Chapter 539 Visiting Europe (4)
The French newspapers on January 25, 1928 called the Sino-French economic cooperation agreement the "Dumeg Agreement". He Rui slept for a while and felt that his physical and energy had recovered well. Looking at the roof of the magnificent hotel room, He Rui tried to recall how long it had been since he made this plan.
After all, I still couldn't think of it. After all, I was a teenager at that time. And He Rui was also unfamiliar with this era. In order to understand the characteristics of this era, He Rui spent a year or two. Even in the process of making plans, the plan would change with the addition of new views.
The only clear status is that China has obtained geopolitical security on the northern border through the European War and the Russian Civil War, and achieved overall geopolitical security through the Sino-Japanese War. It has reached a return to the international community through the Sino-British War. China-France cooperation is a means to promote China's modernization at this stage.
Thinking of this, He Rui turned over and got out of bed, packed up and went straight to the conference room. In the conference room, the ministers did not leave, but they just looked easier than in the morning. When He Rui came in, Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang gave He Rui the latest newspaper, "Chairman, it seems that there is something going on in the UK."
He Rui took it and looked at it. The latest article of the British Times accused the British government, ‘...Didn’t the Baldwin government notice that China has a demand for borrowing? Is the British Empire so poor that it cannot afford 200 million pounds of interest-free loans? The financial turmoil caused by economic cooperation between China and France is forming a wave that threatens world financial stability. If ignored, it may turn into a flood that swept the world’s financial industry!’
Has it started? He Rui became in a very good mood.
Li Chenggang asked tentatively: "Chairman, is this the counterattack of the British financial industry that was predicted before?"
He Rui nodded, "There is no question of counterattack. The British financial industry is actually very clear that Sino-French cooperation will not be stopped. All Britain tries to hedge against this matter."
Before joining the Northeast government, Li Chenggang worked in a foreign company in Tianjin, and was not very surprised by the British actions. He introduced the changes in French newspapers to He Rui, "French people were not interested in the Sino-French economic cooperation agreement at first. It was not until the franc began to appreciate and the French stock market rose for two consecutive days that a large number of newspapers began to analyze the impact of Sino-French cooperation or reproduced the analysis of other newspapers. In general, the evaluation was relatively positive."...
He Rui looked at the ministers' full of energy and knew that everyone could not hold it in. After all, France has seen quite a positive impact through financial speculation. France has made so much money, but China has not yet made any profits, so everyone wants to do something immediately.
"Minister Zhuang, is the Ministry of Industry ready to purchase large-scale ammonia synthesis technology in France?" He Rui began to click.
Zhuang Jiaxiong immediately took out the documents. It was a complete set of tables. "France has obtained the production technology of synthetic ammonia from Germany and built a factory in France. However, according to information, the most advanced technology is the Netherlands. It is really surprising."
He Rui immediately replied: "You don't need to introduce technology from the Netherlands, just introduce it from France. We make it clear to France that we must cooperate with France to develop larger-scale synthetic ammonia production."
"What's the reason?" Zhuang Jiaxiong asked immediately.
He Rui could understand Zhuang Jiaxiong's idea. If he cooperated with France to develop, he would inevitably have to pay more. Everyone was afraid of being poor, and calculating carefully almost became an instinct. He Rui directly ordered, "Tell France, how much arable land does China have. In order to meet the demand for so much arable land, the production efficiency of synthetic ammonia must be improved."
"Will the French take the plane to do something?" Zhuang Jiaxiong tried to find the bottom line.
"That depends on the level of communication between you and France. If the French can truly understand one thing, the money the French earns comes from the grain that increases the annual output of every acre of land in China. What we want to do is not a stock game, but an incremental game. Then the French will definitely understand how urgent and legitimate our needs are."
Ministers did not expect that He Rui was so generous, and he felt more or less uneasy. Let foreign countries understand the reality of China, and they always feel that there is some danger.
