To survive in the investment arena, a keen sense of smell, swift action, and accurate judgment are all indispensable. Good investment projects can be snatched up by others the day before the signing.

Not to mention projects like Kechuang Bio, which have high certainty and a bright future. After reading the Phase I clinical trial report of endorphins, investors had only one thought in their minds: I want to get my hands on this project.

Cheng Gang said helplessly, "You should know that Chairman Zheng is a person who is dedicated to research. After the Phase I clinical trial report came out, President Lei came to Suzhou for inspection and proposed to have dinner with Chairman Zheng."

"They ate in our company cafeteria, and after eating, they chatted for less than 20 minutes before ending the conversation. Chairman Zheng then went back to work in the lab."

"Chairman Zheng spends more than fourteen hours a day in the lab and has no time to go out for meals."

"The boss is even more hardworking than his employees; I'm ashamed to admit I can't compare. The first thing Mr. Lei said to me after having dinner with Chairman Zheng was: 'If someone like this doesn't succeed, who can?'"

"The second sentence is: The scariest thing is that someone more talented than you works even harder than you."

Stephanie remarked, "You have to trust Goldman Sachs' research capabilities. All of this is written in our research report. We wanted to invest in Kechuang Bio not just because of its endorphins."

"More importantly, I want to invest in Zheng Li. He is a top-notch scientific genius with unparalleled hard work. In addition, he is still so young. Zheng Li can support the development of Kechuang Bio for at least the next thirty years."

“I would be very willing to come to your company for a meal and have a chat with Chairman Zheng.”

Cheng Gang replied, "I'm sorry, the first person to call was Young from IDG. Chairman Zheng really doesn't want to see anyone."

Young Guo of IDG holds an undergraduate degree in Applied Chemistry from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a PhD in Polymer Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts State University. He was the first outside investor to recognize the value of Zhengli.

When Kechuang Bio was first established, Young expressed his desire to participate in the first round of venture capital, but at that time neither Zheng Li nor Lei Jun had any intention of increasing capital or expanding shares.

"However, we will hold a sharing session later, where we will announce new research findings and discuss the details of the second round of investment."

"The sharing session should be in the next day or two."

......

On a sunny afternoon in Suzhou in June, numerous investors gathered in the open conference room of Kechuang Biotechnology. Kechuang Biotechnology only sent invitations to top domestic investment institutions.

Before the sharing session even began, the investors were already exchanging words.

"Hongbo, when did CMB International start investing in biopharmaceutical companies?"

"Isn't the investment philosophy of Kechuang Biotech incompatible with that of CMB International?" Young from IDG Capital said casually to Wang Hongbo of CMB International.

Besides foreign capital firms like IDG Capital, Sequoia Capital, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, venture capital firms active in China also include venture capital departments established by top domestic banks such as the Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, and China Merchants Bank.

These banks generally established their own venture capital departments around 2011.

Wang Hongbo chuckled and said, "That's not how it works. CMB once led the investment in Kangtai Biological Products and helped it successfully list on the ChiNext board. We have always been committed to investing in outstanding innovative companies in China and growing together with them."

Young thought to himself, "Everyone knows who's who, so why pretend?" He continued, "I bet the only biopharmaceutical company that CMB International has invested in over the years is Kangtai Biological Products, right?"

"The last time we invested in Kangtai Biological Products was in 2015, and then Kangtai Biological Products went public on the ChiNext board in 2017. We are probably both very clear about the specific purpose of CMB International's investment in Kangtai Biological Products."

"Science and Technology Innovation Biotechnology won't go public so quickly. Can CMB International afford to wait?"

Wang Hongbo chuckled and said, "You don't need to worry about that. Starting this year, we plan to get deeply involved in venture capital in the biopharmaceutical industry. We are very optimistic about companies related to the localization of biopharmaceutical products."

Fun fact: CMB International invested in Kangtai Biological Products in 2015, but never invested in the biopharmaceutical industry again. However, in 2020 and 2021, it invested in five biopharmaceutical companies in one go.

The reason is simple: after the trade war in 2018, the country put forward the requirement for domestic replacement of foreign equipment in the back-end of financial institutions, which is the so-called "de-IOE" and proposed that domestic equipment should account for at least 70% of the back-end equipment of financial institutions.

Following the same logic, the biopharmaceutical industry also needs to achieve the top-level will to replace imports with domestic products, hence the rise of pharmaceutical stocks and pharmaceutical-related venture capital.

Young: "CMB Capital can only help Sci-Tech Biotech with capital operations, but IDG Capital can help Sci-Tech Biotech in all aspects. Our investment experience in the biopharmaceutical industry is unmatched by CMB International."

Prior to 2020, IDG Capital had significantly more investment experience in the biopharmaceutical industry than CMB International, having started investing in biopharmaceutical companies as early as 1996.

Among them, the hottest speculative stock recently, Jiuan Medical, had its Series A funding led by IDG Capital in 2007.

Also, don't think that the investment industry is anything high-class. When a truly good project comes along, they will use any means necessary, no matter how unscrupulous, as long as it works.

Wang Hongbo: "If we're only looking at industry investment experience, then I don't think Kechuang Bio needs to send invitations to venture capital firms from banks."

"Why not just send it directly to Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and IDG?"

"Old Guo, relax. Your competitors are not me, but Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. My competitors are companies like BOCOM International, CCB International, GF Capital, and CICC."

“High-quality companies like Kechuang Bio will definitely not rely entirely on foreign capital.”

Young Guo replied, "I was just curious. Logically speaking, CMB International wouldn't invest in companies of this nature."

“What you say makes sense, but according to my sources, the final decision rests with Chairman Zheng, and he has not met with any representatives from any investment institutions.”

"Now everyone is on the same starting line."

"When I saw Chairman Zheng's resume, I was amazed. There really are geniuses in this world. In the second round of venture capital, we valued Kechuang Bio at least ten times, to 5 billion RMB."

"Chairman Zheng is only eighteen years old and his net worth has already exceeded four billion RMB. When I was eighteen, I was still getting IVF treatments at Shanghai Ocean University."

Wang Hongbo: "People are different. Our understanding of Zheng Li is still limited to him being a top-notch scientific research talent."

"But I think he is not only exceptionally talented in scientific research, but also has remarkable decisiveness and judgment. After publishing in Nature, he immediately chose to suspend his studies to start his own business, and he secured 50 million yuan in venture capital after only meeting with Lei Jun once."

"Every step we took after securing venture capital was perfectly timed."

"It makes me realize that the world will ultimately belong to the young."