Chapter 2 〇1. Love and hate Danone

Wang Jiafen, chairman of Bright Dairy, said. "From the first day when Danone entered Guangming, it hopes to have Guangming in the end." It can be considered that the 15 years of the joint venture with Danone is the 15 years when Wang Jiafen competed with Danone for the controlling stake on behalf of Guangming. "Danone is dividing up our wealth. Don't expect Danone to bring you core technologies and grow your national brand with you, even though it has made promises." The voice from Wahaha was even sharper. What they describe is a unique multinational company from France that has been in China for 20 years.It goes hand in hand with almost all the best companies in China's dairy beverage industry. In 2006, Mengniu and Huiyuan were added to its "family members".It does not have the popular products of its competitors Nestle and Coca-Cola, nor does it have the domineering power of Procter & Gamble in the daily chemical industry. It is lurking, probing, and harvesting. In the past 20 years, no multinational company has been able to hide so deeply, but this does not prevent it from becoming one of the most profitable multinational companies in China.

In 2006, the French Danone Group's global sales were 14 billion euros.Since 2005, China has become Danone's third largest sales country after France, Spain and the Canary Islands. In 2006, China contributed 1.4 billion euros to Danone's revenue, and it has achieved its goal of "making the Chinese market account for 10% of its global business by 2006" a few years ago.In Danone's plan, in 2010, this proportion will reach 20%.Zhu Xinli, chairman of Huiyuan Group, China's largest juice maker, who recently joined the "Danone family", judged this that "it may be faster".

On January 23, 2007, amid accusations from the outside world that "Danone cleans up Robust employees on a large scale and intends to eliminate national brands", Emmanuel Faber, President of Danone Asia Pacific, and Qin Peng, Chairman of Danone China, accepted a meeting in Shanghai. An exclusive interview with "Chinese Entrepreneur". Danone, which has always been low-key and sneaky, may have felt a chill this spring.It needs to defend itself in some ways that weren't planned. Fan Yimou said that currently none of the western companies in China is as focused on the Chinese market as Danone is, and China has become one of Danone's largest markets outside of France. "In the past, we have continuously developed partners in China, established good cooperative relations, and sought growth through cooperation. We will also seek more cooperation in China." He said that supporting this plan will not only realize the current bright future , Wahaha, Robust, Meilin Zhengguanghe, Huiyuan and Mengniu and other "family members".Danone's capital is eyeing every Chinese company that has become or will become a leader in the dairy beverage industry.

At present, no one may think that Danone will form a monopoly in China's dairy beverage industry, and it is hard to imagine that famous names such as Mengniu, Guangming, and Wahaha will disappear like Panda, Longqi, and Vitality 28 in the daily chemical industry. The prototype of the industry that China has built in 20 years has made the person who made this judgment hesitate. In March 2007, Zong Qinghou, who came to Beijing to participate in the "two sessions", summed up his 10-year joint venture career with Danone with "nothing but money". The top three companies in various industries and their holdings of these leading and backbone companies have led to many important industries or leading companies being controlled by them. These foreign capitals use their holding positions to withdraw as soon as they say it, directly threatening the development of related industries and the national economy. Safety."

From He Boquan, the founder of Robust, to Wang Jiafen and Zong Qinghou, the attitude of the "partners" has become more and more tough.Next, you will hear the voices from Danone's new "partners" Huiyuan and Mengniu. I believe you will become more relaxed.They are calm and patient.They will no longer sell their shares at a low price like Wahaha, nor are they willing to sell their control at a high price like He Boquan.The calmness and the toughness behind are the real toughness. In the past 20 years, Danone has kept the hunter's silence and tried its best not to reveal itself. Now that capital is pouring into China like a tide, it no longer has as much time to maneuver and infiltrate. It must speed up its pace.Its breathing will startle more people.

After hastily opening shares to Danone a few years ago, the constant conflicts and disappointments made local entrepreneurs feel remorse and anger. At an annual meeting of the China Beverage Association, Zong Qinghou emphasized that national enterprises and national brands must not be open to foreign investment. "It can't be opened, so you gave up the shares to others in 1996?" Zhu Xinli revealed his "shortcoming".Zong Qinghou's color suddenly changed. "When he mentions cooperation with Danone, he is not happy." Zhu Xinli said. Zong Qinghou's anger has been around for a long time, and he has never concealed it. In 2006, Frank Rieb, CEO of Danone Group, visited China and praised Zong Qinghou to the media as "a very outstanding entrepreneur".

