Baiyun Airport.
More than a month later, Tan Jincheng saw Zhang Xupeng again and was greatly surprised.
"Whoa, you've gained a lot of weight. You need to lose some, brother. We can't have beer bellies at our age."
"Don't even mention it. Although we ate a lot of foreign food on the ship, we could also go into the kitchen ourselves to make something we liked. This time, I ate with those foreigners every day, it was truly something else."
"Hahaha, how did the talks go?"
"We'll talk back home."
"Alright."
The airport was bustling with people, and indeed not a place for conversation.
However, looking at Zhang Xupeng's expression, one could tell the results were good.
For over a month, due to the time difference, their communication mostly occurred on QQ, leaving messages for each other and replying when they saw them.
Six accompanying personnel went with Zhang Xupeng.
Two lawyers were transferring from Baiyun Airport back to Yongcheng this time, and of the other four, two had already returned to China early.
The remaining two stayed in Yangcheng with Zhang Xupeng.
After a brief exchange, Zhang Xupeng thanked the two lawyers, noting he would still need to bother them after returning.
The two groups separated, and Tan Jincheng drove the rented commercial van towards Zhang Xupeng's residence in Yangcheng.
"Now that the brand is established, I think Jinpeng Trade should also set up a legal team. This year, there should be a lot of issues related to infringement."
After seeing off the two lawyers, Tan Jincheng thought that if GXG sold well, there would inevitably be many fakes, especially in online stores, which would not only affect sales but also damage reputation.
"We really should prepare a legal team. Going abroad this time, I saw how meticulous they are with contract terms. Speaking of dealing with foreigners, if you hadn't been so cautious, we might have suffered a lot of losses."
"Yes, we do foreign trade, and international lawsuits are very troublesome, so we must be extremely meticulous."
"How are things on your end? Why do you have time to come to the Canton Fair? And how many days do you plan to stay?"
Tan Jincheng shook his head and said,
"I just came to take a look. I'm always a bit uneasy if neither of us is around. Also, to pick you up. Tomorrow, I have to head straight to Hushi, so I don't have time to attend the Canton Fair."
Zhang Xupeng was a bit surprised:
"Such a rush?"
"Yes, the Hushi International Electric Vehicle Expo is about to begin. The company's publicity there is very important, so I have to rush over."
The international expo opening on April 17th was very important in the industry due to Hushi's commercial status, and Shanchi Technology attached great importance to this publicity event.
Not only will Li Qiangzhong, who has been promoting for two full months, and his assistant attend the exhibition, but even Fengchi's brand ambassador, Liu Yifei, will also be present.
Furthermore, it's heard that Yadi's brand ambassador, SHE, will also attend the exhibition. Other electric vehicle companies with brand ambassadors, such as Jinlingyang and Huajue, will also have their spokespersons fully present.
This shows the importance attached by major enterprises.
At the same time, this was the first time Shanchi Technology, and Tan Jincheng himself, directly confronted industry competitors.
Since returning from Yiwu, affairs concerning Chenzi Technology, Zhongtai Yongcheng Branch, and Shanchi Technology piled up, and Tan Jincheng was incredibly busy for a month.
Things were fine with Zhongtai; Ying Jianzhong had excellent capabilities, and Tan Jincheng wasn't a major shareholder, so he could choose not to go.
But Chenzi Technology and Shanchi Technology were different.
Both sides had critical matters: on one hand, solidifying their foundation, and on the other, laying the groundwork for making money on the internet.
One could only say it was painful yet joyful.
Fortunately, the internal enterprise management system was already playing a certain role.
The previously established internet business department was no longer empty, and Cheng Hao, with his experience from a large internet company, also proposed some improvements for the internal enterprise management system.
It must be said that recruiting Cheng Hao was absolutely correct.
Although his loyalty couldn't compare to people like Zhang Xuhui and Sun Yuming, he truly had the ability.
For a company to develop rapidly, it truly needs to recruit talent like this.
From Cheng Hao, Tan Jincheng thought of Chery.
In the automotive industry, Chery had the title of "Whampoa Military Academy" for domestic cars (positive energy).
From the time its founder, with about 20 engineers, began developing engines in a repair shop, Chery never lacked talent.
However, starting in 2005, factional struggles within Chery became very serious, continuing even until 2023.
Where there is struggle, talent will leave.
Talent poached by competitors spread among major domestic automobile companies, contributing to its "good reputation."
Tan Jincheng wanted to build his own car-making team, and it would be inevitable that he would have to poach people from Chery when the time came.
Speaking of which, there are quite a few car manufacturers from Anhui Province.
From traditional fuel vehicles to later new energy vehicles, major well-known brands almost occupy half of the domestic automotive industry.
As a fellow Anhui native, Tan Jincheng had a natural advantage in networking; there was no reason not to leverage it.
"Is that the exhibition you mentioned during Chinese New Year, the one Liu Yifei will also attend?"
"You didn't remember anything else, but you remembered this one. Yes, that's it. It's not just her, there will be many other celebrities too, it's quite grand."
