Chapter 141 The Great Hero: This Factory Director Qin is too brilliant!!!
The head of the textile trade group at the Canton Fair was astonished after numerous negotiations with foreign buyers: "This is the first time I've encountered such easy-going buyers! They want every single type! They want everything!"
"At first, we didn't dare to ask for a high price! But when we asked for a higher price, they actually agreed!"
"My God, this is a great bargaining experience."
All commodity orders and trade at the Canton Fair, including delivery negotiations, are under the supervision of the Canton Fair Trade Group. The Trade Group is also responsible for negotiating prices with foreign merchants. Feiyan Textile Factory is not allowed to directly communicate and negotiate prices with foreigners.
This is also because they are afraid that domestic factories do not understand global market prices. The prices of all textiles in China are fixed and set by the state. Neither factories nor customers have the right to bargain.
When doing business with foreign companies, it is necessary to test each other's bottom lines to reach a negotiation.
For this reason, many factory managers in China are now unwilling to do business with foreign merchants and also reject the Canton Fair, believing that it is dealing with "unscrupulous merchants" and that foreign merchants are all "speculators"!
Participating in the Canton Fair in order to earn foreign exchange for the country is called "sacrificing oneself by going into business".
This is a problem of general perception.
It is precisely because of these discriminations that not many factories are willing to directly participate in the Canton Fair to do foreign trade, and even fewer factories cooperate with the Canton Fair's trade group. Many factories just wait for foreign trade companies to acquire them, regardless of how much they sell, and they don't want to deal with foreign businessmen.
Factories like Feiyan Textile Factory, which cooperate with foreign trade and whose products are very popular with foreign merchants, are treated like goddesses by trade team leader Li Zhengxian and others.
"Director Qin, your printing work this time is truly outstanding!"
"If you hadn't told us, we would never have guessed that this print was made with substandard dyes. Your factory is full of skilled craftsmen!"
"Who designed this panda pattern? Several foreign businessmen have praised its beauty! Although the lines are simple, it is indeed very attractive!"
"Foreign businessmen are all praising this panda pattern! This panda print can be kept and printed on all sorts of things."
Qin Xiangxiang: "This was drawn by a four or five-year-old child."
While the cartoon designs created by masters of this era were extremely lifelike, they also had a significant drawback: as cartoon designs, they were not "cute" or "adorable" enough.
Huang Shuyun, a four- or five-year-old child, drew a panda that was round and soft, naturally exuding a kind of "cuteness". Even though his skill level was not high, it was extremely popular and adorable, and the strokes were simple.
These simple cartoon patterns are more suitable as prints on clothing than traditional master cartoon patterns.
"This batch of prints all came about unexpectedly. There was a problem with the dyes, and the province allocated a batch of stockpiled substandard dyes. Fortunately, other factories and dyeing workshops provided color dyes. Everyone brainstormed and came up with these new prints." Qin Xiangxiang said this, which was also a way of "passing the buck." At the same time, she emphasized "substandard dyes" because she was afraid that the prints would have problems.
At first, we used salted fish prints because salted fish are approachable and have nothing to do with the petit bourgeoisie. Now that we have more colorful prints, we're afraid that someone will find a reason to say that we're using so many colors for prints, that it's extravagant, or that we're trying to be petit bourgeois.
That's why it's emphasized that these are "substandard dyes," because they were all dyed with substandard dyes. This is called "turning waste into treasure."
If proper dyes were used, no one would dare to print with so many colors. In a sense, this can be called a lucky accident.
To use colorful prints, a plausible excuse must be found, such as that the print was "forced" to be made with substandard dyes, or that "the pattern was replicated from Mawangdui" to promote my country's world-class archaeological discovery...
The least likely to go wrong prints are those featuring agricultural tools like tractors, hoes, and sickles; these prints will be rewarded.
Trade team leader Li Zhengxian said, "This story is very touching."
"Director Qin, you have received so many foreign trade orders. We can apply for special foreign exchange approval for your factory. You can use the special foreign exchange to purchase imported raw materials, including dyes."
“We’ve calculated it for you. Even if all the consumables are imported, your factory can still make a very high profit from this round trip.”
Li Zhengxian made a perfectly valid but ultimately meaningless statement, because at that time, the average wage of domestic workers was only thirty yuan a month. The wages of textile and sewing female workers were slightly higher, but only fifty or sixty yuan a month. The labor cost was too low, and even if they only did garment manufacturing, they could make a lot of profit.
However, the concept of "garment OEM" was not allowed at that time. It was probably not until 1976, around 1977 or 1978, or even before the economy was opened up, that the Canton Fair, as a bridge between overseas and the mainland, joined forces with Hong Kong capital to open the first garment OEM factory in Guangdong Province, specializing in the OEM production of jeans and suit pants.
