Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"It's not impossible."

Wei Hongjun said: "Rural industry and commerce are just beginning to develop, and we don't need 700 million yuan yet. Once rural industry and commerce develop, the deposits of rural credit cooperatives will continue to increase."

Rural credit cooperatives are not completely without conditions to support the development of rural industry and commerce.

One of them is that after the development of rural industry and commerce, deposits must be placed with rural credit cooperatives.

"Correct."

Deng Zhihui echoed, "My suggestion is to divide the 700 million yuan. 600 million yuan should be used as funds for the development of rural industry and commerce, and 100 million yuan should be used for the development of rural animal husbandry, fisheries, fruit and forestry, and other industries. Strict regulations should be set to ensure that there is no connection between the 600 million yuan and the 100 million yuan, and they cannot be mixed. Alternatively, the funds allocated by the rural credit cooperatives to our Rural Work Department should be divided into one-seventh. Six-sevenths of this amount should be used specifically for the construction of rural factories, and the 100 million yuan should be used for the development of industries such as animal husbandry, fruit and forestry, and fisheries. The rural credit cooperatives should be divided into two departments to manage this fund."

"I support Comrade Deng Zhihui's idea."

Lai Ruoyu spoke up and supported Deng Zhihui's suggestion.

Since the funds can't be increased, we can only budget carefully within the budget. Deng Zhihui is right. This money can't be mixed up. If the purpose is mixed up, it will be impossible to know where the funds will be used.

So the best way is to clarify the purpose of funds.

Wei Hongjun took a liking to Li Shaocheng, who nodded and said, "I also think Comrade Deng Zhihui's suggestion is in line with the current situation."

Everyone else nodded.

"Since all comrades agree, then this matter is settled. Comrade Deng Zhihui, you need to focus on the specific matters. You must ensure that this money flows entirely into the countryside to support rural development. It must not be misappropriated."

"it is good."

Wei Hongjun turned around and asked, "Comrade Tan Zhenlin, I heard that the swine fever vaccine factory in Northeast China has been built?"

"Correct."

Tan Zhenlin is still very proud when talking about this.

The efficiency of their agricultural reclamation corps is still very high. At the last meeting of the Ministry of Rural Affairs, because the funding, production, storage, and transportation issues of the swine fever vaccine were difficult to resolve, the Ministry of Agricultural Reclamation took on this task.

It didn't take long before the Northeast Agricultural Reclamation Corps had built a swine fever vaccine factory.

Efficiency is awesome.

This is also due to the high demand for swine fever vaccines from the Agricultural Reclamation Corps in Northeast China. They currently raise pigs not only on a free-range basis, where members of the Corps raise their own pigs, but also on small farms within the Corps. Besides free-range pig farming, the Corps has also established large-scale, dedicated pig farms. However, they have been hesitant to expand their operations due to concerns about swine fever. Now that a swine fever vaccine factory has been established within the Corps, they are naturally concerned.

Moreover, the entire set of technology for the swine fever vaccine has been mastered in Shanghai.

That's why it went so smoothly.

"What about the other agricultural reclamation corps?"

How to increase pig production has always been a task that the Ministry of Agricultural Reclamation attaches great importance to.

Pig farming is a very important source of income for rural areas today, and pork exports now account for a large proportion of China's exports and are a major commodity exported by China.

“It went very smoothly.”

Wei Hongjun said, "Comrade Tan Zhenlin, my suggestion is that if the Agricultural Reclamation Corps has sufficient funds, they could build swine fever vaccine factories in some surrounding cities and provide them to the surrounding rural areas. This way, the surrounding rural areas can raise pigs with confidence, and the Agricultural Reclamation Corps can also earn more income."

"We will discuss this with the Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation." "Okay."

Chapter 973 Another incident

During this period, Wei Hongjun also understood why the Chairman wanted to divide the lines into first and second lines.

Because there are so many things to deal with on a daily basis, it is not easy to calm down and think about problems. Regarding the "Theory of Socialist Stages", the Chairman gave Wei Hongjun about a month.

Wei Hongjun needs to think carefully about this report.

Because once this report is passed by the Politburo, it will become one of the nine political reports.

Wei Hongjun paid attention to every word and considered whether it was appropriate.

But there was too much work on hand, and Wei Hongjun didn't have much time to think about it. He had just finished dealing with some matters from the Rural Work Department when the Ministry of Commerce sent him a new one.

"Comrade Ye Jizhuang, are there many foreign investors seeking joint ventures?" "Yes."

Zhou Bin, Ye Jizhuang, director of the Sixth Office, and Yao Yilin, Minister of Commerce, found Wei Hongjun.

Because foreign investors in China applied to change the nature of their ownership, they requested to transform their companies from wholly foreign-owned companies into Sino-foreign joint ventures.

