One day in 1984, at the Capital International Airport in Yanjing, a few middle-aged men in suits stood anxiously by the immigration channel, one of whom, looking like a leader, kept checking his watch. Despite the not-so-high temperature inside the airport, beads of sweat appeared on his nose.
"Still not here?" He glanced at his watch again and couldn't help but complain to the young man holding the sign.
The young man, startled by the question, took the opportunity to lower the sign he had been holding for a long time. He rubbed his sore shoulders and replied with a hint of sarcasm:
"Mr. Lu, the announcement hasn't even said the flight has arrived yet. Can't we find a place to rest? I've been holding this sign for half a day, and my back is about to break!"
"Hey! How can you talk like that? It's only been a few minutes, and you're already complaining! Back in the day, when I went to the countryside, I had to carry hundreds of pounds of firewood every day! I never complained, but you're already whining. Tsk, what's wrong with you..." The leader, surnamed Lu, rolled his eyes and started lecturing the young man non-stop.
The young man lowered his head, pretending to be humble. But in his heart, he began to refute the leader's words, word by word.
"What good is it to talk about the past? If you're so capable, go carry hundreds of pounds of firewood now! Look at you, fat and greasy! You're just a fool, fawning over foreign guests like a lackey, and only showing off in front of your own people! Bah!"
He could never say these words out loud, so he could only fantasize about it in his mind.
The fat and greasy leader talked for a long time, seeing the young man's head hanging low and his dejected look, he thought he had lectured enough. His mouth was dry, so he pointed to the semi-reclining chairs in the rest area and said with an authoritative tone:
"Everyone, let's rest for half an hour. Xiao Zhong, go buy some water!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the other people, who had been maintaining a dignified appearance, all heaved a sigh of relief and headed for the rest area, disregarding their image. One of them even untied his tie as he walked, as if it were a noose.
As soon as they sat down, they eagerly took out cigarettes and started smoking, ignoring the other passengers nearby who covered their noses and fled from the area. The few of them didn't care and even puffed out more smoke from their nostrils.
The leader, surnamed Lu, stood in the same spot, watching their behavior with dissatisfaction. He grumbled, "They're really useless. How can they receive foreign guests like this?"
He turned his gaze and saw a hand in front of him. It was Xiao Zhong, whom he had asked to buy water.
"What are you doing? Begging for money?" He slapped the hand away, displeased.
"Director, I really need money! You don't know how expensive things are at the airport. A bottle of water costs five yuan. I'm a poor student, and I don't have that much money. I don't even know if it can be reimbursed!" Xiao Zhong laughed and said, somewhat embarrassed.
"Hmph! Here, take it!" The leader took out his wallet, counted out four "Steelworker" (5 yuan) bills, and handed them to Xiao Zhong, adding, "Don't forget to get a receipt!"
Twenty yuan was no small amount, even for a director at the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC).
CITIC was founded five years ago, under the advocacy and support of the Chinese leadership, by Mr. Rong Renyi, known as the "Red Capitalist." In its early days, it was seen as a window for opening up to the outside world.
CITIC's registered capital was 200 million RMB, and its board included many capitalists who had survived the industrial and commercial reforms, as well as some patriotic entrepreneurs who were gaining prominence in Hong Kong and Macau.
In 1980, CITIC and Japan's Oriental Leasing formed a joint venture, CITIC Oriental Leasing, to open up the financial leasing market to foreign capital.
In 1982, CITIC hired Nomura Securities, Japan's largest brokerage firm, to successfully issue a 12-year Samurai Bond with an annual interest rate of 8.7%, raising 10 billion yen. This was the first time China had issued an overseas bond.
A Samurai Bond is a foreign bond issued in the Japanese bond market, denominated in yen. Similarly, a foreign bond issued in the U.S. bond market, denominated in dollars, is called a Yankee Bond, and one issued in the British market, denominated in pounds, is called a Bulldog Bond.
"Samurai," "Yankee," and "Bulldog" represent the three most developed countries.
It wasn't until 2005 that China first approved a financial institution to issue bonds in the interbank bond market, gradually opening up the bond market to foreign institutions. Bonds issued in China by foreign institutions, denominated in RMB, are called Panda Bonds.