In 1996, Frank Rieb succeeded his father as CEO of Danone Group.In the same year, Danone invested 43 million US dollars to establish five joint ventures with Wahaha, and Danone obtained 51% of the equity.That was the ninth year that Danone entered China, and Wahaha was the fourth Chinese company it entered.At that time, Wahaha's sales were only more than one billion yuan.Currently, Wahaha has more than 80 subsidiaries, including more than 40 joint ventures with Danone. In 2006, Wahaha's revenue was 18.5 billion yuan, and Danone accounted for nearly half of it. “We were not short of money when we started the joint venture,” said a Wahaha executive, who did not want to reveal her name or identity. “We hoped to get support from Danone’s core technology, not capital assistance.” In her It seems that Danone never gave what Wahaha dreamed of. "The terms of the agreement state that Danone will provide technical assistance free of charge, but in fact there is none at all. You only need to look at our product structure to make it clear: if there is, we would have already had yogurt." She said that Danone will also provide some advice , such as a bottle-shaped design, but "you can't actually use it".She believes that it is impossible to obtain core technology from Danone. "It's not only Danone, but also 'Two Les (Pepsi and Coca-Cola)'. Whether it has been done or not done at all, the final result is that it has not been done well. Whether to do it or not is a matter of principle, and whether it is good or not becomes a matter of ability.” From this, she concluded that foreigners have more national consciousness than us.

The executive said that Danone has strong research and development capabilities, and Wahaha had hoped that Danone would develop new products for it. Danone is not helping in the slightest.In her opinion, Danone's research on water is very sophisticated, and its analysis of water quality and market has been extremely detailed. Danone's "Eyun" water has reached a certain level in the world, but Danone still maintains the same quality in China. oriented competition.The information about the new product "Coffee Cola" was obtained by Zong Qinghou after he visited Europe, and the European market of "Coffee Cola" is actually "mainly in France". "We don't want Danone to give us ready-made products, but since it is a family, it should at least provide us with information about new technologies in a timely manner."

"If Danone doesn't pay attention to us, then you look at the light, and you haven't got it. Danone's yogurt-free refrigeration technology has been successfully developed in Europe, and the product is easy to sell, but we can't see it in China." She analyzed: "It will not make your brand disappear, but it will not help you to co-create. You create wealth and it divides it up. If you fail, it will use other methods, such as Robust. Its ultimate The purpose is to control your brand and turn it into a Chinese name with Danone blood in it.” For 10 years, Danone has been hoping to expand its stake in Wahaha. "It turns out that our scale is small, and its requirements are not so urgent. In 2006, we had the largest growth rate, with sales of 18.5 billion yuan, and the profit growth exceeded sales growth for the first time. Now should be the time when Danone's requirements are strongest. ’” said the executive.

Wang Jiafen also feels the strong demand from Danone all the time. From a person who warmly embraced Danone at first, she becomes cautious, suspicious and preoccupied. In 1992, Wang Jiafen became the general manager of Guangming Group. Danone, who had been talking with Guangming for two years, got his wish. "We don't lose a penny. Why can't we combine old places, workshops, and equipment with others?" For this reason, Danone "likes Wang Jiafen very much" (Wang Jiafen's words).Wang Jiafen, who visited Danone's headquarters that year, was strongly shocked. She admitted that she had "rarely seen such a big company" before, and that her communication with Danone made her "blush" for her conservative ideas.Wang was deeply impressed by Danone's corporate philosophy of "only be the first and the second, not the third".During the two-week visit, she saw "how a world-class enterprise develops". In 1994, Bright and Danone established a second joint venture project.

