Rebirth in 1960, My Industrial Age

Chapter 430 Bank Invitation

"Director Zhou? This is Liu Rui, the president of Bank of Communications. I was wondering if you're available now, but I'd like to discuss something with you."

Zhou Xianyang received a call from an unfamiliar number early in the morning. After thinking for a moment, he couldn't recall when he had ever dealt with Liu Rui.

He knew about the Bank of Communications, but they had no business dealings.

However, since the other party had called and come to his door, Zhou Xianyang was willing to meet them, so he said with a smile, "Now is a convenient time, President Liu, where shall we meet?"

On the other end of the phone, Liu Rui said, "Does Factory Director Zhou have a preferred place? If not, how about Deshun Teahouse near Qianmen?"

"Okay, it'll be at Deshun Tea House. I'll head there right now."

After Zhou Xianyang finished speaking, he hung up the phone and then called his driver to prepare to leave.

They soon arrived at Deshun Teahouse. After asking for his name, he was led to a private room. Zhou Xianyang went in and saw a middle-aged man.

Upon seeing Zhou Xianyang enter, the man immediately stood up, shook hands with a smile, and said, "Director Zhou is much younger than I imagined. Truly, heroes emerge from among the young. Please have a seat."

Zhou Xianyang said with a smile, "President Liu, you're too kind. I just happened to catch the right opportunity. In this environment, anyone can take off as long as they have a keen eye and can see the situation clearly."

Liu Rui asked, "What would you like to drink, Director Zhou? I just ordered a pot of Longjing tea. If it's not to your taste, then..."

Zhou Xianyang waved his hand and said, "Longjing is very good. My dad often drinks Longjing at home, and I've come to like drinking Longjing too."

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Zhou Xianyang took the initiative to ask, "President Liu, did you come to see me this time for business?"

Most of the time, banks contact him for loans. Zhou Xianyang had previously taken out a loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China because of cash flow problems, but he paid it back quickly.

After that, he had more and more cash, and now he has more than 100 million yuan in the bank that he can't spend. Whether it's opening a branch factory or making an investment, Zhou Xianyang can use his own money and no longer needs to take out a loan.

However, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China still calls him frequently to ask if he needs a loan.

There's no need to worry about not getting the loan back from Zhou Xianyang; it's a guaranteed performance boost, which is why they're so enthusiastic about it.

Zhou Xianyang would sometimes give them face and lend them a loan to boost their performance; however, this was purely to do them a favor, in case they needed it in the future.

Liu Rui smiled and said, "It's not for business, but it's close enough. Director Zhou, have you heard that our Bank of Communications is planning a restructuring recently?"

"You guys have restructured too? I just found out. But other banks have come to me; they're planning to take on individual shareholders and asked if I'm interested."

Upon hearing Zhou Xianyang's words, Liu Rui was taken aback. Was his preferred candidate about to be snatched away by someone else?

Before he could say anything, Zhou Xianyang continued, "But I refused. The shares they offered were too few; they wouldn't be of much use to me. President Liu, is this also why you came today?"

Liu Rui gave an awkward laugh and said, "It is indeed about this matter, but Director Zhou, may I ask how many shares they plan to give you?"

"Four percent, they wouldn't agree to any more, so I gave up."

Zhou Xianyang shook his head and said, "Speaking of which, individuals are not allowed to open banks in China, but they are allowed in Hong Kong, and mainlanders are also allowed to do so."

My financial situation met the requirements, and I had considered it; however, it required too many professionals, and the preparation work alone would take three or four years, so I eventually abandoned the idea.

His funds will continue to grow; the MP3 music player alone will bring him over $40 million in revenue next year, and with the patent in hand, his annual income will increase even further.

The same goes for Fiberhome mobile phones; the revenue they bring Zhou Xianyang will soon surpass that of MP3 music players.

Zhou Xianyang still owns shares in a battery factory, Yangfei Department Store, Yangfei Electrical Appliance Factory, and Yangfei Color TV, etc. Although his family started as private businesses with Zhou Weitian and Zhou Jia'an, Zhou Xianyang later surpassed them.

Now, let alone surpassing his uncles, even in Hong Kong, his annual income is almost in the top ten.

Consumer electronics are selling incredibly well these days. Whether in China or abroad, the products manufactured by Zhou Xianyang's factories are top sellers no matter where they are placed.

Even color TVs imported from other countries are quite competitive in China due to the low labor costs.

