My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 635 A Peaceful Retirement is a Blessing

This meant Wei Dong had really gone all out.

The reason the person from the Economic Commission called to remind him, or arranged for today's situation, was so that he could address all the questions and provide explanations at once.

We'll have to make things clear sooner or later. It's much better to talk about it sitting on the sofa than to have the walls covered with sofa covers.

"Let me state my position first: if the Guoji and Xiqu Wharf can develop well, whichever unit or department comes to take over, I will transfer them free of charge. If more convenient, cheaper, and more hygienic sanitary napkin products appear on the market, I will be naturally eliminated. Jeans, shampoo, and other such products will definitely see a flourishing of commodity economy. As long as I drive the situation and fulfill my role as a pioneer, I will be eliminated by history and quietly withdraw. Just like now I keep asking the TV stations, newspapers, and magazines not to mention me. I am just a microcosm of the countless experimenters of reform and opening up. At this stage, even if problems arise, there may be several issues with me, which makes it convenient for various departments to find and solve problems. That's all."

This statement alone is enough to make people look at him in a new light.

Of course, those who could understand the implications of the swordplay would look down on this young man even more.

The fact that they were able to develop the Guoji and Xiqu Wharfs so well is already a huge achievement, and they have already developed a vast territory based on it. Whether they still need these tools is no longer important.

This was the first time applause had ever been heard in the venue.

Let Wei Dongcai explain in detail: "The backward state of the docks and containers goes without saying. There are only five ocean-going terminals in the country that can load and unload cargo, and the total loading and unloading volume is less than one-tenth of that of Hong Kong and one-twentieth of that of Singapore. This is also the main reason why I became a Hong Kong resident. Having docks is not enough; we also need ships to dock. In addition to actively developing our own cargo ships, we also need to maintain good relationships with merchants from all over the world for docking and transshipment. Only in this way can the products produced in the coastal areas be transported to the world. At this stage, even the localization of loading and unloading cranes requires support and assistance, instead of using precious foreign exchange to purchase expensive imported equipment... Of course, the person in charge will definitely say, oh, so-and-so imported equipment is easy to use and not easy to break down. But this thing is not like computer chips, which can't be made if we can't make it. As long as we can still make it ourselves, even if some key components still need to be imported temporarily, we should try our best to support domestic equipment. Only in this way can we catch up with imported equipment. Importing everything will only cause this part of the industrial chain to shrink completely, because if you can't sell, there will be no income, no research and development, and no talent."

Coughs of varying pitches rose from several directions, and several people turned around, saying, "Listen to him, Xiao Rang's ideas and perspectives are quite unique."

Let Wei Dong relax and be bolder: "So I personally paid for and decided to order port machinery produced in Shanghai. I will continue to follow this path in the future. For example, in the localization of automobiles, I was forced into the position of vice president of the joint venture company of Beijing Automobile Manufacturing Plant last year because they forced us to use the US dollars that we originally used to sell chips to buy imported car parts."

No one dared to laugh.

Many people signed off on this joint venture project back then.

Fortunately, Wei Dong managed to salvage the situation: "Is importing this good? Yes, it's very good. When I was on a business trip to the plateau, I picked up a doctor who was supporting the border region, and a local city leader. I was also abandoned by a deserted lake. Without wide and flat roads and high-quality cars, we cannot measure our vast and great land, let alone improve the living standards of the people. So developing the automobile industry is absolutely the right thing to do, but now there's a real rush to do it, and I'm shocked."

He opened a new PowerPoint presentation: "Last September, when I took over the Pingqi joint venture, the Economic Commission required me to do everything in my power to increase the localization rate. We shouldn't have to pay out precious foreign exchange to buy imported parts for every joint venture vehicle we produced. Starting a joint venture and having to sign a contract stipulating that production couldn't exceed 20,000 units within five years was truly heartbreaking. The more we produced, the more we lost. How could we learn efficient modern industrial assembly line technology then? So, the only solution was to increase the localization rate. Currently, the localization rate for Pingqi Cherokee is 3%, for Shanghai Santana it's 7%, and for Jiangzhou Jiang'an it's 22%."

The large text on the TV screen was really glaring.

Wei Dong started by making fun of himself: "I'll say it again, if it's done well, I'll transfer it for free if you want me to back out. Let's see why there are obvious differences between these three..."

"First of all, Pingqi and the other party were incompatible. We resisted capitalist exploitation, while the Citizens were wary of socialist encroachment. So, on the one hand, they were slacking off on the production line, and on the other hand, they were strictly preventing the blueprints from being made public. It's no wonder that we couldn't do well. It took a year to straighten out the relationship and only then did we get from 1% to 3%."

"The cooperative relationship with Shanghai Automotive is quite good, but the Hans people are a bit rigid, requiring that the parts absolutely meet their quality standards before they can be used. Therefore, they are investing in technology and funds to cultivate parts suppliers around Shanghai. This is a gradual process of joining, and I estimate that there will be a surge in three to five years."

"Jiangzhou is dealing with Japanese companies, and they're quite interesting. Didn't we just say that the Japanese have been making money by opening car and electronics factories all over the world for the past twenty years? So they're very good at this kind of work. Moreover, Japanese cars are durable and reliable, and they have their own unique characteristics in training parts processing. As a heavy industrial base for military enterprises, Jiangzhou already has a lot of skilled workers and equipment. In addition, it started joint ventures to manufacture Japanese motorcycles a few years ago, accumulating a lot of experience in motorcycle parts. They can use them when the market is hot and selling well, but they can't get past the 20% or 30% mark. What should they do?"

