Chapter 799: 794. Shocking Influence (Please Subscribe and Vote for Monthly Tickets)

"Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Zhang. We will consider it seriously." The President wore a smile on his face; no one could tell if he was being sincere or not.

However, it was clear that since he had listened so intently just now, it was impossible for him not to have some thoughts deep down.

In fact, there was one point the President did not mention: the points Zhang Ran raised overlapped to a certain extent with what they had discussed in their meetings, which made them lean even more in that direction.

Zhang Ran smiled and said, "These are just some humble opinions. I hope they can provide a little bit of help to your country."

Next came the discussion of some investment matters; these issues were discussed alongside the development of the industry.

This meeting lasted for nearly six hours in total, starting at ten in the morning, with a meal at noon, continuing in the afternoon, and only ending when it was almost night.

By the time the meeting concluded, Zhang Ran had finalized approximately 600 million US dollars in intended investments.

Note that these were only intended investments; wanting to truly finalize them was certainly not that simple.

The people here likely wanted to use this opportunity to truly finalize things, and perhaps this meeting itself was intentional.

But Zhang Ran was no fool; he certainly would not finalize them at this moment, because if he did, his private negotiations with them later would not be easy to conduct.

An intended investment, to put it bluntly, is just an expression of intent to invest, not a commitment to do so. Once things cannot be agreed upon later, Zhang Ran can back out at any time.

Moreover, Zhang Ran also left behind a lure: if South Africa wanted to develop its manufacturing industry in the future, he could act as a liaison within Huaxia to have a batch of domestic manufacturing enterprises open branches here, driving the development of this place.

The number of jobs that could be provided then would be extraordinary.

If this were to truly succeed, it would be a great thing for South Africa.

This matter made it into the newspapers the very next day, sparking discussions among many people in South Africa.

To say nothing else, just the number of jobs Zhang Ran mentioned—if it really went according to what Zhang Ran said, it would be at least 100,000 jobs.

This almost drove many South Africans crazy. South Africa currently lacked jobs, and many people were in a state of having nothing to do.

This was 100,000 jobs!

No matter which country it was placed in, it would not be underestimated; to say nothing else, even if it were in Huaxia, it would receive immense attention.

Therefore, the next day, many people left comments on the official website, saying they hoped the government could reach a cooperation with Zhang Ran.

This matter was slowly brewing.

Last night, after the meeting ended, Zhang Ran did not rush to conduct other negotiations with the people here in South Africa, but instead returned to the hotel.

His goal was to see if such news could ferment; once it successfully attracted the attention and importance of the public, it would be of immense benefit to him.

The development of events also exceeded his expectations. Zhang Ran had not expected it to go so smoothly; in just one morning, it had become a hot topic of discussion.

At the same time, Zhang Ran also had people help spread the word that Zhang Ran's interest in such investments and intentions was very strong, but the final result still depended on the South African government.

In this way, the pressure was all on their side; if the cooperation did not succeed in the end, then it could not be blamed on Zhang Ran.

By the afternoon of the third day, a piece of news that surprised Zhang Ran was passed on. When he heard this news, Zhang Ran was stunned.

It turned out that on the evening of the second day, the China News Channel had broadcast everything Zhang Ran said, taking up a full three minutes—a level of treatment that no one else had.

It could be said that doing this raised Zhang Ran's reputation in the country by another notch.

This was not the key point; the key was that someone had actually united with some manufacturing bosses to publicly voice their support for Zhang Ran.

That is to say, once Zhang Ran reached a cooperation with South Africa, they would choose to open branches in South Africa.

When this news reached South Africa, it immediately caused an uproar once again!

If it could be said that before it was just Zhang Ran's own guarantee, which no one could truly be sure of, then now there was no need to doubt it.

The reason Zhang Ran made such a promise earlier was also because he had confidence.

First, this place was indeed suitable for developing manufacturing; various resources were abundant, and labor was relatively cheap.

Second, with his current status and position, uniting some large companies was no problem at all; as long as there were profits, he could persuade them.

Third, and most importantly, Zhang Ran had the confidence to protect their safety on this land.

But Zhang Ran did not expect so many people to support him. Although Zhang Ran also knew that these people had seen the huge profits contained within and only then made such a choice.

But without a doubt, Zhang Ran was still somewhat excited and grateful in his heart.

This also highlighted Zhang Ran's status; just a single slogan, and so many people responded.

At the same time, this was also the result of the goodwill Zhang Ran had cultivated over the years; otherwise, even if Zhang Ran were the Richest Person in China, or even the richest person in the world, not so many people would choose to strongly support Zhang Ran at this time.

This also left many people shocked by Zhang Ran's influence, and at the same time, they raised their rating of Zhang Ran once again; such a person could truly change many things.

And some people were incomparably proud in their hearts, such as Sicheng and his sister!

This was their father; having such influence was, of course, something they could be proud of.

By the same token, the other industries of the Zhang Family were the same; many employees within the industries also felt an inexplicable sense of pride when they learned of this news.

This person was their Big Boss; as employees, they also felt proud to have such a Big Boss.

Because of this matter, the stock prices of several companies under Zhang Ran even saw a not-insignificant increase.

In this way, the wind direction had completely shifted.

It was not just a matter of Zhang Ran's negotiations with the South African government; even some other people began to ponder secretly.

Don't look at the fact that Zhang Ran's main purpose for coming this time was for the South Africa Development Bank, mainly to play a battle of wits with those shareholders, but in reality, the South African government would also play a big role.

After all, the South Africa Development Bank was located in South Africa and still fell under their jurisdiction, and the South African government also held a certain amount of shares, just very few.

Once the South African government chose to support Zhang Ran, it could decide many things.

Even if nothing else was said, just the investments here in the future would all need to rely on South Africa.

Zhang Ran also began to return calls to those people; after all, since they had supported him so much, he needed to show his appreciation.