Chapter 129: Snatching Land

What is an achievement? It means that after doing it, you have to let the whole world know. If you talk but don't do it, that's called a good person doing good deeds. Maybe it will be mentioned more than ten years later, but that's no longer called an achievement!

The establishment of the Torch Group was overwhelmingly reported by Hanxi media, from TV stations to newspapers, magazines, and radio stations, all of which were widely publicized.

"Hanxi provincial leaders went to Pingyang today to inspect and guide the work. The Hanxi Provincial Government Office announced that Hanxi attaches great importance to the Torch Group project. The Torch Group lighter industrial park will become one of the ten key projects in Hanxi in 1995 next year."

"The Torch Group is a global largest lighter industrial park project invested and built by Dongling High-Tech and Hanxi State Investment under the guidance of the Economic and Trade Commission and coordinated by departments such as the Foreign Exchange Department!"

"The entire Torch Group industrial park, the first phase of the project, is expected to invest over 1 billion yuan. The industrial park will establish more than 300 supporting manufacturers for the full lighter industrial chain, and the daily output of lighters will exceed 4 million!"

"Torch Group General Manager Zhang Xiaocheng announced that the Torch Group will establish a Torch lighter laboratory, electrical laboratory, lighter environment laboratory, lighter safety laboratory, Torch lighter museum, etc. in the industrial park."

"In addition, in the next three years, the Torch Group will achieve an annual production of 1.5 billion lighters, achieve an annual output of 5 billion within ten years, and achieve an annual shipment of more than 10 billion within fifteen years. The export share will account for more than 60% of the total production. It is expected that in the future, the total number of newly added employment positions will exceed 60,000..."

Today, Hanxi people, whether they turn on the TV, buy newspapers, or listen to the radio, without exception, are all shocking news about the establishment of the Torch Group. The leaders from all walks of life in Hanxi Province almost collectively appeared in Pingyang today.

The daily flights from Yanjing to the provincial capital of Hanxi have been temporarily increased by more than a dozen, all filled with directors, department heads, experts, and technical personnel from various ministries and commissions in Yanjing who transferred to the provincial capital to go to Pingyang.

An investment of 1 billion yuan, producing 10 billion lighters annually in the future, and wanting to export to overseas, providing tens of thousands of jobs!

Such news, placed anywhere in the country, would explode public opinion, especially in this era when township enterprises and state-owned enterprises are becoming less and less efficient, and even many factories have begun to be closed, and many people have left state-owned enterprises to find their own way out. The appearance of Torch has ignited public opinion and focus.

The news of Torch's establishment was reprinted and reported by media from Hanxi to Yanjing, Shanghai, Yangcheng, and other places. In this era when the monthly salary is a few hundred yuan, a project with an investment of 1 billion can really be called a super project, which is more than the fiscal revenue of many cities in a year!

If it were just an investment from Hanxi, this project might not be so attractive, but when the name of Dongling High-Tech was heard, domestic media began to get excited.

Media of all sizes in the country began to report one after another. Countless media wanted to go to Pingyang for interviews through various means of transportation.

The discussion about this project was even louder. Everyone knows that the global lighter industry is dominated by Japan and Korea. A lighter produced in Japan has an export price of 4 US dollars. When it arrives in Yangcheng, the price exceeds 10 US dollars. When it arrives in inland cities like Hanxi, the price directly soars to over 38 US dollars, almost ten times!

Now the establishment of the Torch Group is obviously intended to challenge lighter giant companies in Japan, Korea, Europe, and America. It is such a big move from the beginning. If it were just an investment from Hanxi State Investment, not many people would be optimistic about this matter. Domestic companies are naturally weak when facing foreign companies, including a group of state-owned enterprises.

But when the name Dongling High-Tech appears, the view of many people on this project will change unconsciously. It sounds strange, but the fact is that Dongling High-Tech has not been established for long, but it has successfully erected a flag in the hearts of countless people in the country. Things produced by Dongling High-Tech are no worse than foreign goods!

From Microsoft to Siemens, then to Toshiba, Sharp, and Sanyo, Dongling High-Tech has been iron-headed all the way. But the big sales of Silver Mink mouse, electronic pet machine, and Shenzhou phone in the country and overseas, in an era when the status of domestic brands in the country is worrying, Dongling High-Tech has become that exception!

BYD, BOE, and these Dongling High-Tech concept stocks have already explained Dongling High-Tech's influence in the tech industry today. Now it is the turn of the Torch Group. Even if Hanxi media have plans to praise it, many people vaguely feel that the Torch Group seems to be able to tinker with something. No one can say the reason, but when the name Dongling High-Tech appears, it will make people have this feeling.

"The world's largest lighter production base?"

"Full lighter industrial chain?!"

"Do you really not need to draft when bragging now? It's really one dares to brag, and someone dares to believe it. This is clearly a gimmick scam, and there are so many media, or official media taking the lead in bragging. It's really shameless!"