He Rui guessed that the comrades thought, "The danger does not come from France understanding China through our needs. The danger comes from France not knowing our real needs. The French’s current goal is to maximize the success of cooperation, which is the greatest interest of France at this stage. If China’s modernization process is frustrated, what are the next cooperation projects? Minister Yan, let me tell you."
Yan Huiqing didn't expect that He Rui suddenly called him, but Yan Huiqing participated in the negotiations and immediately replied: "After the investment money is in place, we will establish the Sino-French United Bank to operate the 25% of the franc cash operation that the French loaned me. The company established by using interest-free loans will be listed on the Paris stock market."
He Rui explained: "If our newly built companies are listed on the Paris stock market, the funds entering the Paris stock market will have more investment goals. This will allow the French financial market to absorb more funds. With more funds, the francs will be more stable, and the French economic confidence will be higher. France's financial status will be more stable. However, speculative funds can have an impact on the francs, and real economic development will make the French economy develop better. Judging from the level shown by the French government so far, they will not pick up sesame seeds and lose watermelons for the time being."
When Zhuang Jiaxiong heard this, he nodded silently. He Rui continued: "Explain it clearly to the French side."
He Rui believed that France would probably respond the next day. Unexpectedly, in the evening, Ma Baifu brought several experts to ask for a meeting. As soon as he saw He Rui, Ma Baifu immediately said: "Mr. Chairman, we highly appreciate China's view on incremental economy. Regarding the issue that the Netherlands' synthetic ammonia technology exceeds France, we immediately asked the experts. Please explain it to you."
French experts immediately made an analysis, "The Dutch oil industry is developing better than France. The oil industry has high requirements for pipeline technology, and synthetic ammonia production is also an industry with high requirements for pipelines. Therefore, the technical advantages that the Netherlands has gained in the oil industry are just applied to synthetic ammonia technology. Please rest assured that our French industrial department is capable of solving this problem in a short period of time."
These specific issues will naturally be the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry, and He Rui will naturally not take on this matter. Instead, let the experts communicate with Zhuang Jiaxiong. Ma Baifu said to He Rui: "I have a few questions and would like to ask Mr. Chairman if I can find a quieter room."
France included a very high-end hotel as the residence of the Chinese delegation. There were many rooms. Ma Baifu and He Rui went to a reception room next to him and asked: "I admire China's incremental economy very much. When I was young, I worked in the British financial industry and heard similar theories. The Bank of France hopes to provide help in these aspects."
"Because of the different economic models, even if France adds additional funds, it will help China very limited. So I can only thank Bank of France for its kindness."
Ma Baifu initially wanted to offer more interest-free loans, but he didn't expect He Rui to refuse. Worrying that He Rui didn't understand, Ma Baifu explained: "Mr. Chairman, the Bank of France believes that China's loan amount from France can reach 50 billion francs. For the extra 30 billion, we can provide very preferential interest. Judging from the current level of Sino-France cooperation, the interest may reach 2%, or even lower."
He Rui felt that Ma Baifu had made the wrong direction and smiled and said, "Mr. Ma Baifu, we have received an interest-free loan of 20 billion francs. In order to support this part of the loan, we in China need to invest 40-60 billion to complete the supporting construction. 50 billion francs are already beyond the risk assessment for us."
Ma Baifu was stunned. In his experience of working, he had never met someone who could still refuse such low interest. For ordinary people, the more money, the better. Even if you can't use it now, you can earn interest rate spreads by re-lending it. Having seen so many people, Ma Baifu thought that his judgment of people would not be wrong. He Rui really had no interest in this money. Ma Baifu asked very interestedly: "Mr. Chairman, if there is not enough loan, how do you achieve the goal of creating incremental growth?"
"In the first stage, the direction of investment services is agriculture. Do you know how much agricultural population China has? What proportion of the output value of agriculture accounts for in China's total output value?" He Rui asked.
