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Chapter 2659 Big Event

Just as Tianchao Electronics, a subsidiary of Tianchao Group, was going head-to-head with the world, a piece of news shocked the world.

On December 11, 2001, China officially joined the World Trade Organization.

The moment this news reached China from Doha, the entire Chinese business community was as if a signal flare had lit up the night sky.

The front page of the newspapers was filled with the words "WTO accession," and the financial channel anchors broadcast the news with unusual excitement. Foreign trade company owners from all over the country convened management meetings overnight, with newly printed summaries of the WTO accession protocol spread out on the tables, studying the tariff reduction schedule and transitional arrangements item by item.

Among the subsidiaries of Tianchao Group, Kunyu Shipping and Siyi Foreign Trade were naturally the first to feel the shockwaves.

On the evening the news of Kunyu Shipping's WTO accession was announced, General Manager Chen convened a meeting of the entire management team.

The conference room was filled with smoke, and the latest shipping schedules and berth availability were spread out on the table. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the global shipping route map projected on the screen.

Pointing to the flight route map on the screen, General Manager Chen spoke eloquently: "Everyone, China has finally joined the WTO. Tariffs have been significantly reduced, and trade quotas are being gradually eliminated. The export volume of automobiles from our country is bound to surge. Our shipping capacity is already operating at full capacity. What should we do next? Let's all share our thoughts."

Manager Li from the dispatch team spoke first: "President Chen, the berth turnaround time at the three ports of Tianjin, Shanghai, and Qingdao has been pushed to the limit. Loading operations are being carried out in three shifts, with workers working 24 hours a day. But this pace is pushing them to the limit, with almost no buffer between ship schedules. If even one ship is delayed in arriving at the port, the entire schedule for the rest will be disrupted."

"What about the order growth rate?" General Manager Chen asked.

Manager Liu from the sales team opened his notebook and reported a set of figures: "Last month, China's overseas automotive orders increased by nearly two times compared to before its accession to the WTO. Dealers in Southeast Asia and Africa are placing additional orders. Our current shipping capacity can only meet 70% of the orders, and the remaining 30% are waiting for ships."

General Manager Chen frowned: "What about the ships? How's the progress of the new ships in Jiangnan and Hudong?"

"Three 100,000-ton cargo ships are being built simultaneously in the shipyard's dry dock, but even with the fastest construction schedule, they won't be launched until next year. It's a long way off to solve an immediate problem." Manager Liu closed his notebook.

The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.

General Manager Chen stood up: "I'll go find General Manager Su. We don't have enough shipping capacity, we can't cancel the orders, and we can't meet the deadline... This matter needs General Manager Su's approval."

"Mr. Chen, the best solution right now is still to purchase second-hand cargo ships. However, Mr. Su has always focused on ordering new ships, and last time he only released ten old ships that were ten years old. Do you think it's possible to apply to purchase a few more second-hand cargo ships this time?"

"Okay! I'll talk to President Su myself."

……

The next morning, General Manager Chen went to Suning's office.

First, he laid out the data on the capacity shortage and the backlog of orders one by one, and finally said, "Mr. Su, the current situation is that our fleet is already operating at overcapacity, with workers working three shifts, all berths fully booked, and new ships not yet launched. The capacity shortage is about 30%. I calculated that if we cancel some orders or negotiate with customers to postpone delivery, we can make up for the shortfall. But the customers may have objections."

Suning was looking at documents. After listening, he looked up and asked only one question: "What will the customer who canceled the order think?"

Mr. Chen paused for a moment, then said, "The customer may switch to other brands."

“Then we can’t cancel.” Suning put down the document. “Once the order is accepted, the trucks and goods must arrive at the port on time. Not having enough ships is not an excuse.”

Mr. Chen said, "But the transportation capacity really can't keep up..."

"You mean you want to continue purchasing secondhand cargo ships?"

"Uh? Yes! The second-hand cargo ship we bought last time worked quite well."

