China Salesman (中国推销员)

BASED ON A TRUE STORY

Two years ago,

there were only three people working in our African branch.

Because of the war here, they didn't get a single order.

Two of Ruan Ling's bosses left, one after the other.

Actually, they escaped, leaving her high and dry.

But, surprisingly, the war ended earlier this year.

The most chaotic country in Africa is rebuilding itself,

and the development of mobile telecommunications

became the government's top priority.

Because our company was short staffed,

it encouraged the R and D team to go into the field and sell.

I was getting bored doing IT work,

so I volunteered to work with Ruan Ling.

My only regret is dropping the enhancement programme.

Well, just let it go.

China salesman.

Yan Jian.

DH TELECOM

That's good. Show him the guns.

Thank you. Friendship.

Susanna. I have a spare car you can use.

Thank you, Michael.

But you know, there are certain lines we'd better not cross.

Okay.

I take it back.

Hey. Can we ask the company for satellite phone service?

We can if we win the bidding.

By then, we'll have internet. There'll be no need for a satellite phone.

A necessity. It helps to kill time.

Come on, what era are we in?

Let's divide and conquer. The proposal.

Technical parameter settings and frequency demonstrations are yours.

I'll take care of customs clearance and deal with the government officials.

I've gone through the bidding regulations.

It doesn't look good for us.

Ah, my friend, Mr Carlos!

Asaid.

Kabbah, this is what I've found about the Mengtulu Kingdom,

from the largest libraries in the world.

Although your ancestors lost their country 200 years ago,

and nearly became extinct,

the Mengtulu warriors galloped across Africa 2,000 years ago,

leaving a glorious page in history.

Thank you.

Our people are not extinct!

We're now spread all over Africa.

For sure, I can recover our nation.

But I need your help.

I've been here for two years,

trying to win an order for the company.

But who would have thought the Big Four from Europe and America

would suddenly jump in, not giving a damn about this company?

It's not the first time.

The new government of this country, under pressure,

set up a committee for the telecoms bidding.

They hired Susanna to be in charge of the bidding.

That French woman doesn't take us seriously at all.

She believes that only the Europeans and the Americans are good at tech.

We are just court jesters, entertaining the prince.

She's French? Yep.

That's obviously not fair to us.

She's an expert from the International Telecommunication Union,

sent over to help African countries.

Uh...

Welcome back to my country.

Let me tell you, the sunshine, the brightness, the sand, everything...

Prince Mengtulu.

Where there is a dream, there is a future.

Hi, Michael, how are you? Good, good, good.

This is Kabbah.

On the house, gentlemen.

Thanks. I don't drink.

All right.

Men of the Mengtulu Kingdom used to be warriors who could hold their drinks,

and the alcohol prohibition is forced on you by this country.

I do not drink.

The rule here is that you can't leave until you drink.

Why?

He's worried that you will report him to authorities for selling alcohol.

Well, I will not report him, but I will stick to my faith!

Hm.

No alcohol? Then drink this.

I must say, I appreciate the offer, my friend, but a rule's a rule.

I do not drink!

What's that? What's going on?

Yaah!

Carlos.

Forgive my people. You see?

How you doing, sweetheart? Everything good? Happy?

You all right?

You're a bunch of arseholes. Get the fuck out of here, all of you.

You served me pee! You die!

Kabbah. Let's go.

Motherfucker, you drink piss!

You'll have to sign here. Just there.

Director Omar. Hello, Miss Ruan.

This is my new colleague, Yan Jian.

How are you, Yan Jian?

How are you, Director Omar?

We called this special meeting

to get your feedback on the bidding requirements.

We'd like to have an open discussion.

As long as your requests are reasonable,

we'll make changes in accordance with international practices.

As you all know, CDMA and GSM are the two main standards nowadays

in the wireless telecommunications world.

However, according to the bidding rules,

only CDMA standard is accepted.

This is obviously unfair.

Competition is the foundation of all business principles.

Even though, being a European company,

we agree on entering the bidding using the CDMA standard.

With the rapid development of wireless telecommunications,

new products come out every 18 months to replace the old.

The competition is ruthless.

Susanna?

Are you determined to put DH Telecom at a disadvantage?

To the extent you want to get rid of our relay tower receivers

as an initial investment!

Uh...

I totally...

agree with Miss Susanna's principle in the standard selection.

As Susanna is the expert from ITU,

she'd have heard the latest news.

Ten days ago, ITU released a report

predicting that 3G digital communications will take over the world.

3G standard is the upgraded system,

combining the strengths of CDMA and GSM.

Based on this,

wireless communication will be upgraded into 4G, 5G, 6G, or maybe...

Are you... Are you suggesting 3G as the standard?

Yes! Exactly.

Yesterday, LK Telecom Group in Europe

opened a three billion euro bid,

and set 3G as the standard.

As Susanna wants this bid to be in sync with the latest technology,

I suggest we change the standard to 3G.

But I'm not sure about the product's stability and its completeness.

Hm.

So, ah... what do you all think?

No problem, it's perfect for us.

Now it is settled.

The standard of the bidding is 3G.

The time of the bidding remains the same.

At eight am on July 31st.

Yan Jian, you're amazing!

You might not have known that

our company has made a few 3G units for testing.

Headquarters is preparing to bid on the LK project in Europe.

We can take advantage of that.

Should be okay for us to get use of one.

So, it's just us against MTM.

With Director Omar on our side, we're sure to win!

Michael.

How can you make a decision on this without consulting us first?

We had a deal. You're just playing along.

Of course, I can make the decision. You son of a bitch!

You're nothing but a liar. You just made a fool of us in there.

In case you haven't noticed, you're no match for that Chinese guy.

D.H. HEADQUARTERS, BEIJING

We've just finalized the 3G model.

Full production won't begin for another month.

There's no way we can send it to you next week.

Miss Zhao, it is possible.

You'd better do as you're told, and that's it!

Those guys!

They just sit on their fat asses and boss us around!

We are a technology company.

Nobody makes a profit by selling leftovers.

What a shame!

Yan Jian, you're incredible.

You kicked out three European companies in one shot.

And now, one day later, we're also out of the picture.

I found out last night from my contacts at headquarters

we actually don't have any equipment for the bidding.

Hi, Michael.

Hello, beautiful.

Ruan Ling.

I'll go and talk to Omar and Susanna and tell them I was bullshitting.

I'll beg them to change the standard back. If it has to be CDMA, we'll accept it.

Sir, are you looking for Mr Omar?

Yes.

He has gone south with the president. He won't be back for a few days.

That Chinese guy is in over his head.

Don't get upset with him.

He's not worth it.

I'm not upset with him.

I... I just can't figure him out.

D.H. EUROPEAN OFFICE, GENEVA

You must be kidding. GSM is good enough for where you are.

Sir, the meeting is about to begin. Hey, I've got a meeting. Later.

Listen...

What if I tell you I can help to shorten our 3G connection time,

by one and a half seconds?

Can we talk'?

What? Say that again?

I threw together an enhancement programme, and it's almost done.

I can send it to you. This will make us at least a second faster than MTM.

In return, you have to give me one set of your 3G equipment.