Chapter 98
Gun-Ho started his day early morning with Professor Wang, heading to Shanghai .
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Gun-Ho wanted to rent a car and drive all the way to Shanghai, but Professor Wang talked him out of it and suggested to take an express bus to Shanghai and then take a taxi there to go to Kunshan City .
"Renting a car is too expensive . Let's take an express bus instead, even though it could be a bit uncomfortable . "
When they arrived in Shanghai, they took a taxi heading to their final destination, Kunshan City . The taxi was driving on the G2 Jinghu Expressway and they talked about the joint venture .
"Professor Wang, you said you would participate in the joint venture, right?"
"I did, but I am not so sure yet . It might be difficult for me to participate . "
Professor Wang sighed .
"What's wrong?"
"I still do want to participate . I intended to take 5% of the share, so Jinxi Construction Company of Kunshan City would take 50%, and a Korean company would take 45% . That was the initial plan . "
"Hmm . "
"In fact, China usually doesn't divide the share 50:50 when they set up an international joint venture with another country because of the management right . We usually do 51:49 . I supposed it's not just China, but other countries are doing the same thing . "
"Are they trying to prevent any possible intervention in managing the joint venture from the foreign co-venturer?"
"That's right . "
"What is the 5% share about?"
"That was something my friends and I wanted to do for Seukang Li . We wanted to have some shares in the joint venture with the funds we all would contribute and once we make money from it, we would help and support Seukang Li . "
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"What kind of help or support does Seukang Li need?"
"Seukang Li is a smart and promising man with a bright future . He is an upright person who couldn't easily be corrupted like many other politicians . His grandfather was in the Eighth Route Army and he also participated in the war, and his father used to work as a Hyunjang (corresponding to a county governor in Korea) . He is a righteous and respected man . "
"What does it have to do with supporting him?"
"We want him to stay as he currently is . While he is working as a high-ranking official, he could encounter a lot of temptation because of money . So, my friends and I wanted to make money by participating in the joint venture and support Seukang Li with the money we would make from it . So he doesn't have to take bribes and stay as a righteous politician as he is now . We are hoping that he grows in the government and becomes a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China in the future . He will be our pride and his family's pride, and our town's pride . "
"Hmm . "
"We have this good intention, but we don't have money . The joint venture will start with 3,000,000 U . S . dollars capital . 5% of 3 million dollars is 150,000 dollars . We have been trying to collect the money but it's not easy to reach that amount . "
"Hmm . "
"Seukang Li has no idea about our plan . He will get upset if he finds it out . He is stricter than he looks . He was the leader of the Communist Youth League of China . He is a man of great self-respect . He grew up in a highly respected family and graduated from Beijing University . Even so, he started his career from working in a factory . "
"Hmm . "
"150,000 dollars is a substantial amount of money in China . Even Alibaba President Marwin—one of the richest men in the world gave an impassioned speech to attract investors because he didn't have 500,000 Yuan . "
"So, are you giving up on participating in the joint venture?"
"I think I have to . I am sure that the industrial park will be profitable with even only 50 foreign business entities moving into the industrial park . But it's not easy to make it happen . "
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"It's easier said than done . It will be truly hard to attract 50 foreign companies . Even in Korea, people say it's hard to succeed in having a business in China . "
"We are aware of it . However, the location of this industrial park is really good . The Kunshan City is situated between two major cities: Shanghai and Suzhou . In addition, The City of Kunshan will offer excellent benefits to the foreign companies such as low corporate tax . "
"Hmm . "
"I believe they will do a presentation in Korea and Japan to attract foreign investors by introducing and explaining the project . However, in my opinion, the foreign companies that are already in China will be very interested . They might be currently facing some difficulties in running their business in China like a ridiculously expensive rent or unreasonable product transportation . So those foreign companies will move their location to Kunshan City . "
"Hmm . "
"You will see . If the new coming foreign companies are 30% of the entire foreign entities that would move into the industrial park, the remaining 70% will be the ones that were already running a business in China . We are almost there . "
When Gun-Ho and Professor Wang entered the Business Hotel lobby, Deputy Mayor Li who was sitting in a chair stood up .
"Hey! Gun-Ho Goo!"
"Hey, Seukang Li . How have you been?"
They greeted each other with a handshake .
"Oh, let me introduce him . This is the president of Jinxi Construction Company of Kunshan City . "
The president of the construction company was an overweight man who was wearing glasses . He looked like in his early 50s .
"I'm Gun-Ho Goo . "
"I'm Chinkkweo Seon . "
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Professor Wang also had a handshake with the man and exchanged their business cards .
"Gun-Ho! President Seon will show you the Jinxi Industrial Park today . I have an important meeting that I have to attend . After you go see the industrial park, join me for dinner, okay? The dinner tonight will be treated by the City of Kunshan as an official dinner for our guest . "
President Seon brought his car . A chauffeur was driving the car . They said it was Buick Excelle; it didn't look very luxurious though .
In Kunshan City, there were many small canals . President Seon explained about it .
"In the past, these canals were used for transportation . This area has a lot of lakes and historic sites . Jinxi Town in Kunshan City where we are heading to is a small town about 90㎢ . It's very close to Shanghai City and Suzhou City . Therefore, companies sitting on the Jinxi Industrial Park would save logistics costs . Moreover, its excellent location would allow them to have easy access to the rich labor market . "
They arrived at the industrial park . It was almost a vacant land . Red flags were placed here and there on the land and heavy equipment was scooping up soils .
President Seon had the chauffeur stop the car in front of a standing signboard . Once they got off the car, Gun-Ho could see two workers who were wearing yellow construction hats . They were standing in front of the standing signboard with a long stick . The standing signboard turned out to be the bird's eye view of the construction site .
Once President Seon asked the workers to give a briefing, one of the workers started explaining about the construction while pointing things on the standing signboard with his stick .
"Our Jinxi Industrial Park has a size of 695,000 ㎡ . We are expecting to complete the 3-Flow work by April, 20xx . The total construction cost would be…"
The aerial view of the industrial park looked like a shrimp with a bent back . President Seon took the stick from the worker who was giving a briefing and added more details to their briefing .
"A sewage treatment plant will be built in this part, where wastewater would be disposed of . A management office will be placed in this middle part . "
In Gun-Ho's eyes, it would take forever to complete the sewage treatment plant and the road paving .
"The road and the sewage treatment plant will have to be completed before bringing business entities . "
As Gun-Ho said this, President Seon of Jinxi Construction Company gave a forced smile .
There was still a lot of time left until the dinnertime that Seukang Li reserved for Gun-Ho . As Gun-Ho looked at his watch on purpose, Professor Wang suggested visiting some tourist places .
"Sure . "
President Seon who heard Professor Wang's suggestion volunteered to show them around .
President Seon took them to a water town called Zhouzhuang where Gun-Ho could see ancient canal side residential houses . It was very exotic .
"Whoa, it's beautiful!"
Gun-Ho was impressed by the scenic view . The canal water didn't look so clean but the town seemed to show an ancient Chinese town .
"This is really awesome!"
As Gun-Ho seemed to be very excited, President Seon felt good and asked Gun-Ho .
"Is there a town like this in Korea?"
"We don't really have canals like this in Korea, but we do have many places with beautiful nature and scenic view . "
"I know Korea is a highly developed country . I really like to visit the country someday . "
Professor Wang said to President Seon while giving him a gentle nudge in the ribs .
"If the joint venture works out well, President Goo will invite you to Korea and show you around . "