Liu Rui approached Zhou Xianyang because he valued Zhou Xianyang's business acumen. Moreover, the restructuring required individual shareholding to demonstrate that the reorganization would break away from the state-owned sole proprietorship model.

"Director Zhou, to be frank, we'd also like to invite you to become a personal shareholder of Bank of Communications. I wonder if you're interested?"

Liu Rui decided to directly state his purpose to Zhou Xianyang, since someone had already invited him. So he continued, "Our initial plan is to invite you to hold 6% of the Bank of Communications shares. Director Zhou, what's your opinion?"

They originally planned to give up 4%, but after hearing that Zhou Xianyang had already refused once, Liu Rui decided to increase it by two percentage points.

After hearing this, Zhou Xianyang pondered for a moment and said, "Six percent is still a bit low. I would be quite willing to accept ten percent, President Liu."

"That's impossible, it's too much, ten percent is way too much!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Rui was so shocked that he shook his head and said, "Director Zhou, you don't know how many people are involved this time. Although we want to break the state-owned monopoly, the majority of the profits still come from the state."

Moreover, there are local governments, state-owned enterprises, and ultimately individuals; and you're not the only individual shareholder.

After being distributed layer by layer, very little is left for individual shareholders; it's simply impossible to distribute even 10%.

Even if he were the bank manager, he wouldn't have that much power.

"Don't refuse so decisively, President Liu. Six percent is indeed very low. In that case, I might as well wait a few years and acquire a Hong Kong bank."

Zhou Xianyang shook his head and said that he did have a little money at the moment, but he was very optimistic about his future and was confident that he could make a lot of money in the next three years.

The initial order for Fiberhome mobile phones was 500,000 units. After Motorola became a hit, there will be even more orders.

The only thing hindering Zhou Xianyang from making money now is production efficiency; after all, the only phones that can compete with Fiberhome's mobile phones are digital phones produced by wireless communication factories.

However, mobile phones manufactured by wireless communication factories cannot be sold to Ami; only mobile phones manufactured by Fiberhome Mobile can be sold there.

"If I hold more shares, I will handle all my factory's deposit and loan business at Bank of Communications in the future."

I hadn't planned on taking out a loan before, but if I did, borrowing 100 million a year would be achievable, and it would likely increase in the future.

One hundred million was not even in the 1990s, but it was no small amount. Even provincial-level banks did not have the authority to make a decision; the head office had to hold a meeting to discuss it.

These days, the country only borrows tens of billions from the World Bank, but an individual can borrow 100 million, which is already the first case in the country.

Zhou Xianyang mentally calculated what he would do in the next few years: Yangfei Department Store would continue to operate, and Yangfei Electric Appliances would continue to expand its workforce. In just the next two years, he would spend at most tens of millions of yuan a year.

He needs to continue expanding his industries; he only has three industries at most right now, which is a bit slow.

"Director Zhou, even if you borrow 100 million a year, I still can't give you that much; at most, I can only give you eight percent!"

Liu Rui said through gritted teeth, "Even if it's eight percent, it's not something I can decide alone. We need to have a meeting to discuss it, and even then, it might not pass." Zhou Xianyang was asking for too much; he really couldn't make the decision.

However, Liu Rui was indeed optimistic about the profitability of Zhou Xianyang's factories, especially the Guangxun mobile phone factory.

He wasn't without information; he knew a bit about digital mobile phones, which were essentially cash cows.

The Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry has made a fortune from digital mobile phones over the years, distributing generous benefits and providing substantial support to its subordinate factories.

After learning that Motorola had placed an order for 500,000 units of Accelink mobile phones, Liu Rui strongly advocated inviting Zhou Xianyang to become one of the individual shareholders.

Moreover, Liu Rui values ​​Zhou Xianyang highly because of his short career path; he started his business in college and has only been around for a few years, yet he has become the richest individual in the country outside of Hong Kong.

Although there are no clear statistics, you can tell a lot just by looking at his few factories; moreover, Zhou Xianyang has a famous father, and several of his relatives are high-quality customers of the bank.

"Eight percent?"

Zhou Xianyang thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright then, should I wait for your news, President Liu?"

Liu Rui shook his head and smiled wryly, "I'll go back and have a meeting to discuss it. With two more locations, we need to convince quite a few people. But Director Zhou, if you want me to convince them, you have to meet some conditions."

The loan you just mentioned, we need to add a little more.

