Chapter 2104

In fact, Mitsui and Sumitomo have a division of labour: Mitsui has deep involvement in the iron ore and steel industries, while Sumitomo started from copper and also has its own nickel mines in South America.

In the global nickel mines, many that are currently mining and processing nickel are basically closely related to Mitsui and Sumitomo.

Because China is the world's largest consumer and demand centre, Mitsui's actual purpose in controlling overseas upstream resources is to gain upstream control over these Chinese-invested enterprises.

For example, Mitsui & Co. brought Nippon Steel into Baosteel, becoming its all-round partner, and itself established a steel logistics company with Baosteel—Bao Jing—thus penetrating every link of the steel industry chain.

Thus, Mitsui & Co. can easily grasp the business information of Chinese steel enterprises at all levels, providing accurate pricing basis for its controlled upstream iron ore resources (such as Brazil's Vale), thereby gaining a dominant position in price negotiations with Chinese buyers.

The most famous case is the CNOOC and PetroChina bid for Unocal, investing tens of billions, only to hit a wall in the end.

After hitting the wall, a company called Chevron bought Unocal; although it is also an American company, a closer look shows that Chevron has very strong close cooperation with Mitsui & Co. in Thailand and Australia, and in many places they have actually formed a community of interests.

Another case is Chalco's acquisition of Rio Tinto, conducted through a US investment bank, spending over 10 billion US dollars, but when the financial crisis came, the stock price plummeted, and coupled with the euro's plunge, Chalco's book losses reached 80%.

Later, Chalco tried to bottom-fish to balance its losses, but it was unsuccessful. Where did the problem lie? Chalco's website once had such a description: that is, during their second acquisition attempt, one or two days before the deal was to close, Mitsui & Co. and BHP Billiton were together attempting a joint acquisition of Rio Tinto.

That is to say: Mitsui came in at the right time to stir things up.

Furthermore, there is technological encirclement: in the Mitsui conglomerate's China strategy, technological advantage also plays an important role, and step by step it undermines opponents.

Take Lenovo as an example: during Lenovo's production of desktop computers, it did not open up too large a gap with other Chinese enterprises. When did it pull ahead of the competition?

It was in 1996, after cooperating with Toshiba of the Mitsui conglomerate, that is, after becoming the agent for Toshiba's notebook computers. From then on, Lenovo developed rapidly, and for four consecutive years, Toshiba notebook computers were the top sellers in China.

Thereafter, Lenovo began to want to produce its own brand of notebook computers, at which point it came into conflict with the Mitsui conglomerate, and thus the two parties split up.

After the split, Lenovo actually entrusted enterprises in Taiwan to do the processing and then apply its own label. But where did those raw materials from Taiwan come from?

Naturally, they all came from Japan; in the end, Lenovo quickly, through contracted processing and by building a nationwide network, seized the top position and pushed Toshiba aside.

At this time, Sony of the Mitsui conglomerate began to enter the Chinese market, specifically to compete for young consumers. At the same time, NEC and Fujitsu also arrived, and in this process, Japanese enterprises again began to vie for the commanding heights.

What is the commanding height? It is technology, that is, the so-called upstream. Resources are a kind of upstream, and technology is actually also an upstream.

How does Mitsui contend for this technology? Toshiba, Sony, NEC, etc., are actually all operating around IBM, spending several years in the United States, continuously acquiring IBM's technology.

By the time the acquisition was nearly complete, domestic ears picked up a very exhilarating piece of news: Lenovo had successfully acquired IBM. But very few people know that what Lenovo actually acquired was merely IBM's empty shell.

And Zhou Andong's choice to cooperate with the Mitsui conglomerate was actually to see if there was an opportunity to let the overseas trust bank (Japan branch) and Sakura Bank merge.

When the time came to acquire Vale and BHP Billiton, he hoped to stir up muddy waters, wishing that the little devils and Europeans and Americans, in the absence of monopolising upstream resources and encircling China, would open a gap, giving the nation a breathing space.

Of course, this was merely his impromptu layout, a casually thrown pawn, whether it could be used remains to be seen.

As for going into the field now to acquire, don't make a fuss—just based on your identity as a Chinese person, no matter how much money you offer, it will be useless.

Even if the company wants to sell, Europe and America will come out to obstruct, making it impossible for you to succeed in the acquisition.

That is why he initially had Qiu Qian register companies worldwide and employ whites as company executives, for the purpose of acquiring minerals globally, the most important of which are rare earths and iron ore.

And these companies are all under Dong Guo International; whether there has been progress, he really doesn't care, and when he has time he should ask Alice.

…………………………

At 3:10 p. m. the next day, an international flight that took off from Tokyo landed smoothly at Xiangjiang Airport.

When Zhou Andong stepped onto the soil of Xiangjiang, he truly felt a sense of homecoming, thinking that in 1997 he would definitely come in person to take a look.

"Boss, you've worked hard!"

Upon seeing Zhou Andong come out, Deputy General Manager Qiu Dongfang Cai Guohong quickly walked over.

Zhou Andong smiled and shook hands with him: "Has the hotel been arranged?"

"It has been arranged!" Cai Guohong led the way ahead: "The car is over there, follow me."

A group of people got into the car, and Cai Guohong asked: "Boss, are you staying in Xiangjiang for two days, or returning to the mainland tomorrow?"

Zhou Andong was thinking whether he should go visit Elder Huo, the old man who personally built a bridge and introduced him; as a junior, having come to Xiangjiang, not visiting him would really be inexcusable, and he truly wanted to see what the future husband of the diving queen looks like at this moment.

"I've booked the flight back to the mainland for the day after tomorrow; tomorrow I want to visit an elder."

Cai Guohong was quite surprised; he had not heard that the boss still had relatives in Xiangjiang, but curiosity aside, as a subordinate he must not indulge in idle gossip.

"Alright!" Cai Guohong responded.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Cai Guohong first brought Zhou Andong to the room, and then he went to the restaurant to arrange dinner.

Zhou Andong took a shower, then stood by the window, smoking, enjoying the view of Victoria Harbour.

At half past five, the room door was knocked, and Cai Guohong's voice came through.

"Boss, dinner has already been arranged, you may begin eating."

Zhou Andong left the room, and Wang Wentian and the others were already waiting, with Cai Guohong still leading the way ahead.

After finishing dinner, it was already nearly seven; returning to the room, Zhou Andong took out the business card Elder Huo gave him, picked up the phone, and dialled the number on the card, not knowing whether Elder Huo was at home at this time.