He offers the analogy that inviting foreign investment is like "borrowing a hen to lay eggs." The country is still responsible for providing the twigs and making the nest. Yet local private enterprises, which, like quails, are small in stature but large in number, have not been given the attention they deserve. They have even been viewed as opportunistic and money hungry.
他比喻，引進外資，猶如「借雞下蛋」，國家還要負責築巢鋪草；而規模雖小，卻如鵪鶉般數量眾多的本土私營企業，卻得不到應有的重視，甚至還被視為投機、拜金。