302: Chapter 302 EU Infighting: The Choice Between Germany and France

May 26th, 10:00 AM, Baoan Airport.

The sky was azure, cloudless.

On the runway, three Airbus A380s landed almost simultaneously.

The first came from Berlin, the German flag painted on its fuselage.

The second came from Paris, the French flag striking in the sunlight.

The third stopped over from Rome, carrying a joint delegation from Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands.

On the tarmac, the red carpet was already laid out. Thirty black Mercedes-Benz business vans were lined up neatly, with a driver in a dark suit standing in front of each vehicle.

The cabin doors opened.

The German Minister of Economic Affairs stepped down the gangway first. Behind him were the CEOs of Siemens, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Bosch, BASF... all ten giants of German industry were present.

The French economic and trade delegation followed. The CEOs of Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Michelin, Saint-Gobain, Thales, Dassault, Safran... ten representatives of French industry.

The joint delegation from Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands disembarked last. The CEOs of Ferrari, Finmeccanica, ASML, Philips, the President of Shell Industry... almost all the elites of European industry had arrived.

Thirty top European companies, with a combined market value exceeding two trillion euros.

Lin Wan, President of Xingchen International, stood at the end of the red carpet, smiling as she greeted every guest.

“Welcome to Shenzhen.”

“Welcome to Xingchen.”

“Looking forward to a pleasant cooperation.”

Simple pleasantries, no unnecessary chatter.

The motorcade drove out of the airport, heading towards the Shenzhen International Convention Center.

2:00 PM, International Convention Center.

The largest banquet hall had been transformed into a signing hall. Directly in front was a huge LED screen, scrolling with the flags of Xingchen Technology and the five European countries. On both sides of the hall were thirty signing desks, each with flowers and mineral water.

The Chinese phalanx was already in place.

The President of Spark Technology, the President of Xingchen Technology, the rotating chairman of Huawei, the President of ZTE Corporation, the President of BYD, the President of CATL, the President of Mindray Medical, the President of SMIC, the President of Tencent Cloud, the President of Hikvision, the President of AVIC Optoelectronics, the President of Baowu Steel, the Vice President of COMAC, the Vice General Manager of SPIC, the Vice General Manager of CGN, the President of CRRC, the Vice General Manager of CASC, the Vice General Manager of CASIC, the Vice General Manager of CETC, the Vice General Manager of CSSC...

Core representatives of the thirty “Top 500 Innovative Enterprises” were all present.

The opening ceremony was simple.

Su Chen walked onto the podium.

He wore a dark grey shirt and black suit pants, his sleeves rolled up to his forearms. No manuscript, no teleprompter, just a microphone.

“Three years ago, when Xingchen was just starting, someone asked me: Can you compete with Western giants?”

He paused.

“I said: I don't wish to compete, I look forward to cooperation.”

“Today, our European friends have come. Not to compete with anyone, but to define the future together.”

Applause erupted.

The big screen switched to Berlin. German Chancellor Merkel appeared on the screen, with her office in the Chancellery as the background.

“Europe needs Xingchen's technology, and Xingchen needs the European market.” Her voice came through via satellite, clear and steady. “This is not a zero-sum game, but the starting point for a win-win.”

Applause erupted again.

The opening ceremony ended.

The real negotiations had just begun.

Siemens CEO Roland Busch sat on one side of the negotiation table. He was sixty, with graying hair and gold-rimmed glasses, a representative figure of German Industry 4.0.

Opposite him were the President of Xingchen AI and the rotating chairman of Huawei.

Busch got straight to the point: “Your digital twin technology is at least two years ahead of ours. Cooperation or competition?”

The President of Xingchen AI smiled: “Cooperation. We will jointly develop the ‘Industrial Metaverse’ standard, compatible with both China and Europe.”

“How to solve data sovereignty?”

“Data stored locally, algorithms open-source and shared. Xingchen will build three data centers in Europe, operated by European teams.”

Busch's eyes lit up.

“Specific plan?”

“Joint laboratory—one in Munich, one in Shenzhen. Both sides will send 50 engineers. Within three years, we will complete the basic framework of the Industrial Metaverse.”

Busch thought for three seconds and extended his hand.

“Deal.”

The first negotiation took forty-five minutes.

Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume sat at the negotiation table. He was fifty-five, burly, and the youngest CEO of the Volkswagen Group in thirty years.

Opposite him were the President of BYD, the President of CATL, and the President of Spark Power, Gu Yanting.

Blume got straight to the point: “An 80 billion euro long-term battery agreement, five years. The condition is—build a factory in Europe, technology sharing.”

