2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 768 "Where does Weilai plan to list?"

The conference lasted 12 days, and Tan Jincheng, who came with the Zhejiang delegation, didn't actually need to attend for very long.

But he has been making public appearances in the capital for quite some time now, and has even given many interviews, which is unprecedented for him, so it must be more than that.

Lei Jun obviously knew this, but since Tan Jincheng refused to say it, there was nothing he could do.

"Fine, if you don't want to tell me, then forget it. But you'll have to tell me how to attract middle-aged and elderly customers when the time is right."

"It's okay to tell you, but it's not suitable to use it now. It will be available in a few months, but only after you develop the video call function."

Lei Jun was clearly in high spirits: "Then tell me about it."

"Alright, let's talk about it then, but you have to keep this to yourself and not let anyone know. If Tencent finds out, you won't have any chance at all."

Actually, it's quite simple. In his previous life, Tan Jincheng saw a tutorial online where a blogger hand-drew a WeChat tutorial to teach parents how to use WeChat. So, this method can be used on MiTalk.

However, at present, this kind of promotion does not achieve the best effect. Firstly, there is no video call function, and secondly, middle-aged and elderly users who do not know how to use the Internet cannot see these features.

To maximize the effectiveness of promotion, combining television media with internet media is the best approach.

For television media, the biggest promotion is the Spring Festival Gala. They find a few screenwriters to write a skit, and use the skit to insert MiTalk ads for promotion, while also buying a lot of trending topics on the Internet.

Fewer and fewer people are watching the Spring Festival Gala, but at least before 2015, it remained the best one-off advertising platform.

Last year, Weilai Auto ran an advertisement on the Spring Festival Gala, and the effect was quite obvious.

"If you have this plan, you can contact me in the second half of this year. I have a good relationship with CCTV, and I can introduce you to them then."

Since Flash, Tan Jincheng has placed numerous advertisements on CCTV and is quite familiar with the advertising department and the Spring Festival Gala planning team. If he contacts them in advance, there shouldn't be any problems.

"That's definitely a good idea. Heat up the internet before the Spring Festival Gala, and then write a good skit script to insert the advertisement. It seems like you know more about MiTalk than we do."

Whenever I talk to Tan Jincheng about these things, I always manage to give him some unexpected surprises.

However, he's right, this idea needs to be kept secret because it also applies to WeChat. But the most crucial thing is to secure advertising during the Spring Festival Gala, ideally while using a Xiaomi phone and opening MiTalk.

While middle-aged and elderly users may not generate much revenue, we can leverage the promotion of filial piety to engage a large segment of young people, cultivate user habits, and then it will become profitable.

"Actually, we shouldn't underestimate the spending power of older people. It's just that we haven't chosen that group as our target. If you could develop a system for older people in MIUI, Xiaomi should be able to sell more."

Features like youth-oriented systems and large fonts for the elderly in mobile phone operating systems are not impossible; most legitimate apps in later generations include these features.

Just like the anti-addiction system in games, it simply depends on laws and regulations or the conscience of the company.

Since they've already stirred up the butterfly effect, allowing MiTalk to initially hold its own against WX, they might as well add fuel to the fire. For Tan Jincheng, whether WX wins or MiTalk wins is irrelevant.

Ideally, the two software programs could coexist, but that idea is clearly unrealistic.

Compared to e-commerce and online shopping, social networking has a stronger monopolistic nature. Theoretically, MiTalk can only play the role of a disruptor at best, not a king.

Tencent's social ecosystem is incredibly powerful.

Alibaba's founder, Ma Huateng, has also tried to challenge Tencent's social system, investing heavily and making comprehensive attempts, but ultimately failed.

Take Alipay as an example. Its daily active users are actually quite high, and it can be used in many payment scenarios. In addition, its built-in chat function is also quite good, and it is feasible to use it for chatting.

However, very few people actually use it for chatting. Is it because it's not good? No, it's just that it doesn't have the necessary capabilities.

Tan Jincheng wanted to go back to sleep after chatting with Lei Jun for nearly two hours in the restaurant, but Lei Jun, engrossed in the conversation, pulled him back to the room to continue their chat.
Lei Jun, in his 50s, is full of energy, and even more so in his 40s.

They chatted until midnight before Lei Jun was finally driven away by Tan Jincheng, who had things to do the next day.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to inquire why Tan Jincheng was staying in the capital.

"Haha, don't ask. I'll definitely tell you if I can, but it's not certain yet, so it's not convenient to say."

There were indeed reasons for his stay in the capital. His media interviews were also a publicity stunt. All of this was related to Tan Jincheng's trip to Hong Kong to inspect his businesses and his visit to the United States during the first month of the lunar calendar.

