Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 897 Sponsoring Domestic Sports Events
Director Wang left happily with Yang Wendong's two suggestions in mind;
Both of these are large investments. Although there are some requirements, the Shanghai Stock Exchange is still happy to negotiate. After all, there must be an investment intention first before there can be any follow-up.

As for some of the requirements, that's perfectly normal. Large-scale investments are rare in the international market, and such large investments always come with certain conditions. In recent years, the investment negotiations between mainland China and many overseas giants have been far more stringent than these.
Relatively speaking, Yang Wendong, this Chinese capitalist, made reasonable demands that did not involve political requirements, which is what the country hopes to see.
Yang Wendong was also looking forward to this. He needed to leverage the power of Shanghai, the largest economic city in the country, to promote certain things and accelerate the implementation of reform and opening-up policies. In this way, it would be easier for his capital to enter the country.

In terms of infrastructure, in the era when highways were not yet suitable, bridges were the most appropriate, and many important waterways in major cities in China also needed to be built with bridges.

Even from a purely economic perspective, from a military perspective, a large number of high-load-bearing bridges are also very important for national defense and security.
As a time traveler, Yang Wendong naturally knew that there would be no Zhe in the future, but people in this era did not know that if he used his capital to build a large number of bridges or highways in the future, and given that he was Chinese, he would inevitably have many supporters among the high-ranking officials in mainland China.

However, as the capital, Yanjing City lacked large rivers, so they had to seek help from Shanghai City to promote this project.

Once the Shanghai Municipal Government approves the project and it becomes a model, coupled with the postponement of the timeline, it will be logical to invest in bridges over other waterways.
This investment is a win-win situation for himself, the domestic government, and the Chinese people; and like a university, the bridge can make its creators go down in history, which is something Yang Wendong is happy to see.

With his current wealth and the explosive growth potential of various industries in the future, money is just a number to him and doesn't mean much. What's more important is how to use this money to bring him spiritual satisfaction during the process of continuous expansion.
People need to have aspirations; with aspirations, life has motivation. Many super-rich people have already achieved financial freedom, but they still strive to earn more money, pursue fame, and even those who date celebrities are all following the same principle.
The Shanghai authorities responded to Yang Wendong the next day, indicating that the matter was open to discussion, but further details needed to be negotiated, and an application had to be submitted to the central government.
This was also within Yang Wendong's expectations. Such a big matter could not be decided in a short time. Reporting to the Central Committee was also necessary. He was also preparing to go to Yanjing, which would be a good opportunity to have a preliminary consultation with the Central Committee on these two matters.

At the end of June, Yang Wendong arrived in Yanjing, this time not by plane, but by a green train.

Although time moves slowly, one can still enjoy the beautiful scenery of the motherland and see the situation in different cities across the country. In his previous life, he was born in the 80s, and the 80s were a very vague memory for him.

He also needs to learn about it to some extent; this will also help his future investments in China.

After arriving in Yanjing, Yang Wendong first discussed the matter of the Huangpu River Bridge in Shanghai with relevant leaders. The process was somewhat bumpy, but an agreement was eventually reached.
As long as there are no fundamental issues with the follow-up matters, things should be pretty much settled. At least the first bridge should be agreed upon.

The following day, Yang Wendong visited the Ministry of Machinery Industry again to discuss the investment in Mini cars. Although the project had been approved, new problems arose as the investment progressed, which required both parties to resolve.
As the British coordinator, Yang Wendong also needs to be involved from time to time to make final decisions on controversial matters to facilitate the further progress of the project.
In addition, Yang Wendong also spent several days on the container ship orders from the Sixth Ministry of Machinery Industry, the latest developments of the Very Cola factory, and the investment situation of Changxing Financial in Yanjing City.

