CHAPTER 307: CHAPTER 307: JOINT VENTURE AQUATIC PRODUCTS COMPANY

"Do you know what’s the most ridiculous thing?" Meihe, with no sense of belonging to Japan, spoke freely.

"The most ridiculous thing is, Japan actually announced a major promotion of exporting Japanese fugu abroad.

Japan’s annual fugu production is only over eight thousand tons, not even enough for themselves, requiring large imports of farmed fugu from Huaxia.

And now they’re talking about exporting fugu, guess where these exported fugu will come from?"

Hearing this, Chen Yiyang understood what business Meihe wanted to discuss today.

"Are you hoping I can help you find suppliers for fugu and eel in Huaxia?"

"Not just suppliers," Meihe said directly. "We used to have stable suppliers within Huaxia.

But as Huaxia’s economy has developed, domestic consumption of eels and fugu has also risen.

Sometimes, these suppliers prioritize domestic consumption for quality eels and fugu due to pricing issues."

Meihe continued, "This creates two problems. One is unstable supply, which causes fluctuations in High Mountain Aquatic Products’ revenue.

Although High Mountain Aquatic Products is owned by my family, it has to distribute dividends to many parliamentary members annually. Unstable income could reduce the support High Mountain Aquatic Products receives.

The second is that many high-end aquaculture products are being prioritized for Huaxia’s domestic market. So the quality of the seafood we receive is also unstable, increasing the risk of it being discovered as not originating from Japan."

"So what are you thinking?"

"High Mountain Aquatic Products will provide the funds, you use your connections to establish a joint venture in Huaxia to farm fugu and eels, and grow watermelons.

The joint venture’s production of fugu, eels, and watermelons will be supplied to High Mountain Aquatic Products first. High Mountain Aquatic Products promises a guaranteed purchase amount each year."

"This model sounds problem-free," Chen Yiyang thought for a moment and found nothing wrong with Meihe’s business proposal.

As long as there are no issues on High Mountain Aquatic Products’ side, the joint venture’s aquatic products won’t have trouble finding buyers.

Moreover, it also avoids losses in farming due to fluctuations in Huaxia’s own market.

"Because Japan’s industrial exports have been shrinking, the government and agricultural associations are actively finding ways to promote their agricultural products abroad."

Meihe continued, "Although Japanese watermelons, eels, and fugu are expensive, they can still sell at high prices in many countries and regions.

Thanks to Japan’s crafted international image over the years. So, as long as there are no issues with the joint venture’s farming base in Huaxia, the future business prospects will be very good."

Meihe’s words were not without reason.

Japan’s international image, especially in Europe and America, is still quite good, so marking it as a Japanese product can fetch a slightly higher price.

Of course, this is just Meihe’s one-sided thinking.

Whether the deal can be closed, Chen Yiyang would still need his domestic team to conduct some research.

So Chen Yiyang said to Meihe, "I personally don’t oppose this collaboration, but since I haven’t been involved in the aquatic business before, I need to have my domestic team study it before I can respond to you."

"No problem," Meihe raised their glass to toast Chen Yiyang.

"In such cross-border cooperation, trust is most important. Your ability to get Toyota Osamu’s trust shows that you have principles in your work; I believe in you."

"That’s true," Chen Yiyang modestly accepted Meihe’s compliment.

He was indeed very principled.

Working with Russians, Germans, and Brazilians, he never encountered any mishaps.

Except for one overturned collaboration with South Koreans.

But that wasn’t Chen Yiyang’s fault.

It was that South Korean middleman who couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

A few days later, the domestic team sent Chen Yiyang a feasibility plan for this collaboration.

As Chen Yiyang was busy these days, he didn’t read it himself but had the junior accountant review and summarize it.

"Even on a trip, they have you working like a horse; you capitalists are just despicable!" The junior accountant peeled grapes for Chen Yiyang while angrily glaring at him.

Chen Yiyang casually reclined onto the junior accountant’s lap.

"Hold on." Just after lying down, Chen Yiyang sat back up.

"What’s up?" The junior accountant glared at him and asked.

"Let’s switch positions; this leg of yours is hard as a rock."

After switching positions, Chen Yiyang lay down on the junior accountant’s softer leg and said, "Now, the technology for synthetic skin and muscles should be mature, right? Do you want to wrap a layer around your mechanical leg?"

"No way, that would ruin the cool factor. Don’t you know what cyberpunk style is?"

"Alright, suit yourself." Chen Yiyang was speechless.

The junior accountant’s prosthetic leg sometimes lit up with colors more varied than the RGB lighting on Chen Yiyang’s Razer keyboard, leaving him speechless.

"The suggestion from the domestic team is that this business can be done.

The biggest problem with agriculture products is still the funding issue.

Large-scale farming involves high investment, high risks, and low returns.

This is currently the biggest issue facing the farming industry.

Many large-scale farmowners could lose their entire year’s income, or even incur heavy debts, if their farmed fish fall sick.

If the funds come entirely from High Mountain Aquatic Products, we essentially have no costs, even if there’s a loss, it wouldn’t fall on us."

"What about the policy, is this cooperation model currently allowed domestically?"

"Of course, setting up farming operations domestically is very welcome by local governments, as long as it doesn’t encroach on arable land for grain.

Currently, eel farming in Huaxia is primarily concentrated in Min Nan, and that area is strongly supported.

As for fugu farming, Huaxia has the best non-toxic fugu farming technology in the world, with the largest fugu farming base in Tangshan."

"Tangshan, isn’t Tangshan known for steel industry?" Chen Yiyang was somewhat surprised.

"In fact, Tangshan’s fugu farming industry has quite a history, as Tangshan has a port and suitable water quality for fugu farming.

In the ’90s, domestic policy banned fugu from entering the market, until the ban was lifted in 2010, and fugu business slowly opened up in 2016.

But even during the more than twenty years of the ban, Tangshan had been engaging in large-scale fugu farming for export."

Upon hearing the junior accountant’s explanation, Chen Yiyang realized why Chairman Meihe was eager to establish a joint venture in Huaxia.

Eels were secondary, fugu was the key.