In Dongxing Village, Weifang, Shandong Province, there is a "magic shed". Ordinary greenhouse leafy vegetables can produce four seasons a year, at most eight seasons, but this greenhouse can produce 18 seasons a year by hydroponics technology. Guo Lei is the owner of the "magic shed". He used to be an Israeli diplomat from China.
"Diplomats resigned and went back to their hometown to grow vegetables" became a hot topic on social media. Because of Guo Lei’s background as a diplomat and the widespread phenomenon of civil servants leaving their jobs, many netizens also became interested in Guo Lei’s story. Yesterday, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily contacted Guo Lei and interviewed the former diplomat by telephone.
resign (office/one’s job/post)
"I want to introduce Israeli technology into China."
Since graduating from university, Guo Lei has experienced the role change from a grass-roots civil servant to a diplomat and then to a businessman. Do you regret giving up the job of diplomat and civil servant that others admire? Guo Lei did not hesitate to answer this question. He told reporters: "I have never regretted it. The key is to look at my personal pursuit. I feel that doing business is more suitable for me."
Guo Lei is a standard post-70s. In the interview, the reporter learned that after graduating from Guo Lei University, he was admitted as a civil servant of Huangdao Domestic Investment Promotion Bureau in Qingdao Development Zone. A few years later, he applied for the foreign secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and passed it smoothly. After entering the Ministry of Commerce, Guo Lei was sent to the Commercial Counsellor’s Office of the China Embassy in Israel. From 2004 to 2008, Guo Lei worked in Israel for four years.
In fact, Guo Lei had it when he was an Israeli diplomat when he resigned and returned to China for development. Until the end of his overseas trip in 2008, he finally made a decision to resign. At that time, he had been a civil servant for nearly 10 years.
"When I was working in Israel, because I was engaged in bilateral economic and trade work between China and Israel and because I studied Hebrew, such talents were scarce at that time. Many Israeli friends have heard that I am leaving Israel, quitting my job and going back to China for development. Several companies have come to me, hoping to invite me to work in their companies. At that time, I also felt that I was more suitable for doing business, so at the beginning of my resignation, I chose a relatively large Israeli company to be their representative in China. " Guo Lei said.
Guo Lei told reporters that the salary offered by this Israeli company at that time was considerable. At that time, in 2008, his salary as a civil servant was more than 4,000 yuan per month, while the salary paid by Israel was 10 times, with a monthly salary of 40,000 yuan. However, the conditions in Israel are also very harsh. We can only sign a one-year contract with Guo Lei first, and then renew it if our work performance is good. In the second half of 2012, Guo Lei had the idea of starting a business. At first, he didn’t have enough funds, but some were the resources accumulated during his tenure in Israel.
"This country has very good technology, but its own market is limited. They must export it and sell it outside. After selling it, they can create inventions. China is also in the stage of industrial upgrading in 2012, and it also needs technology. I thought, if you start a business, you will introduce Israeli technology to China, and such a business should have a lot of commercial space. "
start a business
Engaging in agricultural entrepreneurship is due to "connections"
When Guo Lei was in Israel, he had a good friend. He was the mayor of Eilat, but later he resigned and went to agriculture. In 2005, this friend invited Guo Lei to his home, where he first saw hydroponics technology. Guo Lei thought that China also needed this technology.
Finally, in 2013, Guo Lei and several partners set up their own company. According to him, he named the companies after China and Israel. In 2015, Guo Lei found a partner and built a sunshine shed. It is understood that the vegetable cultivation in the greenhouse does not use soil at all, and only needs nutrient solution. And each kind of vegetable has a tailor-made nutritional diet, and it also needs regular physical examination. According to the physical examination, the computer will automatically match the nutrient solution.
In the interview, what Guo Lei is most willing to share with reporters is the advanced Israeli agricultural technology. As we all know, Israel has created an "agricultural miracle" in the vast desert land, which not only turned the vast desert into fertile fields, but also exported a large number of Israeli agricultural products, occupying 40% of the European market for fruits and vegetables, and is known as the "European fruit basket".
