Xu Qiang never thought that Zhang Li would choose perfume as a new research and development project.

The bottle of perfume she took out is actually a rose and osmanthus scented perfume which is very popular these days and may be the most used perfume by women in China.

In fact, this perfume has three scents in total, namely osmanthus, rose and jasmine.

"You mean... you want us to develop a perfume product?" Xu Qiang asked Zhang Li after picking up the bottle of perfume and taking a look at it.

"If so, I wonder if you can help us develop similar perfume products?" Zhang Li asked.

"Okay!" Xu Qiang said straightforwardly.

"Ok?"

Hearing Xu Qiang's affirmative answer, not only Zhang Li, but also He Yonghong were surprised.

"Xu Qiang, this thing is used by women. Can you make it?" He Yonghong couldn't help asking after a moment.

"Who told you that perfume can only be used by women?" Xu Qiang smiled and continued, "In fact, men abroad also use perfume. Have you heard of cologne?"

"Colognes?"

"It seems that Comrade Xu Qiang really understands perfume." When Zhang Li heard Xu Qiang say this, her eyes suddenly lit up and she immediately praised.

“I can’t say I know much about it, but I think I can make this thing.”

"You really know how to make perfume?" Zhang Li couldn't believe it. She continued, "As far as I know, the production process of perfume is very complicated and requires high technical content. Only professional perfumers from abroad can develop truly good perfumes..."

"You think too highly of foreigners. We can do what they can do." Xu Qiang raised his eyebrows and continued, "Let's talk about the compensation first. If I can make the same perfume, how much can you give our project team?"

Xu Qiang went straight to the point. He provided technical assistance to the CZ city government for money from the beginning, so as long as the money issue was settled, nothing else would be a problem.

The reason why Xu Qiang is so confident is that he does master some perfume production techniques and processes.

In Xu Qiang's opinion, the bottle of perfume that Zhang Li took out just now is just the cheapest synthetic perfume. The formula of this perfume usually contains resin, essence, dealdehyde alcohol and other ingredients. Although it is cheap, the fragrance is still good and it can last all day long. Therefore, Chinese people who have used this product think that the effect is very good.

In addition, most domestic perfumes in the 80s were based on traditional Chinese scents, such as osmanthus, jasmine, rose, etc., while combining modern technology to create richer and more unique scents.

These aromas are highly recognizable and can meet consumers' pursuit of personalized needs.

The most important ingredient of this synthetic perfume is essence. When Xu Qiang worked in a machinery factory, he had already mixed several kinds of essences and added them to shampoos and soaps. It was precisely because of Xu Qiang's technology in making essences that he and Wang Yongsheng made a lot of money. Therefore, it is a piece of cake to use the formulation technology of these essences to produce perfumes now.

What's more, many perfumers not only adjust perfumes, but also do other work at the same time, including making professional suggestions for the fragrances in soaps, bath gels, and air fresheners to make their products have a better smell experience.

"Don't worry..." Zhang Li smiled slightly, then took out a more exquisite glass bottle from her bag, placed it in front of Xu Qiang, and asked, "What do you think of this perfume?"

All that was printed on the glass bottle was English. It had a frosted body, a golden cap, and a dark blue trademark. The design of the theme gave people a feeling of elegance and luxury.

"This is..." Xu Qiang took a closer look at the English trademark on it and said, "Estee Lauder!?"

Xu Qiang is very familiar with this trademark brand, which is one of the world's largest skin care, cosmetics and perfume companies and was founded as early as the 1940s.

Although Estee Lauder started making perfumes a long time ago, it is not actually a high-end luxury brand. In later times, its products can only be regarded as very common mid-range brands. However, what puzzled Xu Qiang was that this brand seemed to have only entered China in the mid-to-late 1990s, and Zhang Li now had such a bottle of perfume, which was obviously a bit unreasonable.

"You actually know this brand?" Zhang Li was even more surprised when she saw this.

"I think I've seen it in the newspaper..." Xu Qiang evaded the question and then asked, "Where did you buy this bottle of perfume?"

"This is a new product from the Friendship Store. I thought it was good, so I bought a bottle," said Zhang Li.

"Uh." Xu Qiang suddenly understood after hearing this.

The so-called Friendship Stores were actually state-owned stores that only served foreigners, diplomats and government officials these days. The items sold in them were all imported items, such as peanut butter and Hershey's chocolate, as well as Chinese handicrafts.