Garment OEM manufacturing is essentially serving foreign businesses and foreign trade. It involves completing the corresponding manufacturing according to order requirements, then exporting the garments and earning "OEM fees".
Currently, garment manufacturing is not allowed, and we cannot specifically serve foreign businesses. Foreign businesses can only choose to buy ready-made textiles produced domestically, and we cannot solicit their opinions.
"Petite bourgeoisie" prints are not allowed on textiles.
Li Zhengxian: "Your printing this batch is outstanding! Director Qin, you deserve a huge credit!"
“We can create more suitable textile prints based on our existing experience.”
"These stamps need to be acceptable to foreign businesses, but we can't 'make mistakes' so that we can create more foreign exchange for our country."
"Your salted fish print, panda print, and patterns rendered with dyes from defective products—these prints are all excellent!"
"This is truly remarkable; it provides us with valuable and successful experience that we can learn from!"
"Turning substandard dyes into a valuable resource! Brilliant!"
Foreign trade team leader Li Zhengxian and others exclaimed that it was brilliant, while Qin Xiangxiang and others secretly thought that things were not going well, because they had brought back a large number of orders, and they would have to find someone to collect the defective dyes when they got back.
The sewing machine is really going to start sparking now.
On the ship back, Yang Zhixia smiled wryly: "Director Qin, I really didn't expect the volume of foreign trade orders to be so large, it's a bit frightening."
Qin Xiangxiang sighed: "Who says otherwise?"
"Now I understand what Manager Meng meant when he mentioned the Anshan Watch Factory. He said that even five or six years ago, the factory did not stop production for political campaigns, but instead worked overtime to keep production running."
"With so many foreign trade orders, we have no choice but to work overtime; we simply can't finish them all!"
Qin Xiangxiang and Yang Zhixia exchanged a glance, finally understanding what it meant to be overwhelmed by orders! They thought Manager Meng was exaggerating, but it turned out to be a true reflection of reality!
Yang Zhixia: "The team leader said we could get special foreign exchange reserves, which were specifically used to purchase imported raw materials."
Qin Xiangxiang felt a wave of dizziness wash over him: "First, buy industrial sewing machines, then recruit another batch of workers."
"We try to use imported raw materials as much as possible to save some cotton raw materials in China."
After all, there isn't enough cotton in China, so it's better to use imported raw cotton and synthetic fibers.
"What about the dyes? The team leader also told us to use imported dyes."
Qin Xiangxiang whispered, "We'll buy some imported dyes, and we'll also use some of the substandard domestic dyes."
Yang Zhixia nodded: "Factory Director, you are very clever!"
Upon hearing this, Yang Zhixia couldn't help but become excited. Raw cotton and chemical fiber materials could be purchased using specially approved foreign exchange. Considering the "losses," those losses could be transformed into public welfare.
The domestic production of cotton and chemical fibers is insufficient, while their factory earns a lot of foreign exchange from export orders. They can use some of this foreign exchange to purchase raw materials for export orders. After using some of these raw materials to complete the orders, there will definitely be some fabric left over.
These surplus fabrics are an extra portion that appeared out of nowhere! In addition to being used as welfare for the factory workers, these surplus fabrics can also be sold at low prices to the public through the island's supply and marketing cooperative.
"Everyone will have more clothes to wear!"
Guo Youcai was walking through the textile school, whistling. He was in a good mood, but then he heard the students leaving the school talking in the cold wind, which made his smile freeze.
"I hope to be assigned to Feiyan Textile Factory next year!"
“I also volunteered to go to Feiyan Textile Factory.”
"I heard they received millions in foreign trade orders and are in great need of talent!"
Guo Youcai suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and ran up to the students, asking, "What are you talking about? Feiyan Textile Factory has completed its foreign trade orders?"
“I heard that there was a problem with the dyes in their factory before.”
Upon hearing the word "dye," the student immediately grinned, "It's good that this dye has a problem! I heard that they use this defective dye to make mixed color patterns. Foreign products have a unique taste; they love the mixed colors of defective dye!"
"And they'll pay a high price to buy it!"
Guo Youcai: "???"
"Could this be called abstract art?"
"I don't understand foreigners' tastes."
"I don't understand foreigners' tastes, but getting them to spend a fortune on clothes made with substandard dyes—Factory Manager Qin is brilliant!!!"
"Yes, this Factory Director Qin is simply a hero!"
"Director Qin is a heroine! She's a great heroine who thought of using substandard dye to fool foreigners! And she succeeded! I'm so happy to think about that! This time we've also gotten the better of the foreigners and gotten our revenge."
Guo Youcai was stunned. Using substandard dye to fool foreigners? And it actually worked?
Qin Xiangxiang became a great hero??
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