After reaching an agreement with Little Ma, Tan Jincheng headed straight for Hong Kong.

After spending some time in Hong Kong with Gu Qingqing, in addition to inspecting industries and purchasing real estate, Tan Jincheng also met with some investors to learn about some related matters concerning the acquisition of shares in semiconductor companies.

If all he wanted to do was use a few shell companies to buy some Nvidia stock and profit from its price increases, then there was really no need for Tan Jincheng to do that now. He could have simply held onto his Apple stock and waited for a stock split, or continued to increase his holdings of Tesla stock to achieve wealth appreciation.

You could even buy some Chinese concept stocks or Hong Kong stocks. The main purpose of buying Nvidia is to make money, but it's not just about making money.

Take Hong Kong stocks as an example. After he sold 1200 million shares of BYD, he recovered HK$8.78 million. After the Forbes Rich List came out last year, Tan Jincheng bought back the 1200 million shares, spending only HK$1.3 million.

The price difference from this one transaction alone amounted to HK$7.48 million. In addition, Tencent's shares were also bought back. There are indeed many ways to make money.

Investing hundreds of billions in the chip and semiconductor field might not even make a splash, and Wei Laiye simply doesn't have the capability to start from scratch. However, having some key technologies for automotive chips in hand, he can still cooperate with some domestic manufacturers later.

Targeting Nvidia is simply a way to acquire some technology. It seems that Tesla's later automotive chips were developed in-house, which appears to be technology learned from Nvidia.
After meeting with some investors in Hong Kong and then some on Wall Street, Tan Jincheng realized that this matter seemed quite difficult.

Even Nvidia, known as the most capricious supplier, has faced bankruptcy several times since its inception and is currently struggling. Although the US keeps proclaiming that technology has no borders and the current situation is relatively good, acquiring cutting-edge technology is almost impossible.

However, Shen Nanpeng appreciated Tan Jincheng's idea and said that it wasn't entirely hopeless.

"Your idea is very bold. If it's Intel or Qualcomm, then you can forget about it. They don't need your money. But if it's Nvidia, then there might actually be a chance."

"As long as there is even a sliver of hope, it's worth a try. I'm not acquiring it outright, just taking a stake."

"The U.S. Department of Commerce has relatively strict control over high technology. As for the idea that technology has no borders, you can just listen to it, but it's still worth trying to take action."

Shen Nanpeng's words were not unfounded. First of all, Sequoia Capital was Nvidia's first investment institution and has a deep connection with Nvidia.

In the 1990s, when Huang Renxun was persuaded by his two future partners to leave his high-paying job at a restaurant to start his own business, he had nothing.

It was around that time that Huang's former boss, who greatly admired him, strongly recommended Huang to his good friend who worked at Sequoia Capital. As a result, Nvidia, a shell company, received a $2000 million investment from Sequoia Capital.

That's $2000 million in 1993, and back then, Huang's boss didn't even know what he was going to do.

It can be said that the connection between the two is very deep.

If Sequoia Capital can act as an intermediary, Tan Jincheng's audacious plan might not be impossible to implement. After all, Nvidia is in a really tough spot right now. Although it is a well-known name among European and American tech stocks, it is not considered a big company by the standards of technologically advanced European and American companies.

In addition, Huang Renxun, known as the most capricious contractor, is also an outlier on Wall Street. He almost drove Nvidia into bankruptcy several times, often giving investors a cold sweat.

The investment team also needs to find a new investor to share the risk, and apart from the U.S. Department of Commerce, they should all be happy to facilitate this deal.

At least that's the case for the red shirt team that Shen Nanpeng is in.

Tan Jincheng came to the capital this time to build his own momentum and also to seek some help. It's a $10 billion deal, and he doesn't understand the technology. If he gets scammed, he'll have no one to complain to.

They accepted the invitation from Wudaopin Financial Academy, as their first batch of EMBA students were also considering this option.

In addition, if domestic companies want to acquire foreign semiconductor companies or equity, they need the approval of the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Like the Americans, we also have our own regulations.

With Guo Jia's support and the oversight of the Qingmu faction's bigwigs, Tan Jincheng has a certain level of security.

We have indeed suffered a lot in the chip sector, and we will continue to be held back in the future. Although we have rarely been held back in the field of automotive chips, it is still good to pursue self-developed technologies if we have them ourselves.

Even someone like Factory Director Ma, who has easy access to procurement, has started to rely on in-house research and development, which shows how important in-house research and development is for a high-tech company.