Danone sees hope from this Chinese entrepreneur who has just opened his eyes.Danone finally became a shareholder of Bright in 2001, holding 5% of the shares, on the condition that Bright acquired three dairy companies of Danone in China (including Guangzhou Yogurt and two joint ventures with Bright).In Wang Jiafen's view, Qin Peng, chairman of Danone China, is almost unscrupulous in his efforts to increase his holdings in Bright.Danone was reluctant to hand over its brand to Guangming at first, and was negotiating with Bright to acquire a joint venture project.The news that Bright was undergoing shareholding restructuring and was preparing to go public made Danone quickly suspend the negotiation and instead proposed to become a shareholder of Bright.Wang Jiafen realized that Danone's strategy for Guangming has turned into capital entry.As of 2006, Danone has held 20.01% of Bright’s shares through three increases in shareholding, including the 2006 Share Separation Reform in which Danone acquired the joint largest shareholder of Bright Dairy, Shanghai Milk Group and Shanghai Industrial Food Holdings. 8.46% of the shares.Danone became the second largest shareholder of Bright Dairy. Wang Jiafen is powerless to change this situation, for Guangming, she is just a manager.Her ideal is to "do a good job in Guangming" and make it a "Chinese company with international competitiveness" rather than a subsidiary of a multinational company.Qin Peng has been telling Wang Jiafen about the internationalization of the brand, such as "Whose brand is Coca-Cola, it's hard to say", Wang thinks Qin is "softening" her. "We don't want to be eaten by it (Danone)." Under the existing system, the competition between Wang and Danone has not received strong support. “Entrepreneurs in rapid development are very painful,” Wang Jiafen told “Chinese Entrepreneur” in 2003. “In the end, everyone is offended, and you don’t think it’s interesting.” On December 18, 2006, Danone and Mengniu Dairy announced a joint investment of US$100 million to form a joint venture yogurt company, with Danone holding 49% of the shares.Wang Jiafen told "Chinese Entrepreneur" that she got the news only a little earlier than media reports.You can imagine her displeasure. "Foreigners in China like to play this kind of game very much. People on both sides feel very angry, and he maximizes his interests." "We definitely can't accept it if we change it." The executive from Wahaha said. "It can obtain the data of two competing companies, control the core secrets, and guide both parties. It is logically unreasonable. I don't think either party (Mengniu and Bright) is comfortable." In 2000, Danone acquired Le After Baishi, Wahaha has already tasted it. "We have always held our sovereignty firmly in our hands," the executive said. "If Wahaha was like Robust, it would be sad now. Back then Wahaha and Robust were basically on the same level. Now Wahaha's 18.5 billion yuan business Take it, Robust is still more than a billion." In 2003, Wang Jiafen predicted to "Chinese Entrepreneur" that Guangming's problem would be resolved in a few years, "but it's best not to lose sight of me at that time." During the writing process of this report, Wang Jiafen resigned as the president of Guangming Dairy. The manager's message came.For Danone, this should not be bad news. Danone said, "We never force others to cooperate with us, and no one ever forces Danone to cooperate with them." As we might imagine, Danone's approach to the media is cautious and restrained.Perhaps because of being a Chinese, Qin Peng's attitude is more relaxed than Fan Yimou, President of Danone Asia.That's all.During the interview, the Frenchman Fan Yimou signaled Qin Peng several times not to talk to us alone, he needs to know the whole conversation through an interpreter. Compared with our entrepreneurs before the media, multinational companies appear to be standardized and disciplined.This is not what the media likes, but perhaps it is what a company should have.They rarely respond to other people's judgments about them, even if it sounds like it's going too far.They only talk about themselves and what they want to do, otherwise, they would rather not say a word. The executive at Wahaha believes that, on the one hand, this is because Danone has a different culture from ours and they are more mature; on the other hand, “they don’t participate in our management, they don’t bear any pressure, and they only enjoy wealth distribution, which is really not good. Talk." She reminded that foreigners are very polite about diplomacy, but in the end they are "not polite". The conversation started with Robust.The company, which was acquired by Danone in 2000 with a 92% stake, reported losses and substantial layoffs one after another.Contrary to what Wahaha executives said, in Qin Peng’s view, Wahaha and Robust were not on the same starting line back then, because Wahaha’s market was mainly in second-tier cities and rural areas, while Robust focused on cities, so “the two companies In some people's minds, the positions are very similar", and people may even feel that Robust is bigger, but