After the joint meeting, Feng Xiaochen began to take action. He obtained the authorization given to him by Luo Xiangfei and could negotiate with Gai Zhan about "cooperation". Of course, if an agreement is finally reached, it is necessary to submit it to the Economic Commission for approval, and he personally has no right to make a decision.

Feng Xiaochen and Gai Zhan chose to have a conversation in the hotel tea room. Before that, Feng Xiaochen had participated in two collective negotiations between the two parties, so Gai Zhan also knew Feng Xiaochen's identity. This time, when he heard Feng Xiaochen ask him to have a private chat, Gai Zhan had a heart-to-heart relationship, but he did not bring his escort and came to the tea room alone.

"Haro, Minister Gaizan."

"Harrow, Mr. Director Feng."

Both sides greeted each other in English. Gai Zhan is worthy of being an official who climbed up one level after another. He has good professional skills and at least he speaks English fluently.

"The weather in China is very hot now. Can Minister Gaizhan adapt?"

"We Avare is a tropical country, and I am used to being able to adapt to the hot climate."

"The weather in Beijing is relatively dry, so Minister Gaizhan should eat some fruits often."

"Thank you for your reminder, I like Apple in Beijing very much..."

The two sides spoke non-nutritional greetings, but they became closer and closer. Feng Xiaochen felt that the time was almost ripe, so he turned to the topic and said to Gai Zhan: "Minister Gai Zhan, you have been here in China for almost a month, right? We have been negotiating more than a dozen rounds of negotiations between us. I wonder how you consider this cooperation."

"We have a lot of trust in China's technology and have no doubts about the friendship between the Chinese. The only obstacle now is the price. We believe that the equipment you provide is worse than that of Japan and Germany in terms of technology, but there is no obvious difference between the price and our cabinet, which is probably unacceptable." Gai Zhan repeated the reasons that he had already mentioned in the past.

"Minister Gaizan, you are an expert and should understand the quotation of a set of hot-rolled equipment. In fact, the price we proposed is still very conservative, because there are still some fees that are not included."

Feng Xiaochen said this and glanced at Gai Zhan meaningfully, waiting for the other party to react.

"There are still some fees? What's the fees?" Gai Zhan thought and asked Feng Xiaochen.

Feng Xiaochen said: "Our current quotation is calculated for the construction of a hot-rolled production line in China. If we want to go to Avare for construction, we still need some preliminary consultation work, such as we need to understand Avare's climate, geology, hydrology and other information, and also take into account the living habits of local workers in Avare to adjust the production process. We plan to find a consulting company in Avare to complete these work, and this part of the cost should be calculated into the equipment quotation."

"Doesn't this mean that the quotation will be increased?" Gai Zhan asked.

"That's exactly that." Feng Xiaochen said.

Gai Zhan said again: "So, how much do you think this cost will be?"

Feng Xiaochen smiled slightly and said, "We really can't say this. We don't know how domestic consulting agencies in Avare charge fees. We plan to find several consulting agencies in the near future to contact us. By the way, can Minister Gai Zhan do us a favor and recommend one or two consulting agencies with good reputation to us?"

"This..." Gai Zhan's face suddenly turned black and red. How could he not understand Feng Xiaochen's hint? How could he not understand the situations of geology, hydrology, etc. to build a hot rolling production line. This is not to say that these situations are not important, but because this hot rolling production line was built inside the Batin Steel Plant. The Batin Steel Plant had already considered these factors when it was constructed. Now it is just a new workshop. There is no need to do anything else to do geological surveys.

Feng Xiaochen said he needed to find a consulting company, and asked Gai Zhan to help introduce it. This was obviously going to give Gai Zhan gifts. The charging standards for the consulting company were decided by Gai Zhan. In other words, he could claim as much as he wanted. Anyway, the money would eventually be transferred to the equipment fund. Feng Xiaochen was just generous to Avare. The best thing is that this kind of money is reasonable from the procedure and no one can find any problem. As long as Gai Zhan is not so stupid, he would not let his wife be the chairman of the consulting company, no one can say what benefits he has gained from it.

However, it was the first time Gai Zhan did such a thing. Before that, although he was not so innocent, he was limited to collecting small gifts from contractors in the project. Occasionally, he took his wife and children to take invitations from others on a trip. How could he give money like Feng Xiaochen? At first hearing Feng Xiaochen's hint, Gai Zhan felt blushing and hot-hearted, and was helpless. He felt that he should refuse to corrode and not get involved. He scolded Feng Xiaochen with righteousness, but another voice in his heart said to him: Take it, take it, no one knows...

