That night, they continued the meal.

The group of white-robed sheikhs tacitly chose to only drink beverages, especially the yogurt that seemed good for the stomach, which was the most popular.

Various industries were still short of funds, and a large number of enterprises were crying out for support.

Representatives from GAC Group, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings, Guangzhou Construction, China Merchants Bank, and several urban investment companies were all present, ready to answer questions and provide assistance.

Some companies weren't actually short of money, but no one would complain about having too much cash on hand. Sufficient funds meant an opportunity to expand and seize the market, and this was indeed a good opportunity to expand their scale.

After understanding the list, Su Yehao found it a bit interesting.

Looking around, apart from himself, there wasn't even a single private enterprise. It was estimated that the news of this inspection team's arrival was limited to a small circle.

As a result, the people present tonight weren't necessarily the ones most in need of money, but they were definitely the most well-informed.

Apart from feeling that management and supervision were not in place and efficiency was a bit low, Su Yehao had no prejudice against these enterprises.

He even felt that an economic model with state ownership as the mainstay and the coexistence of multiple forms of ownership had natural advantages. At the very least, it was very beneficial to most people, not only providing a large number of jobs but also regulating the market and effectively curbing the occurrence of crises.

He even cited the bad debts of banks in previous years as an example.

This would have been a catastrophe in any European or American country, but in the mainland, it was just a little troublesome. They could simply throw away the burden, and they weren't harvested when the financial crisis occurred in Southeast Asia.

State-owned enterprises, which weren't solely for the pursuit of profit, provided a large number of employment opportunities while also completing some tasks that private enterprises were unwilling to do. For example, the subways being built in major cities would never be profitable based on the fare standards. If private enterprises were to develop them, doubling the ticket price would be considered a fair price.

In addition, there were monopoly industries such as tobacco and energy, where at least most of the profits were then used where they should be, rather than only being concentrated in the hands of a small group of shareholders.

There would definitely be "rats."

However, Su Yehao increasingly liked to look at problems from a macro perspective and wouldn't completely deny the benefits because of a few bad apples.

If the mainland had also tightened control over the internet industry in those years, the dividends that appeared during the development process could have been spent in the form of fiscal revenue and continued to be invested in development, construction, and people's livelihood projects.

But in Su Yehao's hands, it became his personal wealth, and as long as he was willing, he could even take it overseas.

Comparing the two, the former undoubtedly better aligned with the interests of the vast majority of people, and that was the difference.

Now, state-owned enterprises and private enterprises were competing with each other, and foreign enterprises were also coming in to stir things up, revitalizing many stagnant pools and unleashing astonishing potential. Last year, over 100 million migrant workers entered the cities to work, and it was expected that another 10 million would be added this year.

Behind each person, there might be a family involved. With work and income, the standard of living would naturally improve.

The dividends brought by a series of measures in previous years, such as the marketization of the real estate market, joining the WTO, and promoting enterprise reform, were gradually being released. In this era, many people liked to focus on the dark side and draw many negative conclusions.

In Su Yehao's view, the situation was clearly getting better year by year, and even compared to 1997, the progress of the entire society was extremely astonishing.

Therefore,

Seeing these enterprise representatives waiting eagerly, Su Yehao personally helped to say some good words, such as how real estate development was beneficial to Guangzhou Construction, the low car ownership in the mainland, and how GAC Group's returns would definitely be very considerable once it developed well.

For a huge market with a population of over 1 billion and rapid economic development, these members of the inspection team were obviously very interested, constantly asking questions and looking through the information.

One wealthy individual learned that GAC Group's revenue last year was over 30 billion RMB, and immediately expressed that they would visit tomorrow, even suggesting that GAC Group directly spend money to acquire some existing foreign car companies.

After a preliminary understanding that night, they visited everywhere the next day.

China Merchants Bank and Ping An in Pengcheng, Su Yehao's TOT, and BYD, which was temporarily busy producing batteries, were all on the inspection list. They chartered a bus and took them around.

For these white-robed sheikhs, diversified investment was the key. After inspecting for two consecutive days, they also went to Fo Chuan and Guangzhou. In the end, they decided to invest a total of more than 3 billion US dollars in Su Yehao's 5S Asset Management first.

The remaining projects were invested in separately, and some needed to be further studied and observed.

Since urban investment companies themselves weren't entirely for making money, they couldn't attract the interest of potential investors. China Merchants Bank, GAC Group, and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings all began to attract attention, and Su Yehao's 5S Asset Management temporarily became the biggest winner.

This was also understandable.

Investing in the 5S Asset Management fund was equivalent to investing in multiple companies at once, and not only did someone help manage the assets, but it was also relatively safer.

Directly purchasing wealth management products was obviously much more convenient than financing, making it easy and hassle-free.

GAC Group was really short of money, and the representative of this company found Su Yehao, hoping to obtain financing from him, or to ask Su Yehao to say a few good words.

No wonder many consumers still didn't trust domestic cars even a dozen years later.

In 2004, the manufacturing level of domestic cars was truly terrible.

Looking around, after so many years of joint ventures, there still wasn't a single decent independent brand. The money earned from the joint ventures, who knew where it was spent.

Unless he could take over the decision-making power of GAC Group, or directly take control of a joint venture, Su Yehao didn't have full confidence, and wasn't sure if he could improve the level of domestic cars in the short term.

Thinking carefully, even South Korea could do it, which seemed to indicate that it wasn't some amazing technology. Thinking of preparing in advance for entering the new energy electric vehicle industry, Su Yehao only replied that he would study and consider it.

When he returned to Hong Kong, he would check the information of well-known car companies online.

He unexpectedly found that Volvo still belonged to Sweden, and the Jaguar and Land Rover brands hadn't been acquired by India's Tata Group yet. Technology that couldn't be exchanged for with the market, it seemed that spending money could solve it.

The reason why mainland car companies couldn't develop at present was clear at a glance.

First, there was a lack of supporting automotive industrial systems. Second, there was a lack of R&D talent. Third, the car companies themselves were inefficient, and they were caught in a vicious circle of investing huge amounts of money in R&D, but the products were difficult to sell.

Such problems, Su Yehao could think of a lot with a little thought.

To put it bluntly, foreign car brands were already very rich, which led to many car companies lacking the confidence to go all out and truly compete with joint ventures and imported cars.

The reason why the automotive manufacturing industry could serve as the economic lifeline was not the profit itself, but that this thing was expensive and was a consumable, which could drive the development of many industries.

Last year alone, there was a trade deficit of more than 14 billion US dollars in imported cars. The surplus brought by the hard work of processing and producing clothing by tens of millions of people was offset by a large part of it, which was very uneconomical to think about.

His allies in the same camp were too weak. They were too poor in the early years, and the foundation couldn't keep up, which made Su Yehao unable to worry. Entering the automotive industry required a huge investment of funds, and he didn't dare to make a decision easily.

Thinking of having someone investigate the relevant information, Su Yehao first accompanied Nangong Tian, basking in the sun by the window, teasing his newborn son...