it is actually the opposite.Qin Peng believed that putting Wahaha and Robust together was "a very effective way for Mr. Zong to mobilize the enthusiasm of the team and create pressure". "There are some very interesting stories in the development process of a company. Even if it doesn't fully reflect the facts, it doesn't have to be bluntly restored to its original colors. This is not important." Fan Yimou admits that Robust has problems, and they are "deep-rooted, and cannot be solved by just introducing brands and technologies."According to Fan, the main difficulty faced by Robust is the incompatibility between the company's own culture and Danone's culture, which he emphasized is not "personnel". "Take a step back," Qin Peng said, "When Danone took a stake in Robust, one of the most important assets it valued was not only the team, equipment, and performance at the time, but also the brand. Danone does not It may wipe out a large asset that has invested a lot of energy and cost." This reason certainly cannot convince the Wahaha executive, because she believes that "it will not be eliminated but it will not help you develop." "We admit that not every joint venture is successful, but we still have great confidence in Robust. It stands to reason that a company stagnates for several years in the development process, and there are many in the Chinese beverage industry. We do not take this as a Excuses.” Qin Peng explained the Robust issue the most, which shows the pressure this “partner” has brought to Danone. Fan Yimou said that Danone has brought advanced technology and marketing models to China's dairy beverage industry.He walked out of the reception room, and when he came back, he had an extra bottle of "Pulse" and a bottle of "Biyou" yogurt in his hand.Regarding the technology that the Wahaha executive was most concerned about, neither Fan nor Qin talked further.Fan just repeatedly emphasized these two products. "There is also the 'Nutrition Express' jointly developed by us and Wahaha." "He's lying." The Wahaha executive told Chinese Entrepreneur. "'Nutrition Express' is completely developed by ourselves." Cheng Shaoshan, an analyst at Hejun Entrepreneurship, disapproved of the executive's persistent pursuit of technical issues.He believes that the core competitiveness of this industry is not obvious, and the key lies in brand and marketing rather than technology. "Danone is bringing the latest technology to China. The price is so high. Is there a market? It's only half a step ahead." But the executive seems to mean that Danone has the ability to help Chinese companies get out of low-level competition. But it doesn't do that. Then I talked about control with Qin Peng.Does Danone hope to achieve the best state of cooperation is to hold or even turn the partner into a wholly-owned subsidiary?Most of Danone's partners in China believe that it is its nature to be an exporter of industrial capital. "We hope to bring benefits to both sides through our investment." Qin Peng said. "The agreement we reached with Bright is also very clear. Danone brings assets to Bright in exchange for equity in Bright, and there is no question of who has control of the company." Fan Yimou said. "Danone has never attempted to hold Bright Dairy." Qin Peng said. "When we cooperated with Huiyuan or other partners, we did not say that we must buy most of the shares." Fan Yimou said. On February 23, after Huiyuan Juice was listed in Hong Kong, Danone exercised its pre-emptive right to increase its stake in the latter to 24.32%. Yang Wenjun, the current president of Mengniu, confirmed to us that during the negotiation process, Danone expressed that it wanted to take a controlling stake, but Mengniu did not agree after "several discussions". "He (Qin Peng) definitely wants to (hold shares), and I can see it even if he didn't say it." Zhu Xinli said. "The fear of being acquired should no longer exist in China when it goes to the world today." Qin Peng said. "There is no right or wrong in national economicism, we don't comment on whether it is right or not. As the world is getting smaller and smaller, there is me in you, and you in me. The most important thing is whether you can find a partner to create value together." "After 20 years of development in China, can we still say that Danone is a foreign company?" Fan Yimou asked. Danone's argument has supporters in China. "Who do you think General Motors is owned by? We can buy its shares in the US market now, so what?" said Jiao Zhen, president of CDH Investment.But in the eyes of many Chinese entrepreneurs (including Danone's partners), General Motors and Coca-Cola are ultimately American companies, just as Danone is French. In 2005, rumors that PepsiCo wanted to acquire Danone for 30 billion euros aroused opposition from top to bottom in France. The French Prime Minister publicly stated to the French public that he had assured Danone CEO Franck Riboud that the government Will do everything possible "to protect the interests of French Danone and ensure the future of French Danone in France". "Danone is a listed company, and our chairman has never said anything