Tech Giants: Starting from Bankrupt Companies

268: Chapter 268 The Tide of the Times. The Power Core8:55 AM, Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Center, Hall 1.

This was the third time in seven days that he had stepped into Hall 1.

But the atmosphere today was completely different.

The previous six days—the battery revolution, the rise of the automobile, material innovation, military shock, the coronation of the chip, and the breakthrough in machine tools—each event could be called an industry milestone.

But everyone knew that today was the true coronation of the throne.

Because the person taking the stage today was Su Chen himself.

Twenty-eight years old, graduated from the Department of Materials at Tsinghua University six years ago, Spark was on the verge of bankruptcy three years ago, and today, he controlled a business empire with orders exceeding 200 billion USD in seven days.

The seats were full, the aisles were packed with people, and the tripods in the back row looked like a dense forest.

128 global media outlets were broadcasting simultaneously, and simultaneous interpretation in seven languages—English, Japanese, German, French, Korean, Spanish, and Arabic—was coming out of the translators.

The names of those sitting in the VIP area were enough to shake the industry just by mentioning them:

Apple Chief Design Officer Jonathan Ive

Siemens Digital Industries CEO Klaus Richter

Pfizer Global R&D President Emily Watson

Embraer Vice President Carlos Silva

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Chief Engineer Zhang Hongjun

State Power Investment Corporation Deputy General Manager Wang Zhenguo

Geely Holding Group Chairman Li Shufu

CATL Chairman Zeng Yuqun

...

They didn’t come here to watch product demonstrations—they had seen enough of those in the previous six days.

They came here to hear this young man say it himself: What exactly do you want to become?

The lights dimmed.

Not a gradual fade, but an instantaneous blackout. Darkness enveloped the entire venue for three seconds, leaving only the green indicator lights of the emergency exits.

Then, the big screen lit up.

No logo, no animation, only one number:

Six-day cumulative total: $218,700,000,000

(Approximately 1.48 trillion rmb)

The entire venue gasped.

Someone quickly did the conversion:

This figure is twice Apple’s total annual revenue in 2017.

It is five times Germany’s 2017 military budget.

It exceeds the combined annual GDP of Finland, Portugal, and New Zealand.

In seven days, they created the annual output value of a medium-developed country.

Su Chen walked onto the stage.

A dark gray cotton shirt, black casual pants, sleeves casually rolled up to his forearms. No suit, no tie, no script, and he wasn’t even wearing a headset—he was using a handheld microphone, like a campus speech.

He stood in the center of the stage, the spotlight hitting him vertically from above.

There were over three thousand people in the audience, so quiet that you could hear their breathing.

”These past six days, many people have asked me: What exactly does Xingchen want to become?” Su Chen began, his voice calm, spreading through the sound system to the entire venue, ”Is it the Siemens of China, or the Tesla of the East?”

He paused.

”Neither.”

”We want to be the definers—defining the next generation of power, the next generation of intelligence, and the next generation of energy. We want to go from industry followers to standard setters. We want the light brought by technological progress to shine into every household. We hope to be more than just industry disruptors; we want to be industry leaders. Now, please enjoy our latest technological achievements.”

The rotating stage rose slowly, and a silver engine was revealed under the spotlight.

It wasn’t a smooth concept model, but a real mass-produced part—the surface had traces of machining, there was sealant residue on the oil pipe interfaces, and the batch number was engraved on the flywheel: NE-2018-0001.

Su Chen walked to the engine and placed his palm on the cylinder block.

”The automotive industry says the internal combustion engine is dead.” He shook his head, ”That is an excuse for the lazy.”

The big screen displayed the parameters:

Xingchen NE2.0T Inline Four-Cylinder Turbocharged Engine

Maximum Power: 354 horsepower

Peak Torque: 450 N·m

Thermal Efficiency: 42% (Mass production stable value)

Emission Standards: China VI b, Euro 6d double compliant

Fuel: 95 Octane Gasoline / E10 Ethanol Gasoline

Engine Weight: 148kg

Price: 50,000 rmb / unit

Comparison data popped up simultaneously:

Toyota Dynamic Force 2.0T (Equipped in Highlander)

Thermal Efficiency: 41%

Power: 220 horsepower

Price: Approximately 35,000 rmb (estimated)

Volkswagen EA888 Gen4 2.0T (Equipped in Golf R)

Thermal Efficiency: 40%

Power: 320 horsepower

Price: Approximately 38,000 rmb

42%.

