Li Bin: there is no "gambling agreement" between Weilai Motor and the Hefei government, which is an over-interpretation.
CTOnews.com, December 11, China Entrepreneur magazine today revealed an interview with Li Bin, founder, chairman and CEO of Xilai Automobile on December 9. Li Bin said there was "no gambling agreement" between Weilai and the Hefei government and had been overinterpreted.
According to reports, one of the previous online betting conditions is that the revenue of Weilai Automobile will reach 120 billion yuan in 2024, while at least six new models will be launched. Li Bin said that Weilai bought back some of its shares six months after signing a cooperation with the Hefei government, and the repurchase amount exceeded 8 billion yuan in 2020-2021. "they have a very good return on investment," Li said.
Li Bin recently attended the 2023 (21st) annual meeting of Chinese business leaders and recalled his "worst" 2019. He said bluntly that the pressure on Weilai reached its peak in the fourth quarter of 2019. "We really have to think of a lot of ways to raise and move next month's salary," Li Bin said. I suddenly felt that I should discuss some long-term strategies.
In January 2020, Li Bin was told after paying New year's greetings to Chen Xiang, then chairman of Anhui Investment Group, "Why not talk to Hefei about government investment?" Therefore, he did not go to Shanghai at that time, but met with some leaders of the Hefei Development and Reform Commission and the city leaders at that time, and started the story of Hefei Investment Weilai, which brought Weilai back from the intensive care unit.
According to previous CTOnews.com reports, Li Bin also said when participating in the CCTV "Dialogue" program last year that Anhui has used the return funds to set up a fund to support the development of the industry chain of new energy vehicles and smart electric vehicles, and many enterprises have already settled in Hefei through the investment of this fund. Therefore, Anhui and Hefei, in terms of promoting industrial development through funds, the thinking is very comprehensive and long-term, not as short-sighted "gambling" as everyone wrote.
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