Zhang Ran stood up, raised his right hand, and swore with a serious expression: "I solemnly, sincerely, truly declare and affirm that the evidence I have provided will be the truth, the whole truth, only the truth."

Mike Rogers nodded slightly and said, "You can start stating."

Zhang Ran took a deep breath and said loudly: "Dear Mr. Chairman, dear members of the parliament. Thank you for inviting me to make a statement in front of the Special Intelligence Committee. My name is Zhang Ran, and I am the chairman of Century Peak, a company headquartered in Peiping, China. I voluntarily came to the parliament to accept in person, showing our determination to cooperate with the investigation.

What I want to make first point here is that Century Peak is a private company. In the report submitted to the Foreign Investment Committee a few days ago, there are detailed explanations on the company's equity structure and the top ten shareholders. Among them, the main shareholder is me, with a shareholding ratio of 75%..."

In Zhang Ran's memory, when Chinese companies were blocked in the United States, the other party often had difficulty in equity, so he explained this issue as soon as he started, and emphasized that government departments have no direct connection with the operation of Century Peak, and it does not affect Century Peak's investment strategy.

Zhang Ran pointed out that since Century Peak acquired Dingfeng Entertainment last year, its exhibition in the United States has been very good, and it has now owned 475 employees; in China, Century Peak not only purchased a large number of film equipment and post-production software from the United States, but also built cinemas on a large scale, importing a large number of equipment from the United States, with a total price of over 100 million US dollars. Century Peak has created a large number of jobs for the United States, but has been criticized and suspicious without reason, which is unfair.

After entering the fifteen-minute statement, Zhang Ran began to finish: "Century Peak sincerely seeks cooperation with the committee, which is why I voluntarily stand here. In fact, today I am the first to testify to a committee of the US Congress on behalf of major Chinese companies. I hope to share the Chinese film market with Hollywood and grow with Century Peak. Thank you again for allowing me to testify today. I look forward to greeting your inquiries."

After Zhang Ran finished speaking, the members of Congress who attended the meeting began to question. The first question was Jim Coulbesen, the guy who submitted a report to the government and asked to review the acquisition, a Democratic MP, and a hardcore ***. Zhang Ran heard Aaron Larson say that CNOOC failed to acquire Unicorn in five years, and he played a very critical role.

Courbesen's question is obviously malicious: "Mr. Zhang, according to internal channels, the key to the fact that the peak of the century has developed so quickly is that it has an official background and the relatives of senior Chinese leaders are shareholders of your company. Is this true?"

Zhang Ran felt a little upset when he heard this. Courbesen's words were actually correct. Wang Yun held shares of Century Peak, but the shareholding ratio was very small. Zhang Ran's face remained calm and said righteously: "Mr. Courbesen, we have submitted the company's top ten shareholders to the committee. Which one is the relative of the senior leader? What is his name?"

Courbesen didn't expect Zhang Ran to be so direct. He coughed dryly and said with a embarrassed look on his face: "The evidence needs to be reviewed by the committee before it can be submitted. It is not appropriate to publish it for the time being."

Zhang Ran smiled disdainfully: "Mr. Courbesen, the United States is a legal society. You can't even provide evidence. How can I convince me, how can I convince more audiences present, and how can I convince the American people?" Zhang Ran looked at Courbesen speechless and continued: "You said that the Century Peak Exhibition is so fast because of its background, so I tell you, no! The key is that I have enough funds in my hands. And my source of money is very clear, mainly from three places. First, Focus Media, I learned from experience in building advertising in the United States and opened Focus Media with my friends. This company was successfully listed on Nasdaq in 5 years; Second, the movie "Time and Space Warrior" was sold well at the global box office; Third, Youtube sold $2.25 billion!"

The audience nodded slightly. Everyone was familiar with Zhang Ran's experience and developed it with unique insights and creativity. Once Courbesen had no evidence, it was completely unconvincing.

Courbesen refused to give up: "Mr. Zhang, what if the Chinese government asks you to provide information about American customers after Century Peak acquires Netflix?"

"We haven't done this before, and we won't do it in the future." Zhang Ran said with great certainty, "because for a company, it's a suicide."

Rush Courbesen continued to ask: "But if you refuse the Chinese government's request, aren't you afraid of going to prison?"

Zhang Ran thought this was ridiculous. This guy was talking about China thirty years ago. He frowned and said, "Mr. Courbesen, I can be sure that you have never been to China, at least not in China in recent years. Now China is centered on economic development. Everyone wants to make more money and live a better life. If I am imprisoned in prison for refusing to provide customer information to the government, then which country's customers dare to do business with Chinese companies? The Chinese government is not that stupid. I sincerely hope that Mr. Courbesen can go to China to see it. China is really not what you imagined!"

Courbesen felt that Zhang Ran was mocking him, especially the contempt in his expression, which made him a little angry and angry. He immediately asked: "Mr. Zhang, you claim that Century Peak is a private enterprise. But according to our information, there is a party committee organization at Century Peak. Why does a private enterprise have a party committee organization? How many members of the party committee organization? Do you participate in company decision-making?"