Ma Baifu immediately replied: "According to Chinese statistics, Chinese agricultural population accounts for China, probably Chinese farmers cannot afford synthetic ammonia fertilizers, and French farmers cannot afford them. So Ma Baifu understood the reason why He Rui was so concerned about reducing the average price of synthetic ammonia fertilizers. But after calculating the price of synthetic ammonia fertilizers, Ma Baifu still felt that Chinese farmers could not afford them.
Thinking that he was just a banker, Ma Baifu asked: "What kind of policies did the Chairman formulate?"
"The biggest investment of synthetic ammonia enterprises is in the construction stage, after which they only need to conduct regular inspections and replace parts. The cost of maintaining their operation every year is not high. So we plan to recycle the costs in 10-15 years."
"...If it's convenient for you, can you explain it more clearly?" Ma Baifu still couldn't think of what to do.
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"We will sign an agreement with farmers. In the first three years, we will provide free fertilizers and training on using fertilizers. However, we do not charge taxes for increased grain. However, farmers must sell 50% of them to the government at a low price according to the expected increase in production."
Ma Baifu quickly understood how the policies proposed by He Rui would work, and he also thought it was a good solution. But it still felt very difficult. In the end, Ma Baifu could only sigh: "Mr. Chairman, do you trust the management capabilities of the Chinese government so much?"
"Yes. I believe in the capabilities of the Chinese government." He Rui replied confidently: "But the power of the government has its limits after all, and the ability to undertake industry is naturally limited. With my personal expectations, China's rural grain output can reach 10% every year. With more than 400 million rural populations in China, the annual increase of 10% means that the consumption capacity of Chinese society increases by more than 10% every year. This is the source of China's economic growth."
Even though Ma Baifu has a sense of trust in He Rui, such a plan still makes Ma Baifu feel that it is too difficult. At least, the French government will definitely not be able to do it. After thinking for a while, Ma Baifu asked: "Mr. Chairman, what areas can the Bank of France provide?"
"In the early stages of economic development, speculation will have very bad effects. I look forward to Bank of France to help in the normal financial services and anti-speculation areas."
Ma Baifu just wanted to smile bitterly. Bank of France is very experienced in both the investment and speculation fields. Since he is proficient in speculation, he naturally knows anti-speculation. He just asked Bank of France to provide anti-speculation help, which made Ma Baifu full of helpless joy. After sorting out his mood, Ma Baifu replied: "We will definitely give it support."
After the conversation, Ma Baifu did not accept He Rui's invitation to have dinner together and hurriedly left with the technical experts.
On January 26, short-term speculators began selling francs after gaining profits, causing a slight decline in francs. However, at 10 a.m., the French government and the Bank of France announced that half of the 20 billion francs given to China, 10 billion francs had been allocated from the Bank of France to the French Ministry of Finance's account.
As soon as the news came out, the franc immediately stopped falling and began to appreciate. The first batch of speculators entering the market were either retail investors or speculative funds were small. They took profits and the total amount of funds was limited.
The news about the transfer of 10 billion francs into the Ministry of Finance's account means that 10 billion francs were drawn from the market, and fewer francs were circulated. The appreciation of the francs was originally because China-France cooperation injected confidence into the French economy, and the francs were optimistic. At this time, the francs on the market became fewer, and the sold francs were immediately hedged.
In French banks and diplomatic markets, the sell orders for francs sold immediately decreased greatly and the purchase orders increased. francs resisted this round of small sales and maintained the appreciation trend of the previous two days. The game about francs is beginning.
The loans for Sino-French cooperation are government-based interest-free loans. Bank of France's stocks began to trade sideways after three days of rising (price index terms, which means that they almost never rise or fall). Of this interest-free loan, 25% will be allocated to Chinese banks. 75% will be used to purchase French technology, equipment and hire experts.
At 3 pm on the 26th, the French Ministry of Finance deliberately staggered the time and announced at a press conference that the Chinese delegation signed an agreement with French Renault to purchase an engine production line and related technologies from Renault.
Chapter completed!