The reporter of Beiqing Daily noticed that Wang Yang, Vice Premier of the State Council, paid an official visit to Israel in 2015. Wang Yang said at that time that Israel’s agriculture was developed, and its agricultural scientific and technological innovation and agricultural production efficiency were among the highest in the world. China-Israel agricultural cooperation has great potential, so we should give full play to complementary advantages and deepen agricultural cooperation.
Guo Lei told reporters: "Israel is a world-famous high-tech country with very developed agricultural technology, and agriculture is an industry that our people know more about. Israel itself is barren, and 60% of the area over 20,000 square kilometers is desert. In this case, reality forces them to innovate and create. Israel is very developed in breeding and seedling raising, planting and breeding, and storage and preservation of agricultural products in the agricultural field, and many of their technologies are also very practical. "
future
Look at the countries along the Belt and Road
Talking about the help of the professional background of diplomats and civil servants in starting a business, Guo Lei told reporters that in fact, the background is not very helpful. If there is one at the beginning, it should be that everyone has a feeling of trust in you, but the final business depends on the strength and the project itself.
Regarding the planning for the new year, Guo Lei revealed that an agreement has just been signed with Sangzhuzi District, Shigatse City, Xizang Autonomous Region, and construction will start next spring. In addition, projects in Huangdao, Nanchang and Jining are under negotiation. Guo Lei said: "I want to develop business in countries along the Belt and Road. The United Arab Emirates and Qatar are the first choices, because most of their countries are deserts, and because of diplomatic relations, they and Israel are still unable to carry out related business, so I want to export hydroponic planting technology to these countries."
conversation
"Learning Hebrew is something I am very proud of."
Beiqing Daily: You mentioned the experience of learning Hebrew, which made you a "scarce talent"?
Guo Lei: Speaking of learning Hebrew, it is something I am very proud of in my life. Many people say that it is very difficult to speak Hebrew. When we were in the Ministry of Commerce, none of us could speak Hebrew. A term of office is 2-4 years, and you won’t waste this time. After that, you will go abroad and change countries, and you may not need it.
Beiqing Daily: How did you learn?
Guo Lei: There is still a year and a half before I left Israel. Several colleagues and I signed up for a language class to study. My colleagues all dropped out halfway and didn’t persist. Only I persisted. After more than a year, I mastered listening, speaking, reading and writing, and learned quite well. I answered the phone at work, but the other party couldn’t recognize the Hebrew spoken by foreigners. Later, I learned English by learning Hebrew. When I returned to China, my first thought was actually to teach English, to correct the misunderstanding in English learning and to save hundreds of millions of students in China. I still have this idea until now.
Beiqing Daily: Did you encounter any difficulties in starting a business in agriculture later? Is Israeli technology unacceptable in China?
Guo Lei: I always think that hydroponics technology is very suitable for China. When I was abroad, when domestic government and enterprise delegations visited Israel, I recommended this technology to everyone, but in their eyes, this technology is good or not, but it is still too expensive, because it is too expensive for China market to accept. When I started my business at the end of 2012, the cost of our greenhouse was 30 million, so it would be difficult to export this model. This forces us to carry out localized innovation. After innovation and transformation, the price of one square meter output is now 500 yuan.
Beiqing Daily: Did you regret giving up your glamorous job as a diplomat and civil servant? How to treat the "leaving tide" of civil servants? What was the attitude of the family at that time?
Guo Lei: I have no regrets. I think I made the right choice. As for the phenomenon of civil servants’ resignation, in fact, it is hard to say which career choices are better or worse, or it depends on personal pursuit. I think it is more suitable for me to go into business. At that time, there was a lot of opposition from my family, and no one in my family agreed, but I just wanted to develop in this direction and I went on very firmly.
This group/reporter Zhao Meng