My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 443 Let's get the class started.

This is the first joint venture car company in the country. The Chinese side holds a 68% stake, which includes equipment, factory buildings, and a 40,000-square-meter plot of land. The foreign side invested US$15 million to build the production line, plus the brand and vehicle technology, and holds a 32% stake.

To be honest, when Wei Dong saw this shareholding ratio, he couldn't help but think of Chinese companies building car factories overseas in 30 or 40 years.

Especially compared to the various jokes circulating online about people going to India to build factories.

The domestic attitude at this moment is not much different from that of India forty years later.

They were poor, lazy, and lacked skills. They were also incredibly arrogant, always wanting to take the lion's share of everything. In the end, foreign investors were most worried that they would be wiped out and that the company wouldn't be allowed to make any money or leave.

Allocating 4% to domestic individual minority shareholders will not affect the overall situation at all.

It's worth noting that the debate and negotiations over this ratio lasted for four years, with both sides of the Pacific Ocean exchanging words.

Now that we're finally about to cut the ribbon and start production, there's a sense of "whatever, let it be" kind of tired feeling, though it's not quite the despair of wanting to give up yet.

"Labor issues have indeed greatly affected the localization rate, and the reality of losing money on every car sold urgently needs to be addressed. So since you know how to solve the problem, you can act as the lubricant and regulator between foreign investors and manufacturers."

The lubricant wanted to be more explicit: "Boss, if I had a choice, I definitely wouldn't be building cars here. These people..."

The leader from the Economic Commission smiled and said, "These people are also ordinary citizens. They have dedicated their youth and lives to building this place. Are you willing to help and lead them to change the status quo?"

After a couple of seconds of silence, Wei Dong smiled and said, "I'm willing."

The people around them also laughed.

An older woman patted Wei Dong on the shoulder and said, "I heard that you wrote the song 'Wish'. Everyone in my family, from the children to the elderly, loves it. You've made achievements in the third-line factory, so you should compose even better music and raise that lamp to illuminate more paths forward."

It's amazing how saying that sentence changed the atmosphere.

They all started talking about that song and TV series, and surprisingly, they had both seen and heard them.

Wei Dong then realized that he might be able to reap the benefits of this song for a very long time.

Because songs express one's aspirations, his spirit and ambition are clearly revealed in his songs.

The key lies in how he uses it.

Of course, he wouldn't be as eager for quick success as Jin Zhuoqun.

Furthermore, Wei Dong has become very adept at dealing with similar situations in Jiangzhou City, starting with his experience working with the old leaders in Shangzhou.

After a brief moment of thought, he nodded and said, "Then I can guarantee here that everything I do for the automotive joint venture will not be for personal gain or the benefit of any related parties. My actions are all based on the desire to change this thorny situation, so if there are any controversial actions, I ask for your support and understanding."

By first setting a clear line between oneself and others on economic issues, one can make it easier for others to understand the bottom line.

As long as you don't get greedy and don't try to make money off it, you can at least guarantee that you won't lose this battle.

If no one is trying to make money, then it's considered "charitable assistance," and there's no need to question the motives behind any of these steps.

The person who assigned Wei Dong to be a shareholder immediately agreed: "We'll arrange someone to liaise with you here. You can report the relevant work to the relevant departments. If you encounter any issues that require your leadership, just contact me directly... Are there any initial reform measures?"

Logically, for this kind of company, as long as sales are good, almost all problems can be solved, and all contradictions will disappear in the face of booming sales.

But ironically, the better the joint venture sold, the more painful it became.

So it's definitely a tricky situation no matter who comes.

Wei Dong's focus was indeed unexpected: "Didn't we analyze this before? All these factors, such as sales, foreign exchange, localization, and labor relations, all stemmed from my initial suggestion that we should probably relocate the factory elsewhere."

Someone quickly reminded them: "It's too late to relocate now. More than ten million US dollars of investment has already been poured in, and the ribbon-cutting ceremony is in three days."

This is a project presented as a gift to celebrate National Day this year.

Wei Dong nodded and said, "Of course we won't relocate at this time, which would be a waste of manpower and resources. Even if we completely remove the state-owned factory's labor protection benefits from this joint venture, it's impossible. Actually, I think the idea of ​​starting with a monthly salary of 500 yuan proposed by the foreign investor is good, but the effect is too mild. We can be more aggressive."

Someone else cautioned, "We still need to be mindful of the impact. A monthly salary of 500 yuan is indeed enough to easily spark public discussion; anything higher would be even more inappropriate."

Therefore, it is easy to imagine how difficult it is for Beijing to carry out reforms; even the slightest dissent can have a significant impact.

To everyone's surprise, Wei Dong said, "Of course it's not just a simple wage increase. We're building houses, and we're building beautiful, spacious apartments with elevators. Don't you think a salary of just over 200 yuan is enough? Now that the new houses are built, frontline workers will be paid more for their hard work. Those who strictly and efficiently complete the production line's performance targets will receive even higher bonuses. Will we still slack off or cause damage?"

Everyone's eyes lit up immediately; they had hung up carrots!

And it's hanging right in front of me.

Wei Dong pointed out the factory window: "I saw it when I came here. There are some empty spaces along the street in the factory area. Let's set aside two plots for construction first. The factory will build its own multi-story building with elevators, more than 20 stories high. There will also be commercial storefronts on the ground floor to make a nice car showroom. This area is where many car companies from all over the country gather to sell their cars. This showroom, which belongs to the factory, can be rented out to other companies and make a lot of money. Wouldn't it be much smoother to improve wages and benefits, increase work efficiency, and alleviate labor disputes?"

