50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 461 What is China?
In early August, Sun Zhiwei quickly obtained his private jet pilot's license. Before he could even begin his captain's training program, he received an invitation from Cheng Damin, the president of Thai Bank, to travel to Los Angeles once again.

Over the past year, Cheng Damin followed his advice, actively moved closer to the mainland, established a new batch of branches on Hong Kong Island, and deeply participated in and promoted trade and cultural exchanges between China and the mainland.

These measures have enabled Cathay Pacific's business to achieve significant growth.

Chen Damin invited him to a meeting to inquire about the "Special Economic Zones".

Since the second half of last year, the mainland has been hinting at the establishment of four "special economic zones" in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen.

By using preferential measures such as tariff reductions and exemptions, and by creating a favorable investment environment, we encourage foreign investment, introduce advanced technologies and scientific management methods, and promote economic and technological development.

Now, six months later, many infrastructure projects in the four regions have yielded results, meaning that the "three connections and one leveling" infrastructure construction has begun to show effectiveness.

Therefore, Cheng Damin wanted to consult with Sun Zhiwei, the major shareholder, to see if now was the right time to enter the market.

Because he followed Sun Zhiwei's advice and took the lead in contacting the mainland, Cathay Pacific was able to achieve rapid development in recent years.

He felt that Sun Zhiwei must have done a lot of research on the situation in mainland China, so he wanted to consult him on related issues in more detail.

Sun Zhiwei considered that this matter was quite important and could not be explained clearly over the phone. He also hoped that Cathay Pacific could enter the mainland market as soon as possible.

Because our leaders have different principles of doing things compared to the heads of state in capitalist countries.

Often, it's not entirely driven by self-interest; rather, emotional factors can become the deciding factor in many policies.

Now that the special economic zone has just been established, entering it now is helping the mainland and supporting its policies. In the future, when it comes time to reciprocate, we can reap great rewards.

Compared to some simple banking services, even a little bit of policy support from the mainland in the future could make Cathay Pacific a fortune.

Moreover, with so much capital flowing into the mainland in the future, he hopes to use Cathay Pacific as a platform, since he himself is not in the business of manufacturing, and it is unrealistic to ask him to go back and set up a factory.

But Chen Damin couldn't possibly be unaware of this, so why did he specifically call him over for a face-to-face meeting?
On the afternoon of August 8th, Sun Zhiwei arrived in Los Angeles, where Chen Damin, accompanied by a young man, personally picked him up at the airport.

Since it was a private invitation, Sun Zhiwei was too lazy to go to the bank.

The young man brought by Chen Damin drove them directly to the villa that Chen Damin had prepared for him last time.

On the way, Chen Damin introduced the young man to him: "This young man is called Zheng Jiafa, and he is currently my assistant. His father is a good friend of mine and also a shareholder of the bank."

"Although Jiafa is young, he is very methodical in his work. James, please take good care of him in the future."

Sun Zhiwei nodded upon hearing this, and looked at Zheng Jiafa in the driver's seat. So this is the next president of Cathay Pacific. He joined Cathay Pacific Development so early.

"Xiao Zheng's name sounds familiar, let me think."

He pretended to think for a moment before suddenly realizing, "I think I've heard of a young man named Zheng Jiafa who studied physics."

"Hahaha, that's him, Jiafa. He has a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Wisconsin and then pursued a doctorate in physics under the guidance of the famous physicist Professor Yang."

"Well, Zheng's foray into a new field is a bit too big," Sun Zhiwei joked with a smile.

"That's right. If his father hadn't insisted that I take him under my wing, I wouldn't have wanted to. But after spending time with him, I realized that Jiafa is really great."

"It's easy to imagine that the smartest people on Earth are those who study mathematics and physics. As long as they are willing to delve into it, knowledge from other industries can't stump them." Zheng Jiafa was also very excited to receive the approval of the major shareholder. He looked to be in his thirties, but he had only graduated a few years ago and couldn't be as shrewd as the old fox Chen Damin, who kept his emotions hidden.

That night, the three of them stayed at the villa. Chen Damin wanted to have a detailed talk with Sun Zhiwei that night, and Zheng Jiafa was responsible for arranging the logistics.

Neither of them said anything, but the dinner arranged for that evening turned out to be a banquet booked from the same Cantonese restaurant in Chinatown that they had eaten at last time.

This information gathering ability truly impressed Sun Zhiwei.

After all, it had been two years since he last ate at that Cantonese restaurant, and it was quite remarkable that Zheng Jiafa was still able to find out that he liked their dishes.

After dinner, Chen Damin and Sun Zhiwei brewed a pot of tea and went to the villa's balcony to cool off and chat.

“Damin, the development trend in the mainland is so good, you should have the same understanding as me, so why did you still think of calling me over?”

He was the major shareholder of Guotai, and Chen Damin was essentially working for him. There was no need to hide anything between acquaintances, so he simply got straight to the point.

"You should know that I also came from mainland China back then, and I'm worried about potential setbacks."

Although Chen Damin was born in California, USA, he returned to China with his family when he was six years old and graduated from the Department of Economics at Lingnan University.

After graduation, he went to the United States to study and pursued a master's degree in finance and banking at Stanford University in Northern California.

His banking career began on Hong Kong Island, and he didn't move to Los Angeles until 51.

Therefore, his concern is about the past, and this concern is easy to resolve.

"Yes, I understand your thoughts, and I also understand your concerns."

"Okay, let me first share my understanding, and then you can see if my thoughts make sense."

"Xiao Zheng, have you ever studied Chinese history?" Sun Zhiwei suddenly changed the subject and asked Zheng Jiafa, who was listening quietly to the side.

“Mr. James, I also grew up on Hong Kong Island, so of course I have studied it.”

"Then do you know what 'China' means?"

"Yes, this should be what we Chinese people call the mainland."

The Chinese character for "country" (国), in its traditional form, originally meant "city" (城).

"From the perspective of civilization history, if a Neolithic settlement develops into a city, it means that the tribe has developed into a state and entered the stage of civilization."

"In the late Neolithic period, there were legends of many states and kingdoms."

"Around 4000 years ago, the Xia Dynasty was established. The Xia Dynasty was stronger than the surrounding tribes and states, and thus was able to command the world."

"The core area of ​​the Xia Dynasty was in the Yi-Luo River basin, which is now the Luo-Yi area, and this place began to be regarded as the center of the world."

"Luoyi, the capital of the Xia Dynasty, was also regarded as 'China,' meaning the central city. At that time, the capitals of other surrounding city-states were also referred to as 'China' within the country."

(End of this chapter)