Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

At 9:00 AM, Jinbu Xiaochi Automobile Industrial Zone, Mianyang Town, Zhaoyang District

A Ford Vision police car with flashing lights led the way, driving into the gate of the Xiaochi Automotive Industrial Park. A tan bus followed, and Zhou Haimin's secretary got off first, smiling politely at Chen Zaidong and the others.

One by one, cadres dressed in light gray Zhongshan suits stepped off the bus. The first was an elderly man with a dignified face, his silver-gray hair neatly combed into a slicked-back style, and a badge with the image of a teacher hanging on his chest. Zhou Haimin, the secretary of the Tuocheng Municipal Party Committee, followed behind him and introduced the man to the elderly man.

"Mr. Huang, distinguished leaders, this is Mr. Chen Zaidong of Xiaochi Motors, this is Mr. Fang Guotai next to him, and this is Comrade Chen Zaisheng, the executive manager of Xiaochi Motors," Zhou Haimin introduced the three managers of Xiaochi Motors to the leaders and cadres from the Ministry of Industry and the State Planning Commission.

"Good morning, leaders! Welcome to Xiaochi Auto for our work guidance!"

Chen Dong stepped forward with a smile, shaking hands with the officials from the central ministries of China in a neither humble nor arrogant manner. Huang Bin, holding Chen Dong's hand, turned to Zhou Haimin behind him with a beaming smile, "Secretary Haimin, this Mr. Chen Zaidong is quite remarkable. I have long admired your name!"

"Hehe, Mr. Huang, you flatter me," Chen Dong replied with a smile. Zhou Haimin chimed in with a laugh, "Indeed, Mr. Huang. It's rare for our Tuocheng Special Economic Zone to produce a car like Xiaochi Motors. The future economic transformation of the Special Economic Zone will depend on Mr. Chen Zaidong!"

"Secretary Zhou, please don't flatter me," Chen Dong said with a smile, waving his hand and gesturing for us to come in. "Please come in, I'll show you all the leaders around the workshop."

The group chatted and laughed as they walked toward the workshop. Huang Bin looked around and found that the construction of the entire park was basically completed. Although there were still some buildings and garbage around that had not been cleaned up in time, judging from the current situation, Xiaochi Motors was basically ready to start trial production.

From application to approval, project establishment to construction, and then to trial production, Xiaochi Motors completed the entire process in less than nine months, demonstrating Chen Dong's thorough preparation and decisive investment of funds.

While laymen only see the spectacle, Huang Bin, an expert, sees the intricacies. These precision equipment imported from overseas, without exceptionally strong capabilities, would be difficult to put into trial production even within one or two years, let alone nine months. This demonstrates the strength of Chen Dong's operational methods overseas.

But then he thought of the two sets of five-axis CNC machine tools that Chen Dong had helped the country obtain last year, as well as that "top secret" turbofan engine, and Huang Bin felt relieved. For someone who could obtain such equipment and engines that even the Chinese government could hardly achieve, it would be a piece of cake for Chen Dong to obtain such equipment for his company.

Huang Bin felt he couldn't quite understand Chen Dong, who was explaining things with a smile. As he walked into the workshop with the "Engine" sign, Huang Bin immediately saw a huge machine tool in operation. A dozen people were gathered around two blond foreigners, listening quietly without making a sound, all focused on taking notes.

Huang Bin whispered to Chen Dong in front of him, "Those two people, are they the engineers you hired from overseas?"

"Yes, Mr. Huang, you should know that my Huasheng Fund has fully acquired Saab Automobile. These are the former senior engineers of Saab Automobile," Chen Dong said, pointing to Hans and Sammer who were surrounded.

"To hire them to come to Tuocheng, the annual salary alone is $400,000. I also built a Nordic-style villa for each of them not far from the park and brought their families to live there as well. All expenses were reimbursed by the company."

The officials from the State Planning Commission and the State Economic Commission who were following behind were all speechless when they heard that these two foreigners had an annual salary of 400,000 US dollars. It's true that it's good to be rich!

Chen Dong led his team onward, saying, "We also have a few people who were temporarily hired from Scania to provide guidance. They're currently in Nanshan District. The company's heavy truck project is also underway and will soon be able to begin trial production."

Upon hearing Chen Dong's words, Huang Bin pulled Chen Dong aside and whispered, "Comrade Chen Dong, what heavy-duty truck technology did you obtain from Scania? Could you reveal that?"

When Huang Bin asked this question, Chen Dong casually replied, "There's nothing wrong with that. Although we have acquired an 8% stake in Scania, we still have to pay them patent fees to introduce their heavy truck technology. Currently, our Xiaochi Auto plans to first thoroughly understand their patents and then proceed with a combination of imitation and innovation."

In fact, Chen Dong could have directly used the heavy truck engine and chassis provided by the system, but firstly, the origin of the technology needed an explanation. It is impossible for a company to openly and blatantly release mature technology without any prior research and development. This is not a plausible explanation.

That's why Chen Dong acquired Saab Automobile and invested in Scania in the early stages, and talked to them about technology transfer projects. These were all smokescreens by Chen Dong, in order to find a source for the technology of Xiaochi Automobile.

As for the future, Chen Dong doesn't care about those who want to smear Xiaochi Motors for not having independent R&D capabilities and for relying entirely on "borrowed" technology for their own use, because Chen Dong is a businessman who cares about money and not about shame!

If you like to criticize, then criticize. It won't stop my Xiaochi Motors from becoming one of the top three car manufacturers in China and even the world. Besides, being criticized is still being criticized. Sometimes, critics understand you better than die-hard fans. Aren't they also "die-hard fans" in another sense?

"You really invested in Scania?" Huang Bin asked Chen Dong excitedly, rubbing his hands together. "Zai Dong, if you fully understand Scania's heavy-duty truck technology, could you transfer some of the technology to FAW and Dongfeng? The government will give you appropriate compensation!"

"It's a bit too early to talk about technology transfer now, Mr. Huang. I must ensure that my Xiaochi cars maintain a leading technological advantage in the Chinese and overseas automotive markets. My Huasheng Fund holds a lot of automotive patent technologies," Chen Dong said with a smile, but his tone was extremely serious.

"Whether it's FAW, Dongfeng, or even Shanghai Automotive, they can all come and talk to me, but they have to pay our Huasheng Fund's patent fees according to international standards. They can't do what those state-owned factories do, withholding payments. Developing technology is very costly in terms of money, time, and manpower!"

Hearing Chen Dong say this, although he didn't explicitly say that he would transfer the heavy truck technology he obtained from Scania to FAW and Dongfeng, Huang Bin thought it was a good thing that Chen Dong was willing to sell the patented technology components he owned to FAW.

"These are all things that should be done. China is currently undergoing comprehensive modernization and gradually integrating with the international community. I'm not afraid to tell you that China is planning matters related to rejoining the WTO. All of these things you mentioned will need to be considered in the future!"