The founding of the People's Republic of China, the Korean War, and the socialist reforms of industry and commerce—each of these changes significantly impacted the development of foreign businesses in China. Even with all these changes, and despite the exodus of foreign companies, there are still two or three hundred foreign companies that have been in China since the Republican era.

Although business is not good, they are all holding on and are unwilling to withdraw from the Chinese market.

Because they simply can't bear to part with the Chinese market. During the Republican era, they dominated the Chinese economy, reaping substantial profits. While China may be poor, its vast population and vast territory have always meant its economy remains substantial.

However, with the socialist transformation of industry and commerce in New China, these foreign investors were increasingly excluded from the socialist market of New China.

Business is becoming increasingly difficult.

Every year, foreign companies that cannot survive withdraw from the Chinese market.

Many foreign businessmen had resigned themselves to their fate. They understood that the days of the Republican era, when they could call the shots in China, enjoy political and economic privileges, and make a fortune, were gone forever. New China was not the Republic of China, and it would not grant these foreign businesses special political and economic privileges. So they prepared to end their business in China. However, since Attlee led the British delegation to China, relations between China and European countries, led by Britain and France, have rapidly improved. China even agreed to establish some Sino-foreign joint ventures in Guangdong, willing to accept government-determined policies. This change suddenly opened up new possibilities for these people.

These foreign-invested enterprises in China are either trading companies or light industrial companies.

Without the support of heavy industry, light industry would be like having no raw materials, and thus unable to produce products. Currently, raw materials in China are all allocated by the state. Only a small portion of raw materials is allowed to enter the market.

Therefore, foreign companies outside the socialist economic system struggle to even obtain raw materials. Even if they do obtain raw materials and produce goods, entering the Chinese market is fraught with difficulties. This is because the sales channels for China's light industrial products are currently state-controlled. In contrast, Sino-foreign joint ventures in Guangdong, which have all entered China's socialist economic system, are currently thriving.

This gave them hope.

"There are more than 60 foreign-invested enterprises that have applied now," replied Yao Yilin, Minister of Commerce.

Originally, this was the Ministry of Commerce's responsibility, and the Sixth Office and Zhou Bin's responsibilities were directly related to this matter. However, because Wei Hongjun had previously been the key official in charge of Sino-foreign joint ventures, Zhou Bin still came to consult with Wei Hongjun.

Because once this thing starts, two or three hundred new Sino-foreign joint ventures will be added in a short period of time.

Furthermore, these 200 to 300 companies are foreign enterprises with decades of roots in China, each of them quite formidable. As a result, the number of Sino-foreign joint ventures will increase significantly. These foreign enterprises are backed by not just one or two countries, but by major industrial nations worldwide. If all of them were to become Sino-foreign joint ventures, it would easily impact some of their domestic businesses looking to do business in China. Consequently, more and more foreign companies would be interested in establishing joint ventures with China.

Previously, Sino-foreign joint ventures were a phenomenon only in Guangdong, and their influence was limited there. However, once they appeared in several coastal cities, their influence would rapidly expand, easily impacting the Ninth National Congress held in early 1957. It would become a key issue for discussion at the Ninth National Congress.

So, Zhou Bin couldn't make a decision on this matter alone. "Old Zhou, what do you think?"

Wei Hongjun asked Zhou Bin.

Zhou Bin said, "My idea is that rather than letting them drift outside the socialist economy, it's better to integrate them into the socialist economic system. We currently have a comprehensive and strict policy regarding Sino-foreign joint ventures. Although these joint ventures employ workers and engage in exploitation, the 'three-three system' we implement in these enterprises has minimized this exploitation."

"So as long as they are willing to abide by our policies and integrate into our socialist economic system, we should welcome them. Trading companies, in particular, all have their own channels. Including them in our import and export lists would not only boost our country's exports, but might also allow us to import sensitive materials that our state-owned enterprises are unable to import."

Although the relations between European countries, especially Britain, France and China, have improved rapidly in the past two years.

Trade also began to increase.

China also imports machinery and equipment from European countries, even critical equipment for the fertilizer and chemical fiber industries. While it may seem that the US embargo on China has been lifted, many sensitive materials remain on the embargo list.

There are still many difficulties for China to import some high-tech products from Europe and the United States.

Although the Ministry of Foreign Trade has many secret trading companies in Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia, which help New China purchase many sensitive materials, it is still far from enough compared to domestic demand.

In comparison, these foreign trading companies are foreign companies after all, and they have many channels that Chinese companies do not have.

Therefore, Zhou Bin supported the inclusion of these foreign companies in the socialist economy. However, Zhou Bin knew that these issues were quite sensitive. Especially with the Ninth National Congress approaching, many things needed to be handled with caution.

