1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 295 Disadvantages (1)

He took a look at the several industrial park investment documents handed over by Miss Mu.

As if to show off, or to give Yang Mo a warning, Lin Luosu did not rush to explain the problems in these documents. Instead, he began to lay the groundwork for the macro structure.

"Mu Tou, since it involves a follow-up investment of billions of dollars and hundreds of tertiary industry projects, whether to settle in Qingdao must first be compared vertically and horizontally at a macro level;"

After blowing a huge bubble from her mouth, Lin Luosu glanced at Yang Mo, then took the bubble back into her mouth and chewed it again: "Our country has a very long coastline, but there are not many high-quality deep-water ports. Generally speaking, there are even fewer ports and cities that have the potential to become important windows for foreign trade;"

"Except for Shanghai, the undisputed leading port city, and Guangzhou, the economic and trade hub, I will not compare Shantou, Shenzhen/Shekou, and Hainan here due to their unique policies;"

"In fact, the cities that should be compared with Qingdao are Ningbo, Dalian and Xiamen... This kind of macro-level comparison and competition is directly related to Qingdao's possible future policy direction."

Having said that, Lin Luosu paused and found that although Miss Mu was listening carefully, Yang Mo did not show any impatience towards these words which seemed completely irrelevant at first glance. After being surprised, she also began to take it seriously.

"First, we need to understand the position given to these cities by the imperial court... This is very important."

"DL City is defined in court documents as... an important domestic port, industrial, trade, financial and tourist city, an international shipping center, international logistics center, international trade center and regional financial center in Northeast Asia, and a window for Northeast China to open up to the outside world; it is an important central city, port and scenic tourist city on the northern coast of China approved by the cabinet, and a central city in the Liaoning Coastal Economic Zone."

"To put it bluntly, the imperial court wants to gather the advantageous resources of the three northeastern provinces and build DL City into the [Shanghai of the North]... In fact, Dalian has also developed very well in recent years. As long as it can take advantage of the favorable conditions during this ice-breaking journey, it can even reach the quasi-first-tier standards within five years."

"NB City is a prefecture-level city, a sub-provincial city, a separately planned city, and a first-class large city under the jurisdiction of ZJ Province... It is defined in court documents as an important city in the Shanghai metropolitan area, an important port city on the southeast coast of China approved by the cabinet, and an economic center on the southern wing of the Yangtze River Delta. It is a typical Jiangnan water town and seaport city, and is also the southern outlet of the Grand Canal of China. It has the largest cargo throughput potential in the country and has unparalleled advantages in shipping."

"To put it bluntly, the imperial court positioned Ningbo as [Shanghai's back garden + business diversion center]. With Shanghai's strong ability to absorb capital and trade orders, anyone can see that as long as the country relaxes its foreign trade policy, Ningbo will be able to step on the small hot wheels immediately."

"Xiamen, together with Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, is a core component of the southern Fujian region and has the unique advantage of a second-class regional culture... In court documents, it is defined as a national comprehensive reform pilot zone, a national logistics hub, a southeast international shipping center, a component of the China (Fujian) Free Trade Pilot Zone, a national marine economic development demonstration zone, a cross-strait emerging industry and modern service industry cooperation demonstration zone, a cross-strait regional financial service center, and a cross-strait trade center; it is also a Chinese special economic zone approved by the cabinet and an important central city, port, and scenic tourist city on the southeast coast."

"Look, you see? With Taiwan and Southeast Asia as a double guarantee, Xiamen's locational advantages and development potential are not much inferior to Ningbo. Moreover, due to historical reasons, the southern Fujian region has unparalleled advantages in attracting overseas Chinese investment. Therefore, as long as Xiamen does not commit suicide, it will be easy to achieve some results."

After spitting the tasteless bubble gum in his mouth into the trash can, Lin Luosu chuckled twice: "As for Qingdao..."

"The court's definition in the document is nothing more than the economic center of Shandong, the country's important modern marine industry development pilot zone, Northeast Asia's international shipping hub, and the bridgehead and pilot zone for China-Japan-South Korea economic and trade cooperation... Although this weight is indeed not light, the two big pieces of fat in Japan and South Korea are indeed very tempting;"

"But the problem is that apart from its geographical location, Qingdao has no other real advantages... Besides, Qingdao is not the only city in Qilu that has a geographical advantage. Weihai, Dongying, and even Yantai, which one doesn't have access to the sea?"