Gu Yanting shook his head: “Building a factory is fine. Technology licensing is fine. But the core formula will not be transferred.”

“Then how to ensure consistent quality?”

“Xingchen will send engineers to be stationed there. Chinese standards, European execution. Each batch of products will be jointly tested by both sides.”

Blume frowned: “The cost is too high this way.”

Gu Yanting smiled: “Lower than your own R&D costs. How much money have you invested in developing solid-state batteries? Any results?”

Blume fell silent.

Gu Yanting continued: “80 billion euros, five years, enough for you to produce 10 million electric vehicles. You calculate it, is it more cost-effective to develop it yourself, or to buy it off the shelf?”

Blume looked at the Mercedes-Benz CEO and BMW CEO beside him.

Both nodded simultaneously.

Blume extended his hand.

“Deal.”

80 billion euros, settled in five sentences.

ASML CEO Peter Wennink sat at the negotiation table. He was sixty, Dutch, wearing reading glasses, looking like a university professor.

Opposite him were the President of SMIC and the President of Spark chip, Li Wanqing.

Wennink looked at the documents in his hand and looked up: “Your 16nm lithography machine has better performance than our old models, and the price is half as much.”

Li Wanqing nodded: “Yes.”

Wennink was silent for three seconds.

“We don't need to compete. We can cooperate.”

“How to cooperate?”

“ASML will purchase your DUV lithography machines for mature process production lines in the European market. At the same time, ASML will open up EUV maintenance technology and spare parts supply to you.”

Li Wanqing's eyes lit up.

“EUV maintenance technology?”

“Yes. Your 7nm production line needs EUV. You can buy our EUV, and we will provide maintenance. Or—”

He paused.

“Or we can jointly develop the next generation of EUV. Your computational lithography technology, plus our optical system. Cost-sharing, patent sharing.”

Li Wanqing looked at the President of SMIC.

The President of SMIC nodded slightly.

Li Wanqing extended her hand.

“Deal.”

Wennink shook her hand: “This is a day that will change the global semiconductor landscape.”

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury sat at the negotiation table. He was fifty-five, French, wearing a well-tailored dark blue suit.

Opposite him were the Vice General Manager of CASC, the CEO of Xingchen Defense, Gu Xinghe, and the President of Spark Materials, Wu Yi.

Faury turned on the projector and displayed the PPT.

“Joint development of the next-generation hydrogen-powered passenger aircraft. First flight in 2030, into operation in 2035.”

Gu Xinghe looked at the parameters on the screen: “The hydrogen storage system will be provided by Xingchen, the battery system by Xinghuo, the AI flight control by Xingchen AI, and the airframe materials by Spark Materials. What does Airbus provide?”

Faury smiled: “Airframe design, system integration, airworthiness certification, global sales network. This is Airbus's core capability.”

Gu Xinghe nodded: “Okay. With one condition.”

“Please say it.”

“Europe must open up the military drone market. Our ‘thunderbird 3’, ‘wasp m2’, and ‘rhino a2’ drones need European airworthiness certification.”

Faury was silent for three seconds.

“This requires approval from various countries' governments.”

“You can pass it on. If Europe is willing to open the market, Xingchen is willing to build a drone final assembly line in France, creating 5,000 jobs.”

Faury extended his hand.

“I will pass it on. Deal.”

BASF CEO Martin Brudermüller sat at the negotiation table. He was sixty-five, German, his hair already completely white.

Opposite him were the President of Spark Materials, Wu Yi, and the President of Baowu Steel.

Brudermüller got straight to the point: “Third-generation advanced high-strength steel, ceramic matrix composites, graphene-enhanced materials—we want them all.”

Wu Yi nodded: “Okay. What are you trading with?”

“European chemical technology. BASF has the world's strongest catalyst technology, polymer synthesis technology, and surface treatment technology. We can cross-license.”

“Specific plan?”

“Joint laboratory—one in Ludwigshafen, one in Shenzhen. Both sides share basic research results, and application results are divided proportionally.”

Wu Yi thought for three seconds.

“Okay. But with one premise—BASF must promise not to use these materials to produce any products that could be used for military purposes.”

Brudermüller smiled: “Don't worry. BASF only does civilian use.”

The two shook hands.

The following two days were more intensive negotiations. All 60 companies had their own interests, and professional teams followed up on the details of the cooperation to sign memorandums. Materials, new energy, chips, automobiles, batteries, machine tools, military industry, aerospace, AI, robots—the ten major fields blossomed fully.