“We should still rent ships! After all, there are many problems with second-hand cargo ships, and Kunyu Shipping cannot afford to take on too many problems,” Su Ning said. “We also need to rent terminals. We need to send negotiation teams to several key global hub ports, such as Rotterdam, Hamburg, Los Angeles, and Singapore, to sign long-term agreements and secure the terminals, warehouses, and berths for us.”

Mr. Chen was taken aback for a moment. "Rent a dock? The cost of a long-term agreement is not low."

“No matter how high the cost, it can't outweigh the loss of customers,” Su Ning said. “At the same time, we will subcontract some of the transportation contracts to other domestic shipping companies. We'd rather earn a little less, but we must ensure that the overseas delivery cycle of Tianchao automobiles is not prolonged, and we cannot allow any problems with the transportation of goods. You go and make the arrangements now; the negotiation team will depart tonight. I'll have Siyi Foreign Trade's European office cooperate with you in Rotterdam and Hamburg. Mingju Real Estate has a branch in the United States in Los Angeles; let them help connect with the people at the Port of Long Beach.”

Mr. Chen stood up. "Understood. I'll arrange it right away."

"Mr. Chen, Kunyu Shipping's opportunity has arrived. Whether we can seize this opportunity depends on you."

"clear."

……

After receiving the instructions, General Manager Chen returned and immediately dispatched several business negotiation teams to major hub ports around the world.

The negotiation team, carrying Tianchao Group's bank credit line and a template for a long-term cooperation agreement, talked with port operators one by one.

The European team arrived in Rotterdam and sat down with the port authority officials for two whole days.

The port authority was initially very cautious because Tianchao Group was still a newcomer to the European port industry.

The port authority official, a Dutchman in his fifties, said, “Mr. Chen, the warehouse and berth resources at the Port of Rotterdam are indeed tight. We have many long-term clients with whom we have pre-arranged priorities. If you want to sign a long-term agreement on short notice, we need to conduct an assessment.”

Mr. Chen's negotiator pushed over the bank credit line certificate from Tianchao Group, saying, "We're not here to try our luck. Tianchao Auto, a subsidiary of Tianchao Group, saw its export volume nearly triple last year, and this growth is expected to continue for the next three years. We're not looking for a temporary warehouse, but a long-term partner. Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, and Tianchao Auto is the fastest-growing car brand in Asia. This cooperation is beneficial to both of us."

The Dutchman glanced at the numbers on the bank's credit line and his eyebrows twitched slightly.

He then looked at the terms on the template of the long-term cooperation agreement.

Finally, he stood up, shook hands with President Chen, and said, "I'll report to the board of directors and give you an answer tomorrow."

Thank you.

……

The next day, the contracts for berths and warehouses in the Port of Rotterdam were signed.

Almost the same process was followed in finalizing agreements for the ports of Hamburg, Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Singapore.

Kunyu Shipping's fleet, along with leased docks and berths, and subcontracted shipping capacity, managed to withstand the explosive growth in China's automobile exports after its accession to the WTO.

The scene on the other side of the trade route was even more spectacular.

Before joining the WTO, the main business of the Four Barbarians Foreign Trade was to serve the internal affairs of the Celestial Empire Group.

We import production line equipment for Tianchao Automobile, ship main engines and deck machinery for Kunyu Shipping, precision components and chip packaging equipment for Tianchao Electronics, and special accessories for Galaxy Computers for Tianchao Internet Cafe.

After joining the WTO, import and export rights were further liberalized, tariffs were significantly reduced, import costs for foreign trade dropped dramatically, and export channels were expanded several times over.

Mr. Fan, the head of Siyi Foreign Trade, is a veteran in the import and export industry who has spent half his life working in this field.