At this point, Lin Suluo said with a rogue look on his face, straddling his left leg on the chair: "So you see, among the four cities compared horizontally, theoretically speaking, Ningbo>Dalian>Qingdao>Xiamen."

"That is to say, Qingdao must work very hard to avoid being defeated in this competition that is somewhat like a zero-sum game... Unlike inland cities, due to the low shipping costs, if the surrounding areas do not have secondary and tertiary markets to build further industrial advantages and transfer support advantages, most of the business can actually be snatched away by other competitors based solely on the geographical advantages of the seaport itself."

Seemingly very proud of herself for making such a forward-looking analysis, Lin Luosu raised her chin provocatively towards Yang Mo, and was almost about to say, "Boy, are you convinced? Do you understand?"

Seeing this, Yang Mo smiled slightly, then gave a thumbs up without hesitation.

Although as a reborn person, he knew that the girl's conclusion was actually a bit problematic. At least in the future, the actual situation is Qingdao>Ningbo>Xiamen>Dalian.

But there are too many unexpected factors and drastic changes in the macro environment involved, so you can't say that there is something wrong with other people's analysis.

But it is obvious that this conclusion could not have been figured out by the girl herself. At the very least, the insightful view that "real locational advantages require intensive secondary and tertiary markets to support them" is definitely not something a twenty-something supervisor can understand.

After making some guesses about the girl's parents, Yang Mo stretched out his hand expectantly, motioning for the girl to continue.

………………

"Since Qingdao may encounter unprecedented opportunities and challenges after its ice-breaking journey, it follows normal logic that Qingdao, which does not have any particular advantages, should do its best to attract foreign investment and build an intensive industrial cluster of 100 kilometers or even 300 kilometers with Qingdao as the core."

At this point, Lin Luosu's tone was full of complaints: "But based on my observations and personal experience over the past year and a half, this doesn't seem to be the case;"

“Qingdao is certainly very active in attracting foreign investment, but as for building intensive industrial clusters…”

Lin Luosu casually put a copy of the industrial park's investment policy document on the table and pointed to something with a sneer: "In a city like Qingdao, everyone comes here to start a business to make money, so tax subsidies, incentives, and rents are the most powerful batons for each industrial park."

"But read this document yourself, especially Article 8 [Subsidy and Reward Policy]... Do you see the problem?"

“This section is clearly written at the beginning [Enterprises settled in the park enjoy the following incentive policies on the premise of passing the annual assessment];”

“This one doesn’t seem to have any problems at first glance, does it?”

"But please read the third part... [Enterprises that fail to meet the annual assessment standards will not be eligible for the above subsidy and reward policies this year. If they pass the assessment in the next year, they can continue to enjoy the subsidy and reward policies, but the subsidy and reward of the previous year cannot be retroactively used. Those who fail the assessment for two consecutive years will be forced to leave the park]."

Seeing her sister specifically bring up these two points, Miss Mu blinked in confusion, "That's not a problem. The rents in these parks are not expensive, not even 1 yuan per square meter. After receiving the subsidy, it's not only free rent, but you can also make a small profit. The competent authorities will definitely select the best and the worst for the companies that settle in."

Lin Luosu rolled his eyes. "Cheap? Mu Tou, you may have been inexpensive in Dongying for too long and are no longer sensitive to prices. Or maybe you think this is a metropolis like Shanghai... The industrial land here is sold at market price. Basically, as long as you have funds and a project, you can buy it. The rent of the industrial park here is also basically marked at market price... Although Qingdao is not big now, the idle industrial land is not in short supply. 1 yuan per square meter is already very expensive in Qilu!"

At this point, Lin Luosu turned the document to a certain page at the back: "As for the survival of the fittest... I am not against the survival of the fittest, but I have to trouble you to make sure that the pie you draw is edible!"