Wei Dong pulled out a small photo album: "Sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood. This year, we mainly investigated the production scale of various car companies and parts manufacturers. At the end of this year, we will hold the National Auto Expo and Auto Parts Production and Sales Fair in Jiangzhou, and gather car manufacturers, auto parts manufacturers, and machine processing plants from all over the country to participate in the development of the entire automotive industry."

He then pointed to the person next to him who had already started looking through the photo album: "These are photos of our newly completed convention and exhibition center in Jiangzhou, as well as some photos of the Yuzhou Sugar and Wine Fair. If our PPT software could immediately display the photos on the screen, this function would be even more powerful and could generate more revenue. However, currently, the computer itself is still somewhat lacking in this area. If we can achieve this first, we will have taken a significant step forward. This is what technological foreign trade is all about."

He quickly flipped through the document and handed it to the person next to him, saying, "Isn't it a bit wasteful for Jiangzhou to spend so much money renovating this convention center?"

Let Wei Dong explain: "I highly recommend that everyone take the time to go to Yuzhou these next few days to see the National Sugar and Wine Fair that is currently being held. This is the most vibrant industry exhibition I have seen so far. Perhaps because food is the most important thing for people, the development of sugar, wine and food products has been at the forefront of commodity reform. Our automobile industry is following suit, but what they lack is an exhibition center like this. It's a bit chaotic."

The Economic Commission even teased him: "Last year I told you to set up an automobile community, to select scientific research and industrial units across the country, including the state, cities, and banks to form a joint force, and you said it wasn't necessary. Now we still have to recruit talents from all over the world."

Wei Dong shook his head again: "No, no, no, that's still the planned economy mindset. The relevant units tackle the problem, and the sales price is used to reward them. In the end, the cost of the car is passed on to the consumer. This does not conform to the laws of commodity economy. This is a purely commercial operation model. Any manufacturer in the country can make this bearing. Whoever can make the best quality at the lowest price will take the order. In the end, the consumer will get the best quality at the lowest price."

Of course, this is just an ideal scenario. Suppliers would squeeze costs, car manufacturers would exploit the supply chain, and those who control orders would become incredibly wealthy, while consumers might not actually benefit. But this is already a completely different market economy; it's just a matter of how to develop and improve it.

It is based on human nature that only by constantly innovating and improving their own enterprises and parts production can they make money and survive, which will stimulate the motivation to research and develop the production system.

The bonuses from state-owned enterprises go to the unit itself, so how could they be given to a single individual? Since you can get benefits just by slacking off, why should you work hard?

The key was to get Wei Dong to speak his mind, which pushed the Economic Commission, which had always been considered quite radical at this level, into a conservative position.

Everyone looked on, saying, "Oh, you're already quite conservative: 'If we leave it all to the market, there'll be no management, right?'"

The tax authorities understand that: "Completely handing it over to the market will definitely create many problems. The management department should address these problems and solve them. This involves more management details, but we cannot choose not to do anything just because there are more management tasks."

In terms of applying a one-size-fits-all approach, the tax authorities have definitely done a relatively good job.

Because the tax authorities are the management departments that deal most with the commodity economy, they must improve and adjust in the face of all sorts of new and emerging practices.

So surprisingly, everyone nodded and said they were waiting to see the effect of the auto show.

It's true that the National Sugar and Wine Fair has been held for thirty years, and the Guangdong Trade Fair for twenty or thirty years, but the automotive industry has never had such an exhibition and sales event.

Even last year's Shanghai Auto Show was more like a showcase for foreign brands, a way to show them the domestic market; its significance outweighed its practical effect.

Wei Dong then returned to the PPT: "So when we started contacting car manufacturers all over the country these days, we learned that there are now nearly a hundred car brands from various provinces and cities across the country. For example, there are seven or eight in Jiangzhou alone. The quality is really hard to describe. We all bought one to try it out, and we could barely get it on the road thanks to our own car repair shops. But consumers can't withstand that kind of trouble. So my personal suggestion is to have a strong automotive industry management department, and then a few state-owned brands and a few private brands would be enough. The others should focus on making auto parts. Concentrating resources will make things easier, which is much better than the current situation where everything is scattered, wasting resources, and ending up in a mess everywhere."

In other words, a sixty-something-year-old calf is not afraid of a tiger, unaware of how many tigers are in this situation, before recklessly making such a suggestion.

Why can the Ministry of Machinery Industry be divided into eight ministries? Why is the Fifth Ministry of Machinery Industry developing computers while the Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry is also doing so?

Why did the Fifth Ministry of Machinery Industry manufacture everything from motorcycles and cars to computers and bicycles?

Everyone wants to achieve results.

Every department is like this, and every province and city is like this too. Why can't we, with such good cars, grow bigger and stronger? Why can't we improve and perfect them when there are problems? Why should we be the suppliers for so-and-so?

Anyway, the leader from the Economic Commission laughed heartily: "Isn't this also a planned economy? You're rigidly assigning so-and-so to do it, making it a nationwide effort..."

Wei Dong finally scratched his head: "Don't go to extremes. You can have a bit of both. I'm just giving you advice."

But actually, this approach is more likely to gain acceptance, no matter how it works.

Someone immediately spoke up: "Then let you first take charge of this management department and see how it goes..."

Wei Dong sighed helplessly: "Look, it's not that I want to take on so much work. I just glanced at it as I was passing by and offered a suggestion, and now I'm being asked to participate. I'm already the vice president of the Pingjing Automobile joint venture factory, and I hardly ever go to work. How could I possibly participate in the management department?"

Someone nearby laughed: "It's okay, you're just on secondment anyway. You'll help set an example and then quietly leave. The relevant departments can process your retirement."

This caused the entire audience to burst into laughter at the young man in his twenties.

But who among us didn't fight our way up to that age?

(End of this chapter)