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

While Chen Dong was having tea with his second brother Chen Zaisheng in the office, his secretary Qu Cai informed him that Wu Nansheng and his group had arrived at the factory. Chen Dong hurriedly led Chen Zaisheng out of the office building and saw Wu Nansheng walking in the park with his hands behind his back from afar.

"Oh dear! Mr. Wu, Secretary Zhou, and other leaders, please forgive me. I've been so busy that I didn't even know you were here. It's truly impolite of me," Chen Dong said apologetically to Wu Nansheng and the others with a smile.

"It's nothing, Comrade Zai Dong. It's normal for you to be busy with such a big operation at Xiaochi Company. We just came to take a look around." Wu Nansheng continued walking forward with his hands behind his back, and Chen Dong followed behind.

The group entered the assembly workshop of Xiaochi. The production line was running, and the workers were busy on the assembly line in their neat uniforms. Wu Nansheng walked slowly and stopped from time to time to ask Chen Dong some questions. Chen Dong answered them one by one, and the data came out off the top of his head.

"Comrade Zai Dong, your factory workers are basically capable of manufacturing complete vehicles now, right? Do you still need to rely on those external experts for guidance?" Wu Nansheng asked Chen Dong as he watched the workers skillfully tighten the screws in various parts.

Chen Dong smiled and said, "Mr. Wu, our workers are now skilled at operating various precision equipment. The experts we hired in previous years have basically moved to factories in Hong Kong. Now, our Chinese workers are independently carrying out production and preparation."

"You also have a car factory in Hong Kong?"

"Yes, back then we acquired Saab Automobile from Switzerland and moved the entire factory to Hong Kong, so that those Swiss people wouldn't generate even half a kronor in tax revenue," Chen Dong said jokingly.

Wu Nansheng laughed loudly, "You, you, doing this, the Swiss government will hate you to death for taking away their precious company."

"However, even if you go to the east, the Saab automotive technology you introduced is still very advanced. Both Shanghai Automotive and Volkswagen have to come to you for cooperation. Your Xiaochi is now clearly the leading automotive company in China," Wu Nansheng said as he walked to a red "Dilu" car that had just rolled off the production line, opened the door and peeked inside.

"Introducing Saab was just a ticket to enter the automotive industry. Mr. Wu, to be frank with you, the new automotive technologies developed by our mainland Xiaochi R&D department are not much worse than those of Saab's laboratory in Hong Kong."

"We Chinese are not much worse than Westerners. On the contrary, we are more adaptable and more accepting of new things and technologies than those rigid Swedish people."

"Listen to this, all of you," Wu Nansheng turned to look at the accompanying cadres, "Comrade Zai Dong's words hit the nail on the head: this is about introducing new technologies, absorbing, digesting, and then re-creating them!"

"It's not about buying a few pieces of equipment and slapping a brand on them to call it a joint venture. True capability lies in keeping the core technologies on our own soil, enabling our own workers to manufacture them!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Haimin smiled with agreement and pride. "Old Wu, you're right. This is exactly the concept that Comrade Zai Dong repeatedly emphasized when he reported to the Municipal Party Committee: technology can be introduced, but its roots must be planted in Tuocheng."

Wu Nansheng patted the hood of the red "Dilu" car next to him. Chen Zaisheng helped open the hood so that Wu Nansheng could see inside. Wu Nansheng nodded repeatedly, "The workmanship is exquisite, and the welds are even. It's no worse than the car companies I've seen in America. It seems that you've really put a lot of effort into your quality management system."

"Mr. Wu has a keen eye," Chen Zaisheng immediately replied. "We have introduced the complete quality control standards of Huasheng Group. Each process has a dedicated person in charge, and unqualified products are never allowed to enter the next stage. At present, the first-pass yield rate of our products has reached more than 98%.

"Ninety-eight percent!"

Wu Nansheng repeated the number to himself, then turned to Zhou Haimin, "This achievement is top-notch even on an international scale. Comrade Zai Dong, your Xiaochi is not only building factories, but also cultivating a modern industrial workforce!"

"What is your current annual production value at Snapdragon?"

Chen Dong replied with a smile, "Mr. Wu, last fiscal year, our Xiaochi's total output value exceeded 5 billion RMB, of which 70% came from exports."

Five billion!

Many people gasped upon hearing this. Converted to US dollars, it amounted to nearly 1.7 billion US dollars, but in Chen Dong's view, it was just a small matter.

Compared to Americana's General Motors and Japan's Mitsubishi, which cost tens of billions of US dollars, Snapdragon's 1.7 billion US dollars only looks good in China. Not to mention in America, even in Europe, it wouldn't be a fraction of Volkswagen's revenue.

It's not that Xiaochi's car sales are bad, but Jinbu's production line only has so much capacity for one year. Currently, the orders for "Dilu" from Europe and America are already booked from the beginning to the end of the year. Chen Dong has already planned to "renovate and rebuild" Jinbu Street and expand his Jinbu Industrial Zone.

The current production lines are too few, and the production capacity is insufficient to supply the market. As a result, the newly developed "Red Rabbit" sports car by Snapdragon can only produce test vehicles first, and cannot be put into full-scale production.

"Great! It's large-scale and efficient!"

Wu Nansheng clapped his hands vigorously, his eyes full of approval. "The central government decided to carry out reform and opening up precisely because it wants to build more factories like your Xiaochi Motors, which can truly solve employment problems for ordinary people and earn foreign exchange for the country!"

"If FAW, Dongfeng, and Shanghai Automotive, these three state-owned automobile factories, could achieve an annual output value of at least 1 billion yuan, let alone 5 billion yuan, like Zai Dong's Xiaochi Automobile, I would personally present them with a banner of appreciation!"

After Wu Nansheng said this, Chen Dong, Chen Zaisheng, and Zhou Haimin behind him were at a loss for words, and they could only awkwardly laugh to change the subject.

After inspecting the production line of "Dilu", the old man went to "Zhaoyebai" and was equally impressed. He was especially pleased to hear that Chen Dong had given the factory employees discounts and arranged car loans for them.

"When workers can drive the cars they produce on the road, they will only work harder on the assembly. Your Xiaochi management philosophy is very advanced," Wu Nansheng said, greatly inspired. "I think we can also promote your Xiaochi employee discount model at FAW, Dongfeng, and Shanghai Automotive."

"We workers and farmers are the foundation of the country. It makes me happier to see these people drive cars first than to let others do so," Wu Nansheng said with a smile. "Allowing some people to get rich first can include our fellow workers and farmers!"