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The construction speed of the Shunyi Gigafactory exceeded everyone's expectations.

The construction work is carried out in three shifts around the clock. During the day, steel structures are hoisted and concrete is poured at night. The searchlights on the construction site illuminate the entire factory area as if it were daytime.

The relevant departments in Beijing gave the Tianchao Automobile project the green light all the way, with dedicated personnel coordinating every step from planning approval to construction permits.

Ultimately, Beijing in 1996 needed a respectable domestic car brand to maintain its image.

Although China Automotive hasn't produced a single car yet, its current momentum is such that no one wants to hold it back.

On the day the factory building was topped out, Suning stood by the construction site and watched as the last steel beam was slowly placed into its designated position by a crane. Workers rode on the steel beam and used wrenches to tighten the last set of bolts.

Xiao Zhao stood to the side, holding a construction progress chart in his hand. Each milestone on the chart was stamped with a red seal indicating "completed ahead of schedule".

"President Su, the main structure of the factory is almost a month ahead of schedule." Assistant Xiao Zhao immediately handed over the progress chart.

Su Ning took the watch, glanced at it, nodded, and looked away from the steel beams. "The factory building is the shell, the equipment is the heart. The shell is built, now it's time to install the heart."

"Is our equipment domestically produced or imported?"

You'll find out soon enough.

"..."

When it comes to equipment, Suning knew from the beginning that it couldn't take the conventional approach.

In 1996, the number of domestic automobile manufacturing equipment suppliers could be counted on one hand, and their technical level was far behind that of foreign countries.

For the production line equipment of these four major processes—stamping line, welding line, painting line, and final assembly line—domestic manufacturers either lack precision, have insufficient production capacity, or have stability issues.

If we proceed with the traditional method of procuring from abroad, the entire process of negotiation, signing contracts, scheduling production, shipping, installation, and commissioning would take at least a year and a half to complete.

Moreover, the willingness of foreign equipment suppliers to supply Chinese private car companies is questionable; they will definitely prioritize joint venture brands and large state-owned factories.

Suning can't wait that long, and it doesn't want to leave crucial links in someone else's hands.

Therefore, Suning plans to take mature automobile production line equipment from the space world and use it.

But the biggest problem with things taken out from the spatial world is not whether they can be used, but how to explain their origin.

A complete car production line with an annual output of hundreds of thousands of vehicles suddenly appeared out of nowhere. There were no import records from customs, no payment vouchers from banks, and no nameplate numbers on the equipment. If anyone were to scrutinize any of these links, it would be a huge hole.

Therefore, Suning put a lot of effort into concealing and laying the groundwork, and they had already started doing this before acquiring the Deyang Automobile Factory.

The first step is to register a shell company in an overseas tax haven.

He registered several offshore companies in the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands through agents, with multiple layers of equity structures, including subsidiaries under parent companies and sub-subsidiaries under subsidiaries.

Xiao Zhao once saw that equity structure diagram and couldn't understand it after looking at it for a long time. "President Su, why is this equity structure so convoluted? Could it be some kind of fraudulent company?"

"Nonsense! Our equipment is all legal and compliant."

"Uh? Mr. Su, don't misunderstand! I'm just worried about being scammed, after all, importing automotive industrial equipment is not easy."

"Don't worry! Our company has its own connections overseas."

The business scopes of these offshore companies are all vague descriptions such as "machinery and equipment trade" and "industrial automation system integration," which do not show any direct relationship with automobiles, but cover the export of complete production line equipment.

The second step was to acquire an import and export trading company in the country.

This company originally dealt in the import and export of hardware and machinery. It was a small company, barely surviving, and the original owner was worried about finding a buyer to take over.

Suning had someone buy it at market price. After the business registration change was completed, the trading company became the main entity responsible for equipment imports within the Tianchao automotive system.

Even the shipping companies responsible for transportation are Suning's ghost fleets, which will suddenly appear at various key ports in order to leave traces at each key point.

To make the whole thing more elaborate and perfect, Suning even brought the import paperwork to the company's conference room for discussion.

After completing the preliminary preparations for importing the equipment, Suning called the team to the conference room and had Xiao Zhao go over the entire process.

Standing in front of the whiteboard, Xiao Zhao wrote with a marker as he spoke: "Mr. Su, I've outlined the entire import process, which consists of these steps. First, HS code classification, which the customs broker has already started. Second, compliance verification, which the legal department is checking the prohibited import list. Third, pre-shipment inspection, which needs to be done by an overseas inspection agency. Fourth, customs clearance at the port. Fifth, tax payment and inspection. Sixth, local commodity inspection."

