2024-09-27
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indonesia's "manufacturing king", a famous patriotic overseas chinese leader, and the winner of indonesia's "national construction merit award"... these are lin wenguang's identity "tags". the maspion group he founded together with his father lin xueshan is now one of the largest diversified enterprise groups in indonesia.
as a representative of indonesia's manufacturing industry, lin wenguang also has a very important identity - the general chairman of the india-china business council. over the years, lin wenguang has worked hard to promote exchanges between china and indonesia. september 24th to 28th, the 21st china-the asean expo (hereinafter referred to as the china-asean expo) was held in nanning, guangxi. lin wenguang and jinfeng group also participated in the china-asean expo. the purpose of his trip is to examine the possibility of investment in guangxi and at the same time encourage more chinese companies to invest and build factories in indonesia.
on september 25, a reporter from "daily economic news" interviewed lin wenguang in nanning. lin wenguang had an in-depth dialogue with reporters on the opportunities for chinese companies in indonesia, the prospects for bilateral cooperation between china and indonesia, and his personal investment plan in china.
lin wenguang photo source: photo by reporter chen pengli
lin wenguang was born in surabaya, indonesia, in 1951, and his ancestral home is fuqing, fujian. in the 1930s and 1940s, his father lin xueshan traveled to indonesia and started from scratch. starting from running a family workshop, he became the "aluminum king of southeast asia". in 1971, when jinfeng group was established, lin wenguang was only 20 years old. now, jinfeng group has developed into a diversified enterprise with branches in singapore, china, japan, canada and other places, and is involved in industry, finance (banking) industry, real estate and other industries. lin wenguang has also served as chairman and president of jinfeng group since 1971.
the following is the discussion between lin wenguang and the reporter of "daily economic news" (hereinafter referred to as nbd) on september 25conversation record (1)：
NBD：how many times have you participated in the china-asean expo? can you talk about your experience attending the conference?
lin wenguang:i participated in the exhibition for the first time more than ten years ago, and this is the second time. my biggest feeling is that the china-asean expo is getting bigger and better. we are from indonesia and we are very grateful to my colleagues for doing a good job in our exhibition hall. our products are diverse. jinfeng group has more than 10,000 products, all of which are of top (best) quality. we have our own industrial park and dock. last year, indonesian president joko widodo visited jinfeng group; 10 years ago, in 2013, then indonesian president susilo bambang yudhoyono also visited jinfeng group. i think the next president, prabowo subianto, will also come. because we have a very good and harmonious relationship with the trade union, we can create job opportunities and create a harmonious working environment for workers.
NBD：the outside world has been talking about your entrepreneurial story and life experience. you have always been committed to promoting business and cultural exchanges between china and indonesia through various forms. are you willing to spend time and energy to contribute to exchanges between china and indonesia? what is your motivation?
lin wenguang:i am an entrepreneur born and raised in indonesia, and my home country is indonesia. but my ancestral country is china, and my father is from china. indonesia is where i grew up and was educated, where i did business and where i raised my family. not only do i feed my family, i feed over 30,000 families. to succeed in my career, i must be a person who contributes to society.
my background is chinese, and i am willing to promote chinese culture and inherit chinese culture. after all, some young chinese don’t know much about chinese. i hope that chinese children - the second and third generation... can be brought to china through winter camps and summer camps so that they can become familiar with the chinese environment. after all, the future is the age of young people, and heroes come from young.
NBD：how do you think china is opening up to foreign investment?
lin wenguang:this depends on the general environment. european and american countries have already felt the competition brought by china's cheap and high-quality products, and china has also realized this. i think that there are 60 to 70 million overseas chinese overseas, which is a great "treasure" for china. they can promote and promote china's economic development.
picture source of the indonesian pavilion at this china-asean expo: photo by reporter chen pengli
the past ten years have been a decade of rapid development of bilateral trade between china and indonesia. in 2023, the total bilateral trade between china and indonesia will reach us$139.26 billion, an increase of more than 100% compared with 2014. indonesia is the largest economy among the 10 asean member states and china's third largest trading partner in asean. in 2024, china's investment in indonesia will reach us$7.43 billion (this data does not include investment from hong kong, china), an increase of nearly 10 times compared with us$800 million in 2014. china has become indonesia's second largest source of foreign investment.
