I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 50: Attracting Investment to Run Schools is Just a Formality
Mazhou City and Jianggao City have long intended to deepen their cooperation. The reason is simple: one is located in the southeastern corner of the Yangtai metropolis, and the other is in the southwestern corner of the Chongzhou metropolis. It is difficult to say how much core resources will be allocated to each other in terms of development.

Regardless of the type of resource, educational resources are included.

However, it also has advantages, namely its proximity to the Yangtze River. In recent years, Shazhou City and Jiyang City have benefited from development dividends, resulting in a large number of industrial transfers. Jiyang City's equipment manufacturing industry has been partially diverted to Mazhou City, while Shazhou City's chemical and textile industries have been diverted to Jianggao City.

However, industrial development in the riverside counties and cities of Jiangkou Province is centered around townships, so the ones that reap the lion's share of the benefits are usually just one or two townships, at most one and a half, and no more than two.

With a little extra money and resources, internal development was also sought. The idea was to integrate resources and advance or retreat together. The areas along the river would focus on heavy industry and chemical industry to complement the opposite bank of the Yangtze River; the areas outside the river would develop whatever they had and as much as they could, with a focus on practicality.

The Xilai Town that Xiao Xiangzi mentioned is the border between the two cities, with a small river as the boundary. Going straight down to the east, you reach the Jiaogang River, a waterway with strong shipping capacity. If you wanted to take advantage of it, it would be no problem to place it in Shazhou City or Jiyang City, which are rich in industrial advantages. But at this time, it wouldn't work in Mazhou City or Jianggao City.

The outskirts are mostly farmland, paddy fields, or cemeteries. The decent factories are old, dilapidated industrial remnants from decades ago, and their insolvency is even worse than that of "Chengdong Xianlin Health Care".

In this situation, if both sides want to develop this peripheral area within a peripheral area, they need to have something to offer, and the lower the price of production factors, the better.

Mazhou City has cleared out a batch of completely abandoned old and dilapidated industrial buildings in Xilai Town. The only thing of value is the land. In contrast, Jianggao City next door has only a few warehouses that are still usable, and the rest are completely unusable.

When they discovered that "Zhang An Education" had an annual revenue of 50 to 60 million yuan per school, how could they not be tempted?
Schools are different from ordinary social institutions and factories. They don't easily move, and they don't particularly need logistics or social public facilities. Now that it's a "large-scale enterprise," bringing it over is a sure-fire way to make money.

But to impress "Zhang An Education", it's meaningless to just talk about student enrollment, city size, or market size. Of course, Xiao Xiangzi was also testing the waters to see what kind of talent this underage top scholar really was.

I tried it, and wow!

Alright, let's just focus on attracting investment.

That's right. On the surface, it's "attracting investment to build schools," but in reality, it's "attracting investment." There's a lot of knowledge involved here that many places could ponder for a decade or two.

Once you understand the kernel, what kind of shell it is on the surface is completely unimportant.

"Mr. Zhang, if you set up a school in Xilai Town, there are three plots of land here, namely 30 mu, 25 mu and 45 mu, totaling 100 mu. Buy one and get two free."

"Give it away for free?"

"Given away for free."

Xiao Xiangzi nodded and quickly added, "Don't worry, it's absolutely legitimate. The city will issue a statement, and there are absolutely no legal issues or problems with the loss of state-owned assets. The city will absorb the land price for the two plots of land, which means the city will pay for them."

What about Jianggao?

"Same here, also 100 mu, two plots, one 30 mu and one 70 mu, buy one get two free. The land acquisition cost will also be borne by the city, and the city education bureau will raise funds for any excess."

That's what they say, but actually the land here is worthless now; acquiring it all would only cost a little over two million.

Generally speaking, no business owner would acquire land reserves in such a place. Land speculation usually takes place in big cities, not in small towns or rural areas.

The price fluctuations of industrial land are very clear in big cities, but in slightly less desirable cities, prices can suddenly plummet.

Therefore, in terms of land use, there's no particular advantage. The "buy one, get two free" offer simply shows their attitude: there's cooperation, communication, and sincerity on both sides. They genuinely treat Zhang Da'an like a "god of literature," which feels very comfortable.

"As for taxes, don't worry. Both sides can apply for a science and education entrepreneurship park at the same time. If it is not approved, the city itself can also provide a two-year tax exemption and a three-year tax reduction. If it is approved, we will try to achieve a three-year tax exemption and a two-year tax reduction. In addition, both sides can report the situation to Yangtai and Chongzhou respectively. If the revenue reaches a certain scale, it will not be a problem to get a tax refund after five years."

Xiao Xiangzi was quite familiar with these basic operations. How could she work as a secretary in the Mazhou City Education Bureau office without some skills?

The discussion was fast-paced, and Uncle Zhang, who was accompanying them, was completely confused. He was quite capable of making money, but it was all small-scale stuff at the level of school-run factories. He could only boast about making tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan for three to five years.

Now the amounts are in the millions or tens of millions, and he finds it all like listening to gibberish.

However, Uncle Zhang is no longer a complete country bumpkin. After all, he is the chairman of a directly affiliated education investment company. He may not have the ability to start a business and work hard, but he certainly has the ability to make money off others... and a lot of it.

Listen attentively and ignore everything else.

"Can your two families handle the public relations for recruiting students for the high school entrance exam retake classes in the major cities of Yangzhou and Taizhou?"

The question raised by Zhang Da'an is very practical, especially in Chongzhou City, which is a major city for education. There are countless professional institutions in this field, not to mention that some middle schools are in this business.

Now that a formidable new force has emerged, how can we possibly turn a blind eye and a deaf ear?
If it's done within Jianggao City, it's not a big problem, but if it's expanded to the entire Chongzhou City, then it will be very challenging.

"We are now receiving strong support from many parties in our work."

"Specifically?"

“Chongzhou City is also promoting ‘public-private partnership’ to further strengthen basic education. The new leader also achieved considerable success when he was in Jianggao.”

Good guy.

Zhang Da'an finally realized what was going on; he had been waiting for him here all along.

So it turns out... they had a mission after all?
If there's a broader perspective to consider, then things become much simpler.

The tutoring institutions on the market, especially those in Chongzhou, are not worth worrying about at all.

The difficulty for "Zhang An Education" in establishing a branch of Xindongwei Port Middle School in another city lies in the various challenges it faces in the early stages. Any excuse can cause the construction process to be halted.

Now that this difficulty has been eliminated in reality, it's purely a market economy plus a competition of technology, which is no big deal for "Zhang An Education".

"Then I have one last question."

Zhang Da'an's hand rested on the dining table, his fingers slowly tapping the surface. "About how big is the limit and scope of my poaching?"

(End of this chapter)