After tapping a line on the document, Lin Luosu's tone was full of sarcasm: "Look, did you see that? Article 50, tax rewards and subsidies... [Within eight years from the date of entering the park, if the local financial contribution of the enterprise reaches 65 or more in that year, 100% of the district-level financial contribution will be awarded; if the local financial contribution of the enterprise reaches 70 million or more in that year, % of the financial contribution will be awarded;"

"For those who fail to meet the above standards, the proportion of rewards and subsidies will be decided independently by the incubators that meet the assessment of the "XX Industrial Park Management Measures." After taking a sip of tea with a sneer, the Eggplant Girl looked at her sisters and said, "Annual tax contribution of 50 or 100 million, what does that mean? At the very least, it requires the annual business of the settled enterprises to exceed 1000 million... And it was clearly stated before that the assessment is based on an area of ​​150 mu. In other words, if your company covers an area of ​​ mu, then in order to get the reward, the annual local fiscal and tax contribution must exceed million!"

"Haha, apart from foreign-funded enterprises, joint ventures, and large state-owned enterprises, do you think ordinary collective enterprises and private enterprises can achieve this level of tax payment? Not to mention collective enterprises and private enterprises, even medium-sized state-owned enterprises find it difficult to meet the standards!"

"Isn't it obvious that they just want to attract big companies to move in and then raise the surrounding land prices?"

“Whether it is a large state-owned enterprise, a foreign-funded enterprise, or a joint venture, their businesses are fixed and their supply chains are relatively stable. If we only welcome them to settle in and keep small and medium-sized enterprises out, can we really build an intensive industrial cluster? I doubt it!”

Speaking of this, Eggplant Girl was full of anger: "Do you know that the headquarters has 41 tertiary industry projects in Qingdao, mainly involving hotels, restaurants, food, and light industrial manufacturing;"

"Not long after I arrived in Qingdao two years ago, I wanted to bring together the tertiary industry projects related to food and light industrial manufacturing, which would facilitate management and create more jobs... The first thing I thought of was to move into the industrial park. After all, Qingdao is not very big now, and only the industrial park has enough idle industrial land;"

"But when I contacted them, the park's management unit rejected our light industrial manufacturing project on the grounds that Qingdao gave priority to the development of the port industry system, and only agreed to accept the six food production companies as supplementary units."

"If that's all, then I'll accept it. But as I said before, a large part of these tertiary industry projects are not even state-owned enterprises, but collective enterprises... Since they are collective enterprises, then the park will not be so polite to you. Some things will really upset you!"

There was a slight pause in the middle, and the eggplant girl raised her chest fiercely: "You all know the old problems of our Qilu. From the competent units to the public institutions, and then to the state-owned enterprises, we follow the rules when doing things, find the basis for doing things, make fewer mistakes, or even no mistakes. It has become a concept rooted in the subconscious... I don't want to comment on the pros and cons of this atmosphere. After all, this thing has its pros and cons."

"But the problem is that after leaving the base camp, I deeply understood how difficult it is to do something in this environment without a backer and the words "state-owned enterprise" as a talisman;"

"After those food companies moved into the industrial park, the industrial and commercial administration, taxation, health, fire protection, district, city, street, police station, electricity, water, etc., all came to visit and provide services at home, and also to check if you have violated any regulations. If they didn't visit a single port, haha... you know what I mean."

"Each department wants to achieve some results within its own business scope and in accordance with industry regulations... However, it is difficult to help promote the development of enterprises, and performance is difficult to evaluate, which is more prone to risks. However, it is quick and simple to find faults and problems, and the results are easier to quantify. It is self-evident what others will do."

"In short, they have only been in the industrial park for a year, and the six food production companies have paid more than 100 yuan in fines alone... Damn it, the sales of these six companies did not even reach million yuan last year, and the money they earned was not enough to pay the fines;"

"So two months ago, I had someone terminate the contract with the industrial park and moved the six companies back to Jiaodong."

At this point, Lin Luosu turned his gaze to Yang Mo: "I'm not saying this to say that they're just fining people randomly. In fact, every ticket they issue is well-founded and no one can find fault with it... But what I want to say is that in this environment of daily inspections and weekly meetings, making money is too damn tiring. All your energy is spent on dealing with these things. Who has so much time to spend on operating and generating revenue?"

"This kind of thing that neither gets you a big profit nor is a waste of energy, is unfriendly to small and medium-sized enterprises, especially those that are not state-owned enterprises, and has unobservable losses and risks... Do you understand?"