After the news of China's WTO accession was announced, General Manager Fan called the heads of several departments into the conference room, slammed the summary of the protocol on the table, and said, "Everyone, a tremendous opportunity has arrived. After WTO accession, tariffs will be significantly reduced, import and export rights will be liberalized, categories that previously required approval can now be directly registered, tariffs that used to be as high as tens of percent have now been reduced to single digits or even zero, and export products that were previously subject to quota restrictions have now been lifted. I've calculated that we can easily handle a several-fold increase in our current business volume. But the prerequisite is that everyone must be on high alert; the next six months will be extremely busy."

Manager Wang from the customs brokerage department asked, "General Manager Fan, how busy will you be?"

Mr. Fan glanced at him and said, "You might be so busy that you don't even have time to go home and sleep." Manager Wang thought Mr. Fan was joking and smiled without taking it seriously.

As a result, starting from the second week, the customs department's phone rang from morning till night, the fax machine was spitting out forms, and the printer was running out of ink cartridges from the moment it was turned on in the morning until the end of the workday.

Manager Wang just replaced the ink cartridge, and it was empty again the next afternoon.

The only option was to go to the logistics department to collect ink cartridges. The people in the logistics department said in surprise, "Manager Wang, your customs department has collected more ink cartridges this month than in the past six months combined."

Manager Wang said, "Then take a look at how many orders we've submitted this month."

"That's true! Spring has come for our foreign trade with all the barbarians."

"I heard that President Su and President Fan have been preparing for this day. No wonder they have become top business leaders."

……

The company's business scope has rapidly expanded from simply providing internal supply chain services to acting as an import and export agent for other domestic manufacturing companies.

Textiles are transported from factories in Zhejiang to ports, loaded onto container ships of Kunyu Shipping, and shipped to Europe and America.

Machinery and equipment were transported from the old industrial base in Northeast China and exported to infrastructure construction sites in Southeast Asia and Africa.

Electronic products are shipped from Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen to electronic product distributors around the world.

The employees of Siyi Foreign Trade simply moved folding beds into the office. In the open-plan offices of the customs declaration, logistics, insurance, and order tracking departments, the ringing of telephones and the buzzing of fax machines were mixed together, and the printers never stopped from morning to night.

That day, while Mr. Fan was answering a phone call in his office, three landlines were ringing at the same time.

He could only use one microphone tucked under his shoulder to discuss contract terms with clients, pick up another microphone with his left hand to confirm customs clearance progress with the customs broker, and scribble something rapidly on a sticky note with his right hand.

The assistant, Xiao Zhou, was dumbfounded. After he hung up the phone, he said, "Mr. Fan, you're busier than if you were fighting a war."

Mr. Fan put the receivers of the three telephones back in, took a breath, and said, "What are three telephones? Back when we were importing equipment at the Shunyi factory, Mr. Su said something to me that I still remember to this day."

"What?"

"President Su said that foreign trade with foreign countries is the dual driving force of Tianchao Group, and it can never stop. Domestically, it is the lifeblood of the group, and internationally, it is China's window. At the time, I thought that statement was a bit grandiose, but now look... the textile companies and machinery equipment factories that we represent, their goods are shipped all over the world through us, and every order is a testament to 'Made in China'. Now I completely understand what President Su meant by that statement."

"Mr. Fan, what's our next step?"

General Manager Fan stood up, tore off the notes he had just jotted down, and handed them to Xiao Zhou. "How do we do it? Why think so much? Just do it. By the way, go to the logistics department and get a few more boxes of printer paper. We've used several boxes this month. Also, Manager Wang from the customs department said they're out of ink cartridges again. Get some and send them to them."

"it is good."

……

At the group's annual summary meeting, Mr. Chen, the general manager of Kunyu Shipping, and Mr. Fan, the general manager of Siyi Foreign Trade, took turns to give their reports.

The audience was filled with heads of various subsidiaries of the group. Suning sat in the middle of the first row, with a cup of tea and an open notebook in front of him.

Mr. Chen went on stage first and projected a global route network map.

The map is densely marked with Kunyu Shipping's existing and under-construction port nodes, and its shipping routes extend from the Chinese coast to Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America, resembling a giant spider web.

