Sail across the sea

Chapter 520 should be assigned to a specific person for management.

While everyone was enjoying a lively dinner at Yang Kai's home, two people were having a conversation in an office somewhere in Beijing.

"I've read the report from the Maolin Provincial Economic Commission that you submitted. It's a very high-quality report, and the issues it addresses are very worthy of our attention," one of them said in a superior tone.

“Yes,” the subordinate replied. “We also believe that Maolin Province’s report is very valuable, which is why we submitted it. Currently, various regions have put forward ambitious development plans. Some are to introduce foreign investment on a large scale and establish wholly foreign-owned enterprises in the country, while others are to promote international cooperation and establish closer cooperative relationships with foreign countries. Maolin Province is unique in directly proposing the principle of self-reliance and control.”

"Western countries imposed sanctions on us only three years ago. Even now, many of these sanctions have not been lifted. Under these circumstances, many of our comrades are already thinking about putting away their weapons and letting their horses graze freely, showing no vigilance whatsoever regarding international struggles."

"I have heard some feedback that some comrades believe that with the Soviet Union gone and the Cold War over, there will be no more international struggles in the future. We are now actively working to rejoin the WTO, which is to integrate into the international community. Talking about independence and self-reliance at this time is too outdated."

"Do all comrades think this way?"

"That's not the case. Many comrades still believe that the old man's statement that 'imperialism will never give up its desire to destroy us' is never outdated, and the principle of independence and self-reliance should never be abandoned. However, some people believe that the old man's statement is somewhat outdated, and now we are talking about opening up to the outside world, so there is no need to unilaterally emphasize independence and self-reliance."

"So, what is your Economic Commission's view?"

"We believe that independence and self-reliance are not contradictory. Our ultimate goal in opening up to the outside world is to enhance our capacity for independence and self-reliance. The strength of our capacity for independence and self-reliance directly affects our confidence in opening up to the outside world. It is narrow-minded to emphasize independence and self-reliance while refusing to learn from advanced foreign experience and technology and to refuse foreign investment; conversely, it is also very dangerous to emphasize opening up to the outside world while relying on the credit of foreigners for the country's economic and technological security."

"This viewpoint is in line with dialectics. Autonomy and openness should complement each other and reinforce each other, and we cannot emphasize one aspect at the expense of the other. In a specific field, whether we need more independence and self-reliance or more openness to the outside world, we must adhere to the principle of seeking truth from facts, analyze specific problems in specific ways, and avoid a one-size-fits-all approach."

“Specific problems require specific analysis, which is difficult to do in practice. Some local governments are actually aware of the central government's policy orientation, but in practice they pretend not to know, in order to protect the interests of their small local groups. It's not that they don't understand the cruelty of international struggles, but rather that they are blinded by greed and selectively ignore the potential risks.”

"In this regard, the performance of the Maolin Provincial Economic Commission is truly commendable."

The person in charge picked up a report and flipped through it as he spoke:
"Look, they said that foreign investors have specifically approached them, expressing their willingness to invest in building a large-scale fertilizer project. They are currently facing severe financial difficulties, and agricultural production in the province is indeed in dire need of fertilizer. However, they still believe that foreign investors should not be allowed to control the fertilizer industry, because this would make China's grain production dependent on others."

"Furthermore, they also suggested that newly built fertilizer plants in China should use coal as a raw material as much as possible to reduce dependence on natural gas. The reason is the same: China's natural gas supply is heavily reliant on foreign countries, and building the fertilizer industry on natural gas would be detrimental to my country's food security." The subordinate nodded and said, "Yes, in fertilizer production, we have always followed the principle of ensuring safety. However, in recent years, many local planning commissions and economic commissions have believed that the fertilizer industry has reached the point of full liberalization and that foreign investment should be allowed to participate in fertilizer production. At the same time, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, existing fertilizer plants that use coal as a raw material should be gradually converted to use natural gas. As for the supply of natural gas, experts have also conducted research and believe that using imported natural gas to replace coal is economically feasible."

"Did they only consider economic feasibility? Did they consider security feasibility?"

"These experts are actually advocating for local governments. We've learned that many of them have no experience in chemical production, or even any understanding of chemistry. The reason they put forward these views is ultimately because local governments have such requirements."

"As for the Economic Commission, we must still adhere to the bottom line. The policy of expanding opening up to the outside world remains unchanged, but while expanding opening up, we must ensure that our basic core industries are controlled by ourselves. In other words, to use the words in the report from the Maolin Provincial Economic Commission, we must achieve self-reliance and control, and never be subject to others at any time."

"We will do that."

"I think the Economic Commission should have a complete plan, listing the industries that need to be protected, and then sorting out the key links in each key industry to see if these key links can meet the requirements of self-reliance and control. This work is very complicated and detailed, and should be assigned to a dedicated person."

"Yes, we have the same idea. However, the Economic Commission is under a lot of pressure right now. The problems of helping state-owned enterprises in the old industrial base of Northeast China get out of trouble, the liberalization of the prices of means of production, and the issue of resuming trade with China are all very big issues. I myself am currently overwhelmed with work."

"If you can't be in two places at once, just find some capable comrades to share the burden. I think Comrade Xu Ying, who wrote this report, is a very clear-headed, capable, and strategic comrade. I feel that it's a waste to keep a comrade like her working in the Provincial Economic Commission. She could be transferred to the State Economic Commission to be specifically in charge of establishing an independent and controllable system."

"Comrade Xu Ying originally worked at the Chemical Industry Department of Maolin Province, where she served as the deputy director in charge of chemical production. She has a wealth of practical experience. We have investigated her and did indeed have plans to transfer her to the State Economic Commission."

"If there's such a plan, then let's go for it. If we want to develop a market economy, we need a group of responsible and intelligent management cadres. We should boldly use such talents."

　My brain went blank, I forgot to set a timer for the morning post...

　　(End of this chapter)