The official from the Economic Commission clapped and cheered: "Including the R&D and technology departments, they were not originally involved in this piece-rate wage increase situation, and had no motivation to accelerate the progress of domestic improvement work. Now they should be mobilized!" Under the watchful eyes of everyone, wage increases are a very sensitive issue, but collective housing construction cleverly avoided the fire.

And who wouldn't want to live in a nicer place?

If you look down on apartments with elevators in the suburbs, wouldn't you be tempted by the ones right in front of you?
That's the devilish way capitalists operate: they gradually raise the stakes, making carrots taste delicious and refined.

If you don't like tenement buildings, would you like an apartment building with an elevator?

The apartment buildings with elevators still have crickets, and the three-bedroom apartments of 80 or 100 square meters even have model rooms to showcase what a beautiful life looks like. Do you like them?
If you like it, you'll take the bait.

State-owned enterprises may not change their system, but they can still drive change through housing.

Moreover, this is still part of real estate reform.

As we all know, car factories have large sites, with space for test drives, vehicle inspections, and parking everywhere.

What Wei Dong was thinking about was to repair the entire area along the street!
"Welcome all leaders to visit the Economic Development Zone of Jiangzhou and the Industrial Park of Shangzhou. The former is the electronic computer industry cluster of the Fifth Ministry of Machinery Industry, covering an area of ​​about 140,000 square meters, which will be planned and built into more than 20 small blocks. The latter is the corn bioengineering supporting industrial new city of Shangzhou, covering an area of ​​about 160,000 square meters, also divided into 20 or 30 small blocks. Both have already started construction. This approach can also be adopted here."

It was clearly something Wei Dong had just thought of.

There are two cases that have already been experienced, one around Xishan Electronics Building and the other in Beijiaochang Industrial Park.

It was a perfectly logical decision to move it over.

Anyone else would be terrified. How can something that can be done in a prefecture-level city or a city with independent planning status be done in Beijing?
He remains convinced that housing reform will definitely flourish, and now everyone is just waiting to see the results. Even if there are various voices of opposition and resistance, they cannot stop the progress of the times.

However, under the guise of raising funds to build houses, the biggest firepower has been blocked by the joint venture factory that was built after four years of debate: "The purpose of building new houses on the periphery is to demolish and clear out these bungalows and tenement buildings inside, and transform the entire factory area into a beautiful modern industrial city, which in turn can increase foreign investment confidence in investing here."

This area consists of standard Soviet-style industrial factory buildings and residences, which at first glance look no different from those third-tier factories in Jiangzhou.

It's cramped, dilapidated, and bulky; it definitely needs renovation.

"Excellent, excellent. This model of reforming, demolishing, and upgrading simultaneously can be implemented effectively and serve as a guiding model for industrial and mining enterprises across the country."

Wei Dong couldn't help but be modest when he heard this: "It's not that advanced. Right, the person just mentioned that when Citibank experts come to Beijing, they must stay in a five-star hotel or a detached villa, and the gas stove must have four holes... We just follow suit and build expert buildings. In the past, when experts from the north came to the Third Front factories, we also built many expert buildings."

It is said that this is a major disagreement between the foreign investor and the factory's labor dispute, and the five-star hotel costs more than 10,000 yuan a month!

In fact, these kinds of expert buildings are common in large factories in the country.

Building a small building only costs a little money, but they insist on spending over ten thousand to stay in a five-star hotel and even have a falling out with the foreign management. Isn't this penny-pinching?

Doing business isn't about engaging in a struggle.

Everyone applauded and nodded in agreement, emphasizing the importance of properly managing the differences between workers' housing and experts' housing.

Wei Dong, who was already quite worldly-wise, said: "They're not coming here to settle down. The experts who are staying temporarily aren't exactly rich or powerful. As long as they have the right attitude, that's fine. A nice duplex apartment and a couple of townhouses similar to those in the new-style lane houses in Shanghai will be enough. The exterior won't look too different. They can operate like a hotel or guesthouse for the joint venture factory and can also receive guests from all sides."

The struggle that had plagued this place for several years was resolved so easily.

Everyone laughed and relaxed.

The 1980s was a truly remarkable period, with many cases of top talents soaring to great heights and reaching the highest levels of society.

No wonder You Qili was so desperate to build his image and to try so hard to demonstrate his reform magic in Shanghai and Beijing; he just wanted to gain such an opportunity to earn trust.

Unexpectedly, having Wei Dong learn from him and improve upon his methods only resulted in him solving problems in a more down-to-earth and practical way.

Those of you who are used to macro-control in your daily lives are quite interested in this kind of micro-management where a machine gun on the front line moves a few centimeters sideways.

Naturally, some people asked, "Will this funding affect the operation of the joint venture? Will the factory or the joint venture partner oppose this kind of collective housing construction?"

The main problem is that although the joint venture did not earn US dollars, the profits here are subject to substantial taxes. If the money is used to build residential buildings, wouldn't that reduce the profit tax?

Wei Dong responded with a smile: "It's a collective housing project. Everyone contributes their money to build the houses. At most, there might be a cash flow problem of having to advance funds for construction. Our Feiyan Sanitary Napkin Factory can help solve that problem."

What doubts could there be? They immediately signed the equity transfer agreement, and Wei Dong then asked him to take on the role of consultant with an annual salary of only one yuan.

The same person from the Economic Commission shook his head: "Advisors can't participate in actual operations, so how about the deputy general manager?"

Last year, Wei Dong was still selling sanitary napkins in exchange for cars at the entrance of the Pingjing Automobile Manufacturing Plant.

He has now transformed into the vice president of the joint venture factory.

Rang Weidong, who originally planned to return to Jiangzhou the next day, had no choice but to patiently start working at the Pingjing Jeep Automobile Factory!

(End of this chapter)