After listening, Suning said, "I need to assign responsibility for each step to specific individuals. Especially the HS code classification; there's no room for error in this step. If the code is wrong, at best you'll have to pay back taxes and fines, at worst the entire shipment will be detained by customs and returned."

Xiao Zhao said, "Understood. I'll have the customs broker list all the equipment one by one, including stamping equipment, welding robots, painting systems, and assembly lines. We'll categorize them all into their corresponding HS codes, and then the legal department will go through them again."

The legal department representative replied, "We've already followed up on the compliance aspect. We've reviewed both the 'Catalogue of Prohibited Imported Goods' and the 'Catalogue of Key Used Mechanical and Electrical Products,' and our equipment is not among those prohibited from import. The import and export rights procedures have also been completed, so we no longer need to entrust an external agency."

Suning nodded. "Pre-shipment inspection of used equipment is crucial. Although this batch of equipment is essentially brand new, it will be declared as used equipment, which allows for greater price assessment and more secure procedures. Brand new equipment requires original invoices and certificates of origin, which we cannot provide."

Xiao Zhao said, "I've already arranged that. We've commissioned the local CCIC inspection agency to conduct the inspection before the equipment is shipped. Once the inspection is passed, they will issue a 'Pre-shipment Inspection Certificate,' which is essential for subsequent customs clearance."

The entire import process took slightly longer than the Suning team had estimated, mainly due to two bottlenecks.

One issue was customs valuation. Customs officers were extremely strict in reviewing the price of used equipment, and the process went back and forth several times.

Xiao Zhao and his customs declaration team prepared meticulously the comparison materials, including payment records and new machine quotations, and the valuation was successfully approved.

Another is the local commodity inspection. Some special equipment needs to undergo a second inspection at the installation site. Personnel from the commodity inspection department will go to the factory area to verify the equipment on-site, and it will be released only after it passes the inspection.

After the ghost fleet suddenly appeared in the relevant waters of the Bohai Sea, it immediately activated its ship identification numbers, all of which were newly registered and being used for the first time. Thus, when the equipment arrived at Tianjin Port in batches, Xiao Zhao personally led the customs clearance team to guard the port.

After exchanging the bill of lading for a delivery order, submitting documents such as the contract, invoice, and inspection report to the commodity inspection department for review, and obtaining the "Entry Goods Clearance Certificate", customs declaration is then made through the customs system.

After paying customs duties and value-added tax, customs opened the box for inspection.

Customs officers, wearing white gloves, checked the status and nameplate information of each device one by one with a checklist. Suning staff accompanied them throughout the process, explaining any problems on the spot.

Once the inspection was passed and customs released the goods, the trucking fleet arranged by Tianchao Auto was already queuing up outside the port area. They would pick up one batch at a time as soon as it was released and transport it to the Shunyi factory overnight.

After all the equipment was moved into the factory, Xiao Zhao stood in the workshop, looking at the rows of brand-new stamping machines, welding robots and spraying systems, and breathed a long sigh of relief, "President Su, all the equipment is in place, not a single one is missing, and not a single one is broken."

Su Ning stood beside him, looking at the equipment still covered with dust cloths. "The equipment is in place, but who will operate it?"

Xiao Zhao paused for a moment, looked at the robots, then at Su Ning: "What do you mean?"

Suning said, "These are all highly automated production lines. The stamping line is a fully automatic hydraulic stamping line, the welding line is an industrial robot cluster operation, the painting line is an automatic spraying system, and the final assembly line is an intelligent conveyor belt with an automatic tightening machine. Operating these machines requires skilled workers, not migrant workers."

Xiao Zhao frowned: "President Su, this is exactly what I wanted to tell you. In 1996, China's automotive industry was extremely short of skilled workers. The entire industry could not train many skilled automotive technicians throughout the year. These limited talents were basically monopolized by joint venture brands and large state-owned factories. We are a newly established private car company with no brand appeal in the talent market. It is basically impossible for us to recruit ready-made technicians through social recruitment."

Suning said, "If we can't recruit through social recruitment, then we'll train them ourselves."

Xiao Zhao asked, "How do we train them?"