Feng Xiaochen looked at Gai Zhan's face and turned red, knowing that the other party was having a fierce ideological struggle. He smiled and added, saying: "According to international practice, the consultation fee should generally not exceed 1.5 million per thousandth of the total price of the equipment. Our equipment price is US$240 million, and the consultation fee is almost the same as the level of US$360,000. If the cost is higher, we can only find other institutions to provide services."

"That's certain, that's certain..." Gai Zhan replied subconsciously, but only a number was left in his mind:

$360,000.

To put it bluntly, the so-called consulting service is just talking nonsense, and the cost is not worth mentioning. If the consulting fee can reach US$360,000 and deduct various expenses, he can have at least US$300,000 in net income. What does this mean? Avare is a developing country with a salary level not high. Gai Zhangui is the deputy minister. His annual income is converted into an international currency unit, which is less than US$5,000. US$300,000, which is equivalent to the sum of his income in 60 years. How can he be willing to let go of such a huge fortune?

"This project has been delayed for a long time. I think Avare also hopes to sign the contract early so that construction can start as soon as possible? For the consulting company, please ask Minister Gai Zhan to help us contact us quickly. If we have any questions, we can sign a cooperation agreement with the consulting company first, so that the consulting company can immediately start collecting information." Feng Xiaochen said slowly.

"This matter is for me." Gai Zhan followed Feng Xiaochen's words and felt something was wrong. When did he agree to contact the consulting company for Chinese people? When he thought about it, he realized that the young Chinese official in front of him was too cunning. He did not leave time for himself to think, but just kept saying this matter, but he was taken into the pit without realizing it.

So, do you need to jump out of the pit? Gai Zhan hesitated.

Feng Xiaochen smiled and said, "Minister Gaizhan, if I'm not wrong, you have studied in France, right?"

"Yes, I graduated from the Paris Institute of Technology and studied mechanical engineering." Gai Zhan said proudly. The other party was able to divert the topics about the consulting company, making him feel relaxed and not as embarrassed as before.

Feng Xiaochen said: "As far as I know, the industrial ministers of many African countries are studying in Europe. Do you have any contact with these people?"

Gaizan was a little confused and said silly: "Of course we have some contacts. There are several ministers who were classmates when I was in Paris, and some people met each other through various relationships. Because they all had experience studying in Europe, they share a lot of languages."

"That's great." Feng Xiaochen said, "We are very interested in carrying out equipment cooperation with African countries, just like our cooperation with Avare. Although China's equipment technology is slightly inferior to developed countries such as Japan and Germany, it is also at a certain level. The most important thing is that our products are cheaper, especially the later maintenance costs are much lower than those of developed countries such as Japan and Germany. Minister Gaizhan should have experienced this."

"But... what does this question have to do with me?" Gai Zhan asked in surprise.

Feng Xiaochen said: "There is an old saying in China that you don't bother with the second master in one thing. If we want to enter the African market, we must understand the situation in Africa. Didn't I just ask you to help us contact a consulting company? We hope that in addition to this set of hot-rolling equipment, we can also ask this consulting company to provide consulting services for other projects. What do you think?"

"Other projects?" Gai Zhan was stunned, not quite understanding what Feng Xiaochen pointed.

Feng Xiaochen said: "Minister Gai Zhan has acquaintances in various African countries. Can you help us introduce some new businesses? If we have new businesses, we must hire a consulting company to conduct preliminary research on the business. At this time, of course, we hope to choose a company that has had cooperation experience to serve us. Do you understand what I mean this time?"

"So that's how it is?" A brilliant light appeared in Gai Zhan's eyes.

Feng Xiaochen made the words clear to this level. If Gai Zhan doesn't understand it, he will be a vain as an elite talent who once studied in France. What Feng Xiaochen wants to say is to let Gai Zhan be a broker for himself. In addition to introducing Avare's projects, he can also introduce projects from other African countries. As for the benefits, it is naturally the business expenses paid by China to the so-called "consultation companies".

This means that the cooperation between you and the Chinese is not a hammer transaction of hot rolling mills, but can be expanded to more fields and even more countries. By then, the profit you can get will be several times higher than that of now.
Chapter completed!