Chapter 251 Technology for Technology
Like almost everyone here in China, Chang Haonan also learned through the TV news that the negotiations between the JAA and the FAA had reached a deadlock when he was taking a rest after eating. —
Under the previous working conditions, everyone definitely didn’t have much time to watch TV, but after the two pods were transferred to the manufacturing process, they took advantage of the situation and got a less busy life.
For this incident, the 7pm news on this day was specially extended by 5 minutes.
According to the situation mentioned in the report, the Americans who had always had an aggressive attitude and wanted to make the investigation results public as quickly as possible and revise aviation safety standards based on the cause of the accident suddenly began to care. For him.
For him, who participated in almost the entire negotiation process, he could naturally tell at a glance that this was because JAA, who had received the confidence buff, caught the opponent off guard.
But for the other people in School 14, there is nothing fishy about it.
However, immediately after this seemingly ordinary news, there was a piece of explosive news.
China and the EU have reached a package of agreements on technical cooperation in the aviation field.
This is not the simple "cooperation" in which China paid for foreign countries to help with research and development, but in the true sense, each gets what he needs.
Due to time constraints, it is of course impossible to mention the entire content of the agreement between the two parties in the report, but it includes the two most critical parts.
That is, the two parties will jointly establish an aviation meteorological research center to enhance the safety of aircraft in harsh weather conditions, and Airbus will build its planned "Asia Final Assembly Center" in China. The project selection The construction of the site as well as the factories and supporting facilities unrelated to aviation manufacturing were all completed by Huaxia.
The final assembly center will start construction before December 31, 1999 at the latest. After completion, it will be jointly managed by China Aviation Industry Corporation and Airbus. It is expected to reduce the sales of passenger aircraft products to East Asia and Southeast Asia by about 66 % to 8% of the cost.
The mutual recognition of regional aircraft airworthiness standards between CAAC and JAA did not appear in the news this time because it is of great importance and there are still some detailed technical issues being discussed.
However, even the part that has been revealed so far, combined with the TV picture of Ding Gaoheng, representatives from JAA and Airbus gathered around happily signing autographs, is shocking enough.
At first glance, outsiders may think that this is similar to the situation of the McDonnell Douglas MD82 final assembly line established in Hufei more than ten years ago.
However, as long as you are a little knowledgeable or a little sensitive, you will find several key points behind the news.
For example, this time it is no longer the Civil Aviation Administration of China that comes forward to negotiate and sign agreements with the European side, but the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.
In other words, the department responsible for planning and coordinating the development of the civil aviation industry in China has officially switched.
If there are more discerning people, they will realize that placing the Airbus Asian final assembly center in China, although it can reduce costs to a certain extent, will definitely benefit China more overall. .
The European side will definitely not do charity. Any agreement that can be reached must have parts that are beneficial to both parties.
Therefore, the only possibility is that the previous content of cooperation in building an aviation meteorological research center is actually more beneficial to Europe.
This is an amazing thing.
In the past twenty years, including China's own people, whenever they mention industrial advantages, it is nothing more than two repeated points, huge market potential and a large number of labor forces.
When it comes to cooperating with foreign countries, these two trump cards come back and forth. Basically, there is no bargaining power. We can only engage in market exchange technology where the initiative is in the hands of others.
Of course, it is foreseeable that if Airbus aircraft are assembled domestically, it will have a greater advantage than Boeing aircraft assembled in Seattle, thereby gaining more market share.
However, this kind of share growth that is completely in line with market rules is fundamentally different from the content in past agreements.
Within the framework of market-for-technology, China must ensure that the sales volume and profits of foreign products do not fall below a certain target.
If this requirement cannot be met, money must be paid directly from the finance to make up for it.
Quite overbearing terms.
But often you have to sign even if you don’t sign.
As a result, this time, the agreement reached by the two parties did not mention the market share part at all, and there was no mention of "market for technology" in the report.
Every word or sentence in the 7pm news is not randomly determined.
So, many people must have begun to wonder about the changes in the situation behind this. "Speak of it, Chang Gong."
Guo Lin, who was also watching TV, asked Chang Haonan who was sitting next to him:
"Some time ago, several key members of our 14th institute suddenly received orders to go on a business trip to Haojing for a period of time. Is this the case?" Is the matter related? "
Although Dianke Group is not a member of the aviation industry system, there is no doubt that the relationship between the two is very close.
Many electrical engineers were involved in the modification of the electronic equipment of the H-6AIT, probably the people Guo Lin mentioned.
“So be it.”