Zhang Ran really didn't expect that Coulbesen could be so shameless. This is a big company in China that has no party organization?

Seeing Zhang Ran’s face turned pale, Courbesen thought he had grabbed Zhang Ran’s painful foot and showed a smug smile.

Zhang Ran took a breath and said coldly: "Mr. Coulbesen, in China, according to the Company Law, any company with more than three formal party members must establish a party branch. Not only Century Peak, but American companies such as Walmart and Microsoft also have party branches in China, which is a legal provision. The functions of the party organization are mainly reflected in providing employee care, urging employees to abide by professional ethics, and not participating in corporate management and decision-making. If you ask how many members of my party branch are, I can't answer you because I don't know, and I have never cared about this issue at all. In fact, a party branch just shows that Century Peak is a law-abiding enterprise. In China, we will also respect American laws in the United States!"

Just when the Courbesen Pass was speechless, a MP named Elliott Angle next to him asked: "Century Peak claims that it has nothing to do with the government, but the funds you acquired Netflix this time mainly come from the Bank of China and the Export-Import Bank of China, both of which are banks of the Chinese government. What do you explain?"

Zhang Ran smiled coldly and said, "Mr. Angel, I want to correct your statement. Regarding the acquisition funds, we have detailed explanations in the statement submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our acquisition is a typical leveraged acquisition. The funds include three parts, company self-raised funds, bank loans, and bank bonds. Among these three parts, the largest proportion is the bond part, and this part is operated by European and American investment banks, including Goldman Sachs in the United States, so your statement is untenable!"

Among the members present, the majority of those who were PR by Century Peak were able to catch up with Zhang Ran. How could the other party be beaten? Someone immediately raised a question that was extremely beneficial to Zhang Ran: "Mr. Zhang, when you accepted the Washington Times, you claimed that if you acquire Netflix, there will be no large-scale layoffs. Can you really make this promise?"

Zhang Ran thought that it was indeed easy to do in the court. This question was so hard that I was in my heart. He raised his hand and sweared: "Yes, I can make a promise. If Century Peak can acquire Netflix, then there will be no large-scale closures, no large-scale layoffs, and no large-scale unemployment! If Mr. Hastings, or who can say on behalf of Mr. Hastings, in the next three years, Netflix will not close stores on a large-scale closure or layoffs on a large-scale closure, then I can withdraw the acquisition." Zhang Ran's eyes swept across the faces of Coulbesen and Angle and said loudly: "Is anyone willing to make this promise for Mr. Hastings?"

Coulbesen and Ingle naturally could not make such a promise for Hastings, and neither answered.

Zhang Ran said loudly: "Mr. Hastings can't do it, but I can. Today, I stand here not only for myself, but also for Blockbuster's 20,000 workers about to be unemployed. Now I ask them for those who oppose the acquisition, Century Peak Acquisition will not let everyone lose their jobs, let everyone have jobs and make money, and live better and better. Why do you object? Why do you ruin your job?"

Zhang Ran has been preparing for a long time, speaking with a righteous and righteous manner, and speaking from the moral height of speaking for 20,000 workers. With this moral height, his rebuttal appears extremely sharp.

Don’t you like to put down hats? OK, I’ll give you one too! Whoever stops me from buying will be the job of 20,000 workers!

Zhang Ran is very clear that many American lawmakers have not only ideological reasons, but also seek political capital for themselves. For example, Angel comes from South Carolina, which was once a relatively concentrated area of ​​manufacturing in the United States. However, in recent years, local manufacturing has moved production bases overseas, causing a large number of local unemployment. Therefore, Angel has always advocated toughness towards China. His tough attitude has won the hearts of many voters in South Carolina.

However, the interests of 20,000 workers are now tied to the acquisition of Century Peak. Opposing Century Peak is to spend the jobs of 20,000 workers. Not many congressmen dare to take this risk.

There are also many Blockbuster stores in South Carolina. If the workers are unemployed because they prevent the merger and acquisition, they will definitely take the account to themselves. Angel wisely chose to shut up.

But Courbesen, a hardcore, refused to admit defeat and immediately said: "You promised not to close stores on a large scale within three years or lay off employees on a large scale, but can you guarantee that they can still maintain these jobs in three years?"

This is the first time Zhang Ran encountered such a shameless problem and seemed a little angry: "Mr. Courbesen, can you ensure that you can win the parliamentary election next year? The DVD industry is in recession. If Blockbuster's store business wants to survive, it must transform. However, it is very difficult to transform a large enterprise like Blockbuster. I cannot guarantee that the transformation will be successful. I don't know what the future will be. I can only guarantee that the situation will be within three years." Zhang Ran looked at Courbesen and saw the other party showing a smug smile. The corners of his mouth suddenly raised slightly, and he raised his voice: "But I can guarantee that the peak of the century will be invested at least 100 million US dollars in the United States within the next 10 years, which can bring more employment opportunities!" 8
Chapter completed!