The internet has no secrets.
Although Kaixin.com has not recently disclosed specific registered user numbers, its Alexa ranking has been continuously rising, already breaking into the top 100, and is currently approaching the top 50.
With a very fast growth rate of registered users and extremely high daily activity, Kaixin.com has become a focal point of discussion in the internet circle.
Some institutions have already given Kaixin.com a valuation of 50 million yuan.
However, the internet circle is different from the traditional business circle, and the media invited today are all state-owned.
Tan Jincheng didn't expect a reporter to bring this up.
Oh, a reporter from Beicang Evening News, then it's no surprise they would pay attention to this.
The formal Q&A session of the press conference was almost over.
Tan Jincheng smiled and said,
"This question is unrelated to today's press conference, but I can answer you: Orange Technology is a venture I started with my girlfriend."
The reporter from Beicang Evening News had an "I knew it" expression, while the reporter who had chatted with him privately earlier looked surprised.
"It really is his, this is truly remarkable."
A reporter from Yongcheng quickly followed up with a question:
"Mr. Tan, can you talk about Kaixin.com? There aren't many well-known internet companies locally in Yongcheng. Could you tell us about Orange Technology's growth journey?"
Tan Jincheng quickly waved his hand:
"There's nothing much to say. It's a small website I built for my girlfriend to practice with and have fun; it's nothing significant. I don't participate in its operations. If you want to know some details, go ask her."
Also attending today's press conference were representatives from Beicang Urban Investment.
Back then, they didn't think highly of Orange Technology, which led Tan Jincheng to move Orange Technology out of the Shanchi system, so he wouldn't provoke them here today.
They came happily, so he shouldn't make them leave feeling upset.
As for the representatives from Beicang District Government, they kept this matter in mind.
Tan Jincheng had previously established Orange Technology, and the district hadn't really paid much attention at the time.
After several months, apart from handling a consulting project for Zhongtai, there had been no other activity.
It was impossible to tell what he was planning to do, and after a few months, the district had already forgotten about it.
"Alright, today's press conference concludes here. Thank you all very much for coming."
Zhou Ao, who was temporarily acting as the host of the press conference, spoke as Tan Jincheng stood up, ready to leave the venue.
The proceedings had actually concluded before the Kaixin.com question; that question was an unexpected one.
Today's press conference primarily provided a comprehensive introduction to Shanchi Group's business, its development trends, and future plans.
It also sent some signals to the outside world that Shanchi still had three factories to build, and the location for one of the electric vehicle factories had not yet been finalized.
Whether it was truly undecided or falsely claimed as undecided, only Tan Jincheng knew best.
He had previously visited Changzhou discreetly and had a discussion with the local authorities.
There was a basic consensus for cooperation between both sides, but some details could not be agreed upon.
Currently, Changzhou has hundreds of small and medium-sized electric vehicle factories, and its scale can be said to be the largest in any single region nationwide.
With so many small and medium-sized enterprises, it's impossible for the local government to just give up on them; even for a transition, they need to be given some time.
Therefore, they still wanted Shanchi to exercise some restraint in price reductions and promotions, to give those enterprises a chance to breathe.
They even found an excuse for Shanchi: the trend of rising raw material prices has begun recently.
Unlike leading enterprises like Shanchi, Xinri, Yadea, and Luyuan, who are still engaged in price wars, small enterprises lack cost advantages.
Some companies have even started raising prices.
In the Sichuan Province market, some provincial key enterprises have begun large-scale price adjustments for electric vehicles sold in Sichuan.
Changzhou's suggestion was that if it couldn't be helped, the four of you companies should go and fight a price war in Sichuan Province; it would be convenient for them to raise prices while you lower yours, making it easier to seize the market.
This matter isn't completely out of the question for discussion.
Currently, various regions have some protective policies, which Tan Jincheng can also understand.
It's just that they're too well protected.
Local enterprises in Sichuan Province raising prices—Tan Jincheng scoffed at this.
So eager to raise prices just after a slight increase in raw materials?
Do they really think the market situation is still like a few years ago?
The current market cannot be protected simply by local protectionism.
From legitimate brands to no-name electric vehicles, there are at least 800 if not 1000 brands.
If you dare to raise prices, consumers will dare to abandon you.
The market economy has entered a fierce competition stage, but the mindset in some places hasn't shifted yet.
The reason Tan Jincheng was unwilling to announce that he was discussing factory construction with Changzhou was also because of this point.
There's nothing wrong with protecting local enterprises, but not in this way.
Shanchi has its own operational strategies and its own corporate planning.
Engaging in price wars is entirely a market behavior, merely focusing on the extent of discounts and complimentary accessories.
In reality, the value after promotion is 1500 yuan, but the actual money consumers have to pay is more than 1500 yuan; there's already leeway.
To actually increase annual sales to 1 million units within three years, in addition to relying on market explosion, one's own efforts are also indispensable.
Seizing market share is the first step.
So other matters can be discussed, but this price war issue cannot be discussed.
Moreover, it's not just Shanchi's business anymore.
Currently, all top four sales enterprises are involved; if there are discussions, all four must sit down and talk together.
The press conference ended.
Tan Jincheng left with the representatives from Beicang District; he still had to go to the district for a discussion, while Zhou Ao was responsible for staying behind to handle follow-up matters and entertain reporters.