No matter where he goes, he needs to handle these important matters systematically, which is also a necessary matter for the head of a large conglomerate.
It wasn't until July 5th that many things in Yanjing came to an end, and he could finally relax a bit and prepare to visit the Great Wall.
However, there were no cable cars on the Great Wall at that time, so he had to climb it on his own. Fortunately, he had a lot of training, so he successfully reached the top and took many photos on the Great Wall.
At that time, the Great Wall in this area of ​​Yanjing was not yet open to the public, so there weren't many people, but there were still some.

Yang Wendong also encountered a team of young men, all full of energy, who seemed to be a professional team.
A guide nearby introduced, "Mr. Yang, these are members of our football team. I've seen some of them on TV before. They often come out for activities, and I guess they're here to climb mountains, which is a combination of exercise and rest."

"A football team? The men's team?" Yang Wendong's heart skipped a beat;
In my past life, when it came to the national football team, even dogs would shake their heads; they were a bunch of good-for-nothings.

However, in the 80s, the Chinese national football team was very strong, a near-top-tier team in Asian football, with the strength to compete in top-level events such as the World Cup and the Olympics, and its overall level was among the top in Asia.

In previous Asian competitions, they defeated Saudi Arabia 4-2 and Kuwait 2-0, and then went on to defeat Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the subsequent semi-finals, reaching the top of the Asian rankings for the first time; they briefly became the football powerhouse of Asia.

In the famous Japanese anime "Captain Tsubasa" from its previous life, the main characters once said that they wanted to challenge the powerful "Chinese football".
Of course, football may indeed be a balancer of national fortune. Whether now or during the Republic of China era, football has always been strong, but the economy has not been so good.

The guide said, "Yes, I heard they're preparing to participate in the World Cup. That's going to be exciting."

"This is getting interesting." Yang Wendong smiled and glanced at a group of young people not far away;

After returning, Yang Wendong called over one of his assistants, Zhu Xinglong, and said, "Investigate the situation of various sports teams in China, including football and the sports teams preparing to participate in the 84 Olympics."
I need their basic information, their strengths and weaknesses, and details about who has a chance of winning, etc.

"Okay, I'll take care of it right away." Zhu Xinglong was a smart man, and asked, "Does Mr. Yang want to sponsor these sports teams?"

"Yes, I have that idea, but we'll see how things go," Yang Wendong nodded and said.

Although he doesn't participate in the sports industry, he needs to promote his own products, which requires the help of celebrities from the entertainment and sports industries, whether in Europe and America or in Asia.

Red Bull, in particular, also sponsors various sports teams. Over the years, it has spent a lot of money in Europe and America, but the returns have been substantial. Red Bull has become highly associated with the success of sports.
The mainland market is currently experiencing a general economic downturn, but a high-end consumer market does exist. Considering the future, it's worthwhile to explore the Red Bull market domestically, or at least promote the beverage, food, and electronics markets.

Zhu Xinglong said, "There is no such business model in China yet, but it should be negotiable. We may only need to pay a small fee to get them to endorse us."
As far as I know, many athletes these days don't even eat as well as ordinary families in Hong Kong. I guess if we sponsor some meat, we can achieve our goal?

"Even athletes don't eat well?" Yang Wendong was somewhat surprised;
Although the domestic economy is not doing well, some people should still be living a decent life.

Zhu Xinglong said, "I would say some. Those experts in a particular field certainly don't lack food, but it's hard to say about others."

"Well, let's do this: regardless of whether we can cooperate, let's buy some meat and give some to them first," Yang Wendong said. "This will show our sincerity, and then we can talk about cooperation. The most basic thing is that, to those who cooperate with us, we can guarantee they'll have enough to eat." In today's highly entertainment-driven Hong Kong, hiring a top celebrity to endorse a product currently costs at least hundreds of thousands and sometimes over a million dollars. American celebrities are even more expensive, and it's all in US dollars, whether they are top entertainment or sports stars.

Compared to these, investing in domestic sports teams is a drop in the ocean. The cost of supporting one ordinary employee in Hong Kong could even support ten athletes in mainland China.