Chang Haonan nodded:
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We currently estimate that we can lead the world in the field of aviation weather safety. It turns out that JAA happened to be doing this because of this. I was so overwhelmed that the agreement was signed so smoothly."
Now is no longer the era of secret diplomacy two hundred years ago. Things like negotiations need to be kept secret during the process. Now the agreements are all closed. The signing has been completed, so as long as it does not involve specific technical details, there is nothing that cannot be said.
“This final assembly center...is chosen to be in Shanghai again?”
Guo Lin also has some understanding of aviation matters. After Boeing announced its acquisition of McDonnell Douglas, the MD90 model appeared to the naked eye. It is obvious that there is no longer any development prospects, so it is logical to think that this is to find a home for the manufacturing factory in Hufei, so that it will not fall apart because it cannot find orders.
"No, the specific location has not been decided yet, but in short, in order to prevent some people from deceiving the superiors and affecting the development of our own domestic aviation industry, we must choose a place where there has not been much aviation industry layout to build a new factory. ”
Chang Haonan learned during a meeting at Sanzuomen a few days ago that the site selection principle he told Ding Gaoheng had been finalized by higher-level leaders.
“Completely starting over? Then the amount of work is not small.”
Xu Yang sat across from the dining table and could only see the TV screen through a somewhat awkward posture. Fortunately, there was a The news was over, so she turned back:
“When I was in school at Berkeley, I went to McDonnell Douglas’ factory in Long Beach with my tutor. If I wanted to build a production base like that from scratch, I felt It’s difficult to do without 5 to 10 years.”
Berkeley and Long Beach are both in California. As a PhD student in the field of control engineering, it is normal for Xu Yang to have the opportunity to visit.
“There is no way. The lessons of the McDonnell Douglas project were too painful. At that time, some people thought that having this project was enough, so they threw away all the money they had saved with great difficulty in the past to build a new one that was in line with American standards. The system has become a mess now."
Chang Haonan, who was playing with chopsticks in his hand, sighed and replied:
"As the currently designated independent industrial base for large aircraft, Hufei. We must not be tortured like that again. The equipment, workers, and management can't stand it. Rather than bothering to compete with those 'own people', it's better to simply draw out the firepower and completely eliminate their attempts to guide foreign capital to occupy the magpie's nest. Think about it.”
“There is such a person?”
Unlike Chang Haonan and Guo Lin, who have been on the front line of the project for a long time, Xu Yang's work experience can be called simple. After graduating from Berkeley, he returned to the Academy of Sciences. Before meeting Chang Haonan, he did mostly basic research, even the computer room door. They don’t really need to publish it, so they naturally don’t know much about the inside story of these industries.
"Where did this go..."
Chang Haonan waved his hand:
"But let's not talk about it for now. In short, we didn't think about it this time. We are aiming to build a factory the size of Long Beach in one step, leaving the aircraft assembly business in our hands first. As long as Airbus has experienced our production efficiency and quality, they will surely gradually produce more parts in the future. It won’t be too late to transfer it here, and then slowly expand the scale.”
After hearing this answer, Guo Lin on the side made an incredulous thought:
"Chang Haonan, do you think our production efficiency can be higher than that in Europe?"
This matter had basically become a consensus before Chang Haonan was reborn. Didn't you see that a certain Tesla Motors, which was once on the verge of bankruptcy, was After the completion of the super factory in Shanghai, it has been counterattacking all the way, forming a sharp contrast...
But in 1997, few people dared to believe this kind of thing.
After thinking for a moment, he gave a relatively conservative judgment:
“It’s definitely not possible at the beginning, but it won’t be possible to say for sure in a few years. Europe is now going to industrialize. The momentum is very strong, the impact of this kind of thing is almost irreversible, and will be reflected quickly..."
"What if the Europeans change their minds midway, just like McDonnell Douglas? After all, the nights are long and the dreams are many. The construction of this assembly center is not expected to start until three years..."
Since I heard Chang Haonan say that at the dinner party at Sandaomen After understanding the concept of bottom-line thinking, Xu Yang's vigilance in this aspect has improved almost exponentially, and it even feels like cutting everything into black.
"It's unlikely. This time it's different from McDonnell Douglas and Peace Model. It's neither the market for technology, nor just spending money to buy technology."
Chang Hao Nan has already considered this issue:
“As Dr. Xu said, these two approaches are actually unreliable. People will not play with you if they don’t want to, but we are now a technical Changing technology is not a unilateral request. If Airbus wants to do something, it has to think carefully. The aviation meteorological research center is to be built in China. If the agreement is really invalidated, all the investment will be in vain... ”
(End of this chapter)