Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1360 Current Situation

Xiao Hong asked, "I haven't asked yet, what was it like visiting your classmate's factory in Tianjing? I haven't heard you two talk about it."

Xiao Wei watched as Bei Bei, whose hair was tied into pigtails with colorful hair ties, led the shifty-eyed Chen Xiaohui and the adorable Wang Yan out of the house and ran towards the back garden. He laughed and said, "What's there to say? It's just like that."

Chen Hui said, "It's similar to Fengtian here. Closures and mergers are happening one after another. Factories that were fine yesterday might be gone today, liquidated and acquired. People in state-owned enterprises are all in a state of panic. It's the same all over the country."

Xiao Wei said, "Look how dashing and impressive our classmate is. His office is so luxurious, much more impressive than ours. He has a brand new imported car, and his staff quarters are like villas."

If I hadn't gone into the workshop and chatted with the workers a bit, would you have believed me?

"A perfectly good factory was ruined, who cares? They just pack up and move somewhere else, and they're still managers. It's disgusting."

Chen Hui shook his head: "You're being one-sided. This kind of situation definitely exists, but it's not as serious as you say. You're only seeing the surface. Our country's state-owned enterprises have no choice but to change."

In the past two years, half of the 2181 counties in the country have been operating at a deficit, and nearly 200 million county officials have not been able to pay their salaries.

Currently, for every hundred items produced in state-owned factories, at least half are substandard, and one-third cannot be sold.

According to incomplete statistics, there are at least 20 million bicycles, 120 million watches, and 1 billion shirts piling up in factories and warehouses across the country.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics at the end of 91 showed that profits of enterprises nationwide had fallen by 67%, and total losses had reached 310 billion yuan.

Many factories have shut down. Putting everything else aside, just look at Fengtian: out of a million workers, at least 300,000 are unemployed.

However, after more than two years of economic recession, the country was out of money and had to accept foreign aid.

Do you understand?

There are bound to be issues, and the higher-ups are aware of them, but the overall policy is what it is: state-owned enterprises must undergo major reforms; there's no other way. Breaking the "iron rice bowl" system isn't something that can be done just by talking; it will have a huge impact on the future.

To put it bluntly, the old corporate management methods and welfare systems have seriously hampered development, much like a serious illness in a person. If left untreated, it's doomed.

Xiao Wei thought for a moment: "How about I get rid of this burden?"

Chen Hui bit his lip: "That's a fair way of putting it, more or less. Isn't the idea to shed burdens and move forward lightly? Besides, for ordinary people, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Who benefits from private development?"

Look at us now, how does our food, drink, daily life, and income compare to a few years ago? Isn't that a change?

Distributing the burden evenly is the best approach. There will definitely be people affected, but it's better than watching the whole thing collapse, right?

Chen Xiao watched her husband pontificate with sparkling eyes, while Xiao Hong looked on incredulously: "Xiao Hui's thinking and theoretical knowledge have really improved. His studies have certainly paid off."

Xiao Wei pouted: "You were secretly looking at Uncle Chen's documents, weren't you?"

Chen Hui chuckled: "I flipped through a few internal reference books. But that's the truth. Even those who seem to be doing well now are just putting on a show. Let's not talk about the distant past, just look at Daqiu. How awesome it was a few years ago."

Everyone says things have gone downhill these past two years because Lao Yu got arrested, but that's not it. It's all debt; they were playing the loan-financed game, which was like building a small house on sand. Now they're busy selling houses and land to raise money to pay off the loans, otherwise they would have collapsed too.

You have no idea how many small factories and businesses survive on government subsidies, local subsidies, and bank loans; they're all rotten to the core. Some even use loans to pay wages. It's all government-funded; nobody can do anything about it, they have to keep going. But what about all those workers?

……

Tianjing was a commercial port in modern history. It did not have much industry, but its light industry, textiles and chemicals were quite developed. Various textile factories, paint factories and pharmaceutical factories accounted for a large proportion of the economy.

Tianjing Pharmaceutical Factory was able to produce various hormones in the 30s. The Central Pharmaceutical Factory was also a very good pharmaceutical factory, steel mill, shipbuilding industry, and machinery manufacturing industry.

Tianjing Paint Factory is almost a century old now, and there's also a cigarette factory, which is part of the light industry sector.

Soap, hand soap, skincare products, shampoo, toothpaste, etc., are all very famous.

Xiaowei and Chen Hui's classmate is named Chen Yongzhi, the factory director of a chemical plant in Tianjing.

When Xiaowei and Chen Hui gathered with a group of classmates and teachers and arrived at the chemical plant, colorful flags were waving and drums were being played at the main gate. The newly painted and renovated gate was filled with a warm and festive atmosphere.

Several buses carrying people slowly passed the welcoming crowd, drove into the factory gate, and stopped in front of the office building.

The factory canteen and guesthouse were right next to the office building. Director Chen personally accompanied the teachers and arranged their meals and lodging.

The guesthouse is of a very high standard, easily reaching two-star level. The food is also quite good, with various dishes comparable to those in high-end hotels.

In the factory's luxurious conference room, Director Chen warmly and enthusiastically held a friendly discussion with the teachers and students who had come to visit. He was in high spirits, and even the tea everyone was drinking was Maojian tea. Chen Hui said that the tea was quite good.

Xiao Wei and Chen Hui estimated that the teachers and students would spend at least 100,000 yuan on food, drinks, accommodation, entertainment, and transportation during their two-day and two-night stay. For the factory, this was a huge sum of money.

The two days and two nights were spent without actually visiting the production line or interacting with the workers, and the factory was not even explained in detail. It was basically a vacation, relaxation, eating, drinking, and having fun.

Xiao Wei and Chen Hui took a walk around the factory and met with a few workers.

Compared to the splendid scene near the office building, the workshop looked extremely shabby, with dilapidated factory buildings, outdated equipment, and lazy, idle workers. The factory was nearing shutdown.

Large quantities of products are piling up in the warehouse collecting dust, and the workers have only received half pay for several months, making it difficult for them to make a living.

This was actually the true situation of many state-owned enterprises in 95.

Not all factory managers are negligent in their duties. A small factory has a bunch of aunts and uncles who spend half a year studying even the smallest things. No matter what it is, they all want to meddle and give guidance. The factory is full of this and that aunt and uncle. How can you manage?

It was out of necessity.

This is why the country is determined to make radical changes; drastic measures are no longer an option, and this is not a matter for just one place or region.

As for the various problems that arise, they are really not a big deal under these circumstances; what is needed is a fundamental turnaround.

There's nothing we can do about it.

(End of this chapter)