Zhang Xupeng sighed,
"Alas, what a pity. I just returned to the country, and there's the Canton Fair here. Otherwise, I would have liked to join you for the excitement. Running this factory is really tiring, I'm starting to regret it a little."
"Haha, it's just the beginning. But you should get some sleep first to adjust to the jet lag. If you don't keep quiet, the two colleagues in the back won't be able to rest well,"
Tan Jincheng said, pointing to the back row.
"No, no, we like listening too,"
the two quickly replied.
Tan Jincheng didn't know these two.
Zhang Xupeng, either forgot or for some other reason, didn't introduce them to Tan Jincheng.
However, since they were taken abroad, they must either be very capable or highly trusted by Zhang Xupeng.
He didn't see the Li Yanning sisters, nor Liu Wenbin, which Tan Jincheng understood.
Although these employees, whom Tan Jincheng knew best, were diligent and hardworking, their education level was limited.
Zhang Xupeng glanced back and replied,
"Alright, I'm a bit sleepy too. Call me when we get there."
Having not seen him for over a month, Zhang Xupeng had too many things and too many words he wanted to share with Tan Jincheng.
With others in the car, personal matters were inconvenient, and business matters could only be discussed briefly and superficially, which wasn't very satisfying.
Coupled with the fatigue of the journey, Zhang Xupeng soon fell asleep.
---
"How long did I sleep?"
Zhang Xupeng, groggily walking out of the room, looked at Tan Jincheng sitting on the living room sofa and asked.
By then, it was already dark.
"About four hours,"
Tan Jincheng raised his hand and checked his watch.
On the way back from the airport, Zhang Xupeng felt he hadn't slept enough, so the three stayed home to rest.
Tan Jincheng, meanwhile, went to the Canton Fair grounds, which had already closed for the day.
Now, attending the Canton Fair no longer excited Tan Jincheng as it once did.
Although Jinyi Industrial still had its own booth, Tan Jincheng had already instructed the company to fully develop its business on Alibaba International Station.
The International Station had excellent traffic for several years, making international trade very convenient, and the costs were much lower than attending the Canton Fair.
Furthermore, although the market for electronic product export business was large, Jinyi Industrial had neither its own brand nor its own OEM factory, relying solely on authorized brand business.
The profits in this area couldn't compare to clothing exports.
Therefore, Tan Jincheng wasn't very enthusiastic about this business.
The reasons for maintaining it were, on one hand, that there was still some profit, and on the other hand, he wanted to establish overseas export channels for electric scooters through the electronic product export business.
Speaking of the exhibition in Chuncheng, Wu Zhenping also made some gains, selling 20,000 Shanchi low-end electric scooters to Southeast Asian regions.
A 20,000-unit order wouldn't significantly impact Shanchi Technology's sales for the year, but it was a very good start.
According to Wu Zhenping's report, since the Chuncheng exhibition was geared towards Southeast Asian regions, which are relatively poor, there weren't as many participating companies as expected, and most were local enterprises from Chuncheng and Yunnan Province.
Wu Zhenping only saw brands like Xinri and Yadi, besides Shanchi Technology, that traveled thousands of miles to exhibit in Chuncheng.
It must be said that brands capable of long-term survival and maintaining recognition in later generations possess a certain market foresight.
Although Xinri lost its leading position in its previous life, its overseas sales were actually not bad.
Yadi was even more formidable, operating both domestic and international markets extremely well.
Its founder's foresight was more than sufficient to recognize the importance of foreign markets even when the domestic market was flourishing.
Honestly, if Tan Jincheng didn't have memories of his past life and ran an electric vehicle company like an ordinary person, he might not realize the importance of foreign markets at this time.
With so much money to be made from domestic users, who would bother with overseas affairs?
Traditional enterprises, especially electric vehicle companies, find it difficult to form a monopoly.
Having these two competitors is also an incentive for Shanchi Technology.
Whether it was Yadi's obstruction in the Southwest market or Xinri and Yadi's coincidental focus on the Southeast Asian market, these were two respectable rivals.
If there was an opportunity at the Hushi exhibition, Tan Jincheng wanted to meet these two founders.
To hear their insights on the industry and learn from the entrepreneurial experiences of their predecessors.
Xinri's founder was considered a "fuerdai" (second-generation rich).
It was rare for a family in the early 90s, after a child graduated from junior high, to be able to provide hundreds of thousands for them to start a business.
Yadi's founder, on the other hand, was at the other extreme.
Also born in the 70s, he came from an extremely poor family in Anhui Province.
He served in the military, then worked as a driver in a motorcycle factory after retirement, resigned to open a restaurant, made motorcycle parts, and eventually founded Yadi.
Two individuals, two extreme social experiences.
Tan Jincheng's family background fell precisely between the two, and the richness of his life experiences was no less than theirs.
In the future electric vehicle market, in a scene of tripartite confrontation, will Shanchi Technology have a place?
(End of chapter)