"You're a young one, but you have big ambitions," the boss of the department store said, a playful tone in his voice. "You want us to sell TVs for you, and then build a building to compete with us."
Li Yong said nothing. The department store owner beside him added a few more lighthearted remarks. Although his words seemed critical, Chen Yang detected no genuine displeasure in his joking tone.
This was understandable. Most people in the capital bought goods from department stores and supply and marketing cooperatives. It was natural that they didn't take his appliance store seriously. Chen Yang could relate, recalling how he would have dismissed a twenty-something who claimed they would open a company opposite his own and drive him out of business, especially when his own company had gone public.
However, Chen Yang didn't mind the leader's dismissive attitude at all. He was more than happy to have the department store help sell his products. Even if he built his appliance store in the Dongfeng Market area, it would only affect the immediate surroundings. Beijing was a vast city. No matter how it compared, his appliance store couldn't possibly compete with department stores and supply and marketing cooperatives. They had so many stores and shops that could reach an immeasurable customer base, far beyond his capabilities.
"Director Lou, my factory currently produces televisions. In the future, we might also produce refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and so on," Chen Yang explained. "Electric fans, radios – once we have the capital, we'll likely produce these too. Without our own building, we won't have space for these items. And if there are quality issues, we won't have our own stores to set up repair departments."
"Though I am young, I understand the importance of credibility when doing business. Only by ensuring quality and providing good after-sales service can a brand be considered legitimate." Chen Yang knew that no large enterprise could thrive long-term through deception. To maintain customer trust, one ultimately had to rely on superior product quality and robust service guarantees.
"The young man speaks well. The state wants us to reform, to allow people to do business. At first, I thought it might not be a good idea. But after hearing you, I think it may not be a bad thing after all."
"For a young man like you to achieve such great things, to earn foreign exchange and even purchase equipment from foreigners, to build a factory employing thousands – it's truly remarkable. If there were more people like you across the country, how many unemployed people could find work? I can't even imagine."
"Perhaps this is what the leaders truly intend. With so many educated youths returning from the countryside, and so many idle people waiting for employment in society..."
"The Great Northern Wilderness has been reclaimed. We can't send these people to plant trees in some Gobi Desert. We need to develop the economy, truly unleash productive forces, so our output can keep pace with consumption."
Director Wang of the supply and marketing cooperative seemed to have his own ideas about economic reform. He spoke articulately, and Chen Yang did not interrupt. Despite these pronouncements, how to reform and develop remained theoretical. Only through practice and trial and error could the nation's economic system be gradually refined and perfected. Not everyone possessed the advantageous prerequisite of rebirth like Chen Yang, allowing them to foresee risks. This inevitably meant that many would prosper, while others would lose everything. Some would conduct business with integrity, while others would cheat and deceive, passing off inferior goods as quality products. The saying that a large forest contains all sorts of birds was true, and in a country as vast as China, the emergence of unscrupulous merchants lacking moral boundaries was entirely normal.
However, their existence did not mean they should go unpunished. The law would eventually constrain everyone. Yet, all systems require improvement and reform. For the economy, the refinement and reform of its systems were a pressing necessity.
"Our large population is our natural advantage. Compared to developed Western countries, their labor costs are very high. Our workers are diligent and dedicated. With the same skills and technology, our workers' wages are several times lower than those in developed countries."
"This is our demographic advantage, and it will be a crucial pillar for our country in catching up with other developed nations. In the future, factories will spring up all over the country, and our products will be sold worldwide. People will live and work in peace and contentment."
"However, economic development is one aspect. The environmental pollution and land occupation that come with economic development cannot be ignored either."
"There are gains and losses. When we gain something, we must pay a price. Therefore, I only hope that as our factories help people make money, they will also pay some attention to pollution issues. This will have far-reaching consequences in the future."
"We cannot leave our grandchildren a polluted wasteland with heavy metal contamination, when we inherited clear waters and green mountains from our grandfathers."
Chen Yang knew that from the present day to the 21st century, China was starting from a position hundreds of years behind others. It wasn't that people didn't love their homeland. It was primarily a lack of awareness and experience in these matters. Everyone dug coal, but no one thought that decades later, when the coal ran out, they would be left with massive pits thousands of meters deep. Or that industrial chemicals discharged into rivers would kill fish and shrimp in swarms, leading to the extinction of previously abundant species like fish and crayfish. This was a microcosm of the era's development. Therefore, Chen Yang did his best to remind Li Yong, who had a direct line to decision-makers. While development was important, he urged them to consider environmental protection as much as possible.
"Population advantage, environmental pollution…" Li Yong mulled over Chen Yang's words. Chen Yang hadn't fully elaborated; these were lessons learned from decades of experience.
"Yangzi, where do we leverage our population advantage? Surely foreigners won't actually bring our people to work abroad?" China's rapid development in the decades since reform and opening up was due in part to policy, but primarily to its demographic dividend. It was the world's factory, with "Made in China" everywhere, not as a joke. If not for the low wages of Chinese workers, foreign capitalists, being shrewd businessmen focused on profit, wouldn't have built their factories in China.
"Uncle Li, they certainly won't invite our people to work abroad. But they can move their factories here. Then they sell the products back to us. That's how they make money."
"Using our raw materials, employing our workers, and then making a profit before leaving at their leisure." Chen Yang was unaware that the motivations behind multinational corporations' investments in China, beyond profit, were non-existent.