The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 664 Infrastructure Maniac
It wasn’t long before the groundbreaking ceremony for the Three Gorges Project was held.

A groundbreaking ceremony was also held for the Shanghai-Shenzhen high-speed rail project.

The Shanghai-Shenzhen high-speed rail project involves Shanghai, Zhejiang Province, Fujian Province, and Guangdong Province, connecting 16 coastal cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Haizhou, Dong'ou, Mindong, Rongcheng, Putian, Licheng, Ludao, Narcissus, Chaozhou, Shantou, Jieyang, Shanwei, and Pengcheng.

In addition to leaders from various provinces, heads of various prefecture-level cities also attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

Zhao Guoping, serving as the chief commander of the Shanghai-Shenzhen High-Speed ​​Railway Project Command, delivered a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony and gave a very high evaluation of the Shanghai-Shenzhen High-Speed ​​Railway project. He believed that it would benefit 20 to 30 million people along the line, connect various coastal cities, facilitate transportation among the three provinces and one city, and promote economic development along the line.

The total construction period of the Shanghai-Shenzhen High-Speed ​​Railway project was six years, and the entire line was completed in 1996.

With the completion of the Beijing-Kowloon Railway, a large number of construction workers were transferred to the Shanghai-Shenzhen High-Speed ​​Railway project.

Looking at Zhao Guoping giving a speech on the stage, Liu Tao knew in his heart that after a year, Zhao Guoping had adapted to his new position and new role.

Governing a local area and governing a business are two completely different things.

Unless Zhao Guoping achieves results, it will be difficult for him to move up further.

But it seems that Zhao Guoping adapted quickly.

In China, governing a country is not an easy thing. It is impossible for a person to jump directly from a pure layman to a high position to govern a country. In China, one usually governs a county, and after making achievements, one is promoted to a prefecture-level city to govern a city. After making achievements, one is promoted to a provincial capital or a sub-provincial city, which is a bigger stage. After making achievements, one is promoted to govern a province or a municipality directly under the central government. Only those who stand out can govern the country step by step.

It can be said that those who can stand out under this selection system are all outstanding people and have absolutely no problems with their abilities.

If one is incapable and is pushed to a high position by force, he will not be able to convince the people and will tend to fall down quickly and fall even more miserably.

After attending the groundbreaking ceremony of the Shanghai-Shenzhen High-Speed ​​Railway project, Liu Tao did not stay for long but returned to Beijing.

This time he returned to Beijing to attend a meeting, which was a special meeting on the Beijing-Shanghai Expressway, Beijing-Kunming Expressway, Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed ​​Railway, Guangzhou-Kunming High-Speed ​​Railway, and Chengdu-Kunming High-Speed ​​Railway.

This special meeting was of a very high standard, with heads of many ministries and commissions, including the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance, and National Development and Reform Commission, all present.

The estimated total cost of the entire project is as high as 400 billion yuan, which is enough for a meeting of this level.

After all, even the Three Gorges Project did not have such a high total investment.

The heads of the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Transport were grinning from ear to ear. After all, this was undoubtedly a great thing that would have fallen from the sky.

Last year, they submitted their application report, which was actually a test of luck. Even if they only revised individual sections, it would be a good thing.

Unexpectedly, the higher authorities decided to start the construction of these two highways and three high-speed railways.

Although two highways and three high-speed railways have been built, they probably won’t get a share of the profits generated in the short term.

In fact, in their view, these projects are mainly for social benefits and to promote local economic development. As for charging fees alone, they do not think they can generate profits.

But for the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Railways, as long as the road is built, it will fall under their jurisdiction and become their political achievement, which will only bring benefits and no harm.

For the Ministry of Finance, it is naturally a good thing. After all, the estimated total investment is as high as 400 billion yuan. If the Ministry of Finance is asked to pay for it, it certainly does not have that much money. However, Panshan Group will invest 300 billion yuan, and the Ministry of Finance only needs to pay 100 billion yuan. This 100 billion yuan does not need to be paid out all at once, but rather divided into several years, which is equivalent to less than 20 billion yuan a year. The Ministry of Finance can still do it if it grits its teeth.

Besides, the provinces and cities along the route also need to contribute.

Such a large investment will boost the economy and collect a lot of taxes. When it is put into operation, the profits and taxes generated each year will be huge, and it can be said that it will be a major taxpayer in the future. At the meeting, Liu Tao represented Panshan Group and expressed his willingness to invest 300 billion yuan.

As for the specific shareholding ratio, it had been discussed long before.

Individual companies will be formed here, and everyone will hold shares according to their input, and the profits generated from operations will be distributed as dividends according to the shareholding ratio.

Of course, for everyone, except Liu Tao, no one would think that investing in such a large highway or high-speed railway could generate profits, and it would be a great thing to barely break even without losses.

When building roads and railways now, people are more concerned about social benefits rather than future profitability. This is not a business but a kind of social infrastructure. Its purpose is to provide basic services for the overall social and economic development rather than to maintain profits themselves.

As for the losses, no one cares at all, because according to research, for every $1 lost on the high-speed rail, the economic growth along the high-speed rail line will increase by $1.8. Three years after the high-speed rail was built, the government tax revenue along the line increased by 68%, and the economic growth rate was 1.5 times that of other regions.

The losses from building high-speed railways can be fully compensated by local economic development.

Besides, the production of high-speed rail parts involves a large number of companies distributed in more than 20 provinces, which is enough to form a huge industrial chain and provide a large number of jobs.

In other words, for everyone, building high-speed railways and highways is more of an engine for economic development.

As for whether the high-speed railways and highways themselves are profitable or loss-making, it doesn’t matter at all.

If it is disadvantageous to anyone, it is disadvantageous to Panshan Group.

There was no expression on Liu Tao's face, and he even looked a little bitter, but he was actually very calm inside. Whether investing in expressways or high-speed railways, he would definitely not lose money, especially now that the construction costs are relatively low.

Moreover, the cost here is so high, but many of the core components are controlled and manufactured by Panshan Group, which is equivalent to transferring money from the left hand to the right hand.

The investment was so huge, but the money did not flow out, but all remained in China.

In the future, when society develops faster, more vehicles will use highways, more people will take high-speed trains, and with the addition of freight, it will be difficult to make a loss.

Moreover, all this money was actually taken out, rather than being borrowed in large quantities from banks. There was no need to pay a large amount of interest to the bank every year, or repay the bank. Liu Tao even felt that he could recover his investment in less than 20 years.

And this is still taking inflation into account.

Of course, investing in highways and high-speed railways is definitely not as profitable as doing military industry, but in the military industry, there is a ceiling on the orders that can be completed each year. After all, we are not always at war. The projects he talked about are large, but they will take several years to complete, and the amount spread out over each year is not that large. Highways and high-speed railways are different. They are a steady stream.

So deep down, he doesn't reject it.

The reason why there is bitterness on the face is actually for others to see, especially the leader.

Only the child who complains gets the milk!
This will save you from having to try to take advantage of Panshan Group every other day.

　I can finally update on time without watching the Olympics!

　　Anyone who has monthly tickets please help vote for them!

　　This month, I will try to update five chapters every day. I updated two chapters in the first two days, but I will make up for it later!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)