In the Xinhai Lighter Production Company in Qianjiang Province, Huang Guangze, the manager of the market sales department, looked at the newspaper in his hand and said with a laugh, but his words also carried worry.

Peers are enemies. Domestic lighter companies are mainly concentrated in Qianjiang Province. Now the number is not small, but most of them are small companies, or in the form of family workshops. What they mainly do is substitute processing for lighter companies in Japan, Korea, America, and Europe.

The scale of this Xinhai Lighter Company where Huang Guangze is located is already not small, and it has begun to try to establish its own brand. This year, it also exported to Europe for the first time, but the first batch of 120,000 lighters exported to Europe were all returned due to safety problems. It is currently in a state of checking problems in a hurry.

The suddenly appearing Torch Group, as soon as it came up, claimed to establish a full lighter industrial chain, and it was self-proclaimed as the style of the first lighter giant in China, or even Asia. And in the future, it is very likely to be a strong opponent of Xinhai in the country. It would be strange if he could be happy.

"Guangze!"

Listening to Huang Guangze's complaints, Huang Xinhai, the general manager of Xinhai Lighter Company, scolded him, "Don't talk nonsense. This Dongling High-Tech is not simple!"

Putting down the newspaper, Huang Xinhai recalled, "When I went to Europe to inspect the market this year, I saw Dongling High-Tech's products and advertisements in big cities in Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, and other countries. Electronic pet machines and Shenzhou phones are hot-selling there. This is the first domestic brand company I have seen in Europe!"

When Huang Xinhai said this, even if the Torch Group became an opponent of Xinhai Lighter, his tone couldn't help but carry admiration and envy. Only companies that go to sea know how difficult this road is. How easy is it for Dongling High-Tech to reach this step today!

Hearing Huang Xinhai's words, Huang Guangze, who is Huang Xinhai's cousin, patted the table unconvinced, "A profession is like a mountain. No matter how powerful Dongling High-Tech is, no matter how much that Li Dongling is blown to the sky, does he know the current market of lighters?!"

"Torch starts production and wants to produce 1.5 billion lighters a year. How many lighters did the best-selling lighter brand 'Zippo' sell last year? Less than tens of millions of lighters. Can Torch sell better than Zippo? Does anyone buy the lighter brand it built itself? Where do the sales channels come from?"

"Our Xinhai lighters want to enter the Japanese market through Japanese 711 convenience stores. What conditions did they raise? The failure rate cannot exceed one in a million. It also requires safety and environmental performance. It must be evaluated by 711 convenience store's safety team before it can enter. We have been talking for a long time and there is no shadow yet. Can the Torch Group get in?! And I heard that in America, lighter companies like Zippo, in order to prevent our lighters from entering, are preparing to let the American Capitol Hill introduce a bill to prohibit our lighters from entering. Torch produces over billions of lighters a year, who is it selling to? Isn't this nonsense!"

Hearing Huang Guangze's words, Huang Xinhai also frowned, "Don't worry about other people's business, it's important to manage our own Xinhai business. Those 120,000 lighters must be dismantled and reinstalled, and the problem must be solved. Otherwise, those loans, our Xinhai will not be able to pay back!"

The batch of lighters produced by Xinhai is actually far more than 120,000. Those 120,000 lighters are just the first batch sold to European partners. Who knows that they were all returned directly? If this cannot be sold, then the hundreds of thousands of lighters produced later will also be wasted. If the payment cannot be recovered, Xinhai will basically have to close down.

After instructing Huang Guangze, Huang Xinhai said, "I am going to Pingyang myself to see what is going on with that Torch Group. Maybe... for Xinhai, it is also an opportunity!"

Huang Xinhai said the last sentence so lightly that it was almost inaudible. Just now in the newspaper, he saw the establishment of the Torch Group. Besides bragging, it was also written in the report behind that it welcomes lighter industrial chain companies to settle or relocate to Pingyang, and the Torch Group is willing to provide funds and support in other aspects.

Whether this is useful for Xinhai Lighter Company, Huang Xinhai is not clear, but he wants to go and see what Torch is like, and see if there is an opportunity for his company. Not only Huang Xinhai, but companies related to the lighter industry in the country have sent people to find out the truth. Even manufacturers in Japan and Korea, after hearing the news of Torch, sent people to find out the truth.

And for those in Pingyang, from last night, all the reception houses and inns in Pingyang began to be in a state of being full. First, license plates from the provincial capital of Hanxi and various places drove into Pingyang one after another, and then license plates from neighboring provinces, and finally even license plates from Yanjing, Yangcheng, and Yazhou appeared.

The destination of these vehicles is very consistent, and that is Shangguan Town. From last night, some local people in Pingyang who were well-informed and had intricate relationships with the Pingyang Municipal Government ran to Shangguan Town to collect factories, shops, fields, land, etc. After the arrival of foreign license plates, Shangguan Town's dilapidated 60-square-meter house price rose to 40,000 yuan!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 130 =====

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