how great Li Song's contributions were.

The higher authorities didn't even ask Li Song about exporting motorcycles, because BMW's motorcycle production capacity was not being expanded.

Most of the motorcycles exported are now produced under OEM agreements with other motorcycle companies.

Therefore, the higher authorities did not issue a directive. Li Song's reluctance to allow motorcycle exports was primarily to avoid internal competition.

If exports are liberalized, other factories will have many ways to indirectly lower prices. If I were to actually do something like that, it might cause a lot of trouble.

Therefore, they simply don't authorize exports and can find other manufacturers to produce the motorcycles under their own brand. Of course, the manufacturers producing the motorcycles under their own brand will have personnel from BMW Motorrad overseeing the process.

These factories don't care what kind of motorcycles they sell domestically, but they must meet the required quality standards for exports.

Of course, Li Song was also quite generous, offering not only a short payment period but also foreign exchange.

"Regarding the construction of the wafer fab, whether it's technology or capital investment, we can do whatever is convenient for the higher authorities," Li Song said.

There will definitely be a lot of wafer fabs, because once the chips are produced, the demand will be huge. However, there's no rush to build the first one initially. We'll raise the issue after the first one is successfully built.

"The same goes for lithography machines; I have a lot of funds on hand," Li Song added.

Li Song thought that investing in lithography machines was enough, because lithography machines can be considered a powerful tool. The further we go, the more technology and supporting manufacturers are needed.

Because every component of a lithography machine is the most advanced in the industry.

Lasers, optical materials, control, electric shock, bearings, etc.

This is something that can only be achieved through a complete industrial system, and you don't need that many lithography machine manufacturers; one is enough.

Of course, the most important thing is that this lithography machine factory is very likely to lose money in the future.

Because the West cannot give up its technology, nor can it use lithography machines from the mainland.

Although capital controls the country in the West, these capitalists are still quite cautious when it comes to things that are related to the core of the country's destiny.

Moreover, once the core technologies of Western capitalists are touched, they will cause their countries to make some outrageous decisions.

It's true that capital is independent, but it also knows that if it doesn't control core technologies, it will eventually be at the mercy of others.

From the perspectives of technology and supporting industries, joint ventures are the best choice for lithography machines.

Ma Shengli naturally understood the implication in Li Song's words.

They also learned of Li Song's thoughts, because Li Song later said that he had enough funds, which proved that Li Song wanted to form a joint venture.

"In addition, when the wafer fab was being built and the lithography machine was being constructed, two departments in my electronics research institute also wanted to get involved."

"Furthermore, we can provide even more advanced technology in the future, such as five-inch, six-inch, and eight-inch sizes," Li Song added.

"I will report this to my superiors, and I also thank Mr. Li."

"Mr. Li, I don't know if these vans will be able to leave the factory."

"How should we set the price?" Ma Shengli was now concerned about the price of these vans.

"1.2L, five seats, 3!"

"1.5L six-seater for 4, nine-seater for 6!" Li Song had already considered all of this.

There are currently no imported minivans in China, but there are imported sedans. For example, the Lada sedans imported by Cong Feixiong cost around 30,000 yuan.

During this period, the prices of domestic industrial products were high.

Historically, Toyota Hiace minivans imported in 1984 ranged in price from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan!

There's also the Santana, which sells for 180,000.

Back then, a Santana cost 180,000 yuan. At that time, wages were very low; it would take hundreds of years of work to buy a Santana.

So the price you offered isn't outrageous at all; in fact, it's quite cheap.

The main reason is the lack of domestic supplies!

China doesn't have the same advanced transportation network as it does now.

The maximum load capacity of trucks on the road now is only twenty or thirty tons.

In addition, there is a shortage of materials, and there are two prices: one for materials included in the plan and one for materials not included in the plan.

So Li Song added, "The price within the plan can be reduced further, and some related sister units can get the vehicles first!"

Starting a business requires adapting to different regions and cultures!

The "sister companies" that Li Song mentioned were, of course, factories that supplied materials to the factory!

For example, steel mills, aluminum plants, and railway departments that transport steel and aluminum.

Don't these sister units want to use vehicles?

Definitely not, so these affiliated units can get the cars first!

And we also need to offer some discounts to our sister companies!
Even if Li Song didn't do that, these factories wouldn't stop supplying him with materials, since Li Song exports his products.

However, a superior command is one thing, but executing it is another!

"Great!" Ma Shengli was just about to bring this up, since the Science and Technology Commission also has sister units!
"Technology licensing for the minivan is negotiable!"

"BMW will not increase production lines at its car plant, but the plant needs to consider several reasons. First, there is the issue of logistics and transportation, and second, there is the supply of materials. We should try our best to avoid transporting cars from the south to the north for sale!"

"For now, we'll authorize no more than ten companies in China!" Li Song set another limit on the number of companies authorized to license the van technology.

"it is good!"

"The higher authorities have already been conducting relevant research, but is Mr. Li from Guangdong Province prepared to authorize production?" Ma Shengli asked, meaning whether or not to authorize vehicle production within the province.

"BMW's minivans will most likely be exported in the future."

"And it doesn't matter if it's sold domestically, since domestic products will gradually become market-oriented anyway!"

"So it depends on the decision of the higher authorities." Li Song didn't seem to care about this.

(End of this chapter)