Wei Hongjun is currently the leader of the second echelon within the party and is a powerful leading cadre in the Politburo.

He was principled but unconventional, earning the Chairman's respect. Therefore, Zhou Bin was willing to consult with Wei Hongjun on many matters. Furthermore, the Sino-foreign joint venture issue was originally handled by Wei Hongjun.

"Do these foreign businessmen know our policies?" "Yes."

"Then let's take them over. They're just a few hundred Sino-foreign joint ventures, and they won't affect our country's socialist economic development. Furthermore, their existence can fill some gaps in our economic development. Besides, these companies exist in various countries, so we can maintain non-governmental exchanges with them."

Wei Hongjun looked at the information of these foreign companies and finally made up his mind.

In fact, now is not the time to develop Sino-foreign joint ventures on a large scale. As the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China approaches, Wei Hongjun has begun to be cautious. However, since these foreign companies are willing to participate in Sino-foreign joint ventures and are willing to accept national policies, there is no reason to refuse.

Seeing that Wei Hongjun had made up his mind, Zhou Bin said, "Okay."

Soon Zhou Bin and his team went back to carry out their specific work.

Not long after handling these matters, Wei Hongjun welcomed Chen Tao, Deputy Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Guangdong Agricultural Commission. The Chairman had spoken with leaders of various central ministries and commissions in preparation for the Ninth National Congress's political report, and had also been speaking with provincial leaders across the country.

Listen more to everyone's opinions to improve the Ninth National Congress report.

The leaders of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee recently visited Beijing to speak with the Chairman. Originally, Guangdong only needed Luo Qirong and Tao Zhu to report to Beijing. However, unlike other regions, Guangdong has a large number of rural cooperative factories. The rural cooperative economy is booming.

The Chairman saw it the last time he visited Guangdong.

So this time the chairman also wants to hear the specific situation.

Chen Tao was the first person in charge of rural work in Guangdong and had made remarkable achievements in this area. That was why the Chairman specifically asked Chen Tao to accompany Luo Qirong and Tao Zhu to Beijing.

After Chen Tao, along with Luo Qirong and Tao Zhu, reported to the Chairman, he came to Wei Hongjun. Not only was Chen Tao a former subordinate of Wei Hongjun, but Wei Hongjun was currently the overall director of rural affairs nationwide, while Chen Tao was the overall director of rural affairs in Guangdong. Coming to Wei Hongjun to report on his work was perfectly legitimate.

Wei Hongjun listened carefully to Chen Tao's report. Guangdong's development is really good.

It's fair to say that Guangdong has experienced the fastest economic growth since the founding of the People's Republic of China. However, Wei Hongjun's main analysis focuses on the development of rural cooperatives in Guangdong and how to apply the successful experiences of these cooperatives to rural development in other provinces.

After finishing his work report, Chen Tao hesitated and asked, "Old leader, did something happen in the central government?"

"What's wrong?"

"Didn't Comrade Gao Gang go south to Guangdong earlier? When he was talking to a few of us, he said that Comrade Xiuyang had made mistakes on the union issue, so he would focus on NPC work from now on and would no longer be responsible for Party affairs."

Wei Hongjun sighed inwardly.

Can you say such things casually?

If you were an ordinary citizen, your nonsense wouldn't be a big deal. Ordinary people are naturally fond of these kinds of gossip, so there's nothing wrong with them. But Gao Gang is a leader of the Party and the country, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee. To say such things is to disregard Party discipline.

Chen Tao saw Wei Hongjun frowning, and his heart began to beat fast. After all, what Gao Gang said was really not a small matter.

But Chen Tao had come to Wei Hongjun today, hoping for his guidance. After all, Chen Tao was no longer a junior official, having made significant achievements in Guangdong. It was time to show his talents, so he didn't want to get involved in any of this.

So he continued, "And Comrade Gao Gang not only said this to us privately, but he also said the same thing to many cadres from the provincial party committee and government, as well as to some cadres from the military region."

"anything else?"

How unscrupulous.

Not only did he say this privately to some important cadres, he also made it public.

Gao Gang stopped in several places during his trip south, first to Jinan, then to Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and finally to Lanzhou and Xi'an before returning to Beijing.

Except for the Northeast, they visited all other important places. The cadres below are confused.

After all, it was Gao Gang who said it. Even if they had objections, they didn't dare to speak out and could only discuss it privately. But there are no secrets in this world. Just like Chen Tao, he wouldn't say anything in Guangzhou. But after arriving in Beijing, he would definitely report these matters to his senior superiors like Wei Hongjun.

In this way, what Gao Gang does locally will be reported to the central government.

It is estimated that by November at the latest, all the major central officials will know about this matter.