The uncrowned kings (reporters) still commanded respect in this era.
Of course, their professionalism at this time was truly commendable.
Even for a routine press conference like this, they wouldn't just go through the motions; some would even do their homework in advance.
As he walked out of the venue, Tan Jincheng also spotted Tan Lihua and couldn't help but ask curiously,
"Dad, why are you here?"
When he asked him in the morning if he was coming, he had said he was busy, needing to build a good relationship with Xiaojinyue at home.
Tan Lihua's old face flushed:
"I came out to get familiar with the surroundings. Your mom told me to buy groceries, so I came over to RT-Mart."
Tiangang Hotel was near RT-Mart, so the reason was plausible.
Tan Jincheng didn't think much of it:
"I still have some things to do, I'll be leaving first. If you need anything, find Zhou Ao, our company's person in charge here; he knows you."
"Alright, you go."
Going to the district, besides reporting on the situation here, was mainly to discuss GXG's plan to build a factory in Beicang.
Whether it was buying an existing factory or acquiring land to build one, the area wouldn't be small, and where to locate it was a problem.
Zhang Xupeng had already gone ahead.
Beicang District already had a leading textile enterprise, and whether having another apparel brand would seem crowded or would squeeze the development space for both.
How resources should be allocated, these matters needed to be discussed and agreed upon.
Although Shenzhou is in a different sector than GXG, Tan Jincheng knew exactly what it would develop into over a decade later.
It was known as the Foxconn of the textile industry, and all the orange-red buildings in Beicang belonged to him.
Last year, Shenzhou generated 285 million US dollars in foreign exchange, which, at last year's exchange rate, exceeded 2.3 billion yuan.
By 2023, its total number of employees exceeded 100,000, its Yongcheng factory covered an area of over 68 hectares, and the company's competitiveness was truly formidable.
If Shanchi in Beicang District is currently treated like a favored son, then Shenzhou could be considered to have the status of a crown prince.
It was because Tan Jincheng chose the electric vehicle industry as a breakthrough point.
If he had initially transitioned from a pure foreign trade enterprise to a clothing entity, he really wouldn't have the treatment he enjoys today.
——
While traditional print media were still writing their articles, the news of Shanchi Group holding a press conference had already spread online.
This was the advantage of the internet.
The news still originated first from Kaixin.com.
Shanchi Technology's official account on Kaixin.com immediately uploaded photos and a brief text summary of the press conference site, followed by QQ Space, blogs, and other official accounts also reposting it.
The enterprise accounts didn't have many followers, and their attention was relatively low.
Unfortunately, you couldn't buy trending topics back then; otherwise, Tan Jincheng would have certainly arranged one.
But he still had some online paid commenters hype it up a bit.
Selling 400,000 electric vehicles in one year and entering the top three in the electric vehicle industry—this achievement was definitely worth boasting about.
Additionally, Tan Jincheng also contacted three endorsers to repost today's event updates.
Chun Ge was the most proactive, forwarding it not long after the call.
As for the accounts, they were, of course, on Kaixin.com.
The fans who participated in the previous activity's voting—Kaixin.com's project team couldn't find a good way to retain them.
There was no way; individual users were just joining in for the fun, and it was inevitable that they would leave once the excitement ended.
So Gu Qingqing decided to learn from how blogs introduced celebrities.
Since they were fans of the three endorsers, then having the three endorsers open accounts on Kaixin.com, get verified, and post a few updates would surely attract a group of fans to stay.
Tan Jincheng went to negotiate with Chun Ge and Zhou Dong.
Once he heard that Kaixin.com was also Tan Jincheng's industry, Chun Ge had no hesitation, and after symbolically paying a fee, the account was successfully opened.
However, Zhou Jielun was a bit hesitant.
In his previous life, this guy never had a personal social media account in mainland China.
Later, he created an account on a certain platform, but after the decline of that platform, there wasn't much activity.
Tan Jincheng persuaded him for a long time.
Initially, the other party only wanted to open an account in the company's name.
But currently, Old Zhou and Old Wu were still working together, and they would soon terminate their contract; a company account would be useless.
If persuasion didn't work, then throwing money at it was the only option.
There was nothing that money couldn't solve.
The account opening fee steadily increased from 200,000 yuan, and after finally reaching 800,000 yuan, the agent couldn't resist and agreed!
Just by opening an account and updating two or three posts each month, 800,000 yuan would be received.
This money was practically found money!
The agent felt they had made a huge profit, while Tan Jincheng knew he had won overwhelmingly.
Aside from changing Old Zhou's lack of a personal social media platform in China, not to mention his influence, the value was worth it just from the user fission generated by his retained fans.
It's quite interesting to mention: this was currently Kaixin.com's largest investment for promotion, besides its cooperation project with MSN.
As for Liu Yifei, because she had already established a personal account earlier under Tan Jincheng's persuasion, and Gu Qingqing was also present at the time, after personally speaking with Liu Yifei and paying a symbolic fee, just like Chun Ge, her account was verified, marking her official entry.
The three major endorsers gathered on Kaixin.com, opening personal social media accounts, which could be considered contributing to Kaixin.com's takeoff.
This is called industry integration!
(End of chapter)