This is the highest thermal efficiency record for a mass-produced gasoline engine in the world. Toyota took 25 years to climb from 38% to 41%; Volkswagen took 20 years to climb from 37% to 40%.

Xingchen took three years to reach the top.

”This is not laboratory data.” Su Chen signaled for the staff to play a video.

The footage showed a road test of a Red Flag H7: A camouflaged test car speeding on the high-speed loop of the Xiangfan Automobile Proving Ground, with the vehicle speed stable at 120km/h. The dashboard displayed instantaneous fuel consumption—7.2 L/100km.

A comparison screen cut in: BMW 530Li, 2.0T high power, MIIT comprehensive fuel consumption 8.5 L.

”Same size, same weight, same road conditions, our fuel consumption is 15% lower than BMW,” Su Chen said, ”This isn’t sentiment, it’s mathematics.”

He paused and threw out a set of data:

”There are still 1 billion fuel vehicles in stock globally. In the next decade, pure electric penetration will reach at most 40%, and the remaining 60%—600 million vehicles—will still be the world of hybrids and fuel vehicles.”

”These cars need hearts. Should we continue to pay patent fees to Japan and Germany, or use our own?”

In the audience, Geely Holding Chairman Li Shufu slowly raised his hand.

It wasn’t a question, it was a quote.

”Mr. Su, Geely needs at least 200,000 2.0T engines next year for the generational upgrades of the Borui, Boyue, and Lynk & Co series.”

He stood up, facing the audience: ”Geely is a private enterprise, we don’t speak in empty words. If Xingchen has the production capacity, Geely is willing to sign a five-year framework agreement: 200,000 in the first year, 300,000 in the second year, 400,000 in the third year, 500,000 in the fourth year, 600,000 in the fifth year. The price will be the 50,000 rmb you set.”

The big screen flashed the numbers:

200,000 units × 50,000 rmb = 10 billion rmb

This was just the first year.

The moment Li Shufu sat down, the audience erupted in applause.

It wasn’t applause for Geely—it was applause for the synergy of the domestic supply chain.

After the brief applause ended, the second product entered everyone’s view. The glass display case on the left side of the stage slowly rose, and a silver-white turbofan engine was suspended in the air, like an aviation artifact in a museum.

But this was not an artifact; it was a mass-produced part.

Diameter of about 0.8 meters, length of 2.3 meters, bypass ratio of 3.2:1. The fan blades were wide-chord hollow titanium alloy, with precise micro-textures on the surface—those were the film cooling holes from Spark Materials.

Xingchen WS-500 small turbofan engine

Thrust: 5000kgf

Weight: 960kg

Thrust-to-weight ratio: 5.2:1

Time Between Overhaul (TBO) life: 6000 hours

Applicable aircraft: 20-50 seat regional airliners, large drones, business jets

Price: $4.2 million

Comparison data:

General Electric CF34-3 (Equipped in Bombardier CRJ200)

Thrust: 4100kgf

Thrust-to-weight ratio: 4.8:1

TBO: 5000 hours

Price: $5.5 million

Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305 (Equipped in Cessna Citation)

Thrust: 4600kgf

Thrust-to-weight ratio: 5.0:1

TBO: 5500 hours

Price: $5.2 million

Xingchen WS-500: Higher thrust, longer life, price is 69% of GE’s.

”The goal of this engine is not to challenge the high-bypass turbofan of the C919—that is our next-generation product,” Su Chen said, ”It is targeting the global market of 800 light business jets, regional freighters, and high-end drones per year.”

He played a live-action video.

Location: Shigatse Peace Airport in Tibet, altitude 3782 meters.

A ”Twin-Tailed Scorpion” large drone—a high-altitude long-endurance drone independently developed by China—with a wingspan of 35 meters, had a WS-500 mounted under its fuselage.

Takeoff. Climb. Passing through the clouds.

Instrument display: Altitude 6500 meters.

Continuous cruise: 12 hours.

Fuel remaining: 23%.

”6500 meters is the average height of the Himalayas,” Su Chen said, ”This means that this engine can perform all-weather reconnaissance, communication relay, and material delivery missions over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.”

He didn’t mention military use, but everyone understood.

In the VIP area, Embraer Vice President Carlos Silva drew a heavy circle on his notebook.

Beside him, the President of Bombardier Aerospace China was also recording rapidly.

The business jet market was about to change.