Self-developed chips aren't necessarily cheaper than those from suppliers, but having that bargaining power makes all the difference. For example, Dizi uses foreign automotive chips, but they also have their own semiconductor company.

"This is a huge project for you, and the young people are very motivated."

On March 15th, immediately after the conclusion of the Two Sessions, Tan Jincheng, carrying a large stack of prepared documents, finally met with the Director of the Investment Department of the National Development and Reform Commission after waiting for more than an hour. Liu Su, a 45-year-old from Yangling, Longyou, looked at the 27-year-old young man before her with a look of deep emotion.

In fact, Tan Jincheng came into the sights of higher-ups as soon as FlashTech secured the sponsorship of the 2008 Olympics. At that time, that person was still in Zhejiang Province.

It's hard not to be curious that a manufacturing company founded by someone in their early twenties, who has only been established for a few years, has been able to achieve such a large scale in such a short time. It's not as simple as doing finance to make a manufacturing company big and strong.

In the following years, Tan Jincheng became increasingly favored by the higher-ups. This young man with a clean background steadily advanced his business group.

From two-wheeled electric vehicles to the automotive industry chain, embracing new energy, every aspect aligns with policy promotion and is executed exceptionally well. Their company has researched both of the two electric vehicles they plan to mass-produce this year.

Their technical capabilities are quite impressive, especially the Weilai ES6, which was probably sold at a loss. It can be said that its technology is a level ahead of its domestic counterparts, and the billions of yuan invested in research and development have not been wasted at all.

The fact that the Aion S was able to sell several thousand units through government procurement must have involved multiple factors, a fact that this young man is likely aware of, otherwise he wouldn't have continued to invest in it.

He is a very smart young man who is serious about research and development. He is usually low-key and doesn't make any outrageous remarks. Now he wants to have his own chip technology, which shows that he is really working on new energy vehicles.

Liu Su has paid close attention to Tan Jincheng over the years. Tan Jincheng has also had many opportunities to interact with his workplace, after all, his investment in Tesla and other capital moves are all significant.

"I'm asking Director Liu to oversee this. It's a significant investment, and I'm not entirely confident about it. I don't know if it will conflict with any regulations or anything."

Tan Jincheng was very modest. At 45 years old, in such an important department, he had a bright future ahead of him.

"Put the documents here for now, I'll look at them when I have time. Tell me about your concept of new energy vehicles first."

For a company to grow and become stronger, it cannot be decided by a few simple documents. The founders and actual controllers must have a clear plan for future development, financing models, and so on.

If Tan Jincheng's development aligns with strategic needs, then giving him the green light in certain areas wouldn't be a problem.

In fact, what Tan Jincheng appreciates most from the higher-ups is the capital operation in recent years. For a company to grow bigger and stronger, it definitely needs to combine with capital, which is also encouraged by the higher-ups. However, there are differences between different types of capital.

Tan Jincheng is really smart. The investors he chooses all have relatively clean backgrounds. It is understandable that he would cooperate with Kuang Ping and Shen Nanpeng, who returned to China to start their own business, in order to help Orange Technology go public on Wall Street.

Both of these companies currently enjoy a good reputation in China, while the others are all in cooperation with domestic capital, and the most common partners are actually state-owned urban investment institutions.

This was truly unexpected, considering that in recent years, especially after 2010, a large amount of foreign capital has entered the country, yet he has still been able to maintain a clear shareholding structure.

Especially in the case of the two physical enterprises.

Was it the guidance of a master, or was this young man truly very clear-headed?

The fact that Tan Jincheng could walk into his office actually represented a certain attitude, so his attitude towards Tan Jincheng was somewhat like that towards a junior.

Tan Jincheng knew this was a test. Although time was limited, he still tried his best to explain in detail his experience since founding Jinpeng Trading, combined with some of his previous life's experiences.

He even recounted how he accidentally went to sea, how he found his target and made his first fortune upon returning, and how he even bought Liverpool's championship ticket.

"Boss, you may not know this, but I was an AC Milan fan at the time. But when I saw the odds for Liverpool, I was so tempted. I thought that if I took a gamble, I could have the money to build a factory."

Humility is a virtue, but youthful arrogance and even a bit of gambling are not necessarily bad things. Everyone has been young, and it's not like we've broken the law.

"Haha, so it turns out you really guessed right?"

When superiors have a certain preference, subordinates will surely follow suit. Liu Su also had some knowledge of football, but he wasn't very clear about the outcome that year.

"Hehe, that's right. I remember I made over a million that time, after taxes. Although I was sad that AC Milan lost, I was still very happy when I got the money."

"After all, no matter how great your hobby is, you still have to eat first. That 100 million was very important to me at the time."