Returning to the main topic, when Xiao Zhong, who had been running errands, rushed back with four bottles of mineral water, the group had already smoked several rounds, and the filters were scattered all over the floor.
They were smoking imported cigarettes, as domestic cigarettes mostly didn't have filters at the time. Being able to smoke Da Qianmen was already a matter of pride, and these few were smoking "Liangyou" and "Hilton."
Working in a company that frequently dealt with foreigners, they naturally had access to rare foreign cigarettes. At a time when most of the country was still using food and oil coupons, the middle and upper management of CITIC could already frequent foreign restaurants.
At this time, the reform and opening-up policy had only been in place for a few years, and the top management of CITIC had already begun to frequently interact with the international financial community. They often invited prominent financial figures from Western countries to China to teach about international financial markets.
The entire country was eager to learn from the advanced aspects of Western capitalism.
Four years ago, Yanjing University, the top university in China, had the honor of inviting Theodore Schultz, the Nobel laureate in economics from the previous year, to lecture on the Chicago School of Economics, which was highly regarded in the West. Schultz himself had long focused on agricultural economics and the development of agriculture-based economies, and was known as the "Father of Human Capital" in Western economics.
Embarrassingly, it was difficult to find someone at Yanjing University who was both proficient in Western economics and had good English interpretation skills. Out of necessity, a student surnamed Lin, who had fled from the other side of the strait, was asked to be Schultz's interpreter.
No one could have predicted that Schultz would take a liking to this student and accept him as a disciple. Two years later, the student graduated from Yanjing University with a master's degree and then went to the University of Chicago, the holy land of economics, to pursue a Ph.D.
Several years later, the student returned to China and founded the China Economic Research Center at Yanjing University, making significant contributions to the research, teaching, and policy-making of economics in China.
Besides Yanjing University, other prestigious universities also invited a large number of international elites to teach in China. Some of these Chinese elites even recommended and sponsored a large number of Chinese students to study at prestigious foreign universities.
Among them were the famous Chinese economist Gregory Chow and the Nobel laureate Tsung-Dao Lee.
Through their recommendations and sponsorships, a large number of mainland students were able to study abroad, and most of them successfully obtained degrees. Some later returned to the mainland and nurtured a new generation of students.
This was the best of times!
Xiao Zhong was a student at Yanjing University, and he was just a sophomore. Because of his fluent English and familiarity with financial knowledge, he was assigned by the university administration to receive an American financier named Ray Dalio at CITIC.
As soon as he approached the group, the water bottles were snatched away. Watching the officials gulp down the water, he swallowed hard and pointed to the sign with "Mr. Ray Dalio" on it, asking:
"Director, who is this Ray Dalio?"
"Who cares! We just need to get him and go back. This job is not for humans!" The fat and bald leader drank the mineral water in one go, burped contentedly, and slowly replied.
Among the group, only he was a director, so Xiao Zhong's "Director" was addressing him, and the others didn't dare to answer.
Xiao Zhong stopped asking and pretended to doze off in the chair.
In China, there was a peculiar phenomenon: leaders in state-owned enterprises also had administrative ranks, a typical case of the separation of government and enterprise. Some officials could transform from administrative positions to become the top leaders of enterprises, and some enterprise leaders eventually entered the political arena.
The reform and opening-up policy had only been in place for a few years. The country had just abolished the people's commune system in rural areas and implemented the household contract responsibility system, significantly increasing farmers' income. Private enterprises were still in their infancy, and the famous "Foolish Melon Seeds" had only recently obtained a national trademark.
Why mention "Foolish Melon Seeds"? Because this snack brand reflected the impact of the policy on private enterprises. "Foolish Melon Seeds" and its founder, Nian Guangjiu, were a barometer of the times.
At this time, the Chinese financial market was just beginning to take shape. The first securities trading business would not start for another two years. Before that, only some state-owned enterprises could conduct financial activities in the international market.
"Attention, passengers, the US flight from New York to Beijing, flight USรรรร, will arrive in 15 minutes. Thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention, please." Just as the group was dozing off, the airport announcement rang out, waking them up. The five of them quickly tidied up, put on smiles, and stood still in front of the immigration channel.
Soon, a tall, middle-aged white man with brown eyes pushed a suitcase out. He was wearing a white shirt and khaki pants, and he walked straight to the group, extending his hand.