Yang Mo smiled and nodded: "I understand. If it were me, I would rather start a business in a place where the rent might be more expensive but there would be fewer troubles."

The eggplant girl laughed, "That's the truth. In fact, Qingdao learned this method from Shenzhen and Shekou. It's just that the way they do it in the south, whether it's land or renting out industrial parks, they sell them at a loss at a price far below the market price, but they will strictly inspect the company and the project, and sign a tax betting agreement. That's called investment promotion... But in Qingdao, I think it's more like a one-time deal!"

Yang Mo smiled without saying anything. It was obvious that Eggplant Girl was looking at the southern cities through a filter. As a reborn person, he knew very well that every place had its own problems and shortcomings. The South was certainly stronger than the North in some aspects, but in other aspects, the North was much stronger than the South.

But he had no intention of correcting Eggplant Girl's views, nor did he want to educate her about the situation in the south.

He just shook his head and said, "Ms. Lin, if that's all, it doesn't constitute a sufficient reason to oppose entering Qingdao... We are an asset management company with sufficient funds. As long as we choose the right direction and integrate it properly, it won't be difficult to meet the GDP per mu and local tax payments... Moreover, once we move in, we will naturally set up a relevant public relations department, and then some inconveniences in the details will naturally be solved... Believe me, I came from the comprehensive office, I know more about this than you!"

At this point, with a hint of smile in his eyes, Yang Mo looked at the eggplant girl as if to induce and provoke her: "In fact, I don't think Miss Lin's personal experience can be used to tell the story. Qingdao is currently focusing on attracting investment from large enterprises and striving to build a complete port system. In my opinion, this is a very correct thing to do;"

“Port affairs are not simply about equipment and throughput, but a complete supporting system that includes dispatching, port affairs, shipping affairs, and logistics. These are not just policies, but also small circles, networks, and supply chains in each field... In this regard, large companies in related fields do have inherent advantages;”

"As you said before, Qingdao is not very big at the moment. Although there is still plenty of land available for industrial use, any land available for industrial use is a scarce resource for a port city. Therefore, it is normal for them to treat tertiary industry projects in non-related fields differently in terms of policy... Qilu itself has a [port cluster strategy], and the documents have repeatedly stated that it is not about letting the various ports in the province compete, but about forming a joint force to compete with Jiangsu. As a pioneer, Qingdao has made some choices in accepting industrial projects, which I think is something worthy of praise."

At this point, Yang Mo looked at the Eggplant Girl with a smile: "So, after listening to Miss Lin's story, I am actually more interested in Qingdao... At least, in the long run, a city with a clear positioning and careful planning to achieve strategic planning is actually more attractive than a frivolous and prosperous city."

Lin Luosu stared at Yang Mo with an unexpected look on his face. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he heard a hint of sarcasm in Yang Mo's tone.

Lin Luosu squeezed the bullet shell in his hand, glanced at Miss Mu who was in a dilemma, and finally held back the swear words that were about to come out of his mouth. He sneered: "Step by step?"

"Yang Mo, you come from the countryside after all, and you have only been working for a year, so it is normal that you don't know much about the system... Haha, Qingdao is a separately planned city, and it is currently seeking to be promoted to a sub-provincial city. It is also the most important foreign trade port in Qilu... What do these three points mean together? I'm afraid you don't know at all, right?"

Although Yang Mo was confronted by the Eggplant Girl, who even made some personal attacks on him, he did not take it as an offense. Instead, the smile in his eyes became even more intense.

"Oh? What does this mean? Could you please give me some advice, Miss Lin?"

Yang Mo thought seriously for a moment, then leaned forward slightly, pretending to listen attentively.

Seeing Yang Mo's attitude, Miss Mu sighed in her heart.

This bastard is here again!

Looking at her sisters who had a hint of pride in their brows, Miss Mu had a hint of worry in her eyes.

Luoluo, you'd better be more careful. Don't be so stupid as to tell all the things your father told you secretly. If you are not careful, you will get yourself into trouble!
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PS: I originally wanted to finish writing one chapter, but my physical condition does not allow it. I have to go get an injection. Bye!

(End of this chapter)