against being acquired. If the shareholders agree, he can't object. We don't comment on other people's reactions." Qin Peng said. He is quite sensitive to "monopoly".When we asked Danone if it adopted the same strategy of continuously cooperating with leading companies in the industry as it did in China in other countries, we got his affirmation.He then pointed out that it is impossible to form a monopoly in the FMCG industry. "If you look at China as a country, it is a big mistake to compare it with a country like Belgium. China is definitely not a country. China is a continent. Regardless of its area or population, it is a continent. It is not impossible to have a partner , is it maximizing the interests of shareholders? Absolutely not.” "We have never forced any partner to cooperate with us, and no one has ever forced Danone to cooperate with it." Fan Yimou said. In the twelfth year of acquisitions in China, Danone, which has always been strong, began to learn to compromise, which allowed him to obtain greater benefits. "We work with successful entrepreneurs in China, and sometimes we find that they are in the early stages of success and have some strong character traits. Without these traits, they would not be able to succeed in China. So, our principle is that we must We would rather choose a very strong partner than someone with a weak personality, or one who bows to us and always says 'yes, yes'," Fan Yimou said.He cited Wahaha as an example. "We own 51% of the shares in Wahaha, and we have the majority in the board of directors, but from the first day of cooperation, we decided to hand over the management right to Zong Zong. Judging from today, we made the right decision at the beginning. decision." As you might expect, Wahaha's executive voice will sound again: "This is not true." She said that Danone's non-participation in Wahaha's management is the prerequisite for the joint venture between the two. "Danone does not give up rights, but cannot change the agreement." She confirmed that Zong Qinghou once told Danone: You take the money away, and the agreement can be terminated. Wahaha and Danone entered into a joint venture in 1996.Compared with Robust, which was acquired by Danone in 2000, the executive cannot help admiring Zong Qinghou's "foresight".Wahaha is not a joint venture with Danone for a certain product, but a branch of the product in various places.The same is to produce mineral water, Hebei's Wahaha Company has a joint venture with Danone, but Henan's may not.Moreover, Danone rents Wahaha's brand and needs to pay.In every Wahaha subsidiary that is a joint venture with Danone, Danone holds 51% of the shares, and the composition of the board of directors is also Danone accounting for 3 and Wahaha accounting for 2.However, the contract stipulates that if a vote results in a 3 to 2 situation, one of the three people must be from Wahaha, otherwise it will not pass. Wahaha's sales in 2006 were 18.5 billion yuan, and the executive estimated that Danone may account for nearly half.This is a significant proportion of Danone's 1.186 billion euros in sales revenue in China.Therefore, in the face of Zong Qinghou who speaks out loud, Danone's tolerance is completely understandable. If what the executive said is true, then it is indeed not a pleasant thing to be "divided" of more and more wealth without getting the technology. "He (Zong Qinghou) regretted it, but there is no legal way to do it. Tens of millions of dollars have been controlled by others. Now, if you give Danone hundreds of millions of dollars, it may not be sold." A person familiar with Zong Qinghou entrepreneurs said. In 1996, Danone met the impatient Wahaha, and in 2000, it met the even more impatient Robust. In 2006, it met the patient Huiyuan and Mengniu. Zhu Xinli and Niu Gensheng are very clear about what they want and what the other party can give, so they are calm, so it is hard to imagine that they will look at Danone in a few years. "For foreign capital, all partners are transitional. We will cooperate with you when it is still useful, and we will definitely not cooperate with you when it is useless." Zhu Xinli said.It is very obvious that the initiative is now in Zhu Xinli's hands.Qin Peng talked with Zhu Xinli for three years, and it was only one of Zhu's many choices.What Zhu Xinli needs most is money, and what Danone needs is the market share of juice (Danone itself does not have this product).In addition to Danone, there are also "Two Le", Uni-President and many financial investors who are rich. Only Huiyuan has the largest market share in the juice market in China. In the board of directors of the joint venture company, Danone and Warburg Pincus, which entered Huiyuan at the same time, each have one seat, and Huiyuan has three seats.Zhu believes that no matter what, his strong position in the board of directors will not change.During the six months of the joint venture, Qin Peng sometimes made some suggestions, and Zhu would tease him: Come on, you, if you have the ability, go to Robust.Zhu Xinli's character cannot accept other people's "pointing fingers". Zhu Xinli is not worried