Suning said, "Have the Human Resources Department post recruitment notices at several high schools and technical schools in Beijing, Hebei, Henan, and Shandong. Applicants must have a junior high school education or above, be between 18 and 25 years old, be in good health, and have no bad habits, tattoos, or criminal records. They must be willing to work in automobile manufacturing; experience is not required. The company provides free accommodation and paid training. The training period is six months, during which a basic living allowance will be provided. After successful completion of the training, a formal labor contract will be signed, and wages will be determined according to the position level."

Xiao Zhao wrote these down in his notebook, then looked up and asked again, "Where do the training instructors come from?"

Suning said, "I have my own arrangements for the training instructors. You should send out the job postings first and recruit people."

The HR people were initially a little worried.

Before the job posting was sent out, the manager in charge of recruitment approached Xiao Zhao, "Assistant Zhao, aren't our requirements too low? Junior high school education or above, experience is not required, this is not competitive in the job market! The joint venture factory is recruiting skilled workers, the minimum requirement is a vocational school diploma, and some even require more than two years of work experience. With our requirements, I'm afraid we won't be able to find any good candidates."

Xiao Zhao said, "Try sending it out first."

"Fine!"

……

As a result, within a week of the job posting being released, the number of applicants far exceeded expectations.

In Beijing's local high schools and vocational schools, a large number of young people are worried about not being able to find a way out.

Not everyone can get into university, especially in Hebei, Henan, and Shandong, where a steady stream of young people are coming to the Shunyi Super Factory.

These spirited young people are all good sons of this era, with no bad habits, no criminal records, and no unconventional tattoos. They are the best talents in Suning's eyes.

At that time, the barriers to entry for joint ventures and large state-owned factories were high, requiring education, experience, and connections, making it impossible for children from ordinary families to get in.

The offer from Tianchao Auto—"no experience required, free accommodation and paid training provided"—was like a windfall for them.

The application forms piled up on a table in the human resources department, and the people in charge of screening worked overtime for several days to complete the initial screening.

Soon, Xiao Zhao took the training plan to Su Ning.

Su Ning was sitting in his office flipping through an equipment debugging report when Xiao Zhao placed the plan on the table. "Mr. Su, the number of applicants is twice as many as expected. After screening, 120 people have been selected. Here is the training plan, please take a look."

Suning flipped through two pages. "I personally compiled the training materials. Practical training will be led by engineers in the workshop, and each workstation will have a master instructor teaching step by step."

Xiao Zhao asked, "An engineer in the workshop? Mr. Su, when did we get an engineer in our workshop...?"

He stopped halfway through his sentence, feeling that the boss in front of him was really mysterious, and many things he did were unexpected.

But Su Ning knew what he wanted to say.

This matter has always been handled personally by Suning, making it even more mysterious than the introduction of equipment and production lines.

Because the engineers in the workshop who are responsible for technical guidance are all AI robots brought out from the space world.

After all, these AI robots are loyal enough to Suning and can perfectly meet all its requirements.

They look no different from ordinary people, but their technical skills are top-notch. Their proficiency in operating industrial robots and automated production lines is even more reliable than that of veteran workers who have worked in joint venture factories for ten years.

Suning closed the training plan. "No matter where the mentor comes from, a good mentor is one who can teach the apprentice. Tell HR to keep a close eye on this group. There will be monthly assessments during the training period. Those who fail will be eliminated, no exceptions. Those who stay will sign formal contracts after six months, with salaries based on their positions. These young people know nothing about car manufacturing, but precisely because of this, they will learn the most advanced equipment and processes from scratch. By the end of the six-month training, their proficiency in operating robots will be no less than that of technicians who have worked in joint venture factories for three years."

Xiao Zhao closed the notebook. "Understood. Mr. Su, how should we arrange accommodation and meals for this group?"

Su Ning said, "Aren't there a few empty buildings in the dormitory area? Set one aside for them to live in, four-person rooms with private bathrooms and hot water. Open a separate window in the canteen, and meals will be free during the training period. Remember this: if the workers eat and live well, they will treat this factory as their own home. This money cannot be saved."

Xiao Zhao nodded and turned to leave.

Su Ning stopped him again, "There's one more thing. Create training files for this group of trainees, recording everyone's learning progress, assessment results, and areas of expertise. In the future, some of them will become section chiefs, workshop directors, and technical backbones. These files will be their career development records."

Xiao Zhao said, "Okay, President Su, I'll take care of it right away."

...(End of this chapter)