Zhou Xianyang assured him, "Don't worry, President Liu. My two uncles, two cousins, and my grandfather all have large businesses. If they pool their resources together, they might be able to reach 150 million yuan a year."

His uncles used to take out loans frequently, but they always went to Huaxia Bank. Now they can change things up.

Although it was a bit unfair to Huaxia Bank, what could he do when he was about to become a shareholder of Bank of Communications?

"Okay, that gives me more confidence to persuade them."

Liu Rui felt much relieved after hearing this. He then told Zhou Fengnian some details and other things before taking his leave.

After leaving the teahouse, Zhou Xianyang originally intended to go back and discuss it with Zhou Fengnian, but he changed his mind as soon as he got into the car.

It's not right to always rely on your father; let's do things his way.

------

dong dong!

There was another knock on the office door. Zhou Fengnian called out "Come in," and Qian Zhi pushed the door open and walked in.

Upon entering the room, Qian Zhi went to the desk and reported, "Sir, Dean Wu wants to see you about the recent allocation of foreign researchers. He's asking when you'd be available."

Zhou Fengnian looked up and asked, "Dean Wu, do you have time now?"

"Yes, I just asked."

"I'll go now, and we can go have lunch right after we finish talking."

Zhou Fengnian stood up and said this, then walked outside.

This year, quite a few Russian researchers have come to China. There are also many intelligent people on their side who have seen the crisis of the edifice collapsing.

Therefore, many people agreed to Huaxia's offer of recruitment and were brought to Huaxia.

The reason for such a swift response is not only due to previous experience providing support to China, but also because China's high-end technology is developing rapidly.

China's development in computers and semiconductors is renowned worldwide, and its machine tools remain unmatched to this day, still being a major export product.

This led Russian researchers to believe that China had the conditions for research, and that it was not the 'prison model' as rumored.

So quite a few people came. Zhou Fengnian had also heard about it; it seemed that more than two hundred people had come this year.

Apart from the 86 people who remained in the Northeast, the rest all came to Beijing; after considering their wishes, they were left here.

These people receive at least the salary of a Level 5 engineer, and the more capable ones receive the salary of a Level 2 or Level 1 engineer. Currently, a Level 1 engineer earns more than 700 yuan per month.

Given the cost of living in Beijing, even if they ate beef every meal, they wouldn't be able to spend all their money; moreover, their accommodations were provided by the state, so their treatment was quite good.

However, China didn't spend money for nothing. Before giving them the treatment, they investigated their information thoroughly, ensuring that only those with the corresponding abilities deserved the corresponding treatment.

Zhou Fengnian arrived at Dean Wu's office, knocked on the door, and went in, asking, "Dean Wu, how many people need to be arranged?"

"There are 124 more people. Here is the information. Take a look."

Dean Wu handed Zhou Fengnian a stack of personnel files and continued, "It's a pity our people don't dare to contact the more famous ones. If we could persuade those people to come, we'd make a fortune."

“Those people are treated quite well, and they are under too much surveillance, which is really inconvenient.”

As Zhou Fengnian looked at the document, he said, "People like Andrei and Ufimov are very famous researchers in the field."

However, it is too difficult to contact these people. Their skin color puts them at a natural disadvantage, making them easy to spot.

"What's the National Defense Commission's statement? Many people are suitable for aerospace engineering. Are they going to send them there?"

"I doubt many people would be willing, even if resources were plentiful."

After selecting some people's information, Zhou Fengnian asked, "It's very difficult for ordinary people to get into Director Qian's research. The new Russian probably can't go."

Dean Wu stated directly, "This is what they gave us. We can't send people over there; we need to arrange for them to be placed nearby."

However, they need to report this afterwards, and these people will probably be under surveillance for at least five years before they can be released from monitoring.

Zhou Fengnian nodded and said, "Oh, I understand."

Since we can't put people into engineering projects managed by the National Defense Commission, we can only put people into research institutes under their jurisdiction.

Or they could be placed in universities to train students; for these Russians, the work is easy and pays well, which is a good way to support them in their old age.

The people who came here were all in a bit of a limbo with the Russians, not quite good enough for high-ranking positions but not quite good enough for low-ranking ones.

They haven't reached the very top of their field, but they're not bad either. It's just that the Russians have very limited resources, and even if they only have personnel, they can't fully meet their needs.

Coming to China is a step up in terms of treatment. Previously, China was very short of supplies, but now that ration coupons have been completely abolished, supplies can basically meet the needs of most people.

(End of this chapter)