Liu Su clapped his hands and praised, "Well said. No matter how great your hobby is, you still have to eat first. The things you did later, which solved the employment problem for so many people, can be considered as staying true to your original aspiration."

Tan Jincheng smiled and said, "Making cars has always been my dream. In fact, everything I did in the early stages was to prepare for making cars. My idea at the time was to earn more money so that I could make cars."

"But it would be even better if I could do something beneficial for society while still making money, which is why I chose the two-wheeled electric vehicle and clothing industries."

"As for Orange Technology, it was actually an accident. My wife was still a student at the time, and I wanted to find something for her to do, so I set my sights on social mini-games."

Liu Su smiled and nodded. This young man was certainly not telling the whole truth, but with his extensive experience, he could tell that most of what Tan Jincheng said was true.

Including his experiences in the early stages of his entrepreneurship, wow, young people really have unconventional thinking.

"The gaming industry is indeed a quick way to make money, but your project to help farmers is very good and shows a strong sense of social responsibility."

Speaking of which, he graduated from the School of Economics and Management of Beijing Agricultural University. From 90 to 07, he paid attention to rural development issues. He greatly admired Orange Technology's ability to use the cash-generating gaming industry to support agriculture.

He even discussed this model internally back then.

"Hey, boss, please don't praise me. My initial thought was just to avoid getting scolded. We didn't do very well at the beginning, mainly because the logistics and cold chain couldn't keep up. But it's much better now, and we will continue to work on this project."

"go on."

Liu Su's perspective is naturally different from that of ordinary people. He doesn't have much aversion to the gaming industry. In addition, the gaming industry is now showing a trend of developing into the e-sports industry. The live streaming website incubated by Orange Technology is quite popular because it streams games.

"After I had raised enough money, I started preparing to make cars. However, at that time, the technology for gasoline-powered vehicles was basically all in the hands of foreign companies, making it very difficult for us to make a breakthrough."

"In addition, the policies at that time were also encouraging new energy vehicles, so we set our goal from the beginning on the research and development of new energy vehicles. Furthermore, I had worked on two-wheeled electric vehicles, so I had a deeper understanding of electrical aspects."

The three core components of new energy vehicles—battery, motor, and electronic control—are actually similar to those of two-wheeled vehicles. To put it simply, the underlying logic is nothing more than enlarging and modifying the four-wheel drive toy cars we played with as children into the shape of existing automobiles.

Is it really that simple? It is indeed simple, but making it work is not so simple.

In particular, to avoid being controlled by foreign companies through technological barriers, just like with gasoline-powered vehicles, we need to make comprehensive plans.

Starting with these three core principles, Tan Jincheng gradually elaborated on his philosophy. Having been a big boss for so many years, he had also systematically learned some new things, and coupled with his naturally good eloquence, he spoke fluently and persuasively.

Liu Su didn't understand many of the more advanced concepts, but he didn't make any comment, and it had nothing to do with what he was responsible for.

He works in the investment department. As long as Tan Jincheng can explain why he wanted to buy Nvidia shares, that's fine. Although the $10 billion came from investments in the US, it would be a huge amount of foreign exchange if it entered China.

For businesses, there's no need to interfere with how they spend their profits, but such a large investment involves not only foreign exchange reserves but also the development of high-tech industries.

Tan Jincheng was originally given only half an hour, but the conversation went on for more than that.

An hour later, Liu Su picked up his teacup, still somewhat unsatisfied. This kid's ideas were really bold, but it seemed that Guo Jia hadn't suffered any loss.

Tan Jincheng was also very perceptive: "My level is limited, and that's all I can say. However, the document I brought contains data collected from multiple sources, which is more detailed than what I have said. If the leader has time, he can take a look."

"Okay, I'll take a look when I have time, and I'll also discuss it internally."

"Alright, then I won't disturb your work any longer. I'm sorry to have taken up your time today."

"Haha, it won't take any time. Talking more with a young and promising entrepreneur like you can also broaden our thinking and help us work harder."

"okay."

Tan Jincheng got up to say goodbye, but Liu Su called him back at that moment.

"If Weilai Group were to go public, where would you choose to list it?"

Tan Jincheng was taken aback. Why did he suddenly ask that?

However, I couldn't think too much about it: "Weilai Group has no plans to go public for the time being, at least not within the next three years; but if it were to go public, I would choose the A-share market or Hong Kong."

Liu Su smiled with satisfaction and said, "Go ahead and get busy. You can contact my secretary if you need anything in the future."

Tan Jincheng was completely bewildered, but after stepping outside, he suddenly realized why he had been asked that question.

(End of this chapter)