I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 544 Participating in the "2013 China Small and Medium-sized Banks Summit Forum"

Hearing this, Deng Hui, who was standing next to him, laughed and said, "President Fang, I can't take you to receive this award. You have to attend in person."

"That's right, this is the first national award since the establishment of Jinghai, no, Nanxin Rural Bank. You should go and claim the award."

Seeing that both of his subordinates were urging him to go to Yanjing, Fang Qingye thought for a moment and said, "Alright then."

Since the meeting is only for two days, go and come back quickly.

"Alright, Director Ma, you go ahead with your work. President Deng, let's continue."

The "2013 China Small and Medium-Sized Banks Summit Forum" was held in Yanjing on September 10th and 11th. Fang Qingye set off for Yanjing a day in advance.

He decided to bring Hu Lingling along.

Look at this list of award winners, several of them are from Jiangsu Province. They might even be having a private party or something. And then there's Baoshang Bank. If Chairman Wang Zhenxi attends, he'll definitely ask me to have a drink.

At least he was still a director of Baoshang Bank's board of directors. At the beginning of the year, Wang Zhenxi proposed to re-elect the board of directors. As one of Baoshang Bank's shareholders, Fang Qingye voted in favor, which can be considered as standing on his side.

However, it seemed a bit inappropriate to only bring Hu Lingling on the business trip, so it was better to bring Yue Kai along as well. In any case, the organizing committee would only arrange the hotel, but the accommodation and transportation costs would be paid by the participating units themselves.

These days, all sorts of forums and summits are like this; if they don't charge you a sponsorship fee upfront, you're considered a relatively ethical summit.

With my assistant by my side, I don't have to worry about booking tickets or running errands. Yue Kai will also help carry my luggage. I just need to follow along.

Anyway, I didn't plan to give a report at this so-called summit forum. At most, I'll just give an impromptu acceptance speech when I receive an award.

I went out to relax.

Right now, he's still thinking about the candidate for the head of the Pudong branch. If he can't find a suitable candidate, the only option left is to conduct a public recruitment.

Fang Qingye and her two companions departed from Jinghai Airport, took a flight to Beijing Capital International Airport, and then checked into the Westin Beijing Hotel, which was arranged by the organizing committee.

Sure enough, shortly after arriving at the hotel, he received a call from Wang Zhenxi, the chairman and president of Baoshang Bank: "President Fang, you're here for the meeting too? Congratulations!"

"Congratulations! I've arrived and checked into the Westin Hotel. Mr. Wang, how about you?"

"I arrived the day before yesterday and met some friends. Tonight, I'd like to invite you to dinner and a couple of drinks," Wang Zhenxi said enthusiastically over the phone.

“Chairman Wang, you treated me so warmly when I visited Inner Mongolia last time. How about I host you this time? Let’s meet at the Westin Hotel,” Fang Qingye said.

"Well, it's better to obey than to be respectful."

Since we were hosting a dinner party, whether we invited one person or two, we simply found the phone numbers of the representatives from Huijing Bank and Jiangsu Bank who were attending the forum at the conference office—both were top executives of their respective banks—and called them to invite them to dinner. We even called the president of Hangzhou Bank who was also attending the forum.

Jiangsu and Zhejiang are one family.

The other party gladly accepted the invitation.

Fang Qingye set up a private room on the third floor of the hotel. Although they had never met before, they were all attending a meeting together. They were all bank managers with their secretaries, and they all knew how to flatter each other. The atmosphere in the private room was lively for a while.

With Hu Lingling around, Fang Qing wasn't afraid to drink.

"President Fang, congratulations!" President Xie of Huijing Bank raised his glass.

"President Xie, Huijing Bank has won the Best Small and Medium-sized Bank Award this time, which is the most important award. I should congratulate you," Fang Qingye said.

"That's not what I meant. I'm really envious of the fact that the China Banking Regulatory Commission has approved the expansion of Jinghai Bank's business area to the whole country," President Xie said.

“Our Huijing Bank applied to the China Banking Regulatory Commission three years ago, but it still hasn’t been approved.”

Of the five bank presidents present, all but one of Huijing Bank are qualified to open branches nationwide, so President Xie's envy is understandable.

Fang Qingye remembered that Huijing Bank's business area had always been limited to Jiangsu Province, and it was still the same ten years later!
But those words were too hurtful, so Fang Qingye naturally couldn't say them. He smiled and said, "President Xie, you'll definitely succeed next year. Your Huijing Bank is already listed, and we're all envious." This was true; among those present, only Huijing Bank was listed to date.

Upon hearing this, the presidents of the other three banks also offered their congratulations. This made President Xie feel a little better.

Anyway, everyone says things to make the other person happy and comfortable.

As everyone drank and chatted, the conversation drifted to tomorrow's summit meeting.

"I heard that a director from the People's Bank of China has been specially invited to attend tomorrow's forum and deliver a speech." The speaker was President Yuan of Jiangsu Provincial Bank.

"Which director?" Wang Zhenxi asked with concern.

"It should be Director Luo of the Financial Markets Department."

"That's a very famous director at the central bank. I heard he could even be promoted to vice president," President Song of Hangzhou Bank chimed in.

"Really?" Wang Zhenxi asked.

After listening, President Yuan glanced at him and slowly said:

"Chairman Wang, these are all rumors circulating in private. Who can say for sure? But since there are rumors, there's a possibility, don't you think?"

"Yes, yes! Our Baoshang Bank is located in a remote area, and the higher-ups don't know much about many things."

President Yuan smiled slightly upon hearing this.

Indeed, of the five bank presidents present, apart from Baoshang Bank from Inner Mongolia, the other four are from the economically developed areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

If he were the one treating, he would never have invited this Montreal man.

However, I heard that Fang Qingye also serves as a director of Baoshang Bank, so it makes sense for him to invite the branch manager from Inner Mongolia to host the dinner.

"Hey, bank managers, which of you is acquainted with Director Luo? Could you introduce us? I'd like to host a gathering." Wang Zhenxi asked.

Everyone shook their heads, saying they weren't familiar with it.

Oh dear, how can Chairman Wang be so simple-minded?

Sitting next to Fang Qingye, Hu Lingling couldn't help but mutter to herself.

Even if you know them well, they won't tell you.

You're all bank managers; haven't you heard the saying, "Competitors are enemies"?

In fact, Wang Zhenxi didn't think about any of that; he just wanted to get to know more leaders.

Besides the fact that Director Luo was coming, the group also talked about some other people, all of whom were experts and well-known in the domestic financial world.

Wu Xiaoqiu, Dean of the School of Finance at Renmin University; Guan Qingyou, Dean of the Rushi Institute of Finance; and Lang Xianping, a "celebrity" expert.
"I heard that a senior bank executive from the United States will also be giving a speech," President Yuan added.

"American? Which investment bank's executive?" Fang Qingye asked curiously.

"No, it's a small to medium-sized American bank, just like us, called Southern Bank Corporation. It was named the best bank in the US in 2012. I guess the organizing committee invited them to share their experience with us," President Yuan said.

"Does a foreigner understand China's national conditions? Can we use their business philosophy and experience?" Wang Zhenxi said dismissively.

The other bank managers remained silent, but a hint of disdain appeared on their faces.

(End of this chapter)