that Danone will repeat the story between Guangming and Mengniu in Huiyuan. "Competition is good. If I were Danone, I would also like to invest in another company and let them compete and compare." In the contract, Zhu did not ask Danone not to find another partner of the same type as Huiyuan. value comes".Huiyuan's situation in the fruit juice industry is not the same as that of Guangming in the dairy industry, so his tone may be relaxed. On this basis, Zhu Xinli has no hostility towards Danone. "People take the money and give you so many suggestions. Why? You can't use other people's money and say that you don't need it. When you are unhappy, think about the good. If you measure it comprehensively, you will have a sense of satisfaction and happiness. " After Huiyuan, Mengniu and Danone jointly established a yogurt company.The two have been talking for more than a year. "Our joint venture principle is that we must find the best company in this industry, and must hold a controlling stake." Yang Wenjun told "Chinese Entrepreneur". "The Chinese know the Chinese market best. If it is in France, we can let Danone take control." In a joint venture with Danone, Mengniu aims to increase its share of the yogurt market.According to the contract, Danone will apply the new technology of yogurt to the new company, and Mengniu will be responsible for the distribution channels. Danone's yogurt production in China will eventually be attributed to the joint venture.Yang Wenjun couldn't understand Wahaha's anger: "I don't know what they talked about at the beginning. If Danone didn't bring the technology over, they wouldn't be able to make new yogurt products. What is it for?" In the past twelve years, Danone's acquisition genes have been best reproduced in China, which lacks the support of the capital market. "The past 20 years in China have been an incredible development process for us." Fan Yimou told "Chinese Entrepreneur": "We have established partnerships with some companies in China, and these companies when we first entered China It doesn’t even exist.” At present, 30,000 employees work for Danone in China, accounting for one-third of its global workforce. Fan Yimou has been in Danone for 10 years and is very familiar with Danone's not-so-long history. "Danone started as a company from the beginning of cooperation." 40 years ago, the Spaniard Daniel Carasso (Daniel Carasso) who created the Danone yogurt brand and Antoine Riboud (Danone's current CEO Frank Reeb's father) to found Danone (from Daniel Carasso's nickname), which would become the world's largest yogurt company.Now, Daniel Carrasso is over 100 years old and still holds non-administrative positions at Danone, working every day in the office of Danone headquarters in Paris. In 2005, he had been to Shanghai. "Danone has a culture of mergers in its blood," Qin Peng said. "It's just like that. We have two joint venture biscuit companies in such a small country as Pakistan." In 1987, Danone and a local company in Guangzhou jointly established a yogurt company, and Qin Peng was the first general manager.He recalled that in China at that time, there were no spoons and straws for drinking yogurt.Danone brought yogurt to China, but it failed to flourish in China like Coca-Cola. "Although we made yogurt earlier, it was absolutely right in 2000. There was a process of cultivation. If we hadn't made yogurt back then, we might not have gained a lot of experience." Qin Peng said.Although Danone told "Chinese Entrepreneur" that the Guangzhou yogurt business had been profitable before it was handed over to Bright Dairy (Bright said that Danone's yogurt had been losing money before), it will certainly not be satisfied with the expansion speed of this product in China. In 1992, Danone arrived in Shanghai and opened the window of the world to a woman named Wang Jiafen.Danone urgently needed a breakthrough, but the light at the time was obviously not. In 1993, Qin Peng became the president of Danone China. It is said that his predecessor gave the old rival Kraft Foods a head start in the negotiations with Beijing Huaguan Foods.Facts have proved that this Chinese who has lived in France for many years is very important to Danone's "cooperation" strategy in China. More importantly, he met the right moment. In 1992, banks issued large-scale loans to enterprises, followed by the liquidation of triangular debts in 1993 and 1994. Money tightened, financing channels were blocked, and a large number of enterprises died.Zhu Xinli founded Huiyuan in 1992.At this time, Danone should start to feel how easy it is to implant its genes into Chinese enterprises. In 1996, Danone successively completed the acquisition of Wuhan Dongxihu Beer, Shenzhen Yili Food Company (Yili Mineral Water Producer) and the joint venture with Wahaha. After the acquisition of Robust in 2000, Danone's global strategy became clearer and was quickly transmitted to China.It successively sold profitable beer and condiment businesses, focusing on biscuits, water and dairy products. In 2001, Wang Jiafen agreed to Danone's joint venture yogurt company in exchange for a 5% stake in