Of course, this is only from the perspective of food, but athletes from mainland China probably don't understand their commercial value.
Zhu Xinglong agreed, "Okay, I'll get on it right away. In terms of domestic sports, we've held several competitions abroad in recent years, and they seem to have an advantage in gymnastics and shooting. If we're going to sponsor, we could focus on them."

“Okay, once you’ve finalized these details, just do what you can. Even if someone isn’t very athletic, we can still provide them with some meat.” Yang Wendong laughed. “Maybe if we provide good food, someone who wouldn’t have won might win, especially in physically demanding events. The difference between being well-nourished and malnourished is huge.”

In my previous life, after the mainland economy improved, China consistently ranked first in the world in the Olympics. This is enough to show that the Chinese people are physically very strong. It's just that in running, due to differences in physiological structure, it may be difficult for them to win.

In other sports, even football, theoretically, we might not necessarily lose to foreign countries, or at least not in such a disastrous way;
Economic development takes time, but we can provide targeted basic assistance to athletes from mainland China.

If successful, especially with the 84 Olympics, some of these individuals would become nationally renowned figures, which would strategically help Yang Wendong's business development in China. After all, even if he entered the market early, he would still face many competitors in the future, such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi in the cola industry, and other competitors in the electronics industry.

Of course, while his help wasn't much, it wasn't free either; there still needed to be a proper agreement. As for how to cooperate, Yang Wendong wasn't sure; it would depend on his team's negotiations with the other party.

Yang Wendong wouldn't personally get involved in such trivial matters;
Zhu Xinglong replied, "Understood, I'll take care of it immediately."

Three days later, several guests arrived at a building housing the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau. Among them were Zhu Xinglong, Yang Wendong's assistant, and several senior executives from Beijing's conglomerates.

Upon hearing Zhu Xinglong's description, Director Zhao of the State General Administration of Sport exclaimed in surprise, "Hong Kong Changxing Group wants to sponsor all of our domestic athletes? Or just a few sports?"

As the head of the General Administration of Sport of China, he was naturally familiar with the business operation rules of overseas sports organizations. Therefore, although there was no similar situation in China, he was aware of it.

Zhu Xinglong took out a document and said, "These are the sports that we hope to sponsor. Please take a look."

"Okay." After taking the document and reading a few pages, Director Zhao's expression changed slightly. He asked, "Mr. Zhu, is your group really going to sponsor so many project teams? The number of people involved could be as high as a thousand?"

Zhu Xinglong said, "Yes, we hope to sponsor so many projects. We will discuss the specific cooperation details later, but the basic framework is that we will provide a certain amount of foreign exchange to improve the athletes' diet and ensure their nutrition and health."

In return, once any individual or team from your respective sports wins a world-class sporting award, they will need to endorse our top athletes' products.

After several days of investigation, Zhu Xinglong had actually identified a small group of athletes with great potential. However, when it comes to competitions, no one can guarantee that their investment will be successful. The best approach is to cast a wide net and catch a lot of fish.

Of course, this is also because the cost of domestic sponsorship is very low, requiring only a small amount of foreign exchange, while the return is the potential endorsement of top domestic sports stars in the future.

This kind of thing is basically impossible in Europe and America. In a mature commercial environment, even if you sponsor in advance, the cost is not low, and it is impossible to cast a wide net in advance.

"That sounds pretty good." Director Zhao was somewhat tempted.

He was aware of endorsements and such, and that overseas sports stars commanded high prices, but that was not a meaningful reference because domestic athletes received fixed salaries, and even if they did endorsements, the fees would not be very high.

At the same time, because of the poor national economy, these athletes cannot afford to have a plentiful diet.

Trading endorsements from potential champions of several future world-class sporting events for some food would be a very worthwhile deal.

Zhu Xinglong laughed and said, "Haha, Director Zhao, I have some more ideas."

PS: Ask for monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)