The price was much higher than the market price at the place of origin, but since the Friendship Store had a monopoly on selling imported goods, customers had no choice. In the past, the Friendship Store only accepted foreign exchange certificates as currency.

In 1958, the Shanghai Friendship Store was established on Nanjing East Road. Its predecessor was the first supply station in Shanghai that opened in Shanghai Mansion in 1952 and later renamed as "Shanghai International Friends Service Department" for foreign guests, international seamen and overseas Chinese.

In order to absorb foreign exchange and to ensure the living needs of foreigners and overseas Chinese coming to China, Friendship Stores came into being. However, at that time, the domestic production capacity of industrial products and non-staple foods was insufficient, and high-quality goods were in short supply. This determined that Friendship Stores could not serve the majority of people.

Ever since he met Zhang Li, Xu Qiang discovered that her living standard was indeed high. Although she was a local government official, she dressed quite fashionably and even had the mayor's special car at her disposal at any time. Now that he thought about it, she must have a special background, and it seemed normal for her to be able to buy things from the Friendship Store.

However, Xu Qiang doesn't care about these things. His only goal is to make money.

"If you were asked to imitate this perfume, could you do it?" Zhang Li asked.

"This imported perfume has a higher level of processing technology than domestic ones, but for all synthetic perfumes, the production processes are actually the same." Xu Qiang opened the bottle cap and smelled it, saying, "This should be the common rose scent abroad. The smell is a bit strong and suitable for use at dances. If there is relevant equipment, it can be imitated..."

"It seems that you really know a lot about perfume." Zhang Li's eyes suddenly lit up and she said, "Just now I was worried that you didn't know the value of perfume. It seems that Comrade Xu Qiang is really well-informed."

"As long as it's a product related to chemical industry, I know something about it more or less. But I don't understand, Director Zhang, why did you think of making perfume? Is this thing really easy to sell in China?" Xu Qiang asked doubtfully.

You know, for the current Chinese people, perfume is still just a niche commodity.

However, in big cities like BJ Shanghai and Guangzhou, perfume has been favored by more and more women. Even so, Xu Qiang does not think that this industry can have much sales given the current low domestic consumption level. But if it continues to develop, the future prospects are still good.

"I think perfume will be popular in China sooner or later. It is a symbol of civilized life." Zhang Li smiled and continued, "In recent months, I have been doing research in various shopping malls and stores in Shanghai. The general managers of Shangbai and No. 2 Department Store both provided me with their sales lists for the past one or two years. In addition to some common popular products, I also found many relatively unpopular products with rapidly increasing sales, including this bottle of domestic perfume I showed you..."

"So that's how it is." Xu Qiang suddenly understood after hearing this.

Before, after Xu Qiang and Zhang Li took a bus back to Shanghai together, she always stayed in Shanghai for a while. At first, Xu Qiang thought she just came here to play and shop, but now it seems that she does have other work.

In the planned economy era, manufacturers only needed to produce products according to the tasks assigned by the state. However, in the commodity economy era, those township enterprises in Changzhou ultimately need to connect with sales channels. That is, they produce what the market needs, and they also need to adjust production as well as product performance and quality at any time based on product sales and user feedback.

As the most economically developed city in China, Shanghai is, to a large extent, a weather vane for popular domestic products. Any product that is popular in Shanghai will soon become popular in the country. From this point of view, Zhang Li's business acumen and market sense are quite sharp.

"The more popular a product is, the greater the market competition. Changzhou is just a small city with limited resources. We can't compare with the factories in big cities in terms of scale and production capacity, so we can only find another way and choose some tracks with less competition..." Zhang Li gently stirred the coffee with a spoon and continued: "From the sales data of department stores in Shanghai in the past two years, especially since the beginning of this year, the sales volume of perfume has a very high upward trend. Among the more than 100 products I focus on, it can be ranked in the top ten. Moreover, there are only three manufacturers of perfume in China, in BJ, Tianjin and Shanghai respectively. The scale of investment in related production lines is not large, so I think it is just a very good track..."

"In fact, perfume products may not be as simple as you think..." Xu Qiang paused, and then said: "But if you are willing to invest heavily in Changzhou, I can help you develop some good perfume products!" (End of this chapter)