Pointing to the map, General Manager Chen explained, "In the year since China's accession to the WTO, Kunyu Shipping's fleet tonnage has more than tripled compared to before the accession. We have added four new ocean-going roll-on/roll-off ships and nineteen 10,000-ton cargo ships, and leased long-term berths and warehouses in the ports of Rotterdam, Hamburg, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Singapore. Our annual cargo volume has quadrupled, and our port storage area has increased fivefold."

Some people in the audience couldn't help but let out a soft gasp of surprise.

Mr. Chen paused for a moment, then continued, "But to be honest, this achievement wasn't made after China joined the WTO. Before China joined the WTO, President Su had us place orders for new ships in advance. At the time, many people didn't understand, saying that the fleet was already sufficient, so why spend money to build new ships? Looking back now, those ships saved us. Without those ships, we wouldn't have been able to handle even half of China's automobile exports after China joined the WTO."

After Mr. Chen finished speaking, he walked off the stage and brushed past Mr. Fan, who was waiting in the backstage area.

The two looked at each other, their eyes bloodshot, but they couldn't suppress the smiles on their lips.

General Manager Fan walked onto the stage and opened the report.

However, General Manager Fan did not use a projector. Instead, he held up a few pages of paper and said to the audience, "In the year since China joined the WTO, the number of export customs declarations from foreign trade companies has doubled compared to the total number of the previous three years. Our annual import and export volume has exceeded 10 billion US dollars, and we have established branches and offices in more than 40 countries and regions around the world."

A round of applause erupted from the audience.

After the applause subsided, General Manager Fan closed the report and said, “Let me tell you a detail. We have a young woman in our customs declaration department, surnamed Lin, who was just hired before China’s WTO accession. In the past six months since WTO accession, she has made countless trips to customs. Once she told me, ‘General Manager Sun, the soles of my shoes are almost worn out.’ I said, ‘I’ll buy you new ones, you keep going.’ And she really kept going, and so far she has worn out two pairs of shoes, but she hasn’t made a single mistake.”

"Clap clap clap..." Applause rang out again from the audience.

President Fan waved his hand, "Don't applaud me, give the applause to those who wore out their shoes."

Then, General Manager Fan put the report back on the table and said, "Back then, General Manager Su told us that foreign trade with foreign countries is the dual driving force of the Tianchao Group, and it can never stop. Domestically, it is the lifeblood of the group, and internationally, it is China's window. In the year since China joined the WTO, I have finally understood... We are not doing foreign trade; we are paving the way for Made in China. Behind every customs declaration is a Chinese factory, and behind every shipment are the livelihoods of thousands of Chinese workers."

After Mr. Fan stepped down from the stage, he sat down next to Mr. Chen.

Mr. Chen turned his head and whispered, "You wore out two pairs of shoes. Your young lady is really dedicated."

Mr. Fan said, "Don't your loading and unloading workers also work in three shifts?"

"Fortunately, President Su had the foresight! The group has trained a large number of talents, both crew members and dockworkers are plentiful."

"Yes! Our CEO Su has always been farsighted."

Soon, both of them fell silent, staring at the stage.

At this moment, the person who made the initial decision to invest heavily in building their own shipping system and foreign trade team is sitting at the head of the conference table, calmly turning to the next page of the report.

Su Ning's face showed no particular expression; there was neither smugness nor excitement.

After finishing reviewing the reports, he looked up at everyone and said, "We cannot be complacent because of our current achievements. China's accession to the WTO is just a new beginning, not the end. I hope all my colleagues can continue to work hard and strive for excellence."

"understand!"

"Next, China's economy will take off, and Mingju Real Estate needs to accelerate its real estate development; Huayu Film and Television should continue to promote Chinese culture; Kunyu Shipping and Siyi Foreign Trade need no further explanation; Tianchao Automobile and Tianchao Electronics cannot only focus on the domestic market, but must increase their efforts to explore the international market; and Dongquchunlai Hotel should expand into the international market..."

"Yes, Mr. Su."

...(End of this chapter)