it is reported that more than 1,000 chinese-funded companies are currently operating in indonesia. in recent years, chinese electric vehicle manufacturers, new energy industry chain companies, etc. have invested and built factories in indonesia.
the reporter also talked freely with lin wenguang about china-indonesia bilateral cooperation.the following is the transcript of the conversation (2)：
NBD：in recent years, many chinese companies have chosen indonesia as their first choice to go overseas and invest and build factories in indonesia. what is the biggest attraction of indonesia to chinese companies?
lin wenguang:indonesia has a population of 280 million and is a country rich in natural resources. it is a free market economy. now, some customers in europe and the united states will require chinese companies to deploy an additional factory in southeast asia or asean countries in addition to having factories in china, forming a "1+1" supply chain pattern.
NBD：do you have any suggestions for chinese companies investing in indonesia?
lin wenguang:i call on chinese entrepreneurs not to just export to indonesia products that indonesia can produce. it would be good for them to make equipment or open factories in indonesia. this can solve the unemployment problem of the local labor force in indonesia. because if there is a lot of unemployment, it will reduce indonesia's consumption power, and it is better to create job opportunities. i hope that chinese entrepreneurs can find their "second spring of career" in indonesia.
you still have to make a contribution to the local area. in this case, the local consumption power in indonesia can be improved, which is also a better thing for manufacturers, a win-win situation.
NBD：what expectations do you have for bilateral trade and investment between china and indonesia?
lin wenguang:i am participating in an exhibition here, at the indonesia pavilion. i have five or six industrial parks with a land area of about 50 million square meters. we can build a “park within a park” to attract chinese entrepreneurs to invest.
i am planning to make some investments in chinese cities such as nanning, shanghai, fuzhou and zhuhai, which are within the "7-hour flight circle" of indonesia. i think, if possible, i will participate in the exhibition here every year. i hope to get support from the central and local governments in china to provide us with conveniences, introduce us to more entrepreneurs who want to invest in indonesia, and encourage them to develop in indonesia. the "second spring" of their careers.
jinfeng group also participated in this china-asean expo. photo source: photo by reporter chen pengli
lin wenguang is 73 years old, but his mental state is still very good. in addition to being proficient in indonesian, he also speaks chinese, english, japanese and other languages. on september 25, he also communicated with reporters entirely in chinese. the staff told reporters that lin wenguang would come to china probably every few months.
as early as 1992, jinfeng group invested heavily in establishing nanfang aluminum (china) co., ltd. in fujian province, established youjing industrial zone in its hometown of fuqing, and invested in fujian ronglin plastic hardware co., ltd. and other factories. in addition, jinfeng group also has joint ventures with shanghai toothpaste factory, shanghai soap factory and shanghai ink factory, and has exclusively invested in the establishment of 5 factories and 3 real estate companies.
until now, lin wenguang continues to investigate and look for more investment opportunities in china.
the following is the transcript of the conversation (3):
NBD：in august this year, indonesian president joko said that indonesia is building an integrated electric vehicle ecosystem with the help of chinese companies. are there any electric vehicle manufacturers stationed in your industrial park?
lin wenguang:jinfeng group also wants to assemble and produce electric vehicles. but i think electric vehicle technology is not mature enough yet. i want to wait until the technology matures to produce it and cooperate with chinese car manufacturers to create the future of electric vehicles and develop them in indonesia.
NBD：what are the characteristics of the chinese market? which industries have greater development potential for you?
lin wenguang:if there is land near the nanning high-speed rail station, i might build a multi-functional commercial district. there are hotels (guesthouses), malls (shopping malls), and commercial and residential buildings, just like "everything". build a moderately priced and cheap business district so that people can have housing and be close to their working environment. of course, we also want to look for some investment opportunities in the beibu gulf port. we all have the idea of increasing investment in cities such as shanghai, fuzhou, and zhuhai.
as an entrepreneur, i was born in 1951. i am currently 73 years old. i will never retire until i reach the age of 92. i am now semi-retired.
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