Guangming.If this is a complete plan (ultimately aimed at expanding equity), Danone's patience is indeed frightening. Three years later, Fan Yimou was transferred from the chief financial officer of Danone to the president of Asia.His task is to "continue to strengthen Danone's business in China and ensure Danone's sustainable growth in China".This year, Danone acquired a 50% stake in Meilin Zhengguanghe. In 2006, Huiyuan and Mengniu joined. From 2004 to 2006, Danone's sales in China increased by 30%. The lagging local financial system is still helping Danone to expand its territory to some extent.Li Tuchun, chairman of the board of directors of Taizi Milk Group, which recently received a joint investment of US$73 million (purchasing a 30% stake) from three investment banks including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Actis, believes that the lending terms of domestic banks clearly discriminate against small and medium-sized enterprises.Zhu Xinli, who was able to get a loan from the bank, was also dissatisfied. "The financing channels of Chinese enterprises are very narrow. There are no investors, and they basically rely on banks, which are greatly affected by policies. Banks give you 100 million today, and tomorrow they will take away another 100 million. Chinese private enterprises have no choice but to go this way ( Like Mengniu, they have to engage in a 'vs. gambling' agreement." Zhu believes that China has 1 trillion US dollars of foreign exchange reserves, and it is entirely possible to spend 100 billion or 50 billion of them to support small and medium-sized enterprises, but unfortunately, There is no such mechanism.All Zhu Xinli can get from banks are short-term loans. "The bank only gives you one year, and it can only be used for 11 months. When it is less than 11 months, you have to get the money quickly, and then approve it in the next year. Enterprises buy land, build factories, buy equipment, It takes 5 years for a brand to make a market. How much does this affect you? Enterprises dare not develop.” After Danone entered, Huiyuan received an 8-year loan of 70 million US dollars from ABN Amro. "Whether it's Mengniu or us (Huiyuan), the people who cooperated with us have made tens of times and hundreds of times and left." Zhu Xinli said. But the situation has changed.Li Tuchun said that before the investment bank entered, some international industrial capital was willing to buy 51% of the equity of Prince Milk with 6 billion yuan in cash and exchange the remaining 49% with the stock of a listed company in the United States.Between industrial capital and financial capital, Li Tuchun chose the latter because he wanted to "control the direction of enterprise development."Compared with Wahaha, Li has more choices, and compared with Robust, Li has more "ethnic complex". Qin Peng competed with Wang Jiafen for 15 years, and talked with Huiyuan for 3 years. According to him, every negotiation and cooperation can write a book.Now, does he still have so much time to spend his "comprador" career calmly? It took only one year for Danone to switch from Guangming to Mengniu.You want 51%?Well, I'll start with 49%.Zhu Xinli thinks this is a "smart choice". Maybe Danone doesn't think so.Gaining speed doesn't necessarily mean losing patience. On the seventh day after the interview, Danone officially "kicked" away its joint venture partners in Japan for 27 years and 14 years respectively - Japanese food manufacturing giant Ajinomoto and Japanese beverage giant Calpis, Previously, these two companies owned 20% and 30% of the equity of the joint venture company "Ajinomoto Calpis Danone". Similar to the past Guangming and Wahaha, and now Huiyuan and Mengniu, they once created Danone's strength in the local market. Brilliant record. In the past two years, Danone has continued to make new moves in the Asia-Pacific market. Whether it is an emerging, developing or mature dairy market, Danone has always been very active. In April 2005, Danone partnered with Japanese dairy company Yakult Honsha to develop the Indian market.The two parties have previously carried out mutually beneficial cooperation in Russia, Vietnam and other places. On January 23, 2007, Danone cooperated with Mill, the largest local dairy company in Thailand, to produce and sell fresh dairy products.Bernard Hours, vice president of Danone, said that Danone hopes to quickly open up markets in different countries, rather than just maintaining the status quo. The Thai market has great potential and will benefit Danone. On January 31, Danone newly established a Japanese wholly-owned company and repurchased 50% of the shares of the two major shareholders in the previous joint venture company "Ajinomoto Calpis Danone".Squeezing away the two giants, Danone did not tear itself apart: Ajinomoto is still Danone's exclusive distributor in Japan, and Calpis will continue to supply fresh milk raw materials for Danone.Urs, executive vice president of Danone's Fresh Dairy Products Department, said: "The acquisition of all the equity this time shows that